Chương 32: [BL] 32. The Bright Star [4]

[Predator's defiance]—in the face of a stronger predator, a hunter must not lose her wits, for strength is not the only thing that decides who gets hunted. Grant an extra 20% Sense against higher-level opponents. Grant 1 Strength, 1 Bright Rune. [Quick feet]—As the target evolves and develops a way to escape, the Hunter too must adapt. Increase Hunter's dexterity by 10% when the Hunter narrows her target to one. Grant 2 Dexterity.

Even though her rune count rose by one, she still hesitated to use it all against the Shamanic Lich. Only if necessary, she decided. The marked Shamanic Lich's eyes locked onto her despite being surrounded by humans. Willow drew an arrow and released it in quick succession. The Lich's gaze left her as he tapped his staff down, and it let out a small swirl of dark wind; its other hand lashed its whip, and the chain rose as if it had just got a conscience of its own.

Willow's arrow blocked in a lash; the dark chain smashed apart the projectile and carried downward toward Josha and Enzo, who both outran the chain. Behind them, a minor tremor of earth shook, but that did not stop Enzo. The armoured horse galloped right toward the Lich, who moved its chain again, curving down half of it toward Josha. The horseman leaned down, hugging Enzo's neck, and they galloped past the Lich's defense.

Josha swung his sword; the arc of his blade came awkwardly as he had just repositioned, so the Lich merely needed to sidestep it, but the moment it did, an arrow came flying right onto its head. In a smooth turn, the Lich blocked Willow's arrow, breaking it apart with a sideway staff swing. The riftborn brought it down to summon another tornado in time, spilling dark gusts toward five charging Legionaries. With frost still crusting and slowing their bodies, the hungry wind mercilessly tore them apart.

Not even their screams made it out as the whirlwind shrieked across in a raging tempest. When the Lich finished, their bodies were in pieces. Willow's gaze stopped at the crater where blue grasses did not even sway into it, due to them being shredded apart into nothing. Then she looked at the Lich that was about to touch its staff butt-end down again to let out a small swirl of dark wind. Does it need to release some of the magic's residue before it can be used again?

With Steady Draw, Willow shot an arrow just above the staff. The Lich responded by using it to deflect the projectile. A brief anger passed over the pale face of the Lich, and now the humans had arrived. One of the Sheran's [Guard] challenged the Lich first. Erick swung his electrified sword that blazed across the night in a haphazard purple streak. The Lich, knowing full well how weak it was to magic, of course dodged it in an uncharacteristic shuffle of feet.

Erick's first slice just passed through the wind, but the old man sailed forward for the second strike, where the Lich had to recall its chain back and form a knotted gathering of chain to block the sword. The chain flew toward Erick while keeping the knot. At First, it was about to spear the old man's head, which made Erick raise his sword in defence, and in the last second it whirled around Erick's lightning sword and wrenched it away from his grip.

Like a scorpion's tail, it raised and threw the sword into a group of Legionaries behind Erick. The three of them raised their shields, blocking Erick's sword. The Lich saw its chance and uncoiled its chain to attack, but Willow did not let it. She kept firing. Her quiver ran dangerously low, but she did not care for now. Seeing two arrows streaking, the Lich again let out a frustrated scowl and swung its chain, commanding it to lash around to block Willow's arrow. The bastard was very watchful of magic.

The Horsemen raced toward the Lich, but they hesitated as they saw the coiling spectral chain spin around it as a whirling tornado, blocking any spear thrown by the legionaries, and Willow's arrow made no headway. Her hand stopped when she was about to take another arrow from her quiver. Six left? Inside the swirling chain, the Lich did not stay idle as it made enough space, enlarging its typhoon of darkness just so it had enough room to aim its staff.

A pressurised wind shot out from the staff's curling top and blew up one of the legionary's shields. The poor man was still dealing with the recoil until an instant later another focused wind took his neck like a laser and he toppled backward. Thanks to her Hunter's Mark, Willow saw the Lich had to reduce its spinning chain's speed to apply an attack.

She crouched down, hands on the bluegrass, and scurried toward the line of Legionaries who held their shieldwall and could do nothing but throw their spears, only to have them shredded apart upon contact with the chains. Feather Step killed her sound, and one legionary straight up yelped when she arrived behind them." My lady! Why are you so close—"" I think I can see the gap between the chains," Willow mumbled, hand idly on a woman's shoulder as she leaned close.

Her Hunter Mark might have given the Lich an extra sense, but perhaps that could benefit her. There was too much going on the battlefield, especially around the Shamanic Lich. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. The Horsemen were encircling it, waiting for its magic to die down. The line of shieldwall was throwing spears at it, and the line of guards was ready to pounce." My lady, please do not advance further and stay behind us," a familiar [Legionary] said.

[Veteran—Level 20]" Maxim," Willow nodded at him.

"Congratulations on reaching tier two." The man's lips under his bronze helmet curved into a smile, and he glanced at her while still holding his shield." You honour me. Soon, the Shaman Lich shall lose its runes, so please do not worry, my lady." [Your Hunt is successful] [Five Ritual Lich slain] [Reward: Winter Quiver] [You grow stronger] Light gathered by Willow's hip belt and beside her normal quiver, another one of cold blue sleek design like one of those Viking horn-glass appeared.

[Winter Quiver (Tier 1)] [Enchantment] [Frosted Kiss]—Winter Quiver shall feed an imbuement of frost onto any arrow put into the Winter Quiver. The Ritual Liches dead? Willow took a quick scan around, and the fighting had died down. More and more legionaries and horsemen had been freed from the fighting and made their way to the middle of the glade, where the typhoon of chain was still going strong.

The Lich kept shooting his focused wind magic and lanced it through a horse, and killed the horseman in quick succession. It did not seem like its rune was going to tick to zero any time soon. More death followed—another horseman." Shouldn't you call them off?" Willow asked." No, the reason the Lich is keeping up that chain is that the horses are its biggest threat. But yes, perhaps we should not stay idle," Maxim said, shifting his shield to peek forward. In a whisper he then said: "I'm a tier two as well now.

I shall take responsibility." Maxim left his position." Wait!" one legionary locked behind the shieldwall reached forward.

"Maxim!" The Mark prickled Willow, and she stiffened when she saw through the whirlwind of chain that the Lich's gaze settled on Maxim. Its staff moved and aimed. Shit, shit. Willow was still in the middle of moving her arrows toward her new quiver when suddenly Maxim's glowed with familiar bright light. Soft illumination prattled away his bronze armor, transforming it into an armor made of grey steel. Conjoined plates of ugly metal protected his chest down to his legs, but dark leather barely covered his limbs.

At first glance, it looked like a downgrade, but then Maxim exploded into motion. He pulled his left shoulder back and punched his bronze shield. The Gale shot of the Lich skidded across and deflected upward in one burst of cyclone that sent Willow's hair fluttering." Follow me! Don't charge in front of me!" Maxim bellowed the order.

"Keep those shields tight, you hear me!" The Legionaries locked their shields and advanced with Willow tucked just behind a woman, marching along with them. She glanced at her arrows, their shafts slowly taken by the blue frost, which at first made Willow think maybe she had just made a mistake. She tried to touch it, and while it was cold, she could still hold it long enough to draw it. So she did, nocking the arrow to her bowstring, and it was slippery.

She wished she had time to stay still and figure this out, but there was no such leisure in the battle. Maxim, under constant attack from the Lich, kept advancing. His shield was breaking, yet the tier-two marched still. Aware of the danger it faced, the Lich reduced the intensity of its chain whirlwind and sent it hurtling towards Maxim. Willow did not intend to let that go unpunished. She stood straight and let loose an icy arrow that sliced through the sky, a gleaming blur that reflected the bright stars above.

And Willow smiled when the Lich once again prioritized defending against her arrow, slamming the curling chain down to deflect it in a fast whip. That allowed Maxim to surge forward, and not just him; the horseman pounced at the opening, and from every direction the Shamanic Lich only found enemies.

After lowering its guard, the Lich let out a dark swirl of wind off its staff and built that typhoon dark frost again; this time it did not charge it much and fired it at Maxim, who braced his shield and centered his balance. Willow ducked under the shieldwall of the Legionaries, and the afterwind of the Lich spell hit them. She gritted her teeth as frost crawled around her neck, and the air grew cold. Breathing the cold air made her throat flare as if it had been cut.

The spell luckily went away as fast as it came. Willow stood again with a nocked arrow, and her shoulder shook at the sight. Focus. She told herself, drew the cold arrow against her cheek, and fired it, letting it soar up and above Maxim's corpse, which the dark chain had impaled. Then, from the corpse–he twitched—Maxim moved, not dead yet. He grabbed the chain that went through his chest and pulled it taut. The cold arrow slammed straight into the Lich's hip and carved deep.

Willow waited for the explosion, but none came. Not high enough Arcanery! She cursed. The Lich slammed the butt of its staff down and leaned on it, firing a crystal of ice and splitting into multiple shrapnels, and it spread out, lancing toward unarmored horses. Some dropped, and some whinnied up, throwing off the horsemen down, but one pair did not let the attack bother them. Enzo kept charging, letting his barding do most of the work—but the horse's body still bled as cuts of shrapnel tore the horse's skin off.

Above, Josha spurred Enzo forward, and together they were about to reach the Shamanic Lich. Willow did not hesitate and summoned the golden arrow. Hunter's Constellation shone like a star just breathed to life by Willow's fingertip. The Bright Rune's gleaming radiance banished the afterstorm of the Lich's spell. For her vision alone, seven young stars waited anxiously, excited, and they whispered to each other, eagerly waiting for her to release the bright arrow. And she did.

The traces of stars were born into golden arrows, and they arced through the sky, following the first arrow's path guided by Willow's mark toward the Shamanic Lich. The Lich whirled and slammed the first arrow away, then spun again to face Josha, somehow deflecting the [Rider]'s downstroke, but that left it trembling and with no more tricks to pull as seven arrows of light pierced it.