“Defend—!” The guards had already braced, heavy shields lifted to the sky, planted like stone trees into the earth.

As the arrows kissed the inner wall, a weird hum rolled out, like a hive holding its breath. Then—clang clang clang—time snapped forward. Arrows slammed into the shields, all caught. Some ricocheted, some flipped backward, tumbling off the wall, a rain of iron that couldn’t shake a single inch of those bulwarks.

Delaia spotted the arrows dropping behind them and shouted, mockery sharp as ice. “Sir, your arrows aren’t much. They can’t even graze our hair.”

Erig’s eyes narrowed, aura like a storm about to break. “On the Blackblood War Chariot! Let’s see what that shabby wall can really do!”

“Pour the Wind-Cleaving Arrows! They’re all ours! Don’t be stingy!”

“Hurry! Ready!”

Rebels and Mountain Bandits erupted into motion. Bandits strapped on strange gloves, hefted stones and iron, itching like wolves to leap. The Sage Soldiers swapped quivers and pressed forward, while far off, the war chariot’s wheels rolled closer, a thunder like distant surf.

“Now!” Medith yanked the lever set into the wall. Camouflage panels flew up like a sudden skylight, the city peeling its skin to bare steel.

The Sage Soldiers and Erig froze at the sight, an eerie chill sliding over the air in an instant.

“Attack—!” The captain’s order cracked like lightning. All that pent-up anger and bruised pride from these days became one raw volley, loosed like a dam bursting.

Whoosh whoosh whoosh—

Wooo—ooo—

Thrum—thrum—

The arrows sang a dozen voices, each shaped for a different kill. In a breath, they found their marks, swift as hawks diving.

“Ah—!” A white arrow blazed into a white beam, spearing a bandit. The pierce carried him several meters, and the impact turned him into a human bomb. He crashed into the crowd and left a dozen men broken inside, dead without a scream.

THRUM—! An arrow riding Cyclone tore into the Sage Soldier ranks. Its head bore a green mote like venom. That force treated Royal Capital-grade Impado armor like paper, punching the heart of a soldier mid-draw, then plowing straight on, drilling through several more before it grudgingly stopped.

Look close—their hearts, chests, bellies, even skulls had been opened into clean holes, as if Meteor shards had smashed through flesh like clay.

Bwong—hum—hum… An arrow climbed above the Blackblood War Chariot and collapsed into an invisible wind wall pressing down like a falling sky.

Crack—ka-lack— The chariot broke on cue. Shards flew and scraped armor into ragged bark. Some soldiers’ exposed eyes were punched by splinters; men clutched their faces and screamed. Warhorses panicked, bolting wild; eyes, mouths, and nostrils cut open, they reared and rampaged like beasts tasting fire.

Whinny—whinny— A score of horses charged without thought, scattering lines and bodies like leaves in a gale. It all happened in barely ten heartbeats; one volley, and the army bled heavy.

Whoosh whoosh whoosh—

Thrum—thrum—

Death’s arrows kept pouring with the might of Piercing Army Arrows, a river of iron breaking banks. Enemy casualties came faster than hoped, and the city guard’s morale surged to a peak. Hands on bows drew with killing intent, wanting to snap wood by fury alone.

“Quick! Defend!”

“Where?! Where is the enemy?!”

“Ah—someone! Handle your horses! They’re going berserk—”

“Chief Skaro! It’s bad! Brothers are dying heavy! That white arrow’s power is too—”

Chaos boiled over. The Mountain Bandits were like ants on a hot wok, minds scattering. Twenty-five elite archers loosed Piercing Army Arrows into flesh, and the brute power was beyond imagining. In mere seconds, the bandits were hit so hard they lost the sky and the earth; some still didn’t know where the shots came from.

You could watch the rout take shape with the naked eye, like frost spreading. On the other side, even the well-drilled Sage Soldiers were thrown into a frenzy by the sudden strike and the horse stampede.

“Full alert! The enemy’s inside the wall! Damn you—so it was all your scheme? What a sly heart you have, Delaia—” Erig linked the pieces in a blink. The negotiation was false, the ambush true. Even that slumped act had been a mask, all to lure him into range. He had counted a hundred ways, and still fell into the trap.

“Kill the berserk horses! Don’t hesitate! Heavy infantry, hold! Archers, ready! Cavalry, use the horses to circle under the wall—throw spears and cover!

They’re few! Survive this wave and we win!” Erig’s orders snapped like whips. The Sage Soldiers rallied into a defense line. Many hacked through rampaging iron hooves to stop the crash of muscle, while unlucky men nearby were crushed into paste by a ton of horseflesh.

“They’re reacting! Faster than we thought, damn it! Don’t panic. All-in on the Mountain Bandits—Erig can’t cover them, their command’s gone. A few more volleys and they’ll break!

Sais, Phiby! We hit their warhorses hard—kill as many as you can! Don’t save magic; leave only the bare minimum!

Other Sprites, find squad leaders and above—shoot to kill!” Medith fired and commanded, voice steadied like a blade in cold rain.

“Understood!” Voices answered. Arrows against the Mountain Bandits went savage. Only a few Piercing Army Arrows remained; they’d switch to common shafts soon. Before that, squeeze every drop of worth.

…

[Mountain Bandits]

A tiger-headed captain raised a heavy shield and tried to catch a Piercing Army Arrow. The impact roared like thunder; recoil hurled him over a meter. The skin between thumb and forefinger tore, blood dripping hot. Several bandits grabbed him, steadying that stagger like anchoring a mast. He just began to breathe relief when a white arrow, glimmering with aurora green, filled his sight—

“Ah—No—Captain Lucas is dead—”

“No! Lucas!”

“Damn it! They’re sniping our officers! Quick, fight back! Fight back!”

“We can’t! The shots are too dense! We—”

Skaro saw the tide turning wrong. This side was being hit harder than the other, and he shouted, voice frayed. “Erig! They’re hitting us with everything! We can’t hold! Send men to cover us!”

Erig couldn’t spare a glance. The Sage Soldiers opened their lines and began the counterattack.

Bang—thrum— Medith and Sais let green light flare in their eyes. A world-shaking arrow flew, recoil so fierce it knocked Medith’s helmet off. Her peerless face flashed, and three thousand black strands spilled loose, her hair streaming like a dark river in the wind.

Erig’s eyes snapped wide, as if truth had stabbed him. “So—you really are here. It was all you??? Medith Waheit—!”

His furious roar rolled over all of Sia City, a storm of hatred that made every heart stutter for a beat.