Chapter 65: Five vs Twenty

Ragna took a deep breath. He calmed himself down before looking at the enemies. There were about twenty of them. Ragna and Dreg had killed a squad with more demon, but that's with the pretense that they could freely run away and employ guerilla tactic.

This time, they had to fight them head on. Ragna also wouldn't dare to do it If not for the fact he had improved his weapon and level. However, there's no such thing as a perfect scenario on a battlefield. No one could guarantee that this plan wouldn't go south at the critical moment.

Naturally, he had made ample preparations.

"Earth Wall!"

Ragna quickly cast an Earth Wall to start the fight. The Red Demons who saw it immediately thought that they were going to run away. They charged toward Ragna's group to pursue them.

Before they could get close, a huge boulder flew toward them. It crashed toward one of the charging Red Demon Warrior. Even though he didn't instantly die, his health was reduced by half.

Ragna's group didn't run. The Earth Wall was meant for baiting the Red Demons. In fact, they were already waiting in a formation behind the Earth Wall. Prince Artha was giving Ragna all of the buffs he had while his followers standing guard in case someone broke through.

Ragna looked at his status screen. Clear Mind, Enhanced Wisdom, and Boundless Mana were applied to him. All of these were high-ranked buffs that were still unknown to the players. Clear Mind and Enhanced Wisdom increased Intelligence and Wisdom stats respectively while Boundless Mana increased Ragna's mana capacity and regeneration.

Ragna was also shocked when he saw that his Boulder Smash could deal that much damage toward the Red Demon Warrior. These Demons were after all slightly above level 40. Even the current elite teams had to spend quite a time to deal that much damage.

Ragna glanced at Prince Artha who was still busy giving him the buffs. It seemed like he was more suited to become a support character such as Priest instead of a Paladin. Nevertheless, he's already satisfied with the result.

The Demon Warriors were getting nearer. About half of the overall squad were close-combatant. At this moment, they had covered about half of the starting distance. Even the ranged attackers had begun to position themselves into attacking stance. Suddenly, they felt the ground beneath them went soft. It was Quagmire.

Even though their movements were a bit obstructed, they still marched nonetheless. The burning fervor that was apparent in their eyes seemed to fuel their spirit. In fact, it was to the point of bloodlust. As if they couldn't stand living under the same heaven with humans.

Seeing that the Earth Boulder wasn't really effective against these Demons, Ragna changed his spell to Earth Spike. Because of the faster cooldown, he could cast them rapidly. Every time he saw a Demon gaining momentum, he would strike it with his Spike to halt their march. Even though the damage was only about 20% of their total health, it proved to be more effective in delaying their movement. One Demon even died from Ragna's barrage of spells.

Unfortunately, because of focusing on that particular Demon, the other Demon managed to utilize the opening to close down the gap. They were already in front of Ragna's group!

A Demon brandished his huge axe, preparing to strike Ragna. He was their utmost priority right now.

Clang!

The sound of metal clashing into each other could be heard. One of Prince Artha's elites blocked the attack before it could get through. The Demon was knocked backward from the simple exchange, showing who the one that held the advantage was. Ragna could see that even though Prince Artha and his followers were at a similar level as the Demons, they were considerably stronger than them. It was closely related to their title as an elite.

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In Maya, levels didn't really represent power. Masteries over skills, the skills itself, combat technique, class, and many other things had to be considered. Take a look at Ragna, he was still at level 27 but his power was comparable even to a Demon Leader at level 60. Even if Dreg wasn't there to help him, he could still solo kill her, albeit difficult. He was someone who beat the Sentinel after all.

Of course, everyone wasn't as monstrous as Ragna. the two knights were only able to block two Demons each, they could do nothing toward the other five.

Five Demons charged toward Ragna. Each with their own weapon. In their eyes, no matter how strong Ragna's firepower is, he's a dead meat in a close combat. Unfortunately for them, they were wrong.

BANG!

The foremost Demon was sent flying toward another Demon on his back. Perfect angle and timing, coupled with the Demon's carelessness at the last moment made it possible for Ragna to trigger a knockback effect from his Crimson Claw Strike. Without even pausing, he quickly cast the Earth Spike that he had chanted toward another Demon. With a dull sound, the Demon was also knocked backward.

Seeing their comrades being sent flying made the other two Demons hesitate. Ragna who was just a frail mage suddenly become a war god right in front of their eyes. The ferocious look in Ragna's eyes made them shiver in fear. After surviving through numerous battles and enemies, Ragna had also developed a certain amount of fierceness inside him.

Seeing that the Demons were hesitating, Ragna took the initiative and charged toward them. He nimbly dodged their sword before fiercely stabbing his own fist toward one of the Demon's throat. A fierce shriek resounded accompanied with a notice of a critical hit. Blood could be seen trickling from his throat, Ragna had managed to induce a bleeding status to him.

The other Demon was also not spared from Ragna's attack. A huge boulder was fired from a point blank distance toward his head. He was sent flying toward a tree at the same time as the system announced another critical hit.

Prince Artha and his followers couldn't help but be dumbfounded with Ragna's prowess. To think that a mage could be this strong in a close combat! A fire was ignited in Prince Artha's eyes. Before, he was ready to protect Ragna, but now he unhesitatingly used all of his support buffs toward him. He didn't spare any of his mana and poured out everything, especially the one that could boost his physical combat strength.

Light showered upon Ragna's body. He was bathed in Prince Artha's buffs. He could feel his power rising tremendously. This kind of ability was truly befitting of a hidden class, except that it was supposed to be used to buff oneself not other.

'Prince Artha... he's strange'

Ragna couldn't help but think strangely of Prince Artha. His action was unbefitting of his class. A Paladin was supposed to be leading in front while buffing his allies, but what he did was supporting his allies from the back. It was a more priest-like attitude.

Still, he couldn't complain about it. Not now, at least. The Demons had risen up and were ready to engage in another fight. They wouldn't let their guard down again this time. The battle would be considerably harder for Ragna without the element of surprise. Not to mention that he was overwhelmed by their number.

"KU RA GA!"

The Demons let out their battle cries. Their expression instantly changed to one of a ferociousness. There wasn't even a shred of fear left in their eyes.

They approached Ragna carefully, surrounding him with their encirclement. This was the true form of a squad. They had created their own understanding of each other and immediately responded with a proper plan to each and every situation.

The Demons attacked Ragna in a rhythm. Every time he showed an opening, they attacked together. There's always one or two Demons who didn't attack to cover them in case Ragna counterattacked. Ragna was helpless in this situation, neither of them could inflict considerable damage to each other. It was a stalemate.

But a stalemate was what he's hoping for.

The Demons felt something was strange. They quickly realized and looked back. To their shock, a rogue and a shaman had already fallen from their ranks. The rest of them were in a disarray, frantically throwing spells and arrows toward their concealed enemy to no avail. It was Dreg, and he's not an easy target to hit.

Ragna smirked, he quickly used this moment of surprise to break through the encirclement. By using his combo of Crimson Claw Strike and Earth Boulder, he's able to kill the Demon with the lowest health. The formation crumbled, and Ragna managed to get out.

The Demons were furious, but there were nothing that they could do. In fact, they didn't know how to respond. If they went back and help their rear, they would get bombarded with Ragna's spell. Showing one's back was never a good decision in combat. Meanwhile, if they stayed fighting like this, then their ranged attackers and shamans were doomed to be annihilated.