Chapter 103: Skirmish of the Scouts

  At the edge of Storm Highnds, over fiant eagles flew in a tight formation.

  Each eagle bore a knight in pte armor, marked with an emblem of an eagle and sword on their chest.

  They were kin of the La Family, the famed Northwind Eagle Guard. This time, they deployed aire knight regiment—forty-eight Eagle Guards—as scouts to survey enemy movements from the skies.

  The La Family had iaked everything on this.

  This was the Sixth Eagle Guard Regiment, reassembled from Alger’s former unit.

  Their current ander, Nelly, was the only female captain among the six Northwind Eagle Guard regiments and had once been Alger’s trusted subordinate.

  heavy pte armor, she gripped the ander’s silver bde, Eagleshriek, her clear eyes resolute.

  "Back here again…"

  "Storm Highnds."

  She muttered to herself, her voice trembling slightly.

  This pce was like a nightmare to her. Her former ander, whom she admired, had remained here to eheir escape, lost to the fiery breath of a dragon, refusing to submit to evil.

  Many of her fellow soldiers from the Sixth Regiment had perished in the inferno on fire.

  Remembering this, Nelly gritted her teeth, making a silent vow.

  "I’ll avenge you, ander."

  "And my rades."

  "I swear, even if it costs my life, we will y waste to this den of evil, repay the Duke’s favor, and bring justid order to all of Aa!"

  With that, she pressed her legs firmly against the eagle, urging it to speed up.

  "Kreeee—!"

  A long eagle cry echoed through the air.

  However, she had fotten—Storm Highnds’ skies were no longer free for the Eagle Guard to roam. Ember now had eighteen Crimson Scaled querors.

  With the looming war, the Crimson Scaled querors patrolled the border tirelessly, eliminating any potential threats.

  "Captain, it looks like there’s something ahead!"

  The lead Eagle Guard reported.

  Nelly squinted into the distand saw a group of massive dragons advang, led by a rare dragon-blooded giant eagle.

  On the backs of those dragon-blooded beasts sat knights heavy armor, wielding an array of ons, but each bore a fierce dragon’s head—half-dragon, half-human in a terrifying blend.

  "Damn, it’s the Red Dragon’s minions!"

  "Northwind Eagle Guard, prepare to engage!"

  Nelly ched her jaw.

  She raised Eagleshriek, which let out a sharp, pierg whistle through the air.

  She didn’t know of the Crimson Scaled querors, but these dragon-blooded minions were already infamous in the region.

  Meanwhile, Alger, leading the Crimson Scaled querors, had already spotted the enemy.

  After all, this Eagle Guard troop had brazeered Ember ’s airspace, making no effort to ceal themselves, easily detected by Alger’s keen eye—and dragon-kind had far sharper vision than humans.

  When he focused on the leader, his golden slit-pupils fshed with a hint of surprise.

  "Nelly?"

  This was his former subordihe persistent shadow that used to follow him—a resilient woman.

  Yet, he hadn’t expected their meeting to be otlefield.

  Alger quickly steadied himself, his gaze unwavering as he looked at the distant enemy.

  "The Alger who once served the Eagle Guard died in dragohe only o now is a minion of the dragon, a heartless Crimson Scaled queror."

  Stroking his eagle’s feathers, he calmed its agitation—it seemed Igor had reized their old rades too.

  "Igor, let’s go."

  "After all—"

  "We each serve our own masters."

  His soft words dissolved into the rushing wind.

  Alger raised his Everfme Greatsword, igniting its bde in bzing fire, shining like a bea in the sky.

  He shouted, "Crimson Scaled querors, destroy them with me!"

  The dozen or so pyers behind him erupted in a mix of cheers.

  "Charge, charge, charge!"

  "Let’s set this pce abze!"

  "For Ember !"

  "For the fa points!"

  "Damn, aerial bat is intense!"

  Against the fewer but rger dragon riders, Nelly’s Northwind Eagle Guard instinctively chose a wide formation, aiming to exploit the eagles’ agility and their numerical advao encircle the dragon riders.

  But before they even got close, they suffered their first casualty.

  Hundreds of meters away, Singo nocked an arrow, aiming at the lead Eagle Guard’s eagle.

  "Steady, dragon."

  Purple runes appeared on the eagle’s body, but it was unaware, still flying steadily us rider’s trol.

  Singo released the b, and uhe bined power of his 【Elven Precision】 and the spell 【Hunter’s Mark】, the arrow flew true.

  "Whizz—"

  The arrow shot forward with blinding speed.

  It pierced the eagle’s chest, striking the heart with deadly accuracy.

  The eagle faltered and plummeted, its rider screaming as he fell, iably meetih.

  The Crimson Scaled queror pyers buzzed with excitement.

  "Awesome!"

  "Singo got first blood!"

  "There goes my tribution points!"

  "I won’t accept this!"

  Mantou, seeing the falling Eagle Guard, couldn’t help but excim, "Damn, Singo, did you get lucky? You hit from so far away!"

  Singo scoffed, "Do you even uand the skill of an Elven Precision archer? This is pure skill. Don’t believe me? Try a solo arrow duel."

  Knowing he was outmatched, Mantou still tried to save face, "So you got lucky with one shot and now you’re showing off?"

  "Think you hit again?"

  Singo replied, "They weren’t prepared this time. If they’re not fools, they’ll adjust."

  He poioward the Eagle Guard, who had already begun shifting formation.

  In the Northwind Eagle Guard, Nelly stared in shock at her fallen rade, muttering,

  "How could this be?"

  With her years of battle experience, she knew aerial archery was incredibly challenging, especially over such a long distance. Even on the ground, hitting a target from this far was difficult, so she hadn’t made any special arras on approach.

  The death of that Eagle Guard could mean only ohing—the Red Dragon’s minions were far more skilled than anticipated!

  Nelly raised Eagleshriek, shouting ands:

  "Scatter formation!"

  "Be wary of enemy archers!"

  The Eagle Guards dispersed, avoiding unnecessary collisions.

  They dispyed superb riding skills, ging dires stantly to approach from all angles.

  "Whizz—"

  Another arrow flew.

  Feathers scattered in the air.

  An Eagle Guard, rolling mid-flight, let out a scream as he fell.

  Singo lowered his longbow, gng at Mantou’s gaping expression, and said calmly,

  "All that fshy stuff is still nothing but weak."

  Mantou had nothing more to say, grudgingly muttering, "You actually pulled it off."

  AnnouA big thank you to [Jal] for joining my Patreon! Your support means a lot to me.

  FAL