Chương 31: [BL] 31. The Bright Star [3]

Taken by surprise and defenceless, the Liches should have been decimated, but the moment the human was about to bring slaughter upon them, a dark chain spun through the sky and arced toward the legionaries' formation. A blur of black filled Willow's vision as the legionary in front of her got speared through the top of his head. The chain's spear-like end impaled the crown of the man's head, exited through his occiput, and then lurched straight at Willow.

She skidded to a stop and dodged to her right, pushing Erick, who was also taken aback for a moment. The old guard spun, and electricity brimmed across his sword. He struck down on the chain, slicing it apart in one stroke. As if in pain, the rest of the chain shook and withdrew from the man's body. Willow took advantage of the brief pause and scanned the battlefield left and right, seeing that at least three legionaries had suddenly turned against them. Damn mind control.

Maxim had made it clear that anyone who fell under the Lich's control would be taken down in an instant. Three more chains killed another three legionaries, but they were nowhere near enough to stop every human. The Shamanic Lich and Ritual Lich failed to cast their magic in time as the legionaries rammed their shields toward the line of Liches, and the humans' swords lit with intense brightness like a small sun upon their palms.

At first, Willow thought it was a bright rune, but of course it was not, especially since all of them had the same spell. The brilliant spellswords carved through the Liches, slicing apart the riftborns' bodies, and an alien cry shrieked through the night as the battle truly began. Fighting not twenty paces to her right were two soldiers locked in a duel. Shields bashed against shields with a loud thump, and they tried to stab each other with their short swords.

Willow ran toward them, and Erick shouted at her to wait for him. With Feather Step, her movement sound was masked despite her being at the top of her speed. One legionary sliced through the air as the other wove under the attack and went behind. The legionary spun, and his eyes were blank white with veins creeping around his cheeks and neck. I'm sorry.

"Mark." Willow stopped and released an arrow which rebounded against the legionary's bronze chest armor, but that was enough to send him recoiling backward for the other legionary—a woman to lunge and slide her sword into his neck. The man toppled backward, blood spurting down.

"My lady! Behind me!" The woman shielded Willow with her body.

"We can't let them take control of your mind." She wanted to protest, but gave up when Erick also shielded her. They both advanced into the battle, where the Shamanic Lich and the Ritual Lich finally joined in earnest. A blast of blue frost cascaded across one point into three soldiers from their flank. They struggled to move their bodies, yet still managed to get their shields in the right direction. That, however, was not enough to keep them safe, as another Lich pointed their finger toward the soldiers.

The Gale Blast! Willow shot at the Lich, but her arrow was blasted away by frost. Too late. The blast of wind slammed straight into the legionary's neck, and the frost swept his body away into a roll, crystallizing it.

"We need to get closer!" Willow shouted over another sound of winter being cast. Multiple legionaries were trapped between the Liches' magic, and those who brought the fight close enough to another Lich had their bodies blasted by winds.

"Hold," Erick said and pointed his sword toward two lines of horsemen curving and charging right toward the Liches.

"Shit, they're moving to counter the horse. We failed to keep them busy," the woman said, and Willow saw what she was talking about. From their position, the leftmost battlefield, two Ritual Liches broke off as another two normal liches protected them by casting the cascade of frost to prevent three legionaries from reaching them.

"I'll get the horsemen to stop!" the woman about to run until Erick reached out and pulled her back by the hand.

"No need for that. Lass, can you handle that?" Willow did not answer; instead, she chose her target. The Ritual Liches are right behind the two casters… So, let's do this.

"Mark." A symbol of an arrow appeared right atop one of the Ritual Liches. She recognized this shot would mean more than her normal shot, as it would change the battlefield. Willow drew a deep breath and summoned a blue arrow. An arrow weaved from authentic Mana—the purest form of magic that brimmed like cobalt stars. Erick and the woman gave her a silent stare as she drew the blue arrow—her golden hair illuminated like a gleaming sapphire as part of her left vision shifted, blinded for a brief moment.

She released, and the bright arrow carved through the winter, sailing straight into the Lich's body, puncturing its neck in one go. It was not over. The arrow punched through, and the Ritual lich barely glanced at it before it blew apart its neck. [You grow stronger]"Mark!" The other Ritual Lich now faced her. A chilly stare from those death eyes chilled Willow to her core, despite them being meters apart.

The Lich lashed its chain handle, and it lanced right forward, about to enter the frost spell the normal lich had cast. Willow, though, had already released another Mana arrow, bringing her rune count down to three. The power of mana reached the Ritual Lich's neck before the chain was anywhere close to Willow. If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

At the very last second, however, the Ritual Lich pulled back, and its chain bunched in front of it, forming a dark shield of frost that blocked the Mana Arrow. Impact shuddered as blue light shimmered through the dark shield and sent the chain to crumble like sand. The Mana Arrow snuffed out, and the ritual Lich left without a weapon. It glared at Willow and turned to the horseman, and it had already made a mistake. One of the horses had bright white light across its hooves and thundered forward.

The lich could do nothing as Josha leaned down with his sword and carved the riftborn's head down with a swipe that ripped its skull into two as he kept charging forward into the battle. The Lich toppled, and the horseman safely made it onto the battlefield. It would be nice if I got a rune back, she thought bitterly.

"We're going in!" Erick commanded. They gathered the three legionaries they'd just saved, and with them they rushed into the battle, flanking the Lich army. Winter covered the battlefield as frost crust blew over the spaces around Willow, and crisp cold descended on everyone. A wind blast took a Legionary right on his hip, and he stumbled down.

Before the Lich finished him, Willow marked the Lich and let her arrow fly, blowing its head, but she could do nothing against the other two Liches that had cast their spell. The poor man's face tore apart, and traces of brain fell with his blood as his body collapsed. Again, the guilt of a hero blared inside of her, and a tear touched Willow's cheek. She followed her anger and released two arrows back to back, only for both of them to miss into the open glade.

I'm not good enough yet without Mark, Willow thought, biting her lip and growing angry at herself for forgetting to use Mark. Because of that, the Lich's orb shone with bright blue and blasted a cascade of frost toward a legionary who got close to them. She marked the Lich and let her arrow fly; this time she blew apart the Lich's hand, and another legionary took the Lich's neck with his spear end, killing it and lunging forward with his sword to cut apart the other Lich's chest with his glowing sword.

Hunter Mark has magical damage; otherwise, my arrow would just pass over them. She noted that and spun around when a cry rose beside her. Erick, who had been guarding her, let out a curse and sprinted past a broken crystal of ice, crunching them under his feet, and reached toward a Lich that aimed its finger at a youngster who barely raised her body; her lower body trapped underneath her dead horse body, and she let out a cry before she was silenced with a blast of wind that carved into her neck.

From Willow's position, it looked like the monster was pointing a gun at an innocent girl and executed her unfairly. Anger again rose, and she drew her bow before stopping herself, almost forgetting about Mark again.

"Agh!" She let out a frustrated growl." Mark!" She let the arrow fly, and it thunked right into the Lich's chest before Erick killed it with his electrified sword, cleaving through the Lich's body in one strike. Erick paused; his body shuddered as he looked eyes with the dead [Thief] girl. Her dark vest was drenched in her own blood. The old guard shook his head and turned to Willow, who also felt the loss of another party member.

[Hunt Party (3/4)] Hunter—Level 11 Warrior—Level 3 Thief—Level 3 Her body gripped by a sudden grief that almost made her drop her bow to the blue grass below. The existence of the battlefield was the only thing that kept her going as she forced her gaze back up, but the tears brimmed around her eyes, and everything was so blurry. Why? This bloody rune… With Dark Wind, at least she would keep going despite the death around her, but this? This burden of hero—"Watch out! Willow!" Erick screamed.

For the first time, the old guard called her name. She picked her green mantle and wiped her tears to find that the woman legionary had a spear-end chain impaling her body. Willow evaded by leaning sideways to her left as the chain whoosed through her, scratching her cheek. She let out a hiss as fiery blood slid down to her neck. That, however, at least woke her up. The chain somehow weaved up and made a circle toward Willow, intending to pierce her chest.

Willow dipped down, ducking the chain, and rolled to her right, but the chain still followed her as it rotated back again. Fine then. Willow ran, skipping the dead legionary body, and with her free hand, she bent down and picked up the woman's bronze shield. She shivered but managed to deflect the spear's end. The dark steel scraped across her bronze shield, and with a heave, Willow bashed it back. She turned and tried to go after the Lich, only to find herself holding eyes with the Shamanic Lich.

The Tier two stood within her bowshot range, and apparently it was also the range of its chain magic. The Lich pulled its chain back, and in a clattering grind, the entirety of the chain whipped back, tearing across the woman's dead body, and a sickening rip of flesh tore through the night. Its dead eyes narrowed, and its stiff lips smirked an insulting smile as it raised its staff and a small whirling of winter danced around it.

The spell pointed straight at Willow, and in response she raised her shield, not intending to contest it with her arrow. Bastard. Dread entered her as the wind blew toward the Lich's staff and the gale grew so thick she could see the dark frost starting to creep around it. Whatever it was planning, it could kill her in one move. That was what her instinct told her. A shield then joined hers. Erick gave her a simple nod and faced forward, stepping onward and shielding Willow's body with his.

"No!" She snapped, taking Erick's shoulder and trying to pull him back. The man was stubborn and would not move. He opened his mouth to say something but closed it, and a startled breath escaped him. In a move that seemed stupid to her, Erick sprinted across with his blade of lightning and charged straight at the Lich.

"Mark!" Willow screamed and chased after him, then she saw it. A horseman tried to reach the Lich. Josha, with Enzo, bolted, and they literally surged with a trace of electricity that brimmed around them, and like a rocket, he was about to ram his spear down when the Lich turned and shot a typhoon of dark frost at Josha.

The horseman maneuvered in an instant, veering to their right and narrowly dodging the catastrophic burst of disaster the Shamanic Lich shot out, which blew apart every trace of the frozen cabin in a gigantic wind gust. Multiple Lich and legionaries were caught in it, and half—half of the battlefield torn asunder. Josha rode across to Willow and Erick. He passed Erick, who continued his charge, and more and more humans poured in toward the Shamanic Lich despite the power it had shown.

They could not give it space for spell gain.

"Willow!" Josha shouted and leaned down with an open palm. She reached up and clapped Josha as the horseman whirled around again and, with a raised sword this time, charged at the Shamanic Lich. [Hunt Party (4/4)] Hunter—Level 11 Warrior—Level 3 Thief—Level 3 Rider—Level 11