Dan turned his head and walked away, flapping his wings to ascend to a height of eight thousand meters, to distance himself as far as possible from the archers.
"Fly southeast! Southeast, I say!" commanded Oswald while struggling to maintain his balance in the face of strong winds.
Dan retorted, "I cannot distinguish my left from my right, let alone cardinal directions! In our clan, we depend solely on the intuition of beasts. Do not complicate matters!"
Oswald stayed silent.
The distant sound of arrows being released from the city wall could be heard. The Northern Emerald Kingdom was famously renowned for crafting the finest metal long arrows with conical heads. Their arrows were precise and lethal with incredible piercing force, capable of penetrating flesh with ease. The barbed design of the arrowhead made removal arduous, which only added to the victim's misery.
The sheer volume and density of the arrows that were shot produced a terrifying cacophony, and it was enough to make even the bravest of warriors quiver with fear.
Kevin was also keenly aware of the frantic activity behind him; the screaming arrows, the shouts of the guards, the sickening sound of metal burying into flesh, and the agonizing cries of the unfortunate victims.
The din of cawing raptors and the deafening howls of wild beasts added to the tumultuous atmosphere, punctuated by the occasional body that plummeted toward the enemy horde with a sickening thud.
"Turn left!" ordered Kevin with authority. "That's it, fly straight over the mountains ahead. The rest of you follow me."
Kevin held the eagle feather with confidence and brandished his long sword to shield Dan, fortifying a barrier against any zipping projectiles aimed in their direction.
Meanwhile, a cavalry unit from the Northern Emerald Kingdom mounted their vulture horses and blitzed forward relentlessly. These brave winged steeds with strong and tireless wings moved with uncommon agility and speed, like a swarm of black locusts, appearing virtually unstoppable.
"Why do they hunt us with such ferocity? Sapir is already dying of illness!" Mi Ao was barely holding his own, mimicking Kevin's sword shield tactic, but he was nonetheless at risk of falling off at any moment. He dared not make any sudden movements.
Naturally, his words were greatly exaggerated. It was rumored that Sapir was merely bedridden and not on the brink of death. Mio's comments were merely a reflection of her good wishes.
"When I was near him before, I caught a glimpse of the commander. He is quite bulky, much like Sapir's son Mankao, who is known to be quite slimy," Oswald jeered.
Upon hearing this, Mi Ao's complexion turned ashen. "Your Majesty, please refrain from such jests. If it truly is him, the situation could prove quite dire. That man is infamous for his ruthlessness and insanity."
While Kevin was aware of Sapir's disdainful character, his understanding of Mankao, who had only recently emerged, was limited to outdated information.
At the time, Kevin had not yet passed away, and Mankao was only sixteen or seventeen years old. One of the most prevalent rumors circulating the borders of the North Emerald and the Golden Lion Kingdom concerned him.
It was said that in the spring of that year, several women disappeared one after another in Fran Township, a small suburban town in the southwest of the North Emerald Country.
The youngest among them was fifteen years old, and the oldest was forty. There were various hearsay regarding their fates, with some speculating that they were kidnapped by strangers, while others believed they were dead.
After the rumor began to circulate, similar tales started to emerge from several other border towns. The women who went missing were all young, with over twenty disappearing in total. Even after their families searched for more than six months, no results were found and hope was all but lost.
One winter, however, Mankao's servant stole the key and secretly unlocked a dungeon gate located behind Mankao's bedroom. More than twenty ragged, delirious women stumbled out.
They were naked, their bodies covered in wounds and bruises from the iron chains binding their hands and feet, with some of them having overlapping welts and others sporting scalds. It was a shocking sight.