Yarra’s Adventure Notes
Chapter 1180 - 292: There’s a Mole

Chapter 1180: Chapter 292: There’s a Mole

"Click, click," light sounds rang out as the myriad of parts dancing in the air swiftly reassembled. Having missed the opportunity to build the War Barrier, Freya quickly shifted her combat strategy following Catherine’s Plan No. 3. Some components returned to her backpack, while the remaining parts combined and fell to the ground, forming a metal cheval de frise. The sharp points of the cheval tilted outwards, each spike roughly the height of an adult’s chest, looking exceptionally sharp. Below the spikes, a few dozen centimeters lower, a row of goblin crossbows were fixed, each already loaded with a bolt that reflected a faint chill under the dim light of the Great Ceremony Hall. The tough goblin-metal-made crossbows were very famous during the Third and Fourth epochs. It is said that such a crossbow could shoot through stone walls from four hundred meters away and penetrate through the body of an average Iron Rank professional. Even Bronze Rank professionals, if shot at close range, would be seriously injured, with only Upper Rank professionals who have Shields being able to forcibly defend against the shots. However, this kind of forced defense is based on the assumption that the weapon is in the hands of someone of a lower rank. If an opponent of the same rank holds the goblin crossbow enhanced with Aggression, no one would be foolish enough to test whether they could withstand it.

In fact, in the middle of the Second Epoch, as the goblins rose in power facing ancient giant beasts and newly born high-rank magical beasts, they could not guarantee their advantage even with the power of machinery. Hence, they created many strange weapons like the goblin crossbow. These weapons were later largely phased out and recycled due to the mass production and equipment of Colossi but could still be found in some ruins, albeit in relatively scarce quantities. Freya’s six goblin crossbows were found during an adventurer Guild’s exploration of a ruin eight years ago, and at the time, other adventurers did not realize that these parts were standard components of the goblin crossbow; they were simply shipped back to the City of Knowledge as typical goblin creations. It was Christo who, when brought by the Guild along with Freya to assist in identifying ancient artifacts, discovered their true nature. However, he did not reveal this and secretly informed Odin. Odin used his status to privately purchase these components. Very few people knew about this, with most informed individuals being high-ranking members of the adventurer Guild. Therefore, theoretically speaking, no one should have guessed that Freya possessed these six weapons. Now, as Freya deployed the six goblin crossbows she kept as a trump card, it was not just for combat; it might be for some form of testing as well.

As soon as the cheval de frise formed, several of Vivian’s potions had already soared over it, without even a second of delay. The crystal vials shattered in mid-air on their own, with the liquid inside scattering and turning into mist, which then dispersed into pure energy. The mist and energy gathered around the cheval and the crossbows, absorbed by their sharp edges. Soon, both the cheval and the bolts exhibited noticeable mana fluctuations, the potions enhancing their piercing ability. The already powerful goblin crossbows, now augmented with piercing properties, posed a threat to any formidable foe; perhaps even Demigods would unconsciously furrow their brows upon seeing them.

In the middle of the cheval de frise, divided into left and right sides, Catherine stood proud, holding a Magicsteel Giant Shield. The expansive shield covered not only the majority of her body but also completely blocked the entrance between the two sides of the cheval. Unless one climbed over, the only way past the young ladies’ defenses was to confront her directly. Behind the knightly girl, Ava floated in the air as if standing on solid ground, The Third Eye slightly open, gazing steadily into the air above the cheval. Any attempt to cross the cheval from the air would immediately be met with a powerful assault from her Light Techniques.

Lina still stood behind Catherine, with the spellbook flipped to the last few pages. The tail end of her nail hammer rested on the spellbook, and intense energy fluctuations were emanating from it. The situation was peculiar, as theoretically, within Danacus’s Holy Sanctuary, the powers of outsiders should be naturally suppressed to a certain degree. However, the girls hardly felt this suppressive force. Each one felt that their abilities were functioning as normal. The most notable was Lina, who, as a servant of Denia, should have been the most severely suppressed. Yet she felt almost nothing now, her powers performing just as they would in the wild. The girls didn’t know why this was the case, and of course, the situation didn’t allow them to investigate the specific reasons. Lina simply tapped the spellbook lightly, murmuring the prayers on it. As the girls prayed, a Light Curtain formed behind the caltrop barrier. This was the Divine Grace of Denia, the protection of the earth. Different from the simplified version of Holy Word: Holy Light Wall, the complete protection could block all objects from passing in one direction, absorbing any force applied to the Light Curtain. The amount of absorbed damage was directly related to the spellcaster, the higher the damage absorbed, the greater the consumption of the spellcaster’s mana. In other words, as long as the priestess girl did not exhaust her mana, the Light Curtain could exist indefinitely.

"Hmm?" Freya murmured in confusion and nodded thoughtfully, "No restraining actions? Could my thinking be wrong? It doesn’t seem like it. Tch, it would be better if Pannis were here, someone to discuss this with."

However, while she was reminiscing about Pannis, the enemy made a different move. Seemingly aware of the threat posed by the goblin crossbows, the enemy that was steadily advancing suddenly retreated swiftly to the vicinity of the Colossus. In the next moment, Freya’s eyes abruptly widened in surprise as she watched the enemy open a hidden compartment in the floor near the Colossus. When they reformed their ranks and pressed forward again, the front line had transformed into ten close-combat ghouls, each holding a Giant Tower Shield that was taller than a person, shielding all their followers behind them, effectively blocking the linear attack path of the goblin bolts. They advanced in a reverse arc shape, squeezing the girls’ defensive positions inch by inch. Clearly, Freya’s inner speculation had been confirmed. If the enemy hadn’t been aware in advance that Freya possessed goblin crossbows as a trump card, they would not have prepared these Giant Tower Shields as defensive tools. This indicated that the enemy knew the adventure team’s girls very well, at least Freya and Vivian, if not quite as much about Lina.

"Damn it, who could it be?" Freya’s fingers danced, making minute adjustments to the direction of the goblin crossbow, hoping to find an opening to shoot through. Yet her mind was racing, trying hard to determine the possible traitor’s identity. If she could figure out who it might be, she could use the unknown aspects of the situation to lay a trap and find an opportunity to break through. However, this was no easy task—the clues were too scarce for her to speculate further.

"The situation is indeed not right. Someone has leaked many of our secrets." At this moment, Catherine also considered the problem Freya was pondering and looked at the row of Tower Shields in front of her with a somewhat somber expression. In fact, since the beginning, there hadn’t been a single meaningful engagement between the two sides. Yet the knight girl felt even more exhausted than if they had truly fought. What they were engaged in was less a battle and more a small-scale campaign—an actual battlefield, a true campaign. It was as if the girl had returned to the simulated combat she had participated in while at the Knight Academy, with both sides commanding their troops, facing each other in search of an opportunity to attack. Each choice made by the commanders had to be spontaneously decided based on the opponent’s specific reactions, gradually depleting the enemy’s strength without giving them any opportunity to gain the upper hand.

However, looking at the scene, the girls were clearly at a disadvantage, not in terms of numbers—a numerical disadvantage could be compensated for with other aspects—but they fell into a tactical one. The enemy, banking on their knowledge of the girls, could predict most of their reactions, while the girls could never have foreseen this level of targeted adversity, leaving them utterly unprepared; hence, being at a tactical disadvantage was only natural.

"Moreover, the enemy’s command ability is much stronger than mine in battle," Catherine whispered. "Perhaps I can proficiently command a team in combat, but I’ve never had experience in directing a real war."

"So what do we do?" Freya also lowered her voice to ask. "We have to make some kind of response, right?"

Catherine didn’t answer immediately but silently observed the enemy. They had chosen the most standard tactics, which against an enemy fewer in number but fast, agile, and powerful, one should never rush into disorderly attacks, as that would only result in heavy casualties. Instead, the force should be concentrated in one spot, slowly squeezing the enemy’s space to move until they were restricted to one place, and then steadily move forward to eat away at the enemy. Relatively speaking, Catherine’s tactics were not wrong either; relying on the terrain to solidify a defensive position, slowly reversing the balance of power was indeed an effective tactic when outnumbered. The only surprise was that two trump cards became invalid right from the start, leading to the defense line being compromised.

The situation was now clear. If the girls could keep the enemy outside a safe range, there remained hope for victory in this war. But if they let the enemy approach the caltrops forming the defensive line, it would be very difficult for the girls to find another opportunity to establish a new position. At that point, facing a large number of enemy assaults, even if some survived, there wouldn’t be many left.

"Vivian, how much longer?" Even so, Catherine’s voice remained calm and steady like an unwavering rock, providing ample confidence to her teammates.

"Not much longer." Obviously, the girls still had an ace up their sleeves: Vivian, who had been busy since the start. The Mage girl wiped sweat from her forehead and without lifting her head said, "Just hold on a little longer."

"No problem," Catherine said with a narrowed-eye smirk. "Let’s go with Tactic No. 11 then."