Sorcery Monarch

Chapter 68: The Defeat of the Gnolls

 

With a brief respite, the soldiers quickly regained their composure. Thanks to the blood-restoring potions, most of them had recovered their fighting strength.

 

Angela, commanding the soldiers to stabilize the line, once again recognized the importance of the blood-restoring potions.

 

At the same time, Angela had a clearer understanding of the timing and devastating power of the lord's fireball spell.

 

In large-scale battles, the destructive force and intimidation of spellcasters could easily shift the balance of victory.

 

"Perhaps we need more spellcasters?"

 

Angela quickly shook off this somewhat fanciful thought.

 

After all, spellcasters like the lord, who were willing to act in battle, were still rare.

 

What Angela didn't know was that Matthew, who had just cast his spell, was reveling in the stream of experience point notifications.

 

The only regret Matthew had was that despite wiping out so many gnolls, he hadn’t earned any precious skill points.

 

Still, Matthew wasn't discouraged. His strategy had been successful.

 

Killing over 20 gnolls had restored 55 mana points, completely offsetting the cost of casting two fireball spells with his staff!

 

Matthew had a faint premonition: as his two feats continued to level up, he was not far from becoming a true battlefield spell cannon!

 

Interestingly, Matthew noticed that in the data displayed, nearly half of the gnoll warriors he killed had yielded experience points reduced by about 30%.

 

Matthew made a bold assumption: the effect of Mana Drain likely came at the cost of devouring some of the experience points from his kills.

 

However, Matthew was more than happy to make that trade!

 

Dead enemies were the best enemies!

 

Power firmly in his grasp was true strength!

 

Now that he had acted, Matthew decided to go all out.

 

Without even needing to aim precisely, he could unleash magic missiles like a machine gun, targeting the gnoll hordes with deadly accuracy.

 

Having relentlessly trained in his previous life, Matthew had raised his Magic Missile to Level 3, allowing him to fire six missiles at once, each dealing 3 points of damage!

 

Coupled with his 24 intelligence, his spell modifier of +7, and a +5 damage bonus, the missiles became a true force of death!

 

With this single skill, he took out three gnoll warriors!

 

This time, luck was on Matthew's side, as he activated Mana Drain twice in quick succession, recovering 10 mana points.

 

Perfectly replenishing the mana he had spent casting Magic Missile!

 

It was almost as if he was casting spells without any cost!

 

Wanting to test his true combat abilities, Matthew transformed into a Magic Missile machine gun.

 

He unleashed a barrage of magic missiles, effortlessly cutting through the gnoll ranks.

 

In the blink of an eye, the densely packed gnolls on the left flank were thinned out, the ground littered with corpses riddled with fist-sized holes.

 

Matthew even believed that if the gnolls kept clustering together, he could kill hundreds of them!

 

Of course, Matthew didn't go that far. After decimating the left flank, he chose to stop, not wanting to reveal more of his strength.

 

The gnolls attacking the front and left suffered heavy losses, their offensive severely weakened.

 

Squelch!

 

Crack!

 

"Run... Run!"

 

"Too terrifying..."

 

"Ahh...!"

 

"We can't win... We're losing..."

 

"..."

 

The gnolls' agonized screams shattered the morale of the rest.

 

After witnessing the carnage, many of the gnolls began to flee.

 

Unaware of this, the gnolls on the right flank, led by a gnoll brute, continued their furious assault.

 

But the gnoll brute soon realized that the previously crumbling defenses had somehow become impenetrable again.

 

It couldn't comprehend why these human soldiers didn’t tire.

 

Didn’t they fear death?

 

Didn’t they get wounded?

 

"Kill...!"

 

The fierce battle cries came from behind the barricades as more and more human soldiers gathered, their bloodied spears relentlessly stabbing forward.

 

The gnolls were caught off guard and quickly suffered heavy losses, with seven or eight falling immediately.

 

The gnoll brute itself was targeted, arrows and spears driving into its body, leaving gaping wounds.

 

The sharp pain snapped the gnoll brute out of its delusions of grandeur.

 

"The human soldiers' numbers have suddenly increased. Could it be that their reinforcements have arrived?"

 

"It's highly possible! After all, their numbers sometimes seem greater than even the kobolds..."

 

"Should we continue fighting?"

 

"Wait, why has the sound of battle from the other directions already gone silent?"

 

Feeling a growing sense of dread, the gnoll brute finally realized that its comrades were rapidly dwindling.

 

Some gnoll scouts had even started openly retreating.

 

The gnolls attacking from the other directions had left nothing but corpses behind.

 

For the first time, the overwhelming stench of blood didn’t excite the brute but instead filled it with a deep, soul-crushing fear.

 

The gnoll brute couldn't accept this reality.

 

"This is impossible!"

 

As the terrifying thought crossed its mind, a deadly sense of impending doom seized it.

 

A bright red fireball flew from behind the barricade, and with a deafening explosion, it engulfed the gnolls.

 

Feeling the intense heat of the flames, the gnoll brute prepared to make one last charge.

 

Its limited experience with spellcasters reminded it that they could only attack a certain number of times. If it could just hold out...

 

Boom!

 

A searing fireball enveloped the brute’s position, the scorching flames snuffing out its last shred of hope, plunging it into eternal darkness.

 

"Ding! Your dragonborn kobold, Silverfang, has slain an elite gnoll brute, earning 140 experience points."

 

As Matthew logged the data, he became acutely aware of the vast gulf between normal combatants and elites. The doubled experience points served as a constant reminder.

 

With the death of the last gnoll brute, the remaining gnolls descended into utter chaos, fleeing in all directions.

 

The sudden battle ended.

 

The gnolls had suffered devastating losses, with only about a hundred managing to escape!

 

Angela looked to Matthew for guidance, but he merely shook his head and pointed to the injured soldiers, saying:

 

"Prioritize treating all the wounded to prevent any lasting damage."

 

Matthew’s care for his soldiers and his regard for the welfare of the territory's inhabitants were well-known and respected.

 

Angela, deeply admiring this trait in her lord, announced the victory and immediately began organizing relief efforts.

 

The soldiers, finally able to relax, broke out in cheers:

 

"They're running..."

 

"We’ve won!"

 

"Victory!"

 

"Wait, when did I get this wound on my leg?"

 

"What are you waiting for? Drink a blood-restoring potion before you bleed out!"

 

"Get that wound wrapped up..."

 

"Don’t even think about grabbing the loot yet, come lie down first..."

 

"..."

 --------------------------------------------------------

Some pictures of scenes from the previous chapter:

Old John Slashing Through the Barricade

The Gnoll Brute Attacked by Arrows and Spears

 Matthew Unleashing a Double-Cast Fireball Spell