Lord of the Magical Beasts

Chapter 84: Bag Array Formation

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

The cave of the Evil Eyes was narrow at the entrance but wide inside, roughly triangular in shape. Marvellously, there was a circular arc-shaped mud wall fifty steps away from the entrance, presumably a defensive mechanism for the wild Evil Eyes.

The mud wall was sturdy and at the perfect height for the Evil Eyes to duck behind and avoid the long-range attacks of their enemies. Standing up, the Evil Eyes could then observe the situation before them. If there was a large number of Evil Eyes here, the enemies would not be able to charge into the cave no matter how powerful they were.

Yang Ling praised his good luck after understanding the terrain within the cave. If not for his Evil Eye army quickly occupying the high vantage points and killing the high level wild Evil Eyes responsible for commanding the rest of the Evil Eyes, even he might not have had an easy time attacking this cave.

After ordering the Evil Eye Tyrant to instruct its Evil Eye army to set up an ambush behind the mud wall, Yang Ling had a thought as he saw the triangular shaped area in the cave and the two hundred red-haired tarantulas protecting him. He recalled the famous “bag array formation” used in ambushes as well as a few historical anecdotes he had read about while he was bored in college.

The bag array formation, as its name implied, required one to set up an ambush. After luring the enemy into the ambush, friendly forces would charge out from three other directions and launch a surprise attack on the enemies who were caught off guard, thus blocking all routes that the enemy could use to escape.

There had been a prolific use of this strategy in China during the Revolutionary War.

On July 2nd, 1935, the Twenty-fifth Red Army rushed to the Goukou Village in Shanyang County, then set up ambushes in the mountains around the area, completely annihilating the first wave of enemies that were chasing behind them. They achieved a great victory, injuring over 300 of the enemy forces and capturing more than 1400 people as prisoners. They also confiscated 40 heavy artillery units and more than 1600 rifles.

While it was important that there was a successful ambush, it was also important that they had enough firepower. Otherwise, if the enemy launched their full offensive capabilities to break the formation, it would only backfire and result in a disastrous outcome!

After the attack on Pearl Harbor during World War II, the American army started advancing toward the main island of Japan. Along the way, the two were tied in the battle for critical islands. In some areas, the battles even resembled tug-of-war’s.

Many times, the American army would set up ambushes after gaining control of an island to deal with the attacking Japanese army. Unfortunately, because their firepower was too scattered, they were not only unable to severely damage the enemy, the anxious Japanese army broke apart the formation of the Americans, causing their strategy to turn against them.

Absorbing the lessons taught in history, Yang Ling was prepared to assign a large number of troops in the middle of the mud wall and calmly command the actions of his Magical Beast army.

He left the Horned Bee Beasts to fend off the Gargoyles, then recalled the Withered Tree Warriors before gradually pulling back the spider army led by the Tarantula King. He commanded the spiders to retreat while getting into an ambush formation along the walls of the caves. He wanted to wait for the large group of Gargoyles to take the bait before allowing the spiders to suddenly skitter out from underground to block their path of retreat.

After a large portion of the spiders retreated, the Horned Bee Beasts also started falling back in batches under Yang Ling’s command. They pretended to be unable to fend off the enemy, luring a bunch of relentless Gargoyles into the area of the ambush little by little.

After their heavy casualties, the Gargoyles swarmed in relentlessly when they saw their enemies suffering defeat. As level four Magical Beasts, which were in the mid to low range, their individual battle abilities were far superior to the level two Horned Bee Beasts and tarantulas. If not for the cave being easy to defend and hard to attack, if not for the combined defenses of the Horned Bee Beasts and spiders, the Gargoyles would have broken into the cave long ago.

In their frenzy, the Gargoyles unleashed their bestial instincts, losing the caution and calm that they should have had. They were completely oblivious to the fact that they had just entered a land of death. Without the obstruction of the Horned Bee Beasts and spider army, they charged into the cave in the blink of an eye. A preliminary observation would place their numbers at around a thousand.

Thirty steps, twenty-five steps, twenty steps…

Looking at the horde of approaching Gargoyles, Yang Ling’s palms were covered in sweat. He decided to wait a moment longer after clenching his teeth. He could have held on longer before taking a stand, but now that he had committed, he had to defeat them all.

The number of Gargoyles sieging him was massive, their attacks powerful. If he were to recall his Magical Beast army and run away on the high level Unicorn without battling, he might not be able to make it out of the cave. If he instructed the Magical Beast army to forcefully surround the Gargoyles, his Magical Beast army would suffer heavy casualties even if he was lucky enough to make it out. Since that was the case, he might as well take the gamble.

A giant gamble, this is a truly giant gamble!

He had placed all his hopes on the Evil Eye army led by the Evil Eye Tyrant for this battle. If the ambushing Evil Eyes could defeat the elites of the enemy, if the troops in the forefront could hold up against the enemy’s powerful attacks, the surrounding spider army and Horned Bee Beasts would be able to kill off a large portion of the Gargoyles with a surprise attack. This was the only way he could fully display the effectiveness of the bag array formation.

Failure is not an option!

Seeing the approaching Gargoyles, Yang Ling quickly placed his various Wizard Amulets before him. He was taking out all of his treasures for this battle. He had wanted to use the many Wizard Amulets he had created to deal with Steve’s Black Armor Guards. He hadn’t expected to find a use for them today.

In a large scale battle, the effects of powerful Wizard Amulets like the Palm Lightning and Sky Blasting Cannon would definitely be decent. Yang Ling also believed that Wizard Amulets that launched attacks on the mental level like the Dolphin Sonar would also act as a surprising interference to the enemy forces.

When the Gargoyles were just ten steps away from him, just as they accelerated once again and were preparing to attack, Yang Ling gave the order to attack.

In that instant, under the command of the Evil Eye Tyrant, all of the prepared Evil Eyes floated. After launching a wave of blinding light, a concentrated rain of light bullets fell onto the Gargoyles charging forward, mercilessly finishing off the frontline of the enemy.

Caught off guard, all of the Gargoyles charging forward fell for the trap, involuntarily closing their aching eyes and being hit by the focused rain of light bullets. Seeing the unfavorable situation, the creatures at the back decided to accelerate once again in an attempt to charge forward before the Evil Eyes could launch their third wave of attacks.

Even though they had evolved to the third level, there was still a cooldown period between the attacks of the Evil Eyes. Even though the Withered Tree Warriors were covered with a hardy tree armor and had powerful attacks, they were too slow and could not block the speedy enemy forces. The Horned Bee Beasts and spider army were good in both offense and defense, but unfortunately, it was not time for them to strike. Some of the Gargoyles were still outside the bag array formation.

The situation was dire. The outcome would be disastrous if Yang Ling could not stop this attack!

At the critical moment, Yang Ling and the Unicorn struck.

Yang Ling threw out powerful Wizard Amulets like the Palm Lightning and Sky Lightning Cannon as if they were free, causing waves of explosions. They crashed into the charging Gargoyles as though they were grenades.

The Palm Lightning caused the Gargoyles suffering, but the Dolphin Sonar displayed some unexpected effects. After a sharp soundwave, the attacking Gargoyles all let out pathetic wails. It was as if their brains had been hit fiercely by a large steel hammer. Some of them stopped in their tracks, some crashed into their surroundings, some even fell to the ground.

Yang Ling’s attacks were powerful, but they were nothing compared to the Unicorn’s. After a roar, the level eight Magical Beast instantly released thick bolts of snake-shaped lightning, forming a physical, charged net of electricity in the blink of an eye. All the Gargoyles within the net of electricity got burned to crisps by the electricity and fell to the ground like rain.

One man and one beast. The instant explosive firepower caught the enemies off guard, forcefully fending off the first wave of their attacks.

Roar!

After suffering from the powerful attacks of Yang Ling and the Unicorn, the Gargoyles who were attacking to the front changed their direction, preparing to attack to the right where the defense was weak. If they were to engage in direct battle, the slow Evil Eyes with weak defensive capabilities would definitely suffer heavy casualties.

Fast, the Gargoyles were too fast!

The enemy changed their direction suddenly and shifted their focus to attacking the right flank. Even the Unicorn would be unable to reinforce them in time, much less Yang Ling. The outcome would be disastrous if the Evil Eyes’ line of defense was to be broken.

At the critical moment, the Evil Eye Tyrant stepped forward and launched a continuous barrage of light bullets after letting out a roar. Shockingly, the light bullets it shot out would split from one to two, then two to four, four to eight… They divided continuously as they rained down on the speedy Gargoyles.

Napalm bombs?

Yang Ling was pleasantly surprised when he saw the Evil Eye Tyrant’s powerful ability. His efforts had finally paid off. If this Evil Eye Tyrant was not able to unleash anything powerful, then it would not have been worth it to spend such a large amount of Essence Crystals, Wizard Power, and life force on developing him.

The light missiles that had been split apart were not only immensely powerful, they also had paralyzing effects. When hit, the Gargoyles would even have trouble breathing, and they fell helplessly onto the ground, unable to attack.

Reacting to the situation, the Gargoyles began to change course continuously, trying to escape the light bullets of the Evil Eye Tyrant using their impeccable flying techniques and high speed. But another surprise happened.

After a violent roar, bolts of red light shot out from the Evil Eye Tyrant’s lone eye. Within the radius of the red light, the napalm bombs began to change their trajectory automatically, pursuing the dodging Gargoyles with blinding speed.

Seriously? Guided missiles?

Yang Ling was shocked once again. He had not expected the Evil Eye Tyrant to possess such a terrifying ability. It looked like the Evil Eye Tyrant had undergone an unimaginable transformation after consuming such a large amount of Essence Crystals, Wizard Power, and life force. Barring anything else, it was at least more powerful than the level four Tarantula King.

After repelling the attack of the Gargoyles, the Evil Eye Tyrant became pale. The rate at which it fired out its light bullets became slower, and even its body that was suspended in the air seemed like it was about to fall. Despite the creature’s power, it looked like the napalm bombs and automatic tracking ability had exhausted a large amount of Magical Energy and mental strength.

Even though the Evil Eye Tyrant had only launched one wave of attacks, it was more than enough to buy the Evil Eyes precious time. The Gargoyles once again suffered a heavy setback following the attacks of the Evil Eye army.

Moths to a flame, seeking their own deaths!

Seeing that the time was almost right, Yang Ling ordered the Horned Bee Beasts and spider army who were waiting in ambush to come out, blocking the enemy’s path of retreat. Under the combined attacks of the Magical Beast army on land and in the air, under their heavy encirclement, it was basically over for the Gargoyles that had charged into the ambush.