Chương 52: [BL] 51. Sky Battle [3]

What's with her? Willow stared at Shera and Rom's backs as they entered the castle gate. That cry was really random. Well, whatever it was, it could wait. For now, she looked upward; through the rain, Tier-two Griffins and Wyverns tore through the sky, clawing their way across the battlement tops, where poor legionaries had little choice but to hop.

The Golden soldiers tried to sacrifice themselves, and it worked for a bit until the Tier-twos figured out that they would respawn, so the Riftborn targeted the men of flesh instead. As for the Tier-ones, some did get in, but most were kept out by the archers and a small cohort of mages who took a tower for themselves. Willow flew into the sky, her back unfurled, six wings gleaming with red radiance. In a flap, she zoomed up high.

Leaving a gust of wind in her wake, she soared right to where the Princess had been fighting. The [Valkyrie] had been too busy to notice her as five Tier-two were still chasing her across the sky. One Griffin, perhaps with a higher sense compared to others, turned and screeched at Willow. It brandished its claws and was about to flap its wings to counter her—too late. She beat her wings upward, hovering, and in one motion Willow trailed her finger down." Marks." An arrow symbol appeared right above three griffins.

Willow drew her Auric Arrow—an arrow of light that burned with an intense ember the longer she drew it, and when she pulled it farther, it glowed like melting gold. The Wyvern opened its beak, and a gathering fireball began to build, but it was too slow. She released first. Her arrow streaked across the distance and carved right into the Griffin's neck. Its fireball sputtered weakly upward as its head craned sideways, a hole blown through the lower left of its neck.

From the wound, a pinprick of light shone, and Willow tapped into it. She clenched a fist, and a starlight shot like a razor—a small arrow burst right into the other Griffin she had marked, hitting it square in the shoulder. Not quite killing it since it was a Tier-two, but the Princess saw a chance to switch to attack. She repositioned her spear and stretched it, barely thrusting it right onto the Griffin's throat. The creature went into a nosedive downward.

[You grow stronger] [Spell] [Auric Arrow (2)] An upgrade to the Auric Arrow. Willow had talked over her class with Kroos about what the Guidance Spirit had intended to tell her when she observed the Auric Huntress. [A perfect Huntress will not let any method of hunting be. She will master them, whether it's Efficient Magic, Swordsmanship, or Archery.]" I see." The Count scratched the bottom of his chin, deep in thought.

"My Lady, the Bright Rune is known as the Instinct Rune of heroes. One could also call it the Rune of adaptability—for the burden of heroes is heavy, and it only rewards those who adapt quickly to their new world; otherwise, they get taken advantage of. I think you're wise to pick this class over the other two. Although I still prefer the Long-archer slightly better—but yes. If I were to give you advice…

When you're a Tier-one, every level up is far easier, and how often you will learn new spells or enhancers depends on your class—still, most learn them on Tier-one—but those are the days of foundation. Now, when you reach Tier-two? This is the time to strengthen yourself. To upgrade your spells to a higher tier. You will rarely get new spells, but your class—the Auric Huntress seems to be an exception. It's a true class of adaptability, wanting to take weapon arts and a new way of hunting.

Your elf ears even give you enormous access to runes as well." The lord opened one palm and the other." The path of magic and martial, a class tends to only err on one, but not you. Don't hesitate to try new things, my lady. I think your class will reward you well for it." She took that advice to heart as she floated up. A light thread spun on her right hand as she let go of her bow and arrow. Princess Elesis, now noticing her, brought her fight downward where more soldiers had streamed in.

The ground filled with golden soldiers, including Willow's Olympya. The two Griffins and one Wyvern must be too distracted in the fight, for they tried to hover at the last second, flapping their wings desperately, but their attempt met with a hail of upward arrows coming at them like blanket volleys. The Tier-twos have different methods to deal with them. The Griffins fired a scythe of winds, then swung it down to blow the surrounding arrows, and the Wyvern merely let its scales do the work.

However, the Wyvern was not so lucky, as three ballista bolts hit it square across its chest. Seeing the chance, Willow pounced." Marks." Above the Wyvern and Griffin, arrow marks were born. One Griffin craned its head up to see her, only for its neck to be looped by her Sun Thread. With a tug, the thread tightened, and the griffin cried out, clawing at it, only scratching its own chest. The other Griffin beside it flew upward, shooting for her as it tucked its wings, but Willow did not intend to meet it.

Instead, with the light thread as her trajectory, she plunged, skipping the other Griffin. The world churned as her speed increased. The Griffin, unable to reach the thread, gave up and focused on her instead. She, however, was far too fast, and she crashed into the Griffin's belly, smashing the creature right into the fortress wall behind it. It let out a pitiful screech as its body recoiled. When it went down, falling, Willow let it go. She let go of her thread.

She unsheathed the sword Kroos had given her and plunged downward. The Griffin barely stood when Willow flapped her wings, killing her momentum, and sliced down its neck to its chest. It billowed and pecked at her, a move she tried to parry but failed as it was so fast. Willow winced when the beak pierced her shoulder. The pain cut through her mind, but then her elf ear twitched, and golden light glowed right into the wound, healing it. Stolen novel; please report.

Attempting to claw its talons upward, the Griffin jumped and scythed its legs up. Willow drifted backward, sword held two-handed. When the riftborn attack passed, she flexed her wings and lunged forward with her sword, lancing through the Griffin's belly. The creature let out a roar as it twitched. Its voice screeched in Willow's elf ears, and she almost let go of her sword.

Her enhanced hearing doubled the Griffin's cries of pain, making Willow scream as well and rake her sword sideways, carving through the red fur of the Riftborn and leaving a trail of deep wounds. When her sword was out, Willow saw it try to peck at her, but it was too weak. She tucked her wings and beat them again. In a burst, she swept her sword and sliced its throat. The Riftborn collapsed sideways, blood joining the pool of water forming on the corner of the battlement wall.

[You Grow Stronger] [Enhancer] [Swordsmanship]—The Auric Huntress prides herself on her hunt. Enhance swordsmanship training for the Auric Huntress. A training enhancer? She bit her lip in frustration for a bit at that. She thought her class would just give her the knowledge of how to use a weapon from the get-go, like how she used her wings. Did I choose the wrong class? I could've focused on archery with the Long-archer. Also, with Leynah and Becks, I have plenty of protection.

Not to mention, I can switch to a Guard class for close combat. This Enhancer at least would work for other classes as well. Her guard class would love this one. She would think about her choice later; for now. Willow folded her wings inward, resting them. She turned to see the courtyard now brimming with golden soldiers. This castle was bigger than the castle Kroos summoned before; perhaps two to three thousand golden soldiers were here? With this kind of power, couldn't Kroos defeat a rift entirely on his own?

Willow had wondered why the hell even Kroos and Elesis bothered to sneak out of the main army if he could do this. The old man'd seemed quite frustrated during their dinner, even openly taking shots at the Princess. There must be something that had happened.

"Willow!" Leynah chose her two-handed great sword instead of the slim silvery-white one, perhaps to deal with the Wyverns' scales. But that sword, despite how grim it looked, was not what drew Willow's attention. Her mouth gaped in surprise. Above Leynah's head were two fluffy rabbit ears. Almost without thinking, she reached for them, but Leynah caught her wrist with a raised eyebrow.

"Hello to you too," Leynah mumbled, then with her left hand she reached and unfairly pinched Willow's elf ear lightly.

"Huh. What is this?"

"Looks like an elf ear," Drey said behind Leynah with crossed arms.

"Someone decided to go back to our roots, eh?"

"Your class has some sort of efficient rune control, then? Good, that kind of Spell or Enhancer is rare."

"She got a wing, too."

"Yes, Drey, I can see that." Willow snapped to attention and shook her head to get Leynah's hands off.

"What does that even do?" She pointed to the rabbit's ears.

"Enhanced hearing. The lord told me to scout for upcoming tier-three. Which is why I wouldn't be able to help you with the princess." Leynah reached down and rolled up her trouser legs. Two pairs of elongated hind limbs with soft white Fur stretched, making Leynah taller. Not just that, her human skin became slightly furry.

"Close your mouth, girl, that's rude," Drey remarked.

"You're so cool." Leynah blushed a bit and stared at Willow.

"Back then, against the Devil, I'm not sure I could leave you alone with Becks," Leynah said as she hopped up and down. Her springs were higher than even Drey's height.

"But with this guy here, I can leave you to him."

"I can't fly around," Becks warned her.

"Just do your best. I'll be going, Willow; don't faint when I'm gone." Leynah waved and hopped in a great leap to the fortress wall. Planting her legs, she jumped onto the castle, then reversed and surged toward the top of the fortress.

"Adorable, isn't she?" Drey asked.

"She could just walk out normally through the gate, but no, she showed off." Willow found herself nodding until a voice cut into her brain. Ah, can you hear me, my lady?

"Kroos?" Willow looked around. Yes, it's me, speaking directly to your brain. Oh, thank you for summoning your summoned mage, my lady; he's quite helpful. Willow glanced toward the east wall. With the Princess doing her final preparations to break off toward the main army, Josha was the only one currently fighting in the sky, or he should've been until a flying mage, brimmed with a golden cloak, flew with him. A cube of gold spun just above his finger, and he saw one fireball streaking at him.

The Olympya Magus swished his hand. As if following his command, the fireball became a thin line of fire and converged on the cube, where it consumed it and bore a green fireball, which the Magus sent back at the Wyvern straight at its head. It cried out, but still managed to hover backward, shaking off its own spell. [Olympya Magus—level 23] I have applied my banner to the princess. She is ready. The plan is for us to send a detachment comprising our strongest to pretend to cut through the Riftborns.

Then the Princess shall escape while they're occupied. Should the princess manage to break away, the detachment force will return to the castle, and we will take air superiority here. Willow nodded along.

"Kroos, why did you send Leynah to scout? We need all tier-three we have." There's something concerning I found, my lady. This is the Apocalypse Cycle; we deal with more than one or two Riftborns. Having a strong scout is necessary even for a small army like ours. It still seemed a bit overboard, but well, the Count probably knew better than she did.

"Alright, before that, can you draw attention to me? I want to expand my party." Oh? Of course, with pleasure. Kroos did not hold back. A banner three times higher than Willow's height rose behind her. A golden radiance shone through the flag as it waved around. Willow opened her right palm, and eleven orbs of light shone like small orbs. She lifted them, and they hung, swaying upward. [Grand Hunt III] [8/8] → [Divine Hunt IV] [9/20] [The Auric Huntress looking for her Hunt Party Member!] [The Auric Huntress seeks those who are about to cross to Tier-two!] [Hunt Party 9/20] [Level limit: 23] [Hunt Party 9/20] [Auric Huntress—Level 23] [Olympya Executioner—Level 23] [Olympya Archer—Level 23] [Olympya Magus—Level 23] [Lancer—Level 21] [Veteran—Level 20] [Frost Witch—Level 19] [Squire—Level 14] [Grimoire Wizard—Level 12]