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Bjorn stepped out of the hillside forest. Gazing at the devastated valley and the corpses of Wild Boar Men all over the ground, he gave an evaluation in his heart.
This was a perfect ambush.
The battle erupted with such speed and fierceness. From the moment the Wild Boar Men rushed into the valley to when they turned around and fled, it took only a quarter of an hour.
Nearly all the quivers of the fifty Wild Folk Hunters were emptied. At least a thousand arrows rained down on top of the Wild Boar Men.
If there were more Wild Boar Men still alive, Bjorn would have to lead the Wild Folk to charge.
Avoiding close combat was what he told Leo. Once an absolute advantage was established, the Wild Folk were naturally happy to kill one more Wild Boar Man if possible.
In truth, the close - combat capabilities of the Wild Folk Hunters were even stronger than those of the militia!
The Wild Folk emerged from the forest one after another, raising their longbows and bone spears, and letting out cheers of victory.
Leo noticed keenly that among the Wild Folk archers, there were quite a few old men with half - white hair and wrinkled faces, as well as young and tender - faced girls.
Apparently, the "fifty archers" Bjorn mentioned didn't refer to fifty Wild Folk Hunters.
The Wild Folk were all soldiers, and everyone trained in archery. Those teenage Wild Folk girls were also brave enough to go hunting with their elders. They could pull a hundred - pound longbow and hit the mark within a hundred meters every time.
As for the old hunters who had lived long enough to have white hair, perhaps their physical strength could no longer keep up with the young people, but their archery skills and mentality were undoubtedly more mature.
Bjorn came to Leo's side and pointed at the huge corpse of a Wild Boar Man and said, "This is the Wild Boar Man chief."
This Wild Boar Man stood at least two meters tall and weighed at least three times as much as Leo. It was still seven or eight meters from the militia's front line. Lying on the ground, its face was out of sight.
There were six or seven long arrows stuck in its back. Since the fur armor on its body was thick enough, and even a piece of rusty chain mail donated by some adventurer was stitched onto the outside of the fur, the arrows didn't penetrate deeply, less than ten centimeters in depth.
For the burly Wild Boar Man chief, this depth hadn't even penetrated the muscle layer of its back, so it wasn't fatal.
Leo turned its body over and only then noticed that there were three short spears stuck in its chest. After it fell down, the wooden handles broke, and the remaining parts were deeply embedded in its body.
This Wild Boar Man chief was too conspicuous because of its huge size and was given special "attention" by the Wild Folk archers and the militia first. It keeled over miserably before even getting close to the militia.
Leo rummaged through the Wild Boar Man chief's body while chatting casually, "Why don't these Wild Boar Men know how to carry a shield?"
Bjorn was speechless and said, "Who goes hunting with a shield?"
"When hunting, you gotta carry a shield!" Leo proudly patted the round shield on his back.
Vicki, a militiaman, walked over and said to Leo worriedly, "What should we do with these one - horned wild boars?"
More than a dozen one - horned wild boars were still struggling in the big pit, causing the pit walls to collapse one after another, almost burying them.
Several militiamen were guarding the edge of the big pit. Whenever a one - horned wild boar was about to climb out, they would strike it with a stick and knock it down.
"Figure it out yourself. If you can capture them alive, do so. If not, just kill them and eat the meat."
"Okay." Vicki scratched his head and left.
Only about a dozen Wild Boar Men managed to engage in close combat with the militia, but each of them was an elite warrior among the Wild Boar Men.
Even though the militia had a large number of people and coordinated smoothly, it was still very difficult to take down these highly combat - effective Wild Boar Men.
Two militiamen were severely injured by the Wild Boar Men and were lying on the ground, their lives hanging in the balance (it was unclear whether they were alive or dead). Over a dozen militiamen suffered minor injuries of different degrees and were sitting on the spot, bandaging their wounds.
The remaining militiamen then started searching for loot together with the Wild folk.
The collected loot was piled up centrally.
Leo and Bjorn quickly sorted out and divided the loot. All the crossbows and crossbow bolts belonged to River Bend Territory, and the armor went to the Wild folk.
The Wild folk had no shortage of meat, so they didn't take any of the one - horned wild boars.
As for the kobolds, they ended up with the heavy weapons that neither Leo nor the Wild folk wanted.
Leo didn't dare to ask what they were going to do with these Stone - Age stone hammers and axes, each weighing ten or twenty catties.
Anyway, among the three groups, the kobolds were the happiest during the entire process.
They were even wagging their tails while walking.
Feeling guilty, Leo generously offered several one - horned wild boars that were running around in the valley to the kobolds.
If they could catch them, the boars would be theirs!
Bjorn also led the Wild folk to sever the heads of the Wild Boar Men and prepared to take them back to the tribe as trophies.
He severed the head of the Wild Boar Man chief and gave it to Leo.
"You deserve this."
Right in front of all the militiamen and Wild folk, Leo took the head without showing any disgust.
This was the Wild folk's way of showing recognition.
During the break, Leo looked up and scanned the area. He saw the marmot squatting alone on a hillside far from the battlefield.
She stared blankly at the battlefield strewn with corpses, watching the militiamen and Wild folk rummage through the bodies of the Wild Boar Men for loot. She wasn't as happy as one might have expected at all.
When she saw Leo approaching, she didn't excitedly take credit as she usually did. Instead, she just drooped her ears and turned around, showing him her backside.
"I miss my teacher!"
Leo couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt. This giant beast in front of him might appear powerful, but inside, it was just a soul younger than Little Mouse.
Moreover, she was an elven druid. Whether it was her way of thinking or her values, they were worlds apart from those of humans.
The elves in this world were a peace - seeking and life - loving race. They loathed war even more than he had thought.
Thousands of years ago, elves were spread across every corner of the continent. But as other races grew stronger and the number of wars rose, now the elf race had almost vanished from the continent. They had all retreated to the highlands in the middle of the Grand Barrier, the birthplace of the elves.
Their first option when dealing with threats was to run away.
Humans were indulged in violent wars, relishing the joy of victory, while all the elves saw were corpses strewn everywhere, flowing blood, spreading death, and withering life.
Previously, Freya had mentioned that in her hometown, the most common way for the same clan to resolve conflicts was to hold a sleeping contest to see who could sleep deeply and for a long time.
The side that woke up first had to yield.
Many elves painstakingly practiced shape - shifting spells just to transform into some kind of sleepy animal to maintain their dominant position within the clan.
For instance, Freya's teacher could easily sleep for three to five months, and no one ever had a conflict with him.
Leo gently stroked the fur on Freya's back, cajoling and comforting her for a while. He promised her all the stored food in the settlement camp for the third time, and only then did the marmot become a bit more energetic.
After clearing the battlefield, Leo led the large group towards the lair of the Wild Boar Men.
What greeted them was a shower of arrows.
Although the main force of the Wild Boar Men had been completely annihilated, there were still over a hundred of them in the Wild Boar Man's lair. These Wild Boar Men held crossbows and, taking advantage of the lair's defensive works, were determined to resist to the death.
"Fisa, do you speak the language of the Wild Boar Men?" Leo resorted to a desperate measure. "Go and persuade them to surrender on my behalf. If that doesn't work, ask them to pay tribute. I'll split half of the supplies we get with you."
Fisa shook her head and said, "I don't."
"So what should we do?" Leo and Bjorn exchanged a glance.
"Withdraw!"