Blaidd's low growl still echoed through the air when a second arrow of light came hurtling toward them.
This arrow was faster and more accurate than the first, aimed straight at Millicent's face. The red-haired girl reacted instantly, drawing her curved sword as she twisted aside and slicing the arrow down with a flash of steel. But the severed arrow did not immediately disperse. Its broken pieces actually turned in midair and continued flying toward her.
Millicent's pupils contracted. She leaped backward three times in succession, barely evading the points of light dogging her every move.
"These are the Ancestral Followers' Ancestral Spirit Arrows," Bernahl said gravely, holding the Devourer's Scepter across his chest. "They supposedly carry magic that tracks souls. The more you dodge, the more persistently they pursue you."
Millicent was about to argue that she could use her speed to break through the barrage and deal with the archers directly when a third and fourth arrow shot toward her from different directions. Gritting her teeth, she swung her sword to block them, but every severed arrow split into smaller, homing points of light. In an instant, more than a dozen surrounded her.
"Damn it!" Blaidd swore, swinging the Royal Greatsword to help her, but more arrows poured from the depths of the forest like rain, forcing the four of them into a back-to-back defensive formation.
"This will never end!" Blaidd roared. "Are we supposed to wait until they run out of arrows?"
Tarnished, however, was unusually calm. He raised a hand to tell the others to stay composed, then took a deep breath, tilted his head back, and let out a long, peculiar howl.
It sounded neither like a human shout nor a beast's roar, but a strange call blending several pitches-the beginning rumbled like the trembling