The two fell off their horses.
The others barely avoided falling as well, with the only exception being the Hunnic Eagle Shooter, who astonishingly grabbed the warhorse’s neck in an instant. His strong legs clamped down, the muscles on his arms bulged with force, and he held onto the warhorse so tightly that the frenzied beast slowly grew powerless and slumped down.
"Is this even human?!" Duncan was shocked.
Reality is reality, after all. For archers who can draw a powerful bow, few of them are weaklings; in melee, they’re mostly fierce fighters.
At that moment, an arrow shot out from the woods. The witch held the arrow in her right palm, and it instantly pierced through the air with power no less than that of a strong bow, catching people off guard. The Hunnic Eagle Shooter seemed to sense something; without even seeing the witch, he relied entirely on his combat instincts, dodging to the right side of his warhorse at an astonishing angle, thanks to his incredible riding skills and agility.
However, the arrow fired with witchcraft had such a sharp angle that it still struck the shooter’s left shoulder. He immediately felt a numbness in his left shoulder, and soon, half his body started to stiffen.
"Wizard?!" (Hunnic language)
His expression was of shock. During their invasion of Europe, the Huns destroyed many Germanic Barbarian tribes, pillaging and plundering along the way, razing many of the Barbarian temples and seizing the gold and silver artifacts inside.
The most prized spoil for the Eagle Shooter was a pure gold drinking vessel, said to be a ritual offering once given by the Gauls to the so-called ’Wine God’. (Note 1: The Gauls have three main passions: drinking, horse racing, and gambling. Sosirus is the agricultural, wine, and forest god worshiped by the Gauls.)
The Huns swept across Europe in their westward campaign.
They encountered many wizards possessing eerie abilities, most of whom were priests of the Germanic Barbarians, but their methods were nothing noteworthy. Any bold enough to resist wizards would be shot to death by a rain of arrows. When they sacked Great Germania, they even trampled an old witch who could summon poisonous insects to death with dozens of cavalry.
The witch killed one person and wounded two before being trampled into a heap of flesh by their frenzied horses.
The Huns also had wizards.
They were proficient in spells and witchcraft and could even heal illnesses. Strictly speaking, their wizards were closer to shamans.
Of course, a shaman who defied the chief’s orders would be hacked to death all the same.
An arrow whizzed through the air.
Duncan’s target was clear: the Hunnic Eagle Shooter. An arrow shot directly hit the shooter’s chest, but since he wore armor, the damage wasn’t severe.
—— Hunnic Eagle Shooter [Two Stars] (Poisoned) (Paralysis).
Duncan’s arrows were definitely not poisoned, meaning the witch’s sorcery was taking effect.
The silhouette of the Hunnic Eagle Shooter suddenly became rigid.
Duncan quickly nocked another arrow, ignoring the Hunnic Mounted Archer aiming at him, and shot again, directly piercing the shooter’s head.
The enemy’s energy bar instantly vanished.
It seemed the Huns were not much different from the Barbarians; their life force was slightly stronger than ordinary people, but hitting a vital spot still led to an instant kill.
Several more sharp arrows whistled through the air.
One arrow veered off course as it flew toward Duncan, but the Hunnic Mounted Archers were too skilled; even with a witch secretly aiding him, one arrow hit Duncan in the back. He grunted in pain and galloped along the pre-planned retreat route.
"When will I be strong enough to catch arrows barehanded?"
Inside the Dimension Space.
Duncan glanced at the projected screen, seeing his energy bar had dropped by about one-fifth. Wearing a studded leather armor over his robe, the arrow had only grazed his flesh and wasn’t life-threatening.
—— Resting Horse Arrow!
Turning back, Duncan drew his bow. The arrow pierced through the air, and with the use of a skill, aiming the cross-star was even steadier.
Not far away, a Hunnic Mounted Archer fell dead on the spot, his body tumbling off the horse.
The skill had no cooldown time.
But the energy bar was draining more rapidly.
—— Resting Horse Arrow!
Duncan twisted around again and shot. With a piercing whistle, another Hunnic Mounted Archer, who had just raised his bow to aim, was shot in the head on the spot, completely outpaced by Duncan’s speed. Also using archery, Duncan’s attacks were assisted by the aiming cross-star, achieving an almost one-arrow-per-second firing rate.
The faces of those Hunnic riders were instantly filled with shock!
Three dead, three wounded.
They hadn’t seen the witch, thinking it was Duncan who had killed all three.
For a moment, those Huns dared not counterattack and fled in the direction of reinforcements.
Duncan didn’t chase after them either.
Bearing the wound, he retreated, and just as he was galloping on horseback, Crow Queen-Triss burst out from the woods and followed him.
Duncan looked surprised and said, "Why didn’t you retreat from the south?"
According to the original plan, the witch would retreat to the rear via the southern forest path, while Duncan relied on his omniscient perspective to fight and retreat simultaneously, giving him a chance to escape if needed.
The witch urged her horse onward, panting, "If I had retreated now, what about you?"
"How would you handle so many enemies alone?"
Grandpa here is still cheating.
Duncan eventually said nothing, just giving the witch a deep look.