Chapter 70: Lireesa took action
Lireesa had been on guard since the battle was at its peak. War cries and groans echoed across the serene forest. Her ears were now cocooned and this had become a disadvantage. A surging collective growth in the speed of trolls' formation indeed grabbed her interest but her scrutiny wasn't for long as her meek assumption was these trolls ran faster.
Just when she was about to turn her head around to study another group, she saw an arcane arrow and realized this group was asking for her help. Lireese immediately reined her dragonhawk in that direction. She hoped she wasn't too late.
Yet her wish was forfeited as her eyes widened when she saw one troll throwing spears at her rangers who were trying to escape away. Her hands weren't ready to even intercept those. She was helpless, watching these unfold.
The rangers were thrown in the wind from the shockwave spell centering on the impaled spears. All of them fell down on the ground regardless of the degree of injuries. When Lireesa saw the culprit troll threw his javelins again, the bow in her hand was already ready.
She drew the bowstring with three arcane arrows and released it at her targets. She did this consecutively several times and the duration between them was extremely short even forming afterimages. She made a rapid-fire and her hands were no different from a performer plucking a string. Forceful yet elegant.
Many arcane arrows flew over and quickly intercepted the troll's attack before any rangers got killed. As her mount neared the scene, Lireesa jumped and rolled over the instant her feet touched the ground to dissipate the momentum. She stood up and examined her subordinates' situation, sighing in relief after discovering no one was on the brink of death.
Her eyes burned in flames as she was angry at herself for a slight lateness and the blaze grew more as she found Alleria amongst the group. Despite being infuriated, she calmly gave her orders and restored her ranger's morale. Perhaps, Lireesa also underestimated the power of Legend and the scale of damage toward levels below Quasi.
Her eyes turned worried when she found her daughter's location was nearest to the spear which meant the explosion went off a couple of feet away from Alleria and the damage could be the highest. But the time and situation wouldn't give her a chance to scrutinize carefully. She breathed hard and turned her body towards the charging trolls.
Flinging her silver robe embroidered in golden patterns, she raised her hand to reach for the arrows from the exquisite quiver behind her back. Her fingers grasped three arrows and brought them over the bow which she slanted at an angle. When Lireesa pulled the bowstring, the tips of three arrows all shone green. As she stretched out an arc slowly, these colors brightened, and circles of green lights formed around the arrows' heads. Her eyes also glowed with arcane brilliance as she released a large amount of mana into her equipment.
One of the spells given by her semi-artifact bow was known as 'Windburst'. To mow down the hordes in front, it sure was suited for the task. With the blessing of the wind, the arrow traveled faster than the speed of sound and along its path also bringing destruction through wind power similar to shockwave damage. Calling the spell, crowd clearance ability wasn't a mistake. In spite of immense devastating power, it cost nothing more to Lireesa with the blessing of Thas'dorah.
Wind vortex loomed around Lireesa as she cast this spell, fluttering her clean robes and dangling hair. Leaves swarm in the air and grasses swayed fiercely. The storm raged underneath this spell and all of the wind elements concentrated on the tips of the arrows supplemented by forest aura. The eyeliners around could see wisps of green gathered around the arrows and were soon swallowed. Circles connected to create conical shapes and they got bigger and brighter as time passed by. The destructive glow seemed to be beautiful yet terrified many trolls' hearts.
After she drew the bowstring and held it for 3 seconds or more, when Lireesa also felt the energy intensity was enough, she let go. The arrows tore the air apart and smashed in three different directions. It wasn't a magical attack but a physical one despite the green light brought through its trail. The arrows even produced loud cracks and booms along the path they traveled.
Some small trees standing in the way were uprooted from the ground and spun around in the air. Bigger ones fell. Of course, those were near the arrow's path. If they were straight in front, nothing but holes remained and the objects exploded from inside out. Grasses which seemed to be the weakest merely bent and slowly crawled back to their original shape. The arrows' speed allowed them to fly over a kilometer but the ground was uneven and there were obstructions such as high slopes or hills which were soon hit. It couldn't travel as it was supposed to, exploding pieces of soil on impact and forming colossal craters.
Naturally, her targets weren't nature beings but the trolls, who were no exceptions in front of this catastrophe. Three arrows hurled numerous trolls around the vicinity a dozen meters backward in the air. The wind blades circling around the arrows as they moved ahead sliced these trolls. Some of their limbs went flying. Everyone was in utter disbelief, not even feeling the mutilating pain.
After they fell and bounced a couple of times on the ground, only then would they register what happened in their brain. Excruciating groans came out of their mouths from external wounds and their bodies couldn't move as the damage had also struck internal organs. Some who were right at the arrow's course exploded into pieces.
Except for the legend who dodged and shield himself with his ax due to his premonition immediately after he saw Lireesa's arrows emit green energy, none of the trolls prevailed. A few lucky ones survived but their trembling legs showed they were already out of the fight. The previous surge of morale after injuring the rangers by their legend was blown away. The mighty horde was halted by a single elven ranger.
The blue fire in her eyes faded after Lireesa unleashed her wrath. The congestion formed by anger in her chest also subsided and she regained composure although she was really flabbergasted by the calamity scene she had created. Ignoring the pathetic cries from the trolls in the distance, she glanced firmly toward one apparent troll who got up from the ground and looked back at her with resentment and slight fear.
"Why were your rangers messing around in our region? You better order your subordinates to retreat before the tension between us rises?" The Legend troll bellowed out his confusion. Now with Lireesa present, he could no longer fight as he wished and his initial plan of eliminating the elves had failed.
Lireesa after hearing the troll's accusation merely raised her eyebrows. In a battle, once someone managed to have advantages, it was the best option to sustain their momentums. Lireesa's arrows had already given her rangers the edge. She should have continued her attack mercilessly.
Of course, in Lireesa's heart, she desired to release more arrows. Nevertheless, the previous simultaneous three Windburst arrows had caused her dizziness and it was even strenuous to stand solemnly without showing her weakness to others at the moment. No one surrounding her was aware Lireesa was at her weakest stage.
High consumption of mana from her body was the reason, but it never meant there was no remaining mana inside. A single Windburst spell indeed cost huge loads of mana, not to mention three but it was nothing to the current Lireesa. However, the sudden colossal mana drainage pouring into three arrows slightly damaged her spiritual realm, causing dizziness in her head as a consequence. Lireesa wasn't used to having large loads on herself by casting spells which required a hefty amount of mana. If she were to fire these arrows one by one, she wouldn't even notice anything; three arrows meant 3 spells at once. The mental toll was incomparable.
Yet Lireesa remained calm; since this troll wanted conversation for whatever reason, even if a conspiracy crawled underneath, she had no fear. Since she was given an opportunity for a short respite, she was willing to take it. Her eyes mocked and Lireesa sneered at the troll. She dared to troll around Legend not because of her fearlessness but because of her confidence in strength.
"You said, we were messing around. But aren't we doing the same thing your troll race does?" Lireesa didn't need to shout, her wind whisper spell acted as a loudspeaker so that people around heard her voice clearly. There was no doubt her sentence meant, 'Yes, we did it. What can you do?'
"Isn't it presumptuous of you to bully us? Don't think we're alone, with the rest of the tribe united, our strength was something even Quel'Thalas dreads upon." The troll replied exhaling deeply, and his leg kicked the pebbles away. He pointed his spears with one hand at Lireesa as he spoke.
Lireesa raised her head and laughed out loud. Her voice was charming and soothing to hear but not to those trolls. It was a straight mockery to their existence.
"Quel'Thalas dreads you trolls. Haha, Haha. This is the best joke, I've heard of in my entire life. Where do you think our Windrunner's name became famous from?" Lireesa snickered at the troll's comment. Even if the opponent was Legend, she didn't give face.
"How dare you? Does your action represent Quel'Thalas is declaring war on us? I'm telling you, Invaders like you will never get good results." The legend immediately put the troll's side on the higher moral ground in the conversation.
"Down with the invaders!"
"Expel them!" Trolls who were still alive shout out their slogans.
"Quel'Thalas never wants war but peace. In fact, the king even advised against my action but I'm not willing to let the perpetrator go unpunished. Your side first crossed our borders and killed many civilians! And my husband was also one of the victims. I'm here for nothing but revenge!" Who didn't know how to put a big hat, Lireesa snorted and replied the reasons she had prepared long before the expedition began.
"For revenge!"
"For Vengeance!" Windrunners also exclaimed back at the trolls.
"Don't think highly of yourself? Just my Windrunner house is sufficient to send you trolls into oblivion, especially the tribes bordering my fief. Your unity even would even make me lust more for your blood." Lireesa continued her mockery at the trolls.
Enraged was the troll legend, but at the same time, he couldn't help cursing at the culprits who brought the entire tribe into this situation. Anything in anger was nothing to him. But the widow's rage was the most frightening now. Lireesa appeared to be very aggressive without considering any dire consequences. Don't let him find out who these trolls are, he swore they're never going to end well.
"Besides don't you trolls like entering our region a lot? We're just returning the favor. How do you feel when your homes also burn, huh?... Enough talk, Let's fight." Lireesa beckoned with her fingers at the Legend after she felt herself recover to the peak state. "It's just a portion of our Windrunner house and I nearly brought you down. What if I bring the entire Windrunners? A barbaric race indeed lacked brains."
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
PraiseElune
PraiseElune Hot! Hot!
Just these words appeared on author's mind.
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