I am the Arcane Archer, and all my skills are self-created.

Starshine Fortress.

Blood Wolf War Soul sat in the command room, with a defensive layout map of the entire fortress spread out on the table in front of him.

When news of the fall of Sunrise Fortress arrived, his first action was not to panic, but to reinforce the defenses.

"You've all heard about the secret passage on the west side." Blood Wolf's voice was flat, revealing no emotion. "I've had all the possible secret passages, fissures, and sewers in Starshine Fortress thoroughly searched. We found three suspicious entrances, all of which have been sealed off with boulders."

There were seven people sitting in the command room, all of whom were core members of the Blood Wolf Guild.

"Guild Master," an assassin-class lieutenant raised his hand, "Even without the secret passage, given the power of that 'Star-Burning Arrow' from 'Seeing Through the Fog,' could it blow up our city walls from a kilometer away?"

"No." Blood Wolf War Soul shook his head. "The effective range of the Burning Star Return to Ruins Arrow is fifteen meters in diameter. He has to shoot the arrow near the target. But if he wants to get close to the city wall, he has to pass through our long-range fire coverage area."

He drew a circle on the map.

"I have deployed six mobile patrol teams within a range of 500 to 1,000 meters outside the city walls. Each team consists of ten men, all of whom are thieves and archers, and are specifically responsible for reporting enemy movements."

"There was a firing position every twenty meters on the city wall, with three hundred archers and mages on duty in shifts. The city gates on the east, west, and south sides were all reinforced with iron chains, and five tons of stones were piled up behind each gate to block them."

"Is this density enough?" someone asked.

"If it were anyone else, it would be more than enough," Blood Wolf War Soul said, "but they're just looking at things from the shadows. So I made extra preparations."

He took out a stack of papers from the side.

"This is a strategy I developed based on my analysis of his attack patterns from all his previous battle videos."

Blood Wolf War Soul spread out the paper. It was covered with dense annotations.

"First, don't huddle together. The Iron Blood Alliance's downfall was because they were wiped out when they were grouped together. We all need to maintain a distance of at least five meters."

"Second, don't engage him in a direct firefight. He can teleport instantly, making him impossible to touch in close combat. However, each teleportation only covers about twenty meters and requires a landing point. If we restrict his movement in a confined space..."

"Third, apply poison." Blood Wolf War Soul picked up a small bottle containing a green liquid. "Our poison master has concocted a special poison to coat the arrows. Just one scratch will slow him down for five seconds and cause continuous damage for ten seconds. No matter how high his magic attack is, his health is only so-so."

The Blood Wolf War Souls' deployment was very meticulous.

Although he was terrified of Li Wu, being terrified didn't mean he gave up. Blood Wolf Battle Soul was the kind of person who would study his opponent even more the more he was beaten.

"There's one more thing," Blood Wolf War Soul said finally. "I obtained a batch of special items through a certain channel."

He took a flag from the box behind him.

A strange rune was embroidered on the flag.

"This is the Banner of Chaos. When used, it creates a magical interference zone within a 50-meter radius, reducing the damage of all spell attacks by 30% within this zone."

His adjutants' eyes lit up.

"30%?"

"Yes! I got eight in total, and placed them on the four city walls and at the four key intersections. The coverage area is enough to turn the entire outer perimeter of the fortress into a magic interference zone."

"His skill damage has been reduced by 30%..."

"It still hurts, but it's not an instant kill," Blood Wolf War Soul said. "As long as it's not an instant kill, as long as we can survive, our people will have a chance to fight back."

After the setup was complete, Blood Wolf War Soul had everyone take their positions.

He himself, in a wheelchair, left the command room and came to the city wall.

Looking out from the city wall, the wilderness was desolate and empty.

nobody.

But Blood Wolf Soul knew that person would come.

His fingers, gripping the armrests of the wheelchair, turned white, not from nervousness, but because he had made up his mind.

Even if we can't win today, we must make Li Wu pay the price.

Five kilometers away.

Li Wu's five-person team is moving quickly.

Chasing Wind's Eagle Eye skill had already been activated, covering a range of 400 meters in front of him.

"There's a patrol team two hundred meters ahead," Zhui Feng reported. "Ten people, six thieves and four archers, crouching behind a low hill."

"Go around it," Li Wu said.

The five men adjusted their direction and bypassed the patrol team's blind spot.

After walking about 800 meters, Zhui Feng spoke again: "Starshine Fortress is 1,000 meters ahead. There are many people on the city wall, I estimate more than 300."

"Can you see the layout of the city walls clearly?"

"Yes." Zhui Feng squinted. "The east gate is blocked, with lots of stones piled up. The west and south gates are blocked as well. The north gate is open, but there are fences and barricades behind it."

What's on the city wall?

"Archers, lots of archers, and mages too. They're spaced far apart, not huddled together." Chasing Wind paused. "Guild Leader, they're reflecting on their actions; they're not clustered together."

Li Wu nodded.

The Blood Wolf Warriors have learned their lesson.

Not clustering them together means the effectiveness of the Burning Star Return to Nothingness Arrow will be greatly reduced. A single shot might only cover three or four people, instead of thirty or forty.

"Any other discoveries?"

Zhui Feng watched for a while longer.

"Yes, there's a flag at each of the four corners of the city wall and on each side of the city gate. The flags have runes on them, but I can't make out their effects. However, the air seems to be distorted where those flags are planted."

"A magic interference flag," Hua Zitong replied. "I've seen something similar in a hidden quest before. It can reduce the damage from spell attacks within an area by about 20% to 30%."

"30%?" Mohen frowned. "Then the guild leader's attack..."

"The damage has decreased by 30%, but it's not fatal," Li Wu said. "The problem isn't whether my damage is enough, but that after they spread out, I can't clear out a large group at once."

"Then how do we fight?"

Li Wu stopped in his tracks.

He looked at the outline of Starshine Fortress.

"Sunset Fortress was a surprise attack. The Iron Blood Alliance was caught off guard. I went in through the secret passage and wiped out the command post, but the Blood Wolves were already prepared. The secret passage was blocked, the city gates were sealed, the people were scattered, and they even used magic interference."

"A direct, forceful attack?" Night Wind asked.

"No." Li Wu shook his head. "A frontal assault is the stupidest thing to do. If three hundred archers focus fire on me, even if each one only deals fifty points of damage, three hundred shots would add up to fifteen thousand. My health can't hold up."

"That……"

"Let's look at it another way." Li Wu raised his head. "Blood Wolf Battle Soul has made so many preparations, what's the core logic behind it?"

Hua Zitong answered almost reflexively: "Targeting you, all the deployments are aimed at you alone. The scattered positions are to defend against the Burning Star Return to Nothingness Arrow, the magic interference is to reduce your damage, and the sealed secret passage is to prevent you from launching a sneak attack."

"Yes," Li Wu said. "All his defenses are based on the assumption that I will personally take charge."

"Then why don't you go and fight yourself?" Zhui Feng asked.

Li Wu did not answer the question directly.

He took out his communicator and called the channel that pointed at the rose.

Where are your men?

"We're following up on the next kilometer, and we should be able to reach you in about ten minutes."

"Alright. Once we arrive, everyone should line up two kilometers north of the fortress."

"Line up?"

"Yes, line up. The bigger the formation, the better. Unfurl all the flags, make it as spectacular as possible."

He pointed his sword at the rose and remained silent for a second.

"You want the Blood Wolf Guild to see an army of 1,400 men pressing in?"

"right."

"But you know, even if I send all 1,400 men in, a head-on fight wouldn't be as fast as your fight against the Sun."

"I know," Li Wu said. "You don't need to fight, you just need to show up."

He cut off the communications.

Hua Zitong looked at him, and the corners of her mouth slowly curved up.

She got it.

"A feint attack?"

"Pretty much," Li Wu said. "All of Blood Wolf War Soul's defenses are aimed at me. So I'll let him see an army of 1,400 coming from the north, and he'll focus all his attention on the north."

"and then?"

"Then I won't go north."

Li Wu looked at Zhui Feng.

"You just said the city gate was blocked with stones?"

"Yes, a very big rock."

How big?

"Each piece weighs at least two or three tons, and they're stacked in several layers."

Li Wu nodded.

His gaze shifted to the south of Starshine Fortress.

"Night Breeze".

"exist."

"Go and search under the south wall. Don't look for secret passages, look for drainage ditches. A fortress this big must have drainage facilities. Let me know when you find it."

Night Breeze took a deep breath, his figure flashed, and he disappeared into the shadows.