Lord: I Grind EXP with Warband Panel

"All squads! Report! Are you calibrated?" Marin commanded.

Normally, the Foxman Archers fired in a sequence, with one squad after another shooting in rotation.

Especially in this situation, where the enemy had little room to move, there was no need to widen the attack front.

The volley of a thousand arrows just now was purely for calibration. After all, in the dead of night, no one knew where their arrows would land.

"Goring reporting. No issues."

"Mag reporting. No issues..."

"Omar..."

A stream of reports confirming calibration came from behind him. Marin nodded and looked toward the fortress walls, a flicker of anticipation rising in his heart.

Although the Fox Race wasn’t particularly famous within the Beastman Empire...

Marin’s unit was different. As members of the Snow Mountain Fox Clan, they hailed from the northern forests. Legend had it that the Snow Mountain Fox Clan’s origins might have a deep connection to the elves.

Of course, a legend was just a legend.

But every member of the Snow Mountain Fox Clan did possess exceptional perception, which made it easy for them to produce Mages or Divine Archers. In this respect, they were no different from elves.

Even though only a thousand of the Foxmen behind Marin belonged to the Snow Mountain Fox Clan, they were still a force not to be underestimated.

’As long as these Foxman Archers can suppress the enemy on the walls, and a steady stream of Kobolds can scale them, the enemy will lose their geographical advantage. We can simply wear them down.’

At this thought, Marin’s mood lightened considerably. After dealing with these humans for so long, it was finally his turn to make a move!

"Tell the first squad to prepare..."

BANG!

Just as Marin was about to order his troops to attack, the sound of a Magic Crystal Cannon suddenly rang out.

For a split second, Marin froze.

’A Magic Crystal Cannon? But it’s night! And the moon isn’t even bright...’

Although Marin’s Foxman Archers were close to the fortress walls, they were still five hundred meters away.

They could shoot arrows from such a distance entirely thanks to the natural talent of the Snow Mountain Fox Clan. Like elves, they had powerful arms, excellent eyesight, and superb reflexes.

Furthermore, there weren’t many races in the entire Beastman Empire skilled in archery. The bows they held could be considered the best standard-issue bows in the whole Empire.

BOOM!

A Magic Crystal Cannon shell exploded with pinpoint accuracy right in the middle of Marin’s formation.

"Ah! A Magic Crystal Cannon! They can see us!"

"A Magic Crystal Cannon! Why? Our arrows can’t reach the cannon!"

"Don’t panic! Don’t panic! Hold the line! Hold the line!"

Faced with the threat of the Magic Crystal Cannon, the soldiers reacted in different ways, but ultimately, the unit lived up to its elite reputation.

Even with a Magic Crystal Cannon eyeing them like a tiger from hundreds of meters away, the entire force still maintained basic order.

"Sir! What do we do now?"

"Sir? General?"

Marin’s aide-de-camp asked anxiously.

’But the Magic Crystal Cannon... Why?’

Marin still hadn’t recovered from the shock of the cannon blast.

’Is there some race that’s a perfect match for the Magic Crystal Cannon? Able to fire shells even in the dead of night?’

Marin’s line of thinking wasn’t wrong. Conventionally, Magic Crystal Cannons were operated by ordinary people. After all, the things had no operational threshold—anyone could use them after learning how. Why waste precious Extraordinary resources on them?

But he never would have imagined that on the opposing side, there just so happened to be a commander with a peculiar fondness for the Magic Crystal Cannon.

Before Marin could react, three more Magic Crystal Cannons fired.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

The Magic Crystal Cannons erupted with a blue brilliance. As the Energy Balls dissipated their power, they looked like a beautiful meteor shower.

But Marin’s mood was anything but beautiful, because this meteor shower was heading straight for him!

When the cannon shells landed, three more earth-shattering explosions followed.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Unsurprisingly, all of them landed with precision in the Foxman Soldiers’ formation.

The area in front of Qimo Fortress was a narrow gorge. To achieve a more saturated strike, Marin had deployed all of his best assets.

Thousands of Archers were all crammed into this pass. A single Magic Crystal Energy Ball instantly vaporized more than a hundred of Marin’s men.

"Fall back! Fall back!" Marin was in a daze, unsure of what to do.

"General, what about the Kobolds? Should we have them retreat?" the aide-de-camp asked.

The aide-de-camp’s words seemed to flip a switch in Marin, and he suddenly snapped back to his senses.

"No! We can’t retreat! Notify them! Send in the elite Gnolls!

"I want to see this settled tonight!" Marin, regaining his composure, commanded his aide-de-camp.

’Based on the range of a Magic Crystal Cannon, they can hit us from several kilometers away. What’s the point of retreating?’

’This pass isn’t short. If I retreat, what awaits me will be an endless bombardment.’

’Prince Kase just ordered the attack, and I’ve already suffered such a huge loss.’

’When I report these losses, my career as a general will probably be over.’

’That Centaur doesn’t care. A loss is just a loss to him. He has his older brother to protect him afterward, but I, Marin, don’t have that luxury.’

’In the entire Snow Mountain Fox Clan, the most powerful person is my own father, but at best, he’s just an advisor to a Prince. And I have more than a dozen brothers...’

"Yes, General!"

The elite quality of Marin’s troops began to show. Even under cannon fire, they continued to operate in an orderly manner, relentlessly pressuring the humans on the walls.

Unfortunately, in the face of cannons, even Gold must give way.

Robson’s flawless technique with the Magic Crystal Cannon gave him an unparalleled reloading speed. In no time, the next shot was on its way.

The Energy Ball launched from the Magic Crystal Cannon sped toward Marin’s army, exploding on the ground and clearing out a dense crowd.

The other three Magic Crystal Cannon Teams, while not as fast as Robson, were still at the fourth-tier proficiency level and didn’t fall far behind.

Soon, the reports of three Magic Crystal Cannons rang out almost simultaneously. They fired their Energy Balls in unison, their target the exact spot Robson had just hit.

The Magic Crystal Cannon seemed to possess some annihilating property. A single blast would instantly vaporize a group of people with intense heat, then the contracting energy would cause the Energy Ball to explode again, dealing secondary damage.

Marin’s face was as black as thunder. If before he could have claimed their accuracy was a lucky shot, he was now absolutely certain the enemy Magic Crystal Gunners knew exactly what they were aiming at.

The enemy was deliberately targeting the densest areas, causing nearly two to three hundred casualties with each volley!

’Who could possibly withstand this?!’

’It’s that main cannon!’ Marin quickly identified the root of the problem. ’Those last three Magic Crystal Cannons were clearly following the lead of that main one!’

"Tell Flaun! Focus the attack on the east, on that Magic Crystal Cannon Platform! Take it down at any cost! And do it fast!"

Marin ordered the messenger, pointing in Robson’s direction.

Having seen the truth, a glimmer of hope rekindled in Marin’s heart. ’As long as I can silence those Magic Crystal Cannons! I still have a chance!’

’I still have the advantage in numbers! I haven’t lost yet!’