The Star Knights tried to pick up the long swords scattered on the ground, but the continuous whistling around them never stopped. Dense volleys of arrows came hurtling out of the darkness.
The arrows were imbued with magic, making them several times more powerful and faster than ordinary arrows!
More knights fell beneath the rain of arrows, dying in the most miserable fashion.
The knights had let their guard down. They thought that after surviving a bloody battle, they had won. They never expected enemies to be lurking behind them, waiting to strike a fatal blow.
Darwin, Master's deputy, reacted at once. He looked toward Master, waiting for his orders, only to find his commander standing there with his eyes closed, completely motionless.
A few arrows grazed past him, nearly hitting him.
"Tom, Thomas, Russell—gather the rest of the men and protect the Knight Commander!"
"Yes!"
The three squad leaders answered in unison. All of them had survived.
A knight's honor demanded that he never let his commander come to harm. Darwin immediately decided to protect Master.
The knights who had survived the oncoming rain of arrows picked up their swords and shields and moved toward Master.
"Protect the Knight Commander!"
Darwin shouted in a hoarse voice, his expression already edging toward despair.
The fighting had drained most of the magic in their bodies. Without magic to support them, these enchanted arrows would eventually pierce them through!
A dozen or so knights struggled to raise their shields against the countless arrows. They slowly formed two circles, while the warhorses on the ground had already fallen beneath the barrage!
Master stood motionless in the innermost circle. Darwin roared,
"Hold on! The lord and the Grand Knight Commander will be back soon. Then we'll avenge our fallen brothers!"
Another knight fell, riddled with arrows. The shield in his hands shattered into pieces.
His magic had run dry, leaving the shield without its enchantment.
The knights inside immediately stepped forward to plug the gap.
Then two more knights fell on the other side for the same reason: their magic was exhausted. The knights behind them took their places, holding back the swiftly approaching enchanted arrows.
At last, after an unknown number of volleys from enemies hidden in the shadows, the whistling finally stopped. They had run out of arrows.
But only ten elite knights were still standing!
The shields in their hands were on the verge of breaking. Their faces were twisted with fury. They had watched helplessly as ten comrades who had fought alongside them through life and death fell to the enemy's sneak attack. It was unforgivable!
Without blinking, they stared into the shadows deep within the woods.
They knew the enemy had run out of arrows. Now they would have to fight at close quarters, and an even more brutal battle was about to begin!
"You cowards! Is a sneak attack all you're capable of? Have you got the guts to fight us face-to-face?"
Russell, the most hot-blooded of them all, shouted toward the direction the arrows had come from.
Only an eerie silence answered him, as if no one were there at all.
Yet every survivor was wound tight with tension. Even now, they had no idea who was attacking them.
At last, low voices broke the silence. The enemies hidden in the shadows seemed to be speaking to one another, like devils whispering among themselves.
As they talked, Darwin and the others tightened their grips on their swords, ready to unleash the little magic they had left.
Then came the rustle of movement, drawing closer to them!
The rustling plucked at the nerves of every survivor, pounding at their hearts.
Tall figures emerged from the darkness of the distant forest.
They rode tall black warhorses. The horses wore white masks like skulls, with only their crimson eyes exposed.
The riders were all powerfully built. They wore fur coats, and some wore incomplete suits of armor, but they all had one thing in common.
They wore sinister black masks with two ram-like horns, like demons emerging from the Abyss.
They surrounded the group. There were at least a hundred of these monsters.
Each one carried a different weapon: a black, barbed greataxe, a massive hammer, a long blade like a scythe...
But all of them had a white longbow strapped to their backs. Without a doubt, they were the ones who had loosed the rain of arrows from the shadows!
The one at the very front was also the biggest and strongest. He looked like an iron tower mounted on a horse. The muscles in his bare arms bulged like coiling dragons, a terrifying sight.
"You're... Barbarians?!"
Darwin stared at the monsters atop their towering warhorses, gripping his knight's longsword even tighter.
Why had the Barbarians, who had vanished for hundreds of years, suddenly appeared here?
Darwin was utterly despairing. To the people of the Star Kingdom, these Barbarians, like fiends, were their greatest fear!
They appeared and disappeared without a trace. They killed without warning. They were bloodthirsty by nature.
The Star Empire had always kept silent about the Barbarians, never speaking of them.
Even the few words that had been passed down told only of the myth that these terrifying Barbarians were invincible.
In the distant past, the Barbarians had been their nightmare, a stain on their glorious history. They had nearly brought the kingdom to ruin several times.
Fear of the Barbarians had been etched into their blood!
Darwin tried to keep the sword in his hand from trembling. He was an elite knight, and his resolve and courage surpassed those of most people from the Star Empire. Yet even he couldn't stop trembling with fear now, especially when he saw the figure at the front looming over them like a mountain. His heart pounded wildly.
The terror spoken of in the Star Empire's tales had surrounded them, and they were trapped in a desperate situation.
"Everyone, are you willing to fight these demons?"
Darwin asked the knights around him. A knight's faith still helped him overcome his fear. If this was to be their end, then they would fight with all they had!
"Of course. We'll avenge our fallen brothers!"
Russell replied. His face was resolute, showing not the slightest trace of fear. Hatred had completely consumed him.
Darwin turned to look at the Barbarians on their warhorses, ready to fight.
The Barbarians in black horned masks had surrounded them, but they still hadn't attacked. Even so, the tension in the air had reached its peak.
Suddenly, the Barbarians at the front parted to either side, opening a gap. Two riders appeared through it, one after the other.
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