Chapter 69: Heavy injuries
As soon as three blue arcane arrows flew to the sky, it attracted the attention of every ranger. Sena's eye immediately was on the arrows and she located the direction, confirming it was shot by the middle group. Afterward, Sena carried her weapons along and checked herself, nodding at the rest of her group who were responsible for the next mission.
According to the plan, Sena was responsible for holding one of the three quasi-legends while 100 women beside her were also for one and another one would be the target of dragonhawk rider's group. More than 10 riders would swarm in to combat one Quasi-Legend; Sena even prayed for the troll as she knew what her allies were.
Lireesa who was soaring in the air also noticed the three arrows and set her eyes on the middle group unit. She saw this group firing concuss shots and separating higher-level powerhouses from lower tiers; then, the entire formation retreated methodically and disappeared from her sight as they went under thick trees. She nodded her head as the whole situation was still under their grasp.
Splitting up these powerhouses was to easily contain them without disturbances from cannon fodders. Lireesa could even see many high-level trolls had fallen under severe rain of arrows because they stood out from the crowd. If they were in the crowd, the target wouldn't be so obvious. Perhaps some realized their dire state, they moved back to blend in with the crowd and easily fended off the deadly arrows.
Since the middle group encountered three Quasi-legends, Legend's appearance in this area became unlikely even though the probability still existed. Lireesa's quick conjecture, if she were the troll, was to have a superior attack in two directions. One was concentrated in the middle. The other if Legend powerhouse was present would likely be at either flank. Should one succeed, it could turn around and help the other, flanking from the side or flanking from the middle. Either way, their plan was already obvious in Lireesa's eyes, causing her cautiousness to heighten and her attention on two groups on the flank.
She patrolled around the air while dozens of riders like her massed to the middle group and descended to attack their chosen quasi-legends. The rest of the dragonhawk rider remained in the sky to serve as overwatch to secure elven flanks. Her eyes became serious as every second passed by in order to instantly spot the Legend from the horde.
On the ground, as Sena and her group were rushing to the targets, the middle group was fleeing from chasing Quasi-Legends. Since their levels were higher than Windrunners', the distance between them got closer as time passed. One of the rangers who was at the most end of the line was the closest. Although 50 meters away, her heart trembled from premonition as if she was within the grasp of the enemy.
Sure enough, when her eyes looked back, she saw one of them waving a stick at her and instantly her vision changed as if she became smaller. A croak came out of her mouth and she realized her body had transformed into a green frog. Even in the transformed state, she jumped with her hind legs to further distance herself from the attacker and gain more time to save herself.
Strength was everything; before she was the predator hunting trolls under her arrows and now in the face of Quasi-Legend, she quickly became a prey. Her heart lumped from the throat as her movement speed slowed down and she knew she could be slaughtered easily. Perhaps her anxious croaking alarmed her comrades, the other two rangers who were around her quickly noticed her predicament and came to the rescue.
They were initially dumbfounded the last ranger disappeared and after scrutinizing the big frog out of nowhere leaping toward them, while feeling its anxious croaks, they recognized it was one of their sisters caused by voodoo magic from the troll witch.
The two quickly drew their bowstrings with two arrows on them and released them on the suspected witch. They didn't hesitate to consume their mana, wasting arcane arrows on the quasi-legend troll. It bought them some time to approach the poor frog for one of them to carry it on the back while another covered the retreat firing arrow after arrow.
However, before they could even move, the two rangers felt their legs tightened and wrapped by slimy objects. Glancing downward, their mouths couldn't help but swear at the disgusting elongated eel-like black rope, sprouting from the ground and entangling their feet. Now, dread was all over their mind as they were immobile and at the mercy of the troll.
But they would never give up until the last moment and the two had no choice releasing as many arrows as they could while trying to override the slimy sensation under their feet. They tried not to think too much. All of these seemed to be slow but happened within 7 or more seconds and the frog returned back to a prince or a princess after the spell duration.
Just when they were in despair, arrows whizzed from behind and struck at the black ropes that entrapped them. An explosion sounded afterward in front of the witch, dust and leaves flying around, blocking their sight. The three of them were now free and lamented their luck in surviving a crisis.
"You girls go and regroup with the rest. Leave this bastard in front to me." A voice interrupted their thoughts and the girls turned their heads and discovered Sena rushed past them.
The rangers nodded in compliance and replied, "Yes, Captain."
The three trotted away and one of them said, "You disgusting punk, you should treat us two for a big meal. We risked our lives saving you."
"Yeah, Anna. You know you turning into a filthy frog; how much psychological impact we had to break in order to pick you up. And our skins are still slimy. I'm even nauseating as we speak." Another voiced out in agreement and even showed signs of vomiting to exaggerate the event.
Anna was helpless against these two saviors. Who could she blame except for her short legs unable to keep up with others? At least she was happy to serve in Windrunner's house alongside these sisters. They might appear annoying at times, but everyone was reliable.
"Alright. My treat for an entire week. Satisfied?" Anna moaned in exasperation to cut their chatter and their face instantly beamed with unimaginable smiles making Anna regret her quick slipping tongue. "Thank you, my friends. Anyway, you saved my life."
As Anna moved her arms to hug, the other two quickly pushed their hands against her, preventing her from getting closer. Both of them exclaimed, "You still smell like a frog and you better wash first after this battle."
"Tsk. Tsk. Why am I still seeing you girls around here? Didn't I tell you to get lost?" A scolding came from Sena's mouth as black lines formed all over her forehead. She was about to duel with a quasi-legend and these girls didn't look at the occasion at all. They were even discussing their next meal. Unforgivable!
Perhaps Sena chided them harshly and made them aware of their surrounding; they stood on attention, replying affirmative, and whizzed away from the scenes. Sena's eyelid twitched from how fast their legs ran and why didn't they have such energy when chased by the troll?
Nevermind, Sena said to herself and stared straight at the dust where the troll remained uninjured. She could only make out a shadow and her extreme vision was obstructed, but her instinct told her the position of this quasi-legend. She cocked her neck left and right, preparing to kill off this troll in front of her.
...…
At the same time, Alleria watched the sky after three shining arrows entrapped her attention; she now also knew the location of the most threatening trolls and her body relaxed after realizing her group wasn't dealing with them. But she still hadn't forgotten the existence of Legend although it was guessed by her mother and Sena.
She was ordering the ranger group of the left flank who was now responsible for facing a fend-off attack by the trolls. To resist the assault by 1000 trolls before she experienced combat would terrify her; yet, as her heart strengthened after several dangerous battles, she was confident her group was even an overkill. She understood numbers weren't everything.
"The three quasi-legends are not disguised in front of us. That is being confirmed just now." Alleria reminded everyone in her group. Despite being the weakest in terms of strength, nobody had dissatisfaction on their face when Alleria served as an acting leader. All of them were aware of what Alleria was capable of.
"Volleys at your discretion until I announce otherwise. Now, Release!" Alleria ordered while she also let go of her bowstring. Each arrow hit their targets and some of them overlapped on one troll. None of them missed.
Several black waves flew from the elven side toward the howling trolls in front of them. In contrast to the middle group, their group believed even the retreating maneuver was redundant and they were able to handle it with ease.
Volleys after volleys, they became bored with the target practice. Suddenly, roars came from the trolls in front of them and Alleria couldn't believe her eyes. Their movement speed increased drastically. If a handful of trolls increased in their speed, she could regard it as a stronger powerhouse among the crowd, but to raise the entire formation's speed was unheard of. It must originate from some powerhouse and collective growth in speed was also an ability she never had seen before. Well, Alleria wasn't traveling around and she didn't read a lot. So, her knowledge except for some trolls was nearly zero in regard to professionals. But Alleria wasn't the only exception who was stunned by the event. It appeared the other rangers were also unaware.
These weren't important because trolls' speed now could reach the elves in less than half a minute and Alleria must change her group tactics. Before she turned her head to shout out her orders, the corner of her eyes captured a special troll. She called it special because his speed was outrageous. Alleria calculated this troll could reach her group's position within 15 seconds and she cried out loud.
"Concuss shot at that bastard and retreat afterward!"
The rest of the rangers just did what they were told. Most of these arrows were dodged by the troll but some manage to hit it. The troll's crawling speed didn't produce cheers among the rangers, because their danger wasn't over. Everyone fell back and dashed away.
Soon, they heard a roar, and Alleria glanced back and discovered the troll had returned back to his previous speed; if her eyes weren't wrong, it seemed faster. By now every ranger knew this must be a Legend troll powerhouse. Warning signs emerged from their heart and the rangers dodged based on instincts. Javelins after javelins were thrown at them as if there weren't tomorrow. These projectiles were extremely simple to dodge for the rangers and they had no idea where the premonition originated from as it tickled more in their hearts.
These rangers found out the reason when these short spears impaled on the ground and erupted shockwaves. It was too late!
Tremors spread across the ground and the invisible waves hurled all the rangers up in the air. Quakes from the epicenter even caused the rangers at the edge to lose their footing and slip. Their heads went dizzy from the shocks.
The closest to these spears suffered injuries although none of them were fatal enough yet but it was no different from incapacitated. Alleria was also nearer than others and she laid flat on her tummy on the ground like the rest of her troops. Her ears rang a long screech and her visions blurred from the impact. She raised her upper body with her forearms but fell again without any strength. The pain from her stomach crumbled inward and she even tasted a bitter sour spicy fluid which probably came out from her digestive system. She swallowed it back helplessly and rotated her body to look back at the perpetrator who was still bolting at her group. There was blood on the corner of her mouth. Alleria smiled bitterly. Maybe, her group had met its end under her command.
Her fuzzy sight captured the troll Legend flinging his several javelins against them and time slowed down as her eyes watched these projectiles nearing them inch-by-inch. She only had one complaint—why did this troll possess so many spears?
Just when her heart went calm to welcome the impact because there was nothing left to do, several blue arcane arrows intercepted these spears and Alleria heard her long-waiting mother's voice.
"Everyone, recover quickly and stay away from the battlefield! For the injured, heal them fast and carry them away as long as the dangerous period passes safely. Leave the rest of the battle to me. You girls did a great job." Lireesa's order assured every ranger around and morale was restored.
Afterward, Alleria's vision went dark and she didn't know anything. But the curl on her mouth expressed her opposite mood.
[
A/N: I also wanted to write another book these days. I've no idea why. But don't worry the author is never abandoning this book.
The author planned to compose an original novel which was nagging my mind at the moment, just like this one did in the past months.
Well, that one's still in the planning stage and I promised the update won't be affected.
Tschuss!
]
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PraiseElune
PraiseElune Sorry, a bit late!
You know being busy is one thing. The weather is another reason. You feel mentally exhausted under those heat.
Hope today's update made my reader satisfied.
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