I looked at the field where we would soon fight. The mercenaries decided to empty some of the carts and overturn them before filling them with dirt and stone, they will act as barricades during the battle, a group of mages was reinforcing them with spells.

It seems like this wasn't the first time that they got attacked during the journey, two days ago they were ambushed by a troop of Hobgoblins led by an Ogre. The mercenaries wiped them out but the Ogre managed to flee after sustaining heavy injuries.

The mercenaries had dipped their arrows in poison but it seems like the Ogre managed to report our position before breathing his last.

And now here we are, facing 600 hobgoblins because the poison wasn't Ogre-proof...

The elf leading the mercenaries divided those who wanted to take part in the battle in teams of three, I'll act alone as they trust my abilities as a Dungeon's soldier.

The elf will lead a team of 90 archers, they will thin the numbers of our enemies while the rest of us will sweep with our swords those who survive their arrows.

Before the battle, the elf gave us a speech, his voice carrying determination and fighting spirit.

"My name is Pan and I'm the leader of the mercenaries, I can't give you the assurance of surviving this ordeal but if there is something that I can do is reward you.

No one forced you to fight this battle, ALL of you, by your own free will, decided to put your lives on the line for the sake of your survival.

This is the courage that a true hero needs! This is the willpower that a true leader has!

My respect for you can't be more great, so as a token of my admiration the spoils which you manage to collect will be your and yours alone!"

Admiration? Respect? People always give their best when there are benefits. Pan knew their true nature so he declared that to rouse their fighting spirit.

He may have incurred the displeasure of the merchants who wanted the spoils but he didn't want his mercenary company to suffer a loss only because of the greediness of some little merchants.

...

"He knows his business, Dante did you see? That Pan really knows how to deal with people!"

Rayleigh had a praising look on his face, he was impressed by that elf's abilities.

"Teacher he's just using greed to lead them to an early death..."

Rayleigh frowned, didn't his disciple understand?

"Dante you don't understand... It's not what he said that's important, it's how he said it which truly matters and is worthy of our attention.

Let's leave this discussion for another time, now you have to get prepared, the Hobgoblins will soon enter the range of the archers."

"Yes, teacher."

Dante had a grim look on his face, even with his power as half a step Commander level it will still be a really tough battle.

"It has begun."

Dante looked up as the first volley of arrows quickly hit the enemy's first line, there was a bright red arrow among them.

A great fire was lit, as more than a hundred Hobgoblins burnt to death. The arrows fired by the archers had their shafts full of flammable liquid, which burned immediately when that flaming arrow hit the liquid.

The mercenaries should have been prepared for similar situations as they didn't stop after firing once.

Another volley was shot but this time it wasn't as effective as before as the Hobgoblin Shamans quickly put out the fire with water magic, only around twenty goblins died this time.

Pan gave the signal to change to steel arrows, he knew that this trick could only lower the pressure on them.

Another volley of arrows was fired, but as they were about to fall a deafening roar exploded out from behind the Hobgoblin's first line, stopping the arrows in mid-air.

Pan's eyes narrowed, just now he was thinking about the identity of the leader of this monsters.

He expected their leader to only be a more annoying to deal with brute, but when he heard that roar he knew that all of his predictions had been pointless.

"Who dares to use tricks in a fight with the great Doron?"

An ogre with black skin walked in front of the hobgoblins, he had a glowing purple tattoo on his chest.

The tattoo looked like a raging bull.

"Great, now we have to fight a Variant Monster with an evolved ability..."

A Variant Monster alone was already a big headache to Pan, but that evolved ability dramatically increased the danger the ogre posed to them.

If demons needed time to get used to their bloodline powers, monsters could use their evolved abilities as easily as breathing.

"It should be a vibration or telekinesis related ability, how troublesome. I'll have to go all out..."

Pan put away his bow and took out a sword which released a bloody aura, Pan's previously white hair turned blood red while the scar on his face began to drip blue blood.

In the blink of an eye, he was a hundred meters away from the ogre.

Sensing a dangerous aura, Doron turned alert. He felt a powerful slaughter aura coming off that elf, which made him tremble with excitement.

"I finally found an opponent worthy of me!"

Doron exclaimed before dashing off in Pan's direction, with every step he took the earth would ripple under his power.

Pan revealed a grin, he ran towards Doron.

But just as the two were about to clash, Pan avoided Doron's punch and continued to run.

Doron's punch was packed with the full power of his cultivation base paired with his evolved ability, because Pan had dodged it, the punch only hit the air creating powerful ripples in it.

A massive windblast swept through the battlefield, almost toppling the carts/barricades which the mercenaries had set up.

"What power!"

Pan was really impressed by Doron's punch, as he praised loudly.

"You dare dodge my punch!?"

On the other hand, Doron was furious he couldn't release many punches with that level of power or he would exhaust himself quickly.

Blinded by fury Doron charged towards Pan again, packing another punch with his full power.

But that was what Pan wanted all along!

Pan's strategy had been to move his battle with the ogre on the Hobgoblin's side so that he could deal them more damage, the ripples of their battle weren't something these lowly hobgoblins could bear. If one looked at the numbers one would see that even if the monsters had suffered great losses, they still had an advantage in terms of numbers which would lead to more casualties on the mercenary's part.

Seeing how things had developed one of the hobgoblin shamans tried to warn Doron of the elf's trap, but to no avail.

It was too late, he only managed to coordinate with the other Shamans to create a layered shield

The plan was a success, Pan's grin became even wider.

Turning his body around the elf readied himself to meet the ogre's punch.

Behind Pan, a sea of blood appeared, with a totem of a Satyr in the middle of it.

Pan's power rose to the General level.

"Fourth style: Blood rain"

A bloody ray of sword light and a punch met in mid-air, under the horrified eyes of all the spectators.

Both hobgoblins and mercenaries would have never expected to see such an intense battle.

*BOOOM*

An explosion enveloped both Pan and Doron.