Chương 30: [BL] 30. the Bright Star [2]

Name: Willow [Hunter] Class: [Hunter—Level 9] Outfit: [Huntress Garb] Rune: [Bright 5/8] Attribute: [3 Strength, 9 Dexterity, 2 Vitality, 3 Constitution, 6 Sense, 2 Arcanic] [8 Bright Runes] [+100% Dexterity] Spell: [Mana Bow] [3] [Mana Arrow] [1] [Hunter's Constellation] [3] Enhancer: [Grand Hunt](2) [Archer's Instinct] [Steady Draw] [Hunter's Mark II] [Feather Step] [Feather Step]—allows the Hunter to reduce her step sound while retaining her speed. Grants 2 Dexterity.

[Hunter's Mark II]—Against a marked target, the huntress will gain a further +50% Dexterity, Strength, and Sense. Target's Dexterity will decrease 20% while Target's Sense will increase 10%. Grant 2 Bright Runes, 2 Sense, 2 Dexterity. Hm? The Hunter's Mark would make her target's Sense stronger? She noticed the stares the legionaries gave her; one of them even had a slack jaw open, but for now her concern was this new upgrade of Hunter's Mark.

As a whole, it got better and would directly attack her target's attribute while increasing her own by a lot. Maybe her hunt target getting an enhanced Sense made sense? Bright Rune was not exactly the rune of a sneaky assassin… Still though, it looked like her [Hunter] class still kept its core identity by giving her this Feather Step, which would offset this enhanced sense of her target. And finally, the Hunter's Constellation. An attack that creates an arrow born of a trail of light to follow her main arrow.

Seven star arrows to be exact. It's so costly though. This class did not exactly have the best Rune pool. A resounding clap made her flinch. All four of the surviving legionaries had fisted their breastplates and gave her a small bow. Around them, Shera's mist blew away, and the battle was still ongoing. A tremor reverberated through the ground and swished the pool that now bled red thanks to the Imp's body. A gust of wind swirled, followed by a loud clang of steel.

Every time the tier-three fighters traded blows, the forest shuddered, leaves fell from their branches, and the wind twirled in excitement. The woman swung a cruel downward strike, and the man with drenched red armour skidded his legs and blocked with both axe and sword. Willow's hair tossed upward, and she staggered a back-step alongside Shera, who found herself captivated by the fight.

"Well?" Willow looked at the legionary.

"Situation!" One of them stepped forward and answered with a loud voice.

"Fifty-man commander-champion Drey led us, my lady. We were tasked to handle or scout the Imp's rift and held back the surge of riftborn to ease pressure upon the main army while they closed the other five rifts. We also served as a distraction for the Bright Imperial Princess's entourage, which was still hidden and under harassment by the kobolds and imps. After a fight, Vice Commander Leynah's mind was taken away by a Ritual lich."

They went into a crouch as another wind pressure bore down on them, and Jaquin raised his shield to protect Willow from it.

"I assume there's some detachment going after this Lich then?" Jaquin asked.

"Yes, our unit's objective is to protect our commander by keeping these Imps away, but Leynah's mind control remains active. We must wait until our attack force lifts the source of such vile magic. Willow clicked her tongue. That sounded like the enemy had destroyed their attack force. Did they even still stand a chance now?

"Well, what will you do now?" Willow asked. She glanced around. Scattered fights were still happening all over: in the pool, between trees, and across busy foliage with jutting tendrils of the forest and the dense leaves worked in the favour of the imps. Their giggles played around the forest, and Willow probably would have a nightmare when she went to sleep later.

"You shouldn't be here, my lady!" Another legionary said, leaning forward and pressing his hands down like he was about to commit dogeza to Willow.

"We will escort you to our camp. Please let us handle the matter here—""And get her trapped with the other imperial?" Shera almost snapped. His fellow legionary pulled his shoulder and gave Willow a judging look.

"If you're what I think you are, then you should not risk yourself… But we need you. Our victory condition in this fight is to get Leynah's mind back. Drey will soon fall to her; he has only survived so far by being defensive. Even if we purge the Imp's rift, it will not be enough, as none of us stood a chance against a tier-three. But we still have to make sure no Imps can get near Drey."

"Then it's better for us to find this Lich," Willow said.

"We still have to make sure no imps come close to them," the legionary reminded her.

"I think Shera can free up some soldiers," Willow recommended, raising her brow at Shera, who nodded thoughtfully.

"Yes, I can use my mist to cover your commander, and he will find defending much easier with both of them forced to fight with reduced vision."

"That will not last long," the legionary muttered.

"But it will buy us enough time. Very well, let's do it. Vius! You stay with her, protect her!" Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

"Yes, sir!" A legionary followed Shera, who trudged across the bloodied pool and to the edge of the land where the Tier three fought upon. Shera glanced back and gave Willow a raised fist. She returned the gesture, and mist rolled out of Shera's body again, slowly engulfing the tier threes. The plan was not perfect—the exchange of steel produced winds that shook Shera's mist. We're on a time crunch.

"Let's go!" Willow spurred them.

"We're going to gather as many soldiers—""No, my lady," the legionary said.

"We're going to go straight toward where the lich was last sighted and only save legionaries on our path." She did not argue with that, as that made sense. The Legionary led them, and they scampered around the pool's edge. Shera's mist still struggled to cover the two fighting tier threes, but the imp at the same time was too hesitant to go in. Willow marked and fired her arrow as they saved three legionaries who struggled against six imps.

Their unit was of seven at first, and their bodies still shaken from the fight, but when the legionary Willow brought gave them order and put a hand on their shoulder—they straightened, offered no complaint, then join them in their advance whilst leaving another one to guard Shera. They entered the dense treeline, leaving the small, separated island behind. Erick's squad arrived, and with them, they brought only ten legionaries, while Willow's marched with two dozen.

In a matter of seconds, the legionaries appointed someone named Maxus as their commander. He led the front line with his appointed vice commander. Willow just noticed they suddenly had a band of thirty-nine soldiers if she included herself. She held her bow and approached Erick with Jaquin, reuniting the Sheran's force again. She cursed when the busy forest opened into a long, stretching glade of blue.

The sky was clear, and bright stars cut across in a trail of light, casting their brilliance down to a lonesome cabin, right in the middle of the expansive glade surrounded by circles of watching trees where Willow and the soldiers crawled. Around the Cabin was a statue of gleaming blue crystals, and the familiar magic of the lich frosted the surrounding ground. They're here.

An angry murmur spread among the soldiers as the [Scout] confirmed that the large crystals actually contained frozen soldiers, all killed by the Liches.

"What's with that cabin?" Willow whispered to Erick.

"A family used to live there," the old man said, unsheathing his sword and leaning up against a tree's trunk.

"Stubborn folks, but not stubborn enough to ignore sense. They're now inside Sheran."

"Looks like a big house for a family, Master Erick," Maxim commented.

"They're a family of twelve. The father built the house himself and is a damn good carpenter."

"No need to wait further then," Maxim decided. He stepped out of the huddled trees and onto the expansive glade that sloped down like a small hill.

"Shield!" Wet boots plopped against the earth, and the legionaries formed a disciplined shield wall. They did not bother with two lines since they wanted to march. The advance started, and Willow followed briskly behind them with an arrow nocked. As they came closer, she started to doubt everything. A tier two. They would fight a tier two, and she did not have her [Wind Mage] class.

"Get ready to break," Maxim ordered. The man looked mad as he stood, walked right in front of the shieldwall, and lifted his sword high, acting like a conductor. When they had crossed halfway, a sound of horses neighing caught her attention, along with Erick and the other Sheran folk.

"They're here!" one guard cheered. Josha and Enzo arrived with some legionaries riding horses. After seeing them, the horseman marched—they split into two—left and right for each flank. Her confidence soared, and she brimmed with excitement. This was a proper army marching. The dark, lonely cabin basked under the shooting starlight, banishing its dark woods colour. Below, the soft blue hue of the grass lit its cobblestone foundation, where a small step led to a porch.

At first, it was a mere blur of frost creeping over the cabin window. Then, bright blue frost encased the entire cabin as an explosion of sapphire light flashed inside. Once, then twice, and the window broke apart with a loud chime. The cabin's body followed shortly, breaking somehow in silence like a frictionless explosion that spread winter around it as a crust of frost fell down out of cold vapor that swirled like a wispy tendril of a ghost hand.

Cold expanded through the glade, and numbness bit Willow's face, spreading through her body. If Willow were in her [Wind Mage] class, the Dark Wind would get her excited for the upcoming fight; if she were in her [Guard] class, then the Fireflies Rune would terrify her for her comrade. But now? Her Rune of Heroes recognised the need for her to kill those creatures. Twenty Liches appeared with their pale bodies. Six of which differed from the hovering Liches; they stood on two legs. Half held a chain around them.

The chain raised up like a snake and slithered around the Liches' bodies, lifting their cloaks and peeking right beside the lich's bald, frost-laden head; their twin held a staff that looked familiar to Willow. How could she forget? The rituals were still clear in her mind. The last one held both styles: magic and chain. On one hand, it held a staff topped with blue orbs of frost, whilst the other held a razor-chain that rose above its head.

[Shamanic Lich—Level 25] [Ritual lich—Level 18] [Ritual lich—Level 19] [Ritual lich—Level 18] [Ritual lich—Level 18] [Ritual lich—Level 19]"We need everyone," Maxim shouted, not stopping the Shieldwall.

"You! Go get one horseman to gather more people here! Go!" One legionary ran and waved his hand at the horsemen who rode back into the dense tree formation. This meant Willow's party would be called to fight as well. She could sense them hiding within the trees.

"Keep marching!"

"We're not stopping?" Willow whispered to Erick and followed the shield walls.

"They have defensive spells against the frost, I guess?"

"No lass, their class main Rune is not Aegis type like us Guards. Their runes tend to be the Might Runes. Their evolution goes from Legionary, Veteran, to Champion. The pride of the empire…" [Guard] class sounded much better to Willow… especially under this situation.

"Wait, Might rune? Does that mean they will just—""Charge! Son and daughters of Empire!" Maxim bellowed, and the legionaries took the cries up. The surrounding grass pushed apart at their cries, and the sky grew hazy as the sound amplified twice over, making Willow have to drop her arrow and cover her ears. [War fever called upon!] [+50% Strength to the Legion!] [War Haste called upon!] [+70% Dexterity to the Legion!] The Soldier in their haze of bloodlust charged across, breaking the shieldwall, and their scream accompanied them. There was an intent forced upon Willow, an intent that boiled her blood and—"We're part of the Legionary! So we got their buff," Erick explained as they sprinted after the Legionaries. [Lich shook in fear! -10% Strength. -10% Strength] [Ritual Lich resisted Fear!] [Shamanic Lich resisted Fear!] The fear effect worked almost like a miracle, making the Liches who had aimed their orbs at the humans lower them, and that was a mistake, as the war fever descended on them and the human furies hit the rift-born. [The Star of War watching.] [+ 50% Strength to all Legionaries!]