Chapter 24

The jolting of the warhorse as it galloped made Sally almost unable to discern the road ahead. At this moment, she couldn't help but regret not having practiced riding more in the past—although nobles had to learn to ride, to prevent leg deformities, girls like her wouldn't spend much time on riding, so the now clumsy Sally had no idea how to make the warhorse move faster, and could only blindly whip it.

Turning her head, in the moonlight, she vaguely saw that the兽人狼骑兵 (Orc Wolf Riders) had only dispatched a small part to deal with Old Gerson and the others, while the remaining ten Wolf Riders were still charging straight towards her!

This was a situation she had never anticipated. In this instant, Sally truly realized how determined her own brother was to eliminate her.

After breaking the moral底线 (bottom line), Sally was truly caught off guard by the fangs lurking in the shadows.

The warhorse under her slowed down slightly due to her distraction, and in just this brief moment, the pursuing Wolf Riders instantly closed the gap to within thirty meters, a dangerous attack range.

No matter how she calculated, she had ultimately failed to outsmart her brother.

Despair crept into Sally's eyes. The shadow of death had already loomed over her, and she still couldn't fully understand why her brother, who had always lost to her in the past, had won so thoroughly this time—was he deliberately trying to麻痹 (numb) her all along? Was the intelligence she had gathered not enough? Was she really not as smart as him?

The confidence she had accumulated over a long time seemed to be instantly shattered by these ugly Orc Wolf Riders—making a girl who had never held a sword face a pack of ferocious Orc Wolf Riders, the outcome was already predetermined.

Desperately trying to escape, Sally found herself unable to shake off the terrifying howls of the wolves behind her. She didn't even dare to look back, fearing that one wrong move would bring a fate worse than death.

Twenty meters.

The Wolf Riders, with poor night vision, squinted their eyes and relied entirely on their hearing to pinpoint Sally's position—the Wolf Rider in the lead had already raised the net in his hand and started to swing it...

Although his vision was poor, the Wolf Rider was confident that his throw would not miss—thinking of the human female he was chasing, he even began to imagine being the first to "enjoy" her... although Lord Sarota had ordered no survivors, these savage beastmen would not miss any opportunity to indulge themselves before or after the prey died.

The excited howls of the Wolf Riders echoed across the grassland, filled with unbridled desire.

But in the next moment, the Orc who was about to throw the net suddenly jolted!

"Thud—"

Before he could react, an arrow shot from the side hit his rib—when the arrow struck the leather armor, it sounded like being hit by a stone, and the arrow pierced the Orc's body, causing him to involuntarily lean to the side...

In the next instant, the net he was about to throw was deflected to the side due to the distorted motion, and the unopened net immediately entangled another Wolf Rider's wolf, causing the mount to fall to the ground!

"Bang!"

The fallen wolf threw the Wolf Rider off, and the Orc who had been hit by the arrow and was still holding the net was violently pulled off his mount. As soon as he landed, he was trampled to a pulp by his comrades who couldn't slow down in time.

The cries of pain replaced the excited howls, making the previously one-sided chase suddenly take on an eerie atmosphere.

The sudden change in the darkness left the Wolf Riders momentarily confused—they were not suited for night combat, and if it weren't for the shaman's instructions and the "stupid" decision of Sally's group to light torches, these Wolf Riders would have found it difficult to quickly locate their target. Once the light source disappeared, their disadvantage in the night became even more pronounced.

At this moment, even though they had been attacked, they had no idea where the arrows had come from!

In the darkness, Rody rode his horse, drew his bow, and aimed at the distant black silhouettes... the silhouettes of the Orcs on the hilltop were clear in Rody's eyes—frankly, if he were shooting from above, Rody would also find it difficult to locate the enemy in the dark, but the current angle and timing allowed him to strike without effort!

Hitting the target with one shot could be considered good luck, but Rody's usual perfect archery skills were significantly reduced in extreme conditions. Hitting at fifty meters was already an exceptional performance. He quickly loaded a second arrow and drew the bow.

Once an archer reached Rody's level, the complicated techniques and mantras that beginners memorized were no longer necessary, and everything had become instinct—the calculations of wind speed and angle were no longer explicit but had become part of his subconscious...

The 30th level threshold for a "Ranger" was whether one could turn their skills into combat instinct, and Rody, as a 59th level Shadow Hunter about to reach the 60th level, still demonstrated an extraordinary combat level even with only a 2nd level physical ability.

"Whoosh—"

The sound of the arrow piercing the air made the alert Orcs' hair stand on end, and the subsequent cries of pain chilled their hearts. The second arrow hit a wolf's shoulder, causing it and its rider to fall in pain.

It's important to understand that in the age of cold weapons, the hit rate of arrows was never above 30%. To intimidate the Orcs, it usually required more than fifty archers to shoot in a cluster, and in common knowledge, a single archer could not pose any threat to a group of Wolf Riders.

Although they had been educated with these concepts before the battle, the remaining seven Wolf Riders now felt a sense of panic they had never experienced when facing Rody!

From the beginning, the Orcs had been indoctrinated with the idea that "humans are weak" and "our strength is overwhelmingly superior," and even their leader, Shaman Sarota, had told these fierce Wolf Riders, "You need not fear humans, for they are naturally terrified of us, and the scimitar will make them flee in terror!"

But the reality forced them to reassess human strength: two arrows, three Wolf Riders fell—one dead and two injured, and the group's combat strength was instantly reduced by a third!

As the remaining Orcs hesitated to find Rody, another arrow struck, causing another Orc to fall from his wolf!

"Damn it, I can't let all these years of gaming go to waste!"

Gritting his teeth and shooting continuously, Rody knew he needed to start tactical evasion. He shot his seventh arrow, kicked his horse's belly, and ran in another direction—squinting his eyes to confirm that Sally's shadow was gradually getting farther away, Rody slightly relaxed, then focused entirely on the current battle.

To be honest, Sally's escape was his goal, but Rody was not confident he could survive the Wolf Riders' encirclement, so when he saw the Wolf Riders finally turn to charge at him, he immediately started to flee...

The remaining six Wolf Riders followed, and the last arrow Rody had shot hit one Orc's arm but didn't kill him. This Orc broke the arrow, pulled out a net with a grim face, and spurred his wolf to accelerate, determined to severely punish the human who had caused them such heavy losses—though they didn't realize it, a ten-man squad had been completely disrupted by Rody, and they had unknowingly abandoned their most important target.

The Wolf Riders were not foolish; allowing such a precise archer to shoot freely would likely result in their total annihilation in minutes, so they charged at Rody with all their might, hoping to close in and quickly eliminate this terrifying archer.

The Wolf Riders charging down the hill accelerated towards Rody, reaching within fifteen meters of him in less than ten seconds. In the dim light, the Orcs could even confirm his position by sound alone, and they swung their nets again—this time, Rody cursed his horse's slowness, knowing he couldn't stop them in time.

Hearing the net rotate through the air, he suddenly yanked the reins at the moment the Orc threw it, turning the horse sharply, and to maintain balance, he even hid on the inner side of the horse—such a sharp turn could easily break the horse's legs, but Rody had no choice and could only hope his horse could make it through the turn.

"Swish!"

The net almost grazed the horse's rear and fell to the ground. Rody, holding his breath, relaxed, knowing he had successfully avoided the potentially fatal blow—but before he could return to the saddle, he felt the horse beneath him suddenly tremble!

"Oh no!"

He instinctively let go of the reins and, using his legs to push off, leaped backward—just as the horse's leg broke, and it rolled away with a scream!

Even with his experience, jumping off the horse at the last moment, Rody still didn't fare well—trying to curl his body to reduce the impact, he rolled several times on the ground before stopping, the horn bow nearly making him vomit, and his dual blades flying out of his hands. After regaining his senses from the dizziness, his first action was to grab the horn bow and quiver and dive to the side!

"Whoosh—"

The sharp blade sliced through the air, almost grazing Rody's thigh. If his action had been half a second slower, he would have been cut in two!