Chapter 74

The battle proceeded without any suspense. The wolf knights, standing in the pond like targets, fell one after another under the relentless rain of arrows. Some of the orcs tried to flee, but they didn't get far before falling into deep water pits, only to be dragged into the darkness by some terrifying creature lurking beneath the water, never to be seen again.

Twenty-nine soldiers used about five rounds of shooting to turn the distant orcs and their wolves into hedgehogs. However, when there were no more living orcs groaning on the battlefield, none of the soldiers dared to step forward to inspect the bodies—because after witnessing the underwater monster devour the orcs, their excitement over defeating more than forty wolf riders was far outweighed by their lingering fear.

Including Soderlor, the scouts were now mostly wiping sweat from their foreheads and backs, which were gradually drenched in cold sweat, and their legs were trembling uncontrollably—

"K-Kart, gather the horses, don't wander around. We'll wait here... for Rody to come back."

After several deep breaths, Soderlor managed to steady his voice. Kart, who was standing beside him, finally came to his senses and hurriedly called a few scouts to gather the horses. At this moment, they were filled with an inexplicable fear as they looked at the nearby pond and water pits, wishing they could stay as far away as possible. Clearly, they had no idea such a terrifying monster lurked in the water pits.

"We won... like this... I mean, the outcome is just... incredible."

Rug, standing beside Soderlor, looked at the scene with a complex mix of emotions, unsure whether he felt excited or something else. His mind was mostly filled with thoughts of revenge and slaughter. He had also shot through the heads of three orcs with his good archery skills, but now he didn't feel much excitement. After a moment of hesitation, he sighed softly, "If you had told me this yesterday, I wouldn't have believed it..."

His body was somewhat fatigued, more so perhaps from the psychological weakness of having survived a near-death experience. Rug squatted down, trying to calm his adrenaline-fueled body. His eyes scanned the battlefield as he muttered to himself, "More than forty orcs, and they were wolf riders. They all died without even touching us."

"None of them survived, just as Rody said..." Rug, feeling tired from squatting, sat down on the damp grass and took a few deep breaths. "To be honest, I really admire you, Soderlor."

Soderlor, who was lost in thought, squatted beside Rug and asked absentmindedly, "What's there to admire?"

"This morning, Rody only walked this route with you a couple of times, right? And now you can remember it perfectly. He didn't say anything, and we just thought these swamps would slow down the orcs. But now, I realize it was more complicated than that. If you had made a single mistake, we would have ended up like those orcs."

Rug exhaled slowly. When Rody said he would counterattack the Cossack village in the morning, he didn't really need to agree, but Rody's plan eventually convinced him. As a veteran who had experienced brutal wars, he never imagined that such a seemingly simple strategy could so decisively defeat an almost invincible enemy.

"Rody is... very capable," Rug said without any flattery, but with genuine admiration. "He deliberately didn't tell us what was in there, so we could stand here alive now. If we had known beforehand, I don't think I could have remained so calm."

"No, you're wrong."

Soderlor shook his head, rubbed his face vigorously, and said in a barely audible voice, "I actually knew."

"Huh?"

Rug raised an eyebrow. In the distance, a half-dead wolf tried to leave the area, but after a few steps into the pond, it was dragged away by the unknown creature, causing the water to churn and bubble before it went still.

Soderlor watched this happen with a blank expression and said softly, "I always knew what was in the water."

Rug's mouth opened slightly, his expression showing surprise.

"Rody told me, and he also told me the consequences of making a single mistake." As if speaking these words released the pressure he had been carrying, Soderlor took a deep breath. "When I was leading you, I was more nervous than any of you..."

"I've never been this nervous in my life. I understood that one wrong step could mean the death of all of us."

Rug was speechless, not knowing what to say.

"Rody didn't tell you because he knew you just needed to follow. It's not hard to do, and if he emphasized it a few times, anyone could do it. But if he had told you the truth, it might have caused problems." Soderlor closed his eyes, as if trying to escape from a nightmare. "All the pressure was on me. He knew what it meant, but he still did it."

"Rody..."

"He was training me." Soderlor rubbed his temples, and as his tense nerves relaxed, his voice became weak. "I came to Nolan Village to learn from him. Why can he so easily kill orcs? I thought if he could do it, I could too. Now, I'm starting to understand the gap between us."

Although it was just a casual conversation, Rug knew that Soderlor's gains from this battle might be more than what he had learned in years as a lieutenant or captain. Curious, he asked, "What is it?"

"A strong mind." Soderlor pointed to his chest. "Only with a strong mind can you face these things calmly. In the past, when we fought, many of us rushed in, and when something went wrong, we blamed each other. Those who survived always found excuses to justify themselves. When we succeeded, the credit seemed to be all ours, and when we failed, the blame was on others."

"Thinking like that, you'll always be a coward."

"But just now, I realized how terrifying the feeling of being unable to escape is—you must take responsibility for your failures, with no way out, no room for compromise, and you can only grit your teeth and charge forward."

Soderlor's lips twitched, and he smiled weakly but contentedly. "If you can endure this, your confidence will be stronger than ever, and if you fail, there's no room for excuses."

Rug nodded, understanding but not fully grasping the feeling. He knew that such a state of mental tension was not something everyone could easily endure.

"Speaking of which, what's Rody's plan for going there?"

"I don't know. He said he's setting up traps and took all the remaining meat from the team. Maybe he wants to lure the creature out of the water to deal with the orcs?"

"Why did he go alone?"

"I asked him, and he said—only he can survive in that place."

At this, both of them frowned, unable to feel completely at ease.

"So many plans have succeeded. His plan must be almost certain to succeed, right?" Rug muttered to himself.

Soderlor remained silent. Although they were both worried, the respect and awe for Rody in their hearts, and in the hearts of the entire team, had already become deeply rooted.

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A few minutes earlier.

From the moment Rody decided to counterattack the Cossack Village in the morning, he had already determined the current strategy—or rather, this "backup plan" was fundamentally a "last resort" he had left for himself and the team.

Long-distance raids into the orc empire to level up might seem unreasonable, but Rody didn't choose to hunt rabbits and wolves on the border like a regular player because he understood the principle that "risk always comes with opportunity."

If he followed the usual path of grinding and leveling up like a player, Rody had calculated that simply killing rabbits or completing tasks in the villages would take him until November to reach level 10—based on the game time he had experienced. But he didn't have time to waste, so in mid-August during the rainy season, he formulated this bold plan, with the "Death Swamp" at the heart of the Neshemian Great Grassland as the core of the plan.

The "Death Swamp" is a unique existence in the game.

It only appears during the summer rainy season and disappears once the rain stops. In the second year after the game's launch, orc players discovered this dungeon, and the news spread to the human side. Many players then began to "explore" it, but the results were tragic—players died repeatedly without even seeing the dungeon's monsters, let alone the boss.

The forums were filled with complaints and criticism, but at the time, Rody wasn't too concerned. He spent his days browsing news and guides, then continued to pursue the "Master Tanner" title.

At that time, he was a life player, earning a monthly salary of tens of thousands, and had just begun to stand out among other life players, with some confidence. However, his mind wasn't filled with many thoughts. To put it simply, Rody was like a machine, working day and night for a living, striving for the highest efficiency in everything he did.

The term "tech geek" might bring admiration and envy from others, but for Rody, life was extremely dull and monotonous.

However, two years later, when he abandoned all of this and turned to the PVP path, the "Death Swamp" became his initial "training ground" as a ranger. By then, the dungeon had been thoroughly explored, and Rody quickly became familiar with it, using it to kill countless batches of NPCs that respawned on the borders of the orc kingdom, starting his疯狂的升级计划。

什么样的水坑有“水怪”，什么样的水坑可以走，面对狼骑兵该怎么样，面对普通兽人该怎么样，面对无法处理的情况又该怎么样——这些记忆中的东西是他最初接触“杀戮”与“战争”等字眼时留下的深刻烙印，想忘都忘不了。

所以当身后的狼骑兵怒吼声传来时，罗迪只感觉脑海中那些熟悉的画面刹那间和眼前重合在了一起。

抬头望向眼前，始终主导这场战争节奏的罗迪和之前索德洛尔所做的那般相同，扯动缰绳、倾斜身体不断开始了转向，战马一次又一次沿着水坑边缘奔驰而过，而后方“嗜血术”结束后速度减慢的座狼却在萨罗塔再次施放的巫术后速度始终维持在了将罗迪追在视野中的水平——有时罗迪甚至都能听见身后萨罗塔喊出的“沿着轨迹跑”之类的命令声。

目光瞥过身后，罗迪的嘴角微扬起一个诡异的弧度。然而这一瞬即逝的表情并没有被萨罗塔捕捉到，此时他正在努力命令着队伍沿着罗迪走过的痕迹前进，虽然距离正在拉大，但萨罗塔显然并不打算放弃追逐。

他根本不相信这个人类能始终在这危险的沼泽中不犯任何错误。

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When the roar of the wolf riders behind him echoed, Rody felt the familiar scenes in his mind merge with the present.

Looking ahead, Rody, who had been controlling the pace of the battle, pulled the reins and tilted his body, making his horse gallop along the edges of the water pits. The speed of the wolf riders, slowed by the end of their "Bloodlust" spell, was maintained at a level that kept Rody in their line of sight thanks to the witchcraft cast by Sarota—sometimes Rody could even hear Sarota's commands to "follow the path."

Glancing back, Rody's lips curled into a strange smile. However, this fleeting expression was not caught by Sarota, who was focused on commanding his team to follow Rody's path. Although the distance was increasing, Sarota clearly had no intention of giving up the chase.

He simply didn't believe that this human could navigate the dangerous swamp without making any mistakes.