B2 Chapter 276: Flight, pt. 3

It had become imminently clear to her that Kaius and Porkchop had an immensity to their strength not seen since the oldest stories of her people.

Despite the concrete proof of it unravelling in front of her eyes, Kenva still struggled to believe what she was seeing.

Safely nestled between the bulk of a floating greatshield and a monstrous greater beast draped in heavy-plate, Kenva looked out over the raging chaos that had descended on the site of her months-long imprisonment.

Hundreds of guards, fighting against dozens of beasts—every moment, another creature would scale the walls, and another boom rocked the gate that gave the defenders a modicum of safety.

It was a whirl of blood and screams, and what should have been an impossible barrier to their safety.

Even if she was stronger than almost all of the forces in play, Kenva knew that alone she would have had no chance of escape. That she would have been whittled down, penned in, and killed before she’d even made it twenty strides across the courtyard.

Even with a balanced team of people as capable as herself and Ianmus, it would have been a desperate thing. A pyrrhic victory at best.

Yet Kaius cut his way through all opposition with ease—moving at a speed that was inhuman. He was just too fast, even with what she knew about his levels and Honours. Hells, he had a split-focus class!

And yet he still scythed through their barriers like so much wheat.

Porkchop, at least, was easier to understand. Greater beasts were feared for a reason, let alone ones that had Honours by the pile, and a potent Vanguard class.

To her left the steel wall rose, a shuddering clank sounding in her ear as the barrier adjusted to ward off a shot that had come from behind.

It dropped a moment later—she was already moving.

Spinning on her lead foot to run backwards, Kenva’s hand slipped up to her quiver and nocked an arrow in a single smooth motion. She drew, pulling her oversized bow taut with the strength of her back.

When Porkchop dropped the shield once more, she was ready—Farseer taking in the entirety of the field in a single glimpse.

An archer, far on the battlements, fumbling at his next arrow.

Kenva loosed.

Feeling the deep thrum of her bow, she watched her shot lance through the air. Flat and true, it punched deep into the open face of her target’s helmet, imbued magic within the arrow detonating a moment later. The archer fell to the courtyard below.

**Ding! level 67 Human – Steady Shooter slain – Experience Gained! Reduced Experience for slaying a foe of Insignificant Strength!**

Spinning back, she scanned their surroundings. There were targets galore, like a penned in herd brought to slaughter.

So many that she was forced to prioritise the threats that actively focused on them to the exclusion of all else.

Her back burned as she fired arrow after arrow, so quick that the haft of her bow began to heat from the constant flexion — saving her more potent skills for a threat that required them. Behind her, Ianmus did the same; ending threats with a precision that would have made her own mother proud, when he wasn’t too busy healing their stalwart protector who savaged anything that approached too close to their right.

**Ding! level 70 Shade Wolf – Shadowed Stalker slain – Experience Gained! Reduced Experience for slaying a foe of Insignificant Strength!**

…

…

**Ding! level 81 Human – Cudgelman slain – Experience Gained! Reduced Experience for slaying a foe of Insignificant Strength!**

Another mage, just barely a visible slip of forehead and eyes, started to glare at Kaius’s savage assault from a position deeply embedded in a squad. His staff jutted high over his head, a dense cloud of light mana coalescing with the rigid precision of a sorcerous spell.

Snapping her bow up, Kenva judged the distance and angle needed to make the shot—secure in her judgement even before she reached a ready position. The wind rustled through the hair around her ear as the arrow shot home, fletching brushing against her gauntleted hand.

She didn’t watch to see if the arrow landed—that kind of shot would have been easy, even when she was a child. There just wasn’t enough time.

**Ding! level 92 Human – Brightcaster slain – Experience Gained!**

A screaming cry dragged her attention to the sky—a pair of brown mottled raptors diving straight towards the mage at her back in an eerie display of target selection.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a squad bring down a six limbed horse and switch their focus to charge at their position. She grinned.

Twice more, her bow twanged.

Twin arrows took out the wings of the birds. Unable to control their flight, their dives veered, sending the squawking bundles of fury careening straight into the approaching squad. Unprepared for the sudden aerial assault, two men went down screaming—knifelike talons punching through their chain.

The rest of the squad aborted their charge, falling on their latest enemy.

Already, she was moving, searching the battlefield for the next threat that stood between her and the freedom she had craved for so long.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a group of heavy-set defenders in full splint armour sprint straight for them with a determined look in their eyes —hidden from view until the last moment thanks to a pack of beasts that was more focused on another group of guards that were trying to hem them in.

She winced, realising immediately that the greatshield that was helping to keep the pressure off her and Ianmus was in the way of her shots.

“Ianmus, physical buff please.” she called out clear and loud, slinging her bow over her shoulder. While she preferred archery, she definitely wasn’t limited to it.

Besides, with the fury and disgust that threatened to spill up from her chest, she needed to burn off some steam.

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To his credit, the mage reacted quickly—solar mana spilling over her to sink deep into her core, where its heat percolated and infused her with unnatural vitality.

**Ding! You have been Enhanced – Sundrenched Strength!**

Slamming her hand onto the lip of the shield, she kicked off the ground and vaulted over it in a single smooth motion.

“Be careful—I’m too busy holding this side to help quickly.” the voice of their greater beast defender sounded in her head, far more evenly than she would have expected considering the chest-rattling growls he loosed as he tore into their attackers.

“I will,” she replied, ripping her blades free from her waist as she dashed towards the approaching men.

They smiled at her—thought her overconfident and weak. That she had over extended in desperation, confident despite their lack of analysis skills.

One lumbered at her with a heavy claymore, swinging in a great horizontal cleave. Spry and wily, she bent at the waist—far further than any rigid man-thing could match. Polished steel swung harmlessly past her nose.