Warhammer Divine Throne

A goblin riding on a warg was hit by an arrow, its hand loosening the reins, causing both goblin and warg to tumble down the hillside.

”Whoosh~” A second arrow followed closely after the first, hitting the warg squarely in the middle of its head.

”Rapid-fire arrow.” Laine murmured.

As everyone knows, the ranger profession and the warrior profession seem to follow completely different paths. Simply put, warriors are melee fighters, while rangers are ranged fighters.

But reality is not a game. In fact, a large number of rangers often use scimitars, longswords, and long spears for combat, just less often with shields, while numerous warriors also know how to use bows and crossbows to strike enemies from a distance, it’s just difficult to master.

When a ranger hones themselves over many years and becomes an elite tier fighter, mastering the secrets of archery, rapid-fire arrows and split arrows become the hallmark of these masters of archery, though every ranger Laine knows who can use rapid-fire and split arrows is at least over thirty.

Well~ Estelle is a half-elf, and of wood elf descent. Wood elves are all masters of archery, and judging by his appearance, he should be no more than eighty years old, which is no different from a person over thirty in their human years.

With such a strong ranged fighter, Laine felt relieved, raising his warhammer: ”Advance, warriors!”

”Charge!!!” Aik rushed down the hillside on his horse even before Laine finished his command.

”Charge!!!” The rest of the wandering knights also frantically charged towards the goblin wolf riders.

”...Do these people not know how to follow orders? Oh well, they’re just some goblins, shouldn’t be a problem.” Seeing even Rost had charged down, Laine decisively gave up on commanding.

Aik, wielding a longsword, directly charged at the goblin wolf riders in the lead. The goblin shouted as it spurred its warg forward. At the moment of clash, Aik slightly adjusted his stance, dodging the long spear, and with a flash of cold light from his longsword, cut down half of the goblin’s body.

The goblin’s red blood splattered in the air, further inciting the ferocity of the wandering knights. In the instant the goblin wolf riders clashed with them at close range, they were scattered like fallen leaves. The small goblins’ long knives and long spears could barely harm the wandering knights, while the wargs had some combat power but were quickly defeated under the knights’ swords.

Goblins were never a symbol of strength. This species, which held a lower status than beastmen among the green skins, epitomized poor strength, poor morale, and poor leadership. Goblin armies typically faced complete defeat losing over ten percent of their rank in war, with the leader always being the fastest to flee. Compared to these pathetic goblins, the wandering knights, though without titles or ranks, were professionally trained soldiers with adequate gear, making it effortless to deal with a few goblin wolf riders.

”Whoosh~” A warg was shot in the eye, tumbling down the hillside.

The half-elf drew his bow again, nocking an arrow.

”Whoosh~” Another warg was shot in the chin, its head hitting the ground, body flipping over, and it fell on the thick vegetation beside, wailing endlessly.

”Good skill! Estelle, people always say wood elves’ volleys are like torrential rain. Seeing it today does indeed live up to its reputation!” Laine did not ride forward; he merely stood beside Estelle after dismounting, feeling the enemies were too weak for him to bother striking.

”In our place, my archery isn’t considered outstanding; every adult in the forest has practiced archery for at least twenty years.” The half-elf moved with elegance, his long hair flowing, looking extremely carefree.

”Twenty years may not mean much to you, but to humans… that could be half their life. Estelle, just call me Laine.” Laine watched as some wandering knights already left a few goblin wolf riders scrambling, leaving corpses behind and fleeing in their original direction.

”Twenty years isn’t so brief for me either, Laine, nor was it for my father. When I was deemed capable of standing my ground at thirty-five, he finally left me, departing from this world.” The goblin wolf riders were already out of the half-elf’s shooting range; Estelle lowered his bow and arrows: ”Yet, several decades have passed, and my mother remains as beautiful as ever. I now appear older than she.”

”Is that why you don’t want to stay in the forest anymore?” Laine pondered a bit, then smiled silently.

”Out of place and weak. When I’m with them, I always feel they see me as a child… and perhaps that’s not my illusion, unlike being with humans, where I feel like a sage, or even a giant.” The half-elf placed his shortbow behind him, showing a contemptuous expression: ”Rapid-fire and split arrows, anyone who can hold a bow in the forest knows how to use them, but here? I’d dare say in Nord, even a complete lord’s army wouldn’t have more than twenty rangers who know these techniques.”

”That’s true, but human soldiers can form some combat power with about half a year of training.” Laine observed the wandering knights thoroughly routing the goblin wolf riders, then remounted: ”What about elves?”

”...Well, a competent woodland guard takes at least ten years because elves always learn a bit slower.” Estelle also mounted his horse, the two waiting for a while as Aik and the others were still busy showcasing their martial valor, while Rost had already returned, holding two goblin ears in his hand: ”Something’s off, Mr. Laine.”

”Too few numbers, right?” Laine spread his hands, unfazed: ”The intel we received indicated over thirty goblin wolf riders, plus more spearmen, but so far, we’ve seen at most fifteen goblin wolf riders, and the spearmen have vanished—this is clearly a ruse, Rost; goblins are always cunning.”

Indeed, compared to the orcs, the goblins are extremely reluctant thinkers among the green skins. This might be merely the difference between charging directly into a fight versus throwing a stone before charging.

”A feint! We were deceived! Another goblin army distracted us! Mr. Oliver and the others are in danger!” Rost exclaimed, then quickly relaxed: ”Ha! Look at my brain; Mr. Oliver and they are safe, utterly safe.”

”Yes, so let’s clean up the battlefield and head back.” Laine smiled.

Sure enough, when the wandering knights regrouped and rode back to the convoy, they encountered a scene of devastation.

Mercenaries and guards were charging excitedly toward the goblins, the situation almost one-sided. Oliver’s guard Fake was shouting his name, easily blocking a goblin-thrown spear with his shield, striding towards this goblin spearman, and quickly catching up with the short-legged goblin in terror, slicing his longsword down with red blood splattering all over Fake’s face. Fake cut off the goblin’s ears and continued looking for his next target.

The leader of the Blood Axe Mercenary Corps, Viert, was wielding a two-handed greatsword, killing to his heart’s content. The poor circumstances of the recent times seemed to have found ample venting at this moment, with goblin limbs scattering wherever his two-handed longsword swung. Under his lead, the mercenaries thrust the goblins into a chaotic retreat.

The goblin leader immediately yelled: ”Retreat~ Retreat!”

Before the words finished escaping its mouth, a ball of white ice shot from the distance, hitting the goblin leader’s head squarely, cleaving the leader’s neck, its head tumbling aside, while mercenaries scrambled to present it to the caster of the ice arrow.

”Sometimes I really should act a little more politely?” Laine instinctively touched his neck, thinking that an angry woman is indeed formidable.

Especially a woman like Jialan’s.

”Everyone stand aside, not a single one of these green skins can escape today! Move aside!” Teresa stood in the middle of the convoy, raising her magic staff. Deep blue arcane energy swirling around the purple staff, then tilting under the female sorcerer’s guidance: ”Frost Nova!”

Originating from the woman’s position, the power of magic froze the entire sector within a hundred meters in front of her, trapping all goblins attempting to retreat inside the ice, even including a few mercenaries who had not retreated in time.

The battlefield fell completely silent.

This was the power of magic.