Chapter 11: Fireball Breaking the Formation

This time, Gavin didn't even bother with a greeting; he simply spurred his horse to gallop past the hobgoblin, baiting him into attacking.

The heavy weapons in their hands were certainly lethal, but their wide, sweeping movements were fatal flaws, especially when faced with skilled, coordinated attacks.

This hobgoblin, too, had his throat slit with ease by Zaranda.

However, such monsters possess innate class templates and robust health pools. Even a critical hit to the throat wouldn't kill them instantly—though without immediate bandaging or divine healing, they would eventually bleed to death.

Gavin and Zaranda had no opportunity to coordinate an attack on a third hobgoblin.

The twelve regular cavalrymen had already caught up. Against such overwhelming numbers, a lone hobgoblin stood no chance; after absorbing the impact of five Knott cavalrymen, it crashed to the ground and never rose again.

"Catch the spear!"

The following Knott cavalrymen, seeing that Gavin and Zaranda had already used their spare spears, threw their own over.

"Charge with me!" Zaranda caught the spear, and the momentum that had begun to slow down surged once more as she charged straight toward the hobgoblin formation.

"Charge!" Gavin rushed out without a moment's hesitation.

"Charge!" The twelve Knott cavalrymen followed suit, equally resolute.

Fireball!

Fireball!

Fireball!

Three scorching fireballs rose into the air simultaneously.

Two slammed into the hobgoblin formation, while one hurtled toward the Knott cavalry.

Hidden within the Knott cavalry were two spellcasters capable of casting third-circle spells.

More accurately, they were battle-casters equipped with wands of fireball—they hadn't yet reached the level of mages capable of casting fireballs naturally, but they were specialized in combat casting and casting while armored.

There was one in the hobgoblin formation as well.

At this moment, chaos finally erupted in the hobgoblin ranks. They hadn't expected the enemy commander to be so patient, keeping this trump card hidden until now—not even when the entire cavalry unit faced the threat of being wiped out yesterday.

Otherwise, they would never have dared to adopt such a dense formation to counter a cavalry charge.

The lethality of a fireball against a dense formation is immense; it instantly clears all hobgoblins within a six-meter radius of the impact point. They had no room to dodge, surrounded on all sides by their kin.

The most fatal aspect was that the enemy cast the spells from such close range that there was no possibility of missing. They were aimed directly at the densest parts of the hobgoblin formation. With two thunderous explosions, the hobgoblin ranks lost a fifth of their numbers on the spot, while many others were knocked over by the shockwaves, left in a near-death state.

War-casters were a special profession that had become popular in Tethyr in recent years.

Mixed into knight units, they often produced unexpected results.

They transformed simple knight charges into unpredictable tactical maneuvers.

One wrong move, and a smaller force could defeat a larger one.

Conversely, the fireball that landed on the Knott cavalry achieved very limited results.

For one, a charge requires maintaining proper distance; for another, they were already at a full gallop. Seeing the fireball flying toward them, they simply spurred their horses harder rather than slowing down.

The spellcaster among the hobgoblins must have been dealing with a cavalry charge for the first time; the spell was cast a bit too early.

If that fireball had been delayed by a few more seconds—until the Knott cavalry collided with the hobgoblin formation and their speed was hindered—and then dropped regardless of friendly fire, it could have taken out at least half of the Knott cavalry, rather than just knocking two riders off their horses as it did now.

Bang! Bang!

The collision of flesh that Gavin had anticipated did not occur. After knocking aside the two leading hobgoblins, they had almost pierced straight through the formation; the hobgoblins behind had already been felled by the two previous fireballs.

"This way!" Gavin shouted, slightly adjusting his horse's direction to charge toward a short, thin figure ahead.

A goblin appearing deep within a hobgoblin formation, especially one holding a staff, could only be the spellcaster who had just thrown the fireball at them. He was the absolute priority target.

"Save me! Save me!"

Seeing the frenzied cavalry unit change direction and charge toward him, the goblin sorcerer panicked. He abandoned the second fireball he was preparing and turned to dive into the crowd.

The hobgoblins around him instinctively moved to shield him; protecting the goblin sorcerer was their primary mission, a task to be completed even at the cost of their lives.

A hobgoblin clad in full plate armor, riding a giant dire wolf, rushed over with several hobgoblin wolf riders.

But the next second, they retreated at top speed.

Two more scorching fireballs flew out from the Knott cavalry.

The two war-casters accompanying the Knott cavalry were effective, successfully completing their mana synchronization and casting again.

Bang! Bang!

Two heavy incendiary bombs landed, turning their charge path into a clear road.

The goblin sorcerer had escaped the bombardment of the first two fireballs, but he could not escape this perfectly coordinated attack. This time, Zaranda led the assault, and Gavin followed up with a strike, dragging the near-dead goblin sorcerer onto his saddle and knocking him unconscious with a punch—capturing him alive.

In Gavin's view, every spellcaster was precious, even a goblin. If one could be captured alive, it was always the priority.

The Knott cavalry, now completely blood-crazed, locked onto a new target: the hobgoblin wolf riders who had just attempted to rescue the sorcerer.

Judging by their mounts and their equipment, no one would believe they weren't the chieftains or leaders of this hobgoblin warband.

If they could take them down, Knott Castle would achieve a total victory in this battle. This hobgoblin warband would be thoroughly routed, unable to organize any further resistance, either collapsing on its own or being annexed by other hobgoblin or goblin tribes.

If they were allowed to escape, the fruits of their victory would be greatly diminished. Gavin recognized the hobgoblin riding the giant dire wolf the moment he saw him; he was the very same hobgoblin warlord from his past life who had made Zaranda suffer so much, captured him, and sold him like cargo.

This bastard hadn't been discouraged by the minor setback at Knott Castle. Instead, he used the wealth squeezed from Knott Castle and its people to recruit and arm more hobgoblins and goblins, ravaging Tethyr for quite some time until the combined armies of several surrounding towns and fortresses finally defeated them and drove them back into the mountains.

When the second wave of fireballs landed, the hobgoblin warlord knew the situation was lost. Casualties exceeded one-third, his sorcerer's fate was unknown, and even he couldn't reorganize the warband in a short time. The enemy wouldn't give him the chance—a large number of infantry were surging in from the distance.

It wasn't just the heavy militia that had been following the cavalry; as they pierced through the hobgoblin formation, the medium-armored militia and civilian spearmen who had been guarding Knott Castle poured out as promised, maintaining a basic formation and charging wildly—if not now, when would they expand their victory?

The hobgoblin warlord now had only one thought: to flee, as far as possible.

Grease!

The war-casters in the Knott cavalry showed their power once more; they were equipped with more than one wand.

A six-to-seven-meter-wide patch of greasy, black substance filled the path directly in front of the fleeing hobgoblin warlord.

【Hobgoblin Warlord】