Mercenary Wars

Chapter 93: Injury for Life
The trolls had a numerical advantage, so their offensive was extremely fierce, with arrows flying continuously, occasionally interspersed with a fireball.

While launching a ranged attack, they gradually approached from both sides, attempting to surround Gaucano and his five companions.

Fortunately, this team has a wide range of methods.

While John held off the trolls' ranged attacks, Calcro took out several spell scrolls and tore them open one after another.

The five people were immediately covered in "arcane armor".

Protected by arcane armor, the group scattered and launched a counterattack against the troll.

Gaucano drew his bow and fired four enchanted steel arrows simultaneously.

Each of the four arrows was imbued with two swift breezes, significantly enhancing their accuracy and power. With a whooshing sound, all four arrows struck their targets, resulting in two deaths and two injuries.

Killing a level 2 troll grants +100 experience.

Killing a level 2 troll grants +100 experience.

At the same time, the troll also fired an arrow that hit Gaugano, but it failed to cause any real damage due to the barrier of arcane armor and steel chainmail.

On the other side, John roared and charged directly at the trolls. With a War Stomp and several Shield Slams, he immediately knocked down or killed several trolls, causing the unsuspecting trolls to change their expressions drastically.

But then, accompanied by a faint chanting of incantations, John, who was about to wreak havoc, suddenly froze, and all his movements became much weaker.

Curse of Weakness!

Having experienced it firsthand, Gaucano immediately realized that John was under a curse of weakness.

Just then, the leader of the trolls leaped over and swung his battle axe at John.

John raised his shield to block.

"Boom!" However, the troll leader's battle axe was powerful and heavy, and John was also plagued by the Weakness Curse. With a loud bang, he was sent flying and crashed into a tree.

Seeing this, Calcro quickly took out a "Restore to Normal" spell scroll and tore it open at John.

With the curse lifted, John regained his ferocity and roared once more as he pounced on the troll.

Then the curse of weakness struck again.

John was then brutally beaten by the troll leader, and this time his defense was not timely enough. The battle axe left a wound on his thigh, and blood gushed out.

Calcro had to take out scrolls of recovery and healing spells again and heal John.

In war, priests and mages are the first to be attacked; this is common sense for all intelligent races. Although trolls are barbaric, they still understand this principle.

Seeing Karklo recklessly tossing spell scrolls like they were free, several trolls immediately set their sights on him, either flanking him or shooting arrows, determined to kill him as soon as possible.

Andrew and Colin naturally took on the responsibility of protecting Calcro.

As a warrior, Andrew stood in front of Karklow with his shield to block the arrows; Colin, on the other hand, used his expertise as a thief to deal with the trolls who were trying to flank him.

However, the trolls had a numerical advantage. Even though they suffered some losses at the beginning, their total number was still about twice that of the humans, making it very difficult for the humans to cope.

After Gaucano finished firing a round, three trolls wielding melee weapons closed in.

His expression remained unchanged. He put away his longbow, gripped the Blood-Summoning Sword in his hand, and then charged forward.

"Qiang Qiang Qiang!"

In the blink of an eye, he had exchanged several blows with the three trolls, the sparks from their clashing weapons particularly noticeable in the darkness.

Two are at level two, and one is at level four.

After a brief exchange, Gaugano roughly assessed the levels of the three trolls.

None of them were particularly formidable, but their combined efforts put him under immense pressure, leaving him unable to mount a counterattack in just a few seconds.

A few more seconds passed, and the level four troll wielding a longsword seized an opening, slashing fiercely at Gaugano's neck. The blade gleamed with a chilling light, clearly enchanted or enchanted. Gaugano only had time to barely dodge before the longsword struck his shoulder.

The longsword pierced through the arcane armor and then cleaved through the chainmail, leaving a shallow wound on his shoulder, from which pain immediately followed.

The pain hardened Gao Jiano's heart.

That's not how Bloodblade Mages fight!

"Trading injury for life" is the true fighting style of the Bloodblade Mage!

Thinking of this, he immediately decided to give up on dodging, since those non-fatal injuries were not worth spending a lot of effort to avoid.

Gao Gano grabbed the level four troll's longsword, letting the blade cut his shoulder, and while dodging the deadly attacks of the other two trolls, he swung his sword at the level four troll.

"Roar!" The level four troll was shocked. Clearly, even for a troll known for its savagery and cruelty, this fighting style of trading injury for life was a bit too extreme.

He tried to back away.

But Gaucano will not let him have his way.

Eight swift breezes instantly formed and wrapped around the level four troll, greatly slowing his movements.

Immediately, the Blood Summoning Sword struck, piercing fiercely through the chest of the level four troll!
Killing a level 4 troll grants +200 experience.

Blood Regeneration!

Upon slaying the level four troll, Gaugano immediately activated Blood Regeneration. The troll's blood was devoured in large quantities by the Blood Summoning Sword and then transformed into healing energy, allowing his shoulder injury to heal rapidly.

Of the three trolls that attacked him, the most powerful one was killed, and the remaining two were no longer a threat. They even seemed to be in a state of fear, and made what sounded like a cry for help.

However, Gaucano's teammates were quite effective, managing to tie down almost all the other trolls.

Unsurprisingly, Gaucano easily killed the remaining two trolls.

Killing a level 2 troll grants +100 experience.

Killing a level 2 troll grants +100 experience.

The situation began to change.

After dealing with the three attackers, Gaucano found himself with some free time.

He then quickly surveyed the battlefield and began searching for new targets.

He quickly found his target.

Troll Witch Doctor.

Of course, he could also be a sorcerer. As someone who doesn't know much about troll culture, Gaucano couldn't effectively distinguish between these two types of troll spellcasters, and the two might actually have some overlap.

Regardless, this troll spellcaster caused the five of them—especially John—a great deal of trouble. The repeated weakening curses left John in a sorry state, covered in wounds.

If John doesn't take down this troll spellcaster soon, he might even die here.

So, after healing all his injuries through Blood Regeneration, Gaucanor made a decisive move and rushed straight towards the troll witch doctor in the distance.

Trolls, of course, also have their own witch doctors who protect them.

As soon as Gaugano approached, two shield-wielding troll warriors blocked his path.

This was not unexpected.

He then demonstrated the backline-targeting tactics unique to Bloodblade mages.

A faint blood-red color emanated from his mouth and nose, and then his speed instantly increased several times over!
Blood-boosting sprint!

(End of this chapter)