Chapter 370: Phantom Shot

As she watched the chaos unfold before her, Eleanor finally understood what the general was doing. Attacking the bonfires head-on seemed reckless, almost suicidal, but then she realized the truth. It wasn’t strategy. It was terror. Once the fires began to die, every soldier would feel it creeping in: the fear. The darkness favored the creatures, and they knew it.

Dustin charged forward with the other warriors, racing toward the general. Arrows streaked through the storm, their flaming tips vanishing into the white void. One struck the creature, making it stagger. When Eleanor glanced back, she saw the archers forming up in the distance, familiar faces, exhausted but unbroken.

Without hesitation, she joined them and drew her bow. The strings tightened, air splitting under the rain of arrows. Common shafts, enchanted bolts, everything they had. Undead fell by the dozens, and the general vanished in a burst of light and shards when one of the magical shots hit true.

“Now! Attack!” Gilbert’s voice cut through the wind.

The bonfire flames wavered, flickering low until they were nearly gone.

“We can’t let them die out!” Eleanor shouted, sprinting toward the camp’s center.

She fired arrow after arrow at the fading light. Each shot struck something unseen, a dry impact, a strange shimmer in the air. Slowly, the distortion took shape: a Warden Captain, cloaked in murky energy, his armor reflecting the fire’s glow. A monster with the power of invisibility.

Its gaze locked onto her, burning with restrained fury. Before she could react, Dustin came running, dragging a heavy barrel behind him.

“What are you doing?!” she yelled as he hurled it straight at the creature.

The impact knocked it backward into the fire, and the flames swallowed it with a violent crack. The flammable liquid spilled, spreading fire in a wide circle.

“That was our fuel!” she shouted, horrified.

“Look around, Eleanor!” Dustin’s voice tore through the wind. “Our camp’s the only one still standing on the front line! We’re seconds away from being wiped out!”

For an instant, the air itself seemed to freeze. Then a sharp crack split the noise. The Warden Captain, still alive, seized a corpse and flung it at Dustin. The body slammed into him and sent him sprawling through the snow, vanishing amid fire and smoke.

Gilbert was locked in combat with the general, who, despite his wounds, rose again. The archers faltered, torn between targets.

“The general goes down first!” Eleanor shouted, her voice cutting through the storm.

She sprinted forward, drew an arrow from her quiver, and poured energy into it. The arrow flared as it flew, striking the burning monster in the back and shoving it forward a few steps. The Warden Captain roared, lifting his sword, the blade drenched in flames. He charged, and Eleanor met him with another volley, aiming for the helmet.

The arrows glanced off the metal, sparking with every hit. The creature swung its sword in a brutal arc. Eleanor dropped and rolled through the snow, the impact crashing beside her. She came up firing again.

More Wardens were closing in. She moved through them on instinct, drawing and loosing without pause. Her Skill Rank activated. Her hair lifted and moved as if alive, pulling arrows from the quiver and passing them into her waiting hands.

[You have slain a Midnight Warden – Lvl 40]

She drew another arrow and fired, twisting aside just in time to dodge a spear strike.

[You have slain a Midnight Warden – Lvl 40]

The creature collapsed, its armor dissolving into smoke. She barely had a second to breathe before another came charging, hurling its spear straight at her. Eleanor rolled to the side, drew, and loosed.

[You have slain a Midnight Warden – Lvl 40]

Then the Warden Captain appeared—a living blaze cutting through the storm. Eleanor steadied her aim, gathering her focus for a stronger shot.

[Impact Arrow (Uncommon)]: The Archer channels strength into the shot, increasing the weight and force behind the arrow. On impact, the strike can throw enemies off balance and push them back.

The monster thundered toward her, and she layered another skill onto the same arrow.

[Razor Arrow (Rare)]: The arrowhead sharpens beyond its natural limit, gleaming with a cutting light. The shot is swift, straight, and clean, piercing leather and light armor with ease. A power made to strike vital points with precision.

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As she released, she activated a third skill.

[Phantom Shot (Uncommon)]: Upon release, the archer generates an illusory copy of the arrow that flies alongside the real one. After a brief distance, the two split, creating a visual feint to confuse the enemy and bypass defenses.

The Captain charged across the snow, raising his sword to deflect one of the arrows—only to realize too late it was the fake. The real shot punched through his chest.

[You have slain a Midnight Warden – Lvl 70]

The Captain’s body fell backward, armor disintegrating as the flames consumed what was left. The air stank of burnt metal and oil.

“I did it,” Eleanor whispered, her breath shaky, exhaustion thick in her voice.

She didn’t even have time to draw her next breath before pain exploded across her back.

A blade had found her.

***