“Black-eyed Demons are social creatures…”
Upon hearing these words from Lin Feng, Rocky couldn’t help but furrow his brow, aware even he knew how terrifying it could be once the demons reached a certain number.
After that, Lin Feng continued:
“Initially, Backhill Village could still fend off the demon attacks on its own. Although mining always attracted the Black-eyed Demons, their numbers were not too great, at most about ten, and we could defend ourselves with the village’s high walls.”
“But starting half a year ago, for some unknown reason, the number of Black-eyed Demons suddenly increased. We were overwhelmed unprepared and our walls were breached, with catastrophic losses. The same thing happened last quarter during mining, with the number of Dark Demons increasing dramatically, and the walls were breached again.”
“The continuous breaching of the walls over several months led to severe casualties in the village. Originally, we had over two thousand villagers and six to seven hundred soldiers to protect the village, but now…”
At this point, Lin Feng sighed helplessly, the village having suffered repeated breaches by the demons. Now, only a little over a thousand villagers remained and the number of soldiers had drastically decreased from the original six to seven hundred to now barely two hundred. The extent of the casualties was indescribable.
His words caused Rocky, Liliya, and Monte to exchange heavy glances.
It appeared that this mission was as difficult as they had anticipated and certainly not something that could be easily accomplished.
Fortunately, prior to this, Rocky and his group had already assessed the risks of the mission, so although their mood was heavy, they were not frightened by it.
Afterward, Lin Feng introduced the situation of Backhill Village to them. With the village repeatedly breached by the demons, its strength had significantly weakened, which was why they had requested Rocky’s help. Even so, the village still had two hundred soldiers.
Among these two hundred, there were one hundred warriors, with an average strength around the Second Level. Lin Feng, serving as the captain, was the highest ranked – the only Level Six Warrior in the village, even a level higher than Monte!
Besides Lin Feng’s hundred warriors, Backhill Village also had fifty archers and fifty mages, who comprised the remote forces.
From these arrangements, it was clear that although the village did not have a large number of soldiers, its overall strength was still quite formidable, even stronger than Thunderhawk City if one discounted the Skyship.
“Commander Rocky, how many from your Mercenary Group can participate in direct combat?”
“A hundred.”
“I see…”
Rocky’s answer made Lin Feng nod, not surprised since Rocky had brought a hundred eighty people. However, due to the Skyship, quite a few were tasked with piloting, so having a hundred people available for combat was already significant.
Thus, counting the soldiers from Backhill Village, both sides together had three hundred troops ready for combat against the demons, including two hundred warriors, fifty archers, and fifty mages.
Calculated this way, even combined, the forces were not very large and normally would be insufficient to contend with the demons. However, Backhill Village had a unique geographical advantage and, with the high walls providing a blockade, this gave them a significant strategic benefit, making the battle relatively easier.
Also, one must not forget the ten Skyships brought by Rocky!
These ten Skyships were crucial in the fight, especially when facing large numbers of demons. The wide-area bombardment from the Magic Cannons could effectively reduce the number of demons.
“Regarding the Skyships, I have two questions.”
When the topic turned to Skyships, Liliya, who had been mostly silent, spoke up. She glanced at Lin Feng, “Where exactly will the Skyships be docked? They are currently outside the village, but obviously, they can’t stay out there indefinitely, as they would be prime targets for the demons. However, I don’t see any space within the village to dock them.”
Liliya’s question was indeed sharp, as Rocky and the others had indeed arrived in Backhill Village and had found places to live, but ten skyships were still parked outside the village!
Since the skyships were an important combat force, they couldn’t always be parked outside. Just beyond Backhill Village was a vast wasteland, where the skyships would become the primary targets if demons appeared.
“This…”
Faced with her question, Lin Feng also furrowed his brow; he indeed hadn’t considered this, simply because he had never expected Rocky to bring so many skyships, and naturally, he hadn’t prepared a docking space for them.
“Here’s an idea.” After furrowing his brow in thought for a while, Lin Feng finally spoke, “There’s an open space on the mountainside. When we trade with the Chamber of Commerce from Sky City, they park their skyships there. The area is quite large, large enough for ten skyships, but with this arrangement, it would significantly slow the skyships’ speed to come to our aid…”
Although he had thought of a suitable place for the skyships to dock, the location was relatively far from Backhill Village, making the skyships’ involvement in battles much slower.
However, this was unavoidable. It was better to have the skyships parked further away than to have them targeted by demons just outside the village.
“The second issue is that the mana of the skyships is limited; they can’t support every battle, so please, Captain Lin Feng, prepare yourself mentally for this.”
After addressing where to dock the skyships, Liliya raised a second issue: although the skyships were an important combat force, they couldn’t rely solely on them for every battle since their mana was finite.
Liliya had realized that Lin Feng’s cordiality and satisfaction were largely because they had brought ten skyships.
This was understandable, as in any battle against demons, the role of skyships was always secondary to that of the Void Magic Squad but far surpassed that of ordinary soldiers, so Lin Feng’s interest in these ten skyships was expected.
But Liliya had to remind him that these ten skyships couldn’t be deployed in every battle to bombard; their mana was ultimately limited, and once depleted, they’d be no more than useless scrap. So, while they could rely on skyships, they could not be dependent on them.
“I understand.”
In response to Liliya’s caution, Lin Feng directly said, “The skyships are our most precious asset this time, I will not use them indiscriminately; rest assured on that point.”
“Moreover, if the skyships are damaged in battle, Backhill Village can take responsibility and provide compensation. I can assure this. However, I also hope Commander Rocky won’t be stingy.”
Glancing at Liliya, Lin Feng then addressed Rocky, claiming that Backhill Village could bear and compensate for any loss to the skyships in battle, but Rocky should not be parsimonious with his skyships and must not hesitate to commit them when crucial.
“That’s not a problem.”
Rocky naturally agreed to this request.
With that, everyone had a general understanding of each other’s situation, and then they began discussing the specific details of the defense.
“Commander Rocky, I suggest we take turns defending.”
When it came to the specifics of defense, Lin Feng was the first to make a suggestion.
“I suggest that our forces take turns defending Backhill Village. I will lead the soldiers in defending for one day, then you lead the Mercenary Group the next day. This way, we can jointly alleviate the pressure on both parties.”
“Of course, when one party is defending, the other must also be on alert, ready to support if something goes wrong. If the number of attacking demons is too great, then we move out together. Do you think this is acceptable?”