The three human mages quickly retreated from the battlefield with the defeated soldiers. Once they were fifteen hundred yards away, they were out of reach of both the opposing mages and magical beasts.
The battlefield had returned to a state of eerie calm, with only the raging flames and occasional desperate screams echoing through the silence. The real excitement lay with the approximately twenty elite divine archers of Captain Gatuso’s personal guard, the centaur archers, and the panda warriors.
These odd-looking divine archers were a sight to behold––towering, handsome figures at first glance, but oddly grotesque upon closer inspection. They were as if a clumsy craftsman had tried to recreate the David Statue, creating a strange fusion of beauty and ugliness that was quite unsettling.
These strapping divine archers were clearly not humans, for their long green hair framed a pair of prominent, pointed ears.
"Are these the famous elven divine archers?" Liu Zhenhan found himself at a loss at the sight of their pointed ears, having always thought elves to be frail and slight. He was taken aback at how burly and tall they were. The centaur archers were also tall, but compared to these elves, their muscles and stature were inferior. Evidence of the elves’ strength was the large bows in their hands, hefty metal compound bows that require incredible strength to draw. These bows were incredibly powerful but treacherously difficult to use; one careless move could result in fingers being sliced off by the taut bowstring.
"These must be the Beast Elves." Gortani sighed. Their golden eagles had been hovering a thousand yards away, well outside the range of her Sky Banning Song, much to her frustration.
"Beast Elves?" Liu Zhenhan smirked. "A hybrid breed?"
"Elves seldom intermarry with outsiders, especially not with our Beamon clan. These Beast Elves were probably born due to some special circumstances, inheriting both the strength of orcs and the archery skills of elves," Gortani explained.
"So they also have the Beamon bloodline?" Liu Zhenhan was astonished.
"There is still a remnant of our race scattered within the deep forests of human kingdoms. However, their numbers have been dwindling and the path to Donau Wasteland has been sealed by mankind. Their fate is either to be assimilated or eradicated by humans," Gortani sighed. "Therefore, the liberation of Dorott is crucial for our Beamon race."
At this news, a melancholy air fell over Liu Zhenhan.
The arrow duel escalated, and after a volley of exchange, the Beast Elf archers ceased firing. Seven burly men were singled out, moved two hundred steps forward, and stood their ground.
The centaur archers, now uncontrollable due to their injured pride, readied themselves on the second tier of the makeshift cave dwellings, despite the pandas’ and hippos’ advice to retreat further into the caves. The bystanders were ordered inside.
The contest stirred excitement amongst both human and Beamon spectators, eager to see a face-off of warriors after a messy brawl. Liu Zhenhan, on top of the hill, hurled abuses, but as the distance was significant from the battleground, no one heard him, except those atop the hill.
Beamon warriors were infamous for their stubbornness in fights; this is praiseworthy but was detrimental when prudence called for retreat. Due to Liu Zhenhan’s charismatic influence and continuous training, Fidlor’s Militias were able to ignore this Beamon drawback. However, this defect remained a fatal weakness for the other Beamon warriors––something that irritated Liu Zhenhan to no end. ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ novel-fire.ɴet
Both sides were now locked in a standoff. Shooting down several Beast Elf archers wouldn’t pose much of a threat to human forces. However, if the seven centaur archers were taken down, the human mages would be less wary of their opponents.
"Damn it! Courage should be applied wisely, even one would understand that better!" Liu Zhenhan’s voice turned hoarse as he continued to swear, and nobody paid him any attention.
"Damn it... Damn it..." The parrot learned a new swear word. As Liu Zhenhan glanced at the parrot, it promptly screeched, "Idiot!"
The fiery crane nearly toppled over the Red Earth Highland in laughter.
Just as the parrot screeched, the archery contest officially began.
One of the Beast Elf archers stepped forward. He had a large scar on his forehead, an emblem of a past brutal battle.
Among the centaur archers, one stepped forward as well. Two beautiful Thunder Falcon feathers were wedged on his arm, and he held up his towering yew longbow.
Both archers were within range of each other’s bow.
After a long staredown, as if per an unspoken agreement, they both pulled out arrows from their quiver, nocked their arrows, and released their bowstrings. A storm of arrows were fired back and forth in mere seconds.
The arrows clashed in mid-air as if drawn together by a magnet, creating quite a spectacle. Eight sets of arrows had struck each other and fell to the ground.
The Elf Beast Archer’s fingers turned stiff; his bowstring pulled halfway back with an arrow nocked in place trembling, unable to be fully drawn. A black-feathered arrow was lodged deep within the scar on his forehead, two inches in, with the end still quivering incessantly.