The encirclement by the Horned Beast Raiders had lasted for over an hour. Of the caravan of twenty-three people, only seven were still alive now.
The leader of the caravan, Hugh, sat by the wheel of the carriage and tore his clothes to bandage the wound on his upper arm. He looked at his ankle pierced by an arrow, and blood flowed beneath him like a river.
He couldn't stand up anymore, and his companions were in similar conditions, on the verge of death.
First, an arrow pierced through someone's head without warning. Then, dense rain of arrows shot out from among the snow-covered pine trees. These short, cunning, and stinking creatures surrounded them in the blink of an eye.
However, the Horned Beasts surrounding them seemed to be deliberately waiting for something and didn't rush forward to wipe them out all at once. They just shot arrows from a distance as a warning.
"What are these creatures up to?" A young man spat out blood and stood beside Hugh.
Hugh looked up. He could see about thirty or forty of those dark-yellow hoofed creatures in his field of vision, but he knew there must be more hidden in the forest. They would kill a batch, and then another batch would emerge as if there were an endless supply.
"Bait. They deliberately let Ian escape," Hugh gritted his teeth, yet his tone remained calm. "Once the defenses in the town are weakened, it will be the best time for them to attack."
The young man was stunned. "But there are Templar Knights stationed in the town now."
"These beasts may not know that," Hugh sneered.
His moment of secret satisfaction didn't last long. The dizziness brought on by blood loss soon hit him. Hugh couldn't hold his body up and fell into a pool of blood, coughing violently out of control.
"Boss!?" Before the young man could check on Hugh's condition, a sharp iron arrow pierced through his shoulder blade and pinned his body to the carriage. Immediately, he let out a shrill and terrifying scream, "Ahhh—!"
With the leader down and the companions seriously injured, things became even worse for the remaining people. They would rather these beasts give them a quick death instead of slowly torturing them and constantly magnifying the fear and panic in their hearts.
Ian might have bled to death on the way, and the news of their being trapped couldn't be delivered to anyone.
They could only helplessly wait for death to approach bit by bit.
Hugh lay on his side in the sticky blood. His vision was blood-red, and his ears were filled with a buzzing noise.
The eyes of those beasts were as bright as brass oil lamps, but they flickered with an evil and eerie light. They were enjoying the process of torture and seeking pleasure from human suffering.
Just before despair overwhelmed them, Hugh felt a slight tremor on the ground. The surface of the blood was shaking, and the sound of hurried horse hooves came trampling from a distance.
"It's Miss Edith!" One of the survivors in the caravan shouted excitedly. "She's brought the guards from the town to rescue us!"
Hugh couldn't get up or see, but a glimmer of hope rose in his heart, yet he also felt something strange vaguely.
The shrill neighs of the Horned Beasts sounded pleasant to his ears. Their reinforcements were indeed charging in from the outside, and the clash of swords was clear and crisp.
"Mr. Hugh, please hold on! Reinforcements have arrived!"
The girl's voice was soft yet powerful, echoing under the icy sky and reigniting the desire to survive among those in the encirclement.
Even Hugh couldn't help but endure the pain and numbness and forced himself to drag his seriously injured body up. He wiped the blood off his face and looked in the direction of the voice, only to see a golden, blazing solar corona floating in mid-air.
The corona was shining brightly and sacredly. Countless arrows burning with golden-red flames split from the corona and shot down towards those evil beasts in unison as the blond girl waved her staff.
Although it was just a light and soft dress, on the girl at this moment, it seemed like a hard armor shining with holy light. Her figure was beautiful and inspiring, like an angel holding the sword of justice descending from the sky.
The snow-white horse under her was even more fearless and heroic. Its pair of strong front hooves were like sharp blades in the hands of this war beast. When it leaped and landed, it pierced through the chest of a Horned Beast that failed to dodge, and the sound of bones shattering could still be clearly heard even from such a distance.
The guards of the town of Apton arrived shortly after. Under the leadership of the chantress Edith, their morale was high. The short-statured Horned Beasts were no match for them at all, and the outer line of defense collapsed at the first touch.
Although they had known each other for less than a week, Edith was patient and gentle with everyone, and her kindness had won the favor of all the residents in the town.
Now, as an outsider, she had fearlessly led the guards to rescue the trapped townspeople in person. The town of Kerr owed this girl too much.
The defense line of the Horned Beasts was as thin as paper. Edith quickly led the guards to break through a gap and rushed into the encirclement. At this time, she was only thinking about checking the injuries of Hugh and the others and hadn't noticed the abnormality in the change of the battle line.
"Miss Edith, please tend to their wounds briefly first. We can hold this place," said Captain Apton, a tall, dark-skinned middle-aged man. He pulled the reins and turned his horse around, then said to Edith.
"Thank you, Mr. Apton," Edith didn't say much. She stopped her horse, lifted her skirt, and jumped down, not caring that the splashed blood had stained her leather shoes and silk stockings. "Sit still, and I'll treat your wounds."
The remaining seven people had numerous arrow wounds. Edith counted roughly and found that each person had at least two arrowheads embedded in their bodies, and most of them were penetrating wounds.
With simple conditions, they could only stop the bleeding first. The arrows might have to wait until they broke through and returned to town before being removed from the wounds.
Edith took off her dark red cloak and threw it aside. She took out a box containing medical tools from the small bag beside the saddle and quickly recited a prayer. The gilded staff then floated up with a white glow and sprinkled shiny dots.
Those dots fell on Hugh and the others, and their moods immediately became much calmer, and the pain also eased a bit.
"Please bear with it. The arrows can only stay in the wounds for now. In the worst case, amputation might be necessary. Please be prepared for that," Edith tore open Hugh's trouser leg to check his ankle.
Even though it was bad news, Hugh had no choice but to accept it. Staying alive was more important than anything else.
After a simple scrubbing, disinfection, and bandaging, Edith began to check the next person. She frowned as she watched the blood gushing out but still didn't look away.
I should have known better than to be so overconfident. Edith thought to herself.
She had a slight fear of blood. When she saw red liquid, her heart and hands would tremble together. This kind of work was actually what she hated the most.
But since she had already made up her mind to perform perfectly, Edith wouldn't back down. She knew she wasn't as good as Grevya. If she wanted to get more preference and attention, she had to put in multiple times the effort and hard work.
Soon, she had simply treated the wounds of six people, and there was only one left.
However, a change occurred in the guards' defense line.
Edith's previous divine spell had cleared away a large number of insignificant minions, and the guards were quite efficient in killing these beasts. But the number of Horned Beasts didn't seem to decrease at all. They kept emerging from the deep forest. When those in front fell, those behind would take their place.
This didn't seem like a wandering raider squad at all. Instead of retreating after encountering setbacks, they continued to move forward, which meant that the Horned Beasts didn't dare to retreat at all.
The ground was trembling.
It was heavier than the sound of horse hooves.
A deep, snoring-like breathing sound came from among the trees.
Edith looked up and saw a pair of bright red eyes like torches opening in the darkness of the forest. A goat-like bleating sound that seemed to be able to tear eardrums rang out across the entire forest. Even the snow on the pine needles fell down in large amounts.
"Quick, get out of the way!"
The girl's warning shout was clearly half a moment in advance, but it still didn't give the front row of guards enough time to react.
The ominous curved goat horns stood tall on top of its head. Its backward-curved hooves were as hard and sturdy as steel. Its body was covered with thick, dark-yellowish-red hair.
The two-and-a-half-meter-tall upright beast charged out of the forest at a gallop. When it swung its black iron battle axe at the guards, it was as easy as cracking a walnut. Blood and internal organs splattered all over the ground.
This was a power that humans couldn't resist. The overlapping defense line of the guards was instantly torn apart, and cries of pain and wailing filled the air.
A Horned Beast.
It was precisely because of its presence that the Horned Beasts didn't dare to take a step back. This evil beast had been lurking and hiding in the deep forest for a long time.
Edith could hardly hold the gauze and ointment in her hands. But the last person's wound hadn't been treated yet, and she couldn't stop.
"Run away, Miss Edith... We're all doomed... At least you..." The last person was a teenager, a few years younger than Edith.
The appearance of the Horned Beast almost meant that they were all going to die, but Edith didn't have to stay here. She was fully capable of escaping alone.
"Shut up!" Edith was so anxious that she almost revealed her true nature. She tore open the sleeve of the child and wrapped the gauze around the bleeding wound. "You can't die until I finish bandaging it!"
The child had never seen Edith so irritable before. He didn't dare to make a sound. He just opened his eyes wide, looked down at Edith, and then looked up at the approaching Horned Beast.
The Horned Beast looked clumsy, but its movements were surprisingly fast. Just as Edith finished bandaging, the guards' defense line had been completely broken through.
Apton had just wanted to step forward to block it when he was grabbed by the beast's thick arm around his throat and thrown out. The dull thud reached Edith's ears, and it almost broke her heart.
It was all her fault.
She had recklessly come to save people but sacrificed more lives. It was all because of her vanity.
Edith trembled and let go of the gauze in her hand. She took two stiff steps back in the pool of blood, and the staff floating in mid-air stumbled a few times before returning to her.
The beast had already forced its way in front of her. Its huge body was like a mountain. Hot white mist gushed out from its nostrils, and its loud breathing sounded like thunder. It raised its battle axe high and was about to bring it down.
There was no time.
It was too late to start drawing runes now.
Heidi tugged at the hem of Edith's skirt from behind, trying to remind her master to run away quickly, but at this moment, Edith had completely forgotten that there was an option to escape. She just felt that she was responsible for the lives and deaths of everyone here.
Even if there was no time, she had to try chanting and praying. She believed that Grevya would definitely make the same choice.
But the beast's movements were too fast. Before Edith could complete the first syllable of her chant, the axe had already come down.
Damn this Horned Beast!
Edith cursed in her heart.
If it weren't for this suddenly emerging Horned Beast, she could have safely led everyone back to the town. She would have become a hero, and everyone would have liked her.
She had already...
She had already didn't want to recall the past when she was surrounded by despising and hateful looks...
Tears filled her eyes uncontrollably. At this moment, Edith seemed to see that majestic figure standing in front of her again, blocking the whipping for her.
He threw the heavy bag of gold coins at that man's face. Amid the scattered golden glitter, he rode on that man and punched him hard like iron.
From that day on, she knew what the word "father" meant. It was Bertram who saved her cursed and hated childhood.
If her father hadn't disappeared, he would definitely come to save her. Edith always firmly believed that her father favored her more.
Even though her mind was in chaos, Edith didn't stop chanting the prayer and drawing the runes. But even so, she was still a step too slow. The not-so-sharp edge of the battle axe was already above her head.
Against the huge battle axe, the blond girl was as delicate and fragile as a little bird.
At this most critical moment, icy-blue cold air rose from the ground out of thin air. The surrounding temperature dropped sharply, and Edith couldn't help shivering.
The frost quickly climbed and spread, covering the whole body of the manic beast. Even the tip of the battle axe hung with icicles.
Its movements completely stopped. The blade of the axe was only a finger's width away from Edith.
Edith continued chanting the prayer. Large sections of light golden runes emerged and then disappeared at the front of her staff. The golden flames of the solar corona burst out beside Edith again, and her blue eyes instantly shone brightly.
A golden light sword blade extended from the top of the staff and completely pierced through the frozen chest of the beast.
Dark red blood spurted out from behind the beast like a fountain. The hot blood falling on the frost surface sizzled and gave off white smoke.
"Miss Edith defeated that monster!" Someone among the guards witnessed this scene and shouted.
The Horned Beasts immediately fell into disarray, and the situation of the battle reversed in an instant.
The staff clattered and fell to the ground. Edith was completely exhausted and fell backward, sitting in the frozen pool of blood, only feeling the biting cold.
The hideous appearance of the beast was still clear under the layer of ice. Edith could hardly believe that the huge blood hole in the monster's chest was made by herself.
Was this ice... from her sister?
No, it didn't seem like it.
Edith's intuition denied this possibility. She scanned the entire battlefieldVigilantly scanning the entire battlefield, and thencatch a petite figure surrounded by black fog gradually emerging from the shadows.
With dark red long hair, shiny silver teeth, and a snow-white silver cloak, the girl was a half-vampire. Her pitch-black and purple whip lashed at those beasts like a blade, cutting their skin and flesh open. She was taking advantage of the chaos to hunt down those fleeing Horned Beasts, with a satisfied and smug smile on her face.
She recognized at a glance that this was Daphne's true appearance. The faint throbbing pain in her head was exactly the same. She couldn't be mistaken.
Sure enough, she was even more beautiful and alluring than Elenna.
Edith's heart skipped a beat.