volume 1 - Chapter 53 (2/2)

The gargoyle flew lower while the whistling air pa.s.sed by the two men. They were almost able to see the archers clearly by now. Another whistle resounded in the air, and another volley of arrows came at them. Brendel desperately tried to block them all, but an arrow slipped by and drew blood from his side.

The gargoyle turned a full circle and drew most of the firepower away. It boasted one of the highest defence as a level twenty creature, and even a fully charged strike from Brendel’s ring did not manage to bring it down completely. These arrows did not damage it in the slightest.

Unfortunately, the agility in the air was nothing special, otherwise Brendel could order it to use various aerial maneuvers to bring them out of the siege. He thought for a while before taking a ruby out from his pouch. He had taken it from the Dunn’s corpse.

“Is your mana at full capacity?”

“Yes.”

“Then conjure a bow for me.”

“Bow?” Ciel was momentarily stunned as he took the ruby. “My lord, I suggest to conjure a s.h.i.+eld rather than a bow.”

“Offense is the best defense.”

“Then leave it to me-” The wizard apprentice nodded and raised the ruby. “Projection ability, conjure a bow with an equivalent exchange!” Countless light beams poured from the ruby and curved around it, then formed into a longbow.

The longbow had no physical body, and was merely formed with leylines of magic. The string and the two corners of bow were written with complicated sigils and represented the laws of magic. The conceptual body of the bow was a principle of magic, and it was paid by converting the energy in precious gems. It did not require an arrow to fire a projectile.

“My willpower can only allow this bow to fire four times.” Ciel said as he handed the bow over to Brendel.

“Let’s try it out.”

The third volley of arrows came again—

“What is this monster?” The Golden Apple Lord pointed at the dark creature with immense wings. Burnley’s eyes glinted, but he did not reply.

“That is a gargoyle, my lord. It is a masterpiece of Buga’s smiths, a type of war puppet.”

It was a mercenary who replied politely.

“That is a gargoyle?” The Golden Apple Lord’s expression changed. He drew in a deep breath. He had heard of Karsuk’s highland wizards were a connection left behind by Buga’s archmagi, and it appeared that the rumors were somewhat valid. His heart started calculating. It was still fine to offend a highland knight, but Buga’s archmagi were something else entirely.

“Ser Esebar, we have no choice.” Burnley’s eyes changed a little and tried to persuade him.

The Golden Apple Lord suddenly turned back and looked at him, and Burnley suddenly realized that he overdid things. The fat businessman laughed and shook his head. “But it is true that Buga’s wizards are not people to be trifled with-”

The Golden Apple Lord raised his head and felt uneasy.

Brendel and Ciel landed on the ground without suffering any additional injuries. Another volley of arrows came again, and Brendel cut them down with his sword. As soon as the raining arrows ended, he sheathed the sword and brought the bow up as he jumped onto the gargoyle’s back and they flew towards the archers.

Makavu was in the midst of the archers. He almost could not believe his eyes when he saw Brendel flying up from the ground area, but his experience in the myriad battles in his history brought about a sense of danger when he realized there was a gargoyle.

He immediately shouted to his vice captain: “It’s close enough, have the archers fire at will!”

The soldiers understood the meaning, and the riders from the sides prepared to surround the area.

The soldiers fired again—

Brendel took in another deep breath. There was no need for any bow techniques with the conjured bow, but he had trouble balancing himself on the flying creature. He aimed for a few seconds, then lightly released the bowstring. A white beam of light shot into the throng of soldiers five meters away from Makavu, shattering the rocks nearby into pebbles.

“Oh.” Ciel sighed as he watched.

Brendel did not panic and became even steady. He pulled the bow again and this arrow pierced two archers behind Makavu and the arrow exploded in the vicinity, hurting the soldiers around the area of impact.

He pulled the bow again. Makavu was already retreating in a hurry as he mistook Brendel for a wizard.

This arrow brought the vice-captain down from his horse. Brendel was becoming more accurate.

[This is the last arrow. They are about to counter attack!]

Brendel’s eyes followed Makavu with a grimace as he wormed into the crowd. He hesitated before unleas.h.i.+ng the arrow into the archers, causing the arrow to explode. Due to the tightly packed area, four of them died, and the archers retreated.

Because of the chaos, there was an opening as they fled in different directions.

The gargoyle turned around and grabbed Ciel. This had given Brendel a little time and he felt that his judgment was correct. He then ordered the gargoyle to fly past them. Just when he thought everything was fine, a la.s.so came from the crowd and accurately looped around one of the Gargoyle’s wings.

Brendel was shocked and he turned his head around to spot the mercenary leader, Makavu.

Because of the unexpected turn of events, the gargoyle flew unsteadily in an arch, then descended nearby into the river. Makavu cried out in delight and released the rope. He did not care about his b.l.o.o.d.y palms and yelled out: “Now! Capture them!”

The situation suddenly changed.

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