Chapter 1
In a terrible twilight, A gallant white horse galloped across a grassy field.
On its very proud horseback, I rode it as we whistled against the wind.
However, We weren't the only ones that did.
"Halt! Hold your horse and surrender immediately!"
"You hold nothing anymore, First-born!"
"Tsk! He's not stopping! Shoot his horse down!"
Arrows also whistled across the wind and had our backs as targets.
My horse was steadfast and quick on its legs, so I did not doubt its ability.
"Don't fail me now! We're not letting ourselves die by their filthy hands!", I said as I tried to encourage it.
I was also willing to do my part, and not let it do all the work.
My ears instantly perked up and my spine experienced a slight shock!
An arrow shot out in a wide arc with the intention of shooting us down in a flash.
It almost hit my steed's head, but a saber met up with the flat side of its blade.
'What! E-Elves! What the hell!?'
Elves. A race with born with a pair of natural pointy ears and brightly colored hair.
What they are is common knowledge, but this one was a different breed!
I clenched my teeth and looked behind me. I saw that particular elf sitting behind another rider. It was a good spot for sniping in a situation such as this...!
Its eyes were pink and bright. Its hair was black, but still looked glossy as its kind's bright hair. It also had golden marks tattooed on its limbs, Mainly on its thighs.
A mixed-breed of normal elven folk and dark ones!
"Really?! You too?!", I yelled to the elf. "When I get the chance, I'll break your fingers and let you cry in pain!"
The elf furrowed its brows and knocked his bow but a rider yelled at him.
"Arid! Normal arrows won't work on him, Use another set!"
I saw the elf nod and did as what was ordered to him.
I widened my eyes as the elf drew his bow with a blindingly glowing arrow.
'A magic arrow?! Shit!'
It was at that moment, I knew I had to do something.
I was already exhausted as a famished dusty noble, But I had to do it!
"Planck!", I called out to my stallion.
He bent his neck and glanced at me. I brandished my sabre and made sure the riders behind me saw it.
As if he already knew what I was up to, He galloped faster than before.
"Arid! Quickly or he'll escape!", Yelled a rider.
It was clear that they already knew what I was planning.
Eventually, The elf let his bowstring loose and shot the arrow.
'Chance!',
Taking that as a cue, I sent a surge of magic into my sabre and raised it!
"[HELIOS]"
At my command, A ball of bright flames the size of a man's head appeared at the end of my sword.
The arrow drew closer and its solid body quickly disintegrated. It was now just a bullet made of magic!
I swung my sword in a might downward arc and the sphere combusted!
Massive red flames raged, but it wasn't over. The magic bullet clashed with the magical explosion and intensified it even more!
At my current strength, My spell could only affect a diameter of 8 meters, but the arrow's energy made it swell up and decimated the grassy field as its fire spread.
I stood still with a gaping mouth. I had fallen off my horse and could not continue any longer.
What raged in front of me was a massive wall of fire. The perpetrator of this event fell and tumbled down on his horse, However, he recovered and escaped.
I wish I could chase him, but my horse ran away. It feared the hellfire in front of it.
I clenched my fists, and dropped down to my knees.
"Dammit!", I cursed.
"Captain Leno!", Said a voice. "Are you alright?!"
I turned back and saw a subordinate of mine. A rider wearing light armor with another horse in tow.
"Is that my horse?!", I yelled.
"I-I don't know.", He replied. "A few of our men fell off their horses as well."
Shit! The marks! We forgot ahout that. We forgot to mark our horses!
I took off my helmet and massaged both of my temples.
I could feel my veins popping out, but that's the least of my worries.
'We still have a chance to chase after him. I'd better do it now or we'll lose him!"
"Let a few of our men take care of the inured!", I ordered. "The rest, Prepare to move out! We still have a chan-"
"I would advise against that.", Interjected an elf, Arid. "Thanks to that blast, The magic around this area got badly rattled and its going to get worse."
He nudged and let the person he was riding a horse with let him down.
"Grass Wolves are one thing, but I'm pretty sure we'll have hordes of goblins and orcs on us too.", He said.
"What?", I said while scratching my neck.
As I wanted to ask about it more, A nearby soldier talked.
"Oh please. Don't worry about it! You guys have me!"
Wait, I recognize this guy. He lost against a pair of goblins during training. Is he saying he's more useful?
"I used to be an adventurer, so I'm pretty experienced.", Declared another soldier. "With our numbers and abilities, I'm pretty sure we can hold against them."
The other soldiers looked at that soldier and expressed agreement.
We have more than a dozen men in total, Excluding the injured. We can indeed fight against a horde of them, but something felt wrong...
"Are you worried? We need you as our archer so just rela-", I said.
"I'm not worried about us.", Arid interrupted. "We just passed by atleast two villages. I request we retreat and evacuate them!"
I suddenly turned my head to Arid and asked.
"What do you mean? What do those two villages have to do with our retreat?"
I seriously want to chase after that bloke, but I feel Arid knows something bad will happen to those two villages. We're still in Anrirworth territory, so we're obligated to deal with it.
Arid cleared his throat and finally spoke.
"Monsters will start gathering in every direction just to reach this point. There's a low chance for a lot of them to go through the villages to here, but they're eventually going to create a temporary hive and start ransacking them.", Arid Explained. "Plus, We also have to deal with that wildfire behind us. It's going to engulf the nearby forest if we don't."
Oh. That's a good point, but T-the first-born...
"A-ah... I failed to consider that.", The soldier said.
I'm with you too, but I still want to do something about him...
"Let's say that's already set, but... Captain, What should we do?", A taller soldier asked.
The pressure suddenly rose up. W-what shoud I do?! I want to chase after him, but I don't think there's any squads nearby to deal with this.
What a massive headache..!
"Captain? Your orders?"
I grimaced and looked at the direction where that bastard went to.
'haa~, I have to do that, Won't I?'
I grasped my palms and simply jumped on a horse.
"I've made my decision", I said. "We're retreating!"
"So we shall..."
"Understood, Captain!"
As we galloped back, I glared at the same direction as earlier. My eyes reddened in their sockets when I saw a silver glint waving around in the distance.
I clenched my teeth and simply forward.
There was nothing I could anymore, but follow through my orders...
