Chương 49: [BL] 48. Sky Battle [1]

Willow put what the Princess had said in the back of her mind as they soared across the sky. Josha joined atop his pegasus with spears and a shield in both hands. The cheers followed them as they crossed the eastern wall and made their way toward the Griffin's flocks. The Riftborns were cautious and chose to observe. The Princess hovered to a stop, high above the battlement, her [Valkyrie] armor burnished like gold by the sunlight as clouds gave way. Willow observed their forces below.

Golden soldiers summoned by Kroos and the legionaries drew their longbows, pulling the strings behind their shoulders. Willow's Steady Draw and Archer Calling had already foreseen the hail of arrows that would be unleashed when the legion alongside Kroos's archer released their bows. Her Olympyan Knights joined them; the archer drew an arrow of light, and soon the rest of the party joined, with Evan giving Elesis a fist to his chest, which the Princess returned.

"Rider, if you please?" Princess Elesis said, to Willow's confusion. She looked at Josha, who did a small bow. He pointed his spear in a straight line. That looked like what Raven did against the Wyverns, except they obviously had a completely different rune, so what was he doing… Electricity coursed through the Pegasus, which craned its neck up. The energy traveled through Josha's body and gathered right across his right arm. A look of pain passed across Josha's face as he controlled his lips.

He straightened when the electricity passed through his spear. A loud boom made Willow's ears ring in an instant. She shut her eyes, and a sizzling sound followed. When she opened her eyes again, one griffin plunged with a brimming sizzle. Part of its body—its chest—billowed out smoke. Half the flock, those closest to it, soared down to grab the injured Griffin with their talons. It was not enough to kill it, but…

"Now!" the Princess commanded. In a burst that left an angry afterwind, Elesis became a blinding golden figure and surged forward like a zip of light. Before Willow could even comprehend what had happened, the Princess was among the Griffin's flock. Her spear pierced one eagle-head, pulled, then with cruel precision, pierced another. The rest of the Griffins turned in time to see two of them die with an empty hole across their heads.

With an angry screech, talons descended upon Elesis as the Riftborns bared their wings. Willow did not intend to let Elesis do all the work. She flew forward, flying after the Princess along with Josha and the Pegasus, both of whom easily overtook her. Ahead, the Princess hovered upward, dodging the Griffins' charge and causing them to bump into each other, their talons scratching as they collided. Some managed to decelerate in time and darted upward toward the princess.

Willow caught the red fur along their bodies, marking them different from those whose fur was brown like normal birds. Three of them glided up and swooped over toward Elesis, who had to spin her spear and parry one talon that almost carved through her neck. The [Valkyrie] gripped her bronze spear with both hands to defend herself as another Griffin lunged at her with its beak. Elesis hovered backward and swung the shaft upward, smashing it against the underside of the Griffin's neck.

Beside Willow, Josha and his Pegasus shot another bolt of lightning, this time right into the flock that tried to join the battle. The attack crackled through five of them. Some dodged and changed their target to Josha and Willow. [Griffin—Level 17] [Griffin—Level 18]"Mark!" She drifted backward, nocking her Cold Arrow and drawing it. She loosed one. The arrow streaked through the sky, a gleaming shard of ice cutting through the air, and landed right on one Griffin's under neck.

The impact sent a small shudder followed by a tiny explosion. Blood dripped as the Griffin's wings went limp, sending it plummeting to its death.

"More coming!" Josha warned. She clicked her tongue, worried about Elesis. The Griffin the Princess engaged with was probably tier-two. She was taking on three tier-twos by herself because Josha and Willow had no way to help. The Princess's class was probably an Ascendant class, so Willow expected her to last for a bit, but how long? Ten Griffins snarled at them and then descended upon them. Josha unleashed another lightning bolt, but this time the Griffins spread apart, and the spell only hit one of them.

The others came from different altitudes. Willow's eyes glanced downward then upward—both positioned and distributed evenly, four and five each, making her unsure which to focus on.

"Mark." She briefly toyed with the idea of using her Hunter's Constellation, but decided against it. She and the Pegasus hovered backward to dodge the inevitable upcoming flank. Willow had to aim awkwardly upward and release. Her first arrow missed, but her second shot hit a Griffin in the head, exploding its eyeball, and the creature was downed. Willow could not relish the kill, as she marked another Griffin and released again.

She hissed as her cold arrow missed and shot into the sky, just as the creature tucked its wings and dove toward her.

"Retreat!" Josha shouted. The Thunder Pegasus's horn burst with electricity, and it split the energy for two purposes: one was to shoot right at the diving Griffins, zapping one in an overwhelming burst that left it completely charred and black; the other was to reinforce magic to its wings as it turned and was about to explode into speed. Willow reached for the Pegasus.

Just when she was about to grab Josha's saddle, a blur overtook the world, and her side was hurting from the pressure, like someone had just clawed at her side. In panic, Willow tried to flap her wings for balance as she found herself falling. Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. She reoriented herself for a couple of seconds to find the Princess right above her. Sweat ran down Elesis's brunette-red hair, and the light around the princess dimmed.

Josha made it over the wall and stopped right beside Willow. In unison, strings snapped with a loud crack that made her think the air itself was breaking. A hail of arrows curved down from the sky like an arcing dark rain. Willow quickly flew upward next to the two flying class holders and witnessed a scene of carnage as the Griffins tried to charge at them, but an overwhelming rain of arrows slammed into them, piercing their bodies.

Not just from their previous direction, but all four walls were now busy—the Riftborn crossed over—those who survived the hail of arrows. And to Willow's horror, there were plenty. Behind, Wyverns descended with their gleaming scales. They let out a burst of flames down the battlements. A blue aegis of the [Guard] class appeared and spread the flames apart.

The Ballistas above each tower and the main castle roof snapped in unison, and tall bolts pierced through the Wyverns' scales, drowning the creatures in a roar of pain. It was still not enough, however, as Wyverns and Griffins still made it right inside the castle airspace. Willow drew a sharp breath. [You're inside the lord's castle] [+20% Strength]"Mark!" [Sunbound Griffin—Level 25] [Redscale Wyverns—Level 27] Tier-twos. A Griffin spread its wings, thrusting forth its talons.

In a diving sweep, the Riftborn clawed through two legionaries' stomachs—carrying them upward. Willow briskly shot an arrow, only for it to miss. The poor legionaries. Both men had already died; their bodies slammed against the fortress' interior wall and broke their necks as they fell to the earth below, where ground troops awaited. The marked Griffin barely dodged a bolt as it ascended upward. Willow did not plan to let it go; she followed it, drawing another arrow and releasing it again.

This time the Griffin caught the cold arrow with its talon, snapping it as its claw clamped down. She took a second to glance around; the Princess and Josha each occupied, dodging attacks across the skies either from Wyverns' fireballs or Griffins that tried to carve them with their talons. Across all walls, more and more tier-two entered. Some forced Willow to split their attention. She quickly snapped an arrow at her marked Griffin, which it easily dodged, and the eagle-horse swooped down on her.

She plunged downward, folding her wings inward. Near her, Josha and Elesis did the same. Beneath, the ground troops craned their bows up. They prepared golden ballistas on a wooden platform, enabling them to aim upward. In a consecutive snap, arrows and bolts launched upward. Most of the Riftborns managed to dodge, but nearly half weren't so lucky, losing their ability to fly and plummeting toward the ground.

Willow landed, summoned a Mana Arrow, tucked her wings, and joined everyone in aiming up—her eyes focused on the falling Griffin, which she had marked. She lowered her aim and let the blue arrow soar in a cutting bluish zip that caught the Griffin's underbelly. The Mana Arrow dug to the tier-two, but instead of blowing apart, it spun through the Riftborn's body. Willow drew another Mana Arrow and released it again. Her arrow darted between soldiers, skewering the Griffin's head right as it craned upward in pain.

[You Grow Stronger] [You reach the next tier] [Level—21 will be unattainable unless the Hunter chooses one evolution presented… [Light Bound Long-archer] [Eyeless Assassin] [Auric Huntress] [Start Ascension] [Yes/No] So this is how it usually goes." Josha! I got it!" Willow shouted. Across the ground, the Princess pinned a Wyvern's neck against the castle wall, directly above several legionaries whose charred armor emitted black smoke that drifted upward. Josha was behind her, guarding the princess's back. Ten legionnaires surrounded a wyvern. Two spears were lodged in its left wing, and when it tried to fly, it only managed to lift off for a moment before pathetically crashing down on its head. Josha didn't miss his chance. The Pegasus unfurled its wings and burst forward in a zip, with Josha above it skewering the Wyvern's side with a spear, making the creature shriek before a coarse electricity crackled across its body, and it died down. [Rider—Level 20]"I got it," Josha said, as if not believing it." I can ascend!"" Go! Go, you fool!" One legionary took the Pegasus bridle, and Josha hopped off. He ran toward Willow." I'll be back, Nora!" he shouted back at the Pegasus, who snorted in response. He and Willow ran right into the castle entrance—a huge double gate that had been opened for them with ten legionnaires guarding it. They burst into the hall that had been made into a temporary healing room where the most injured were being tended. Willow passed by lines of beds filled with patients, and healers were busy running around, bringing buckets filled with water to change clothes so they could prevent the Imp's curse, which apparently had been spreading. Eyes naturally followed them all the way to the hall's corner where spiraling stairs rose. Willow opened her wings and burst up, leaving Josha's behind. If she did not hurry, then more people would die. She beat her wings and hovered on the second floor, where a red carpet led directly into the open throne room. Kroos, still reading his book, gazed up at her, and a smirk adorned his face. He stood, and from the dais, the Count made an extravagant bow toward her." Congratulations are in order, Bright One," the Count said, smiling, closing his book and putting it atop his throne. He descended toward the lower floor where chunks of mana Crystal sprawled all over—six mages had been prepared, including the cultist who gained Willow's glare as she stepped inside. Those two did not seem to mind, though; instead, they were ecstatic." Why don't both of you help outside? Both of you were tier-two."" An important question! Thank you for asking us, Oh, Bright One," the woman nearly cried." Truly, what an honor…" the man echoed. Maybe I should get them to kneel with heads on the carpet now." They are here because, right after your class upgrade, we'll go all out," Kroos said with both hands behind his back." In a burst of power, we will overwhelm every tier-two outside. It's needed. I can sense more coming, my lady. Even tier-threes are now observing us."" What? Tier-three?"" Indeed, I suspect the battle will last till sundown. That's why we'll make a single, concentrated effort to sneak the Princess out. And I'd rather do it while you're in Tier Two of your Bright Rune."" My Lord!" Josha burst into the throne room." There are two of our party who are already positioned on the ground and joining the kill for the pinned tier-two. They should soon—""Ah, the witch and Ragna's son. Yes, I suspect they will ascend too, thanks to your Hunt Party's shared experience, my lady. Do not worry, we have prepared an imbuement for the legionary—a mass-produced Veteran armor. As for the witch, unfortunately we will not have any—but she shall have a safe space to ascend. Now, the two of you lie down. Close your eyes and go ascend to Tier-twos. When you wake, we will fight till night."