Chapter 112: Attack as Defense

Offensive defense is the fundamental strategy for city sieges. The longer you can keep the attacking force away from the city walls while preserving your own combat strength, the higher the victory rate for the defenders.

At this moment, the elite among the three million players had swarmed out. This force was not to be underestimated. By pushing the player front line forward, they could draw the enemy in and, even if they lacked the advantage in open field combat against the swarm of creatures, they could effectively stall for time. Even if the players were eventually routed in the field, this strategy of trading space for time would provide a buffer zone.

With actual damage values of 76–86 per hit, a single rocket shell dealt massive damage. The vanguard of the creature swarm consisted primarily of level one, two, and three monsters, and two shells were enough to wipe out a large cluster. Huang Yunshuo’s clearing speed was extraordinary. Seeing Huang Yunshuo as the core of long-range DPS, many archers were inspired and began to gather around him, bows in hand.

The number of players grew like a snowball, from hundreds to thousands. Under the suppression of a dense rain of arrows, swarms of creatures were wiped out, littering the ground with materials and copper coins. As players passed over the spots where the creatures fell, they would hastily stoop to loot the drops. Many mage players tried to crowd in to get a piece of the action, but were mostly shouted back by Li Nan and his team.

In the current stage of *Reign of Era*, the game was highly unfriendly to mages. Although a few channels for obtaining mana recovery sprays had opened—such as the Capture the Flag event, the Spacetime Roaming dungeon, and the current sky-dropped supplies—they were all notoriously difficult. As long as the shop didn't stock mana recovery sprays for general purchase, mages remained in a position of absolute disadvantage. Archers, however, had a much easier time; their ammunition could be bought at any major shop for a low price, allowing even average players to sustain combat for a long time, let alone the more skilled ones.

The archer army pushed forward another hundred meters or so before finally coming to a halt. As the low-level creatures were cleared, the players were met with a harsh counterattack: the appearance of level 4 "Little Yellow Hornets."

These hornets were the size of a fist and surged forth by the thousands. While their flight speed was slow, every ten seconds they would trigger a short-range dash skill, pouncing directly onto the players' faces and bodies. Their sheer numbers, small size, and high attack power caught many archers off guard, causing them to fall instantly. Melee players rushed up from the rear to cover the archers’ retreat, and after falling back a dozen meters, the Shitou Town player line finally stabilized.

Like mages, Priest players could not cast skills recklessly. Consequently, Huang Yunshuo only kept ten female Priests with him, instructing them to use their 5-mana "Holy Word" only when his health dropped below 50.

Chenlu Qingshuang frowned slightly. In reality, she was a highly professional marksman with exceptional accuracy, hitting her target with nearly every arrow. However, the number of Little Yellow Hornets in her field of vision was simply overwhelming. Killing them yielded no experience and very few copper coins, and even after taking down a dozen, there was no noticeable decrease in their overall numbers. Although her passive skills had a significant impact on the swarm, she still felt the urge to slack off.

"Archers, stop spreading your fire! Focus your attacks on one area of the hornets. Melee players, don't lose your heads; leave gaps for each other. Retreat if your health is low and let fresh players rotate in. If you see a cluster of low-health players, nearby Priests should cast 'Spring Rain' for group recovery. Don't hoard your PvE recovery scrolls, and if you're in the Full-Man Brotherhood, don't run around—regroup with your companions!" Li Nan commanded loudly.

Normally, with so many players in Shitou Town, it would be impossible to get them to follow anyone’s orders unless it was an idol player like Huang Yunshuo or a goddess-tier player with high exposure like Chenlu Qingshuang. However, thanks to the reputation of the Brotherhood, and with Li Nan directing them, the players’ resistance to his leadership was greatly reduced. Following his lead, they realized his commands were indeed orderly, and many became willing to listen. Centered around Huang Yunshuo, the tens of thousands of players held their ground firmly against the frantic assault of the hornet swarm.

Boom!

A shell exploded into the hornet swarm. Although they were level 4, they only had 50 HP; as long as they weren't at full health, they were killed instantly. These small, numerous, and dense monsters were exactly what Huang Yunshuo needed. The rocket’s direct impact area alone was enough to encompass several hornets, not to mention the splash damage from the 3x3 blast radius. Within the time it took Huang Yunshuo to reload his magazine a few times, he had carved several large gaps into the swarm of thousands.

Huang Yunshuo dove into the swarm, calmly tanking the dense attacks that dealt up to 40 damage, while firing rockets into the thickest part of the cluster.

-2! -2! Miss! -4! Miss!

Countless damage and miss indicators flashed above Huang Yunshuo’s head. The female Priests followed closely behind, and whenever his health dipped below 50, they took turns using Holy Word to heal him. The 200 Priests recruited by the Brotherhood (mostly women) were selected based on strict criteria, primarily their attack power, as a Priest's healing output was directly tied to their attack stat. These few women were quite capable, each with an attack power over 30, and by rotating their heals, they kept Huang Yunshuo safe despite the relentless swarming.

"Have I really used that many rockets already?" Huang Yunshuo felt a pang of regret as he checked his inventory. Seeing that he had wiped out the majority of the hornet swarm, with the survivors fleeing backward, he retreated along with the Priests.

Chenlu Qingshuang fired an arrow, applying a slowing effect to a patch of hornets, causing them to drop to the ground one by one before they could flap their wings and rise again a few seconds later. This significantly disrupted the swarm’s attack formation, and the groups she targeted collapsed much faster than those faced by other archers.

The situation seemed well in hand. Although the hornet swarm was vast and players were falling by the second, the creatures were losing numbers even faster. Just then, a rhythmic *da-da-da* sound echoed from the front. Huang Yunshuo looked up to see over a hundred pink piglets charging toward them, each carrying a lazy sloth on its back, arms filled with nuts.

"Are these Sloth Knights? Damn it, everyone fall back!" Huang Yunshuo shouted.

Most players were caught off guard or had become too reckless to listen, ignoring his warning.

"Are these the Sloth Knights? They look tough to deal with," Chu Jun said, appearing beside Huang Yunshuo with a look of surprise.

"Surprised? Get out of here! The sloths have 65 attack; one nut will leave you with a sliver of health," Huang Yunshuo urged.

Assassins like Chu Jun, with only forty-something or twenty-something health and equipped with the "Two-Headed Dog’s Kiss," were essentially jokes in this kind of battle. One lapse in attention and they would be dead; they were less safe than even the most ordinary assassins.