Chapter 432: Horizon Archer Vs. Arcane Sniper [Part 2]

Vogel understood the level of danger he was facing. Never before had he met an archer whose range was farther than his.

Even so, he felt no fear. His thoughts were simple. Finally, he found a worthy opponent.

Someone who could actually threaten his life.

One mistake, and he would lose his life.

He slowly moved through the dried-out creek, keeping his body low while using the uneven terrain as cover.

Every step was deliberate.

Every breath was controlled.

The Vermilion Bird General had fought countless battles throughout his life and knew better than anyone that an archer’s greatest advantage was not merely their range.

It was also the skill needed to make the kill land.

And right now, that advantage belonged to his enemy.

Vogel took a deep breath and activated one of his special abilities. Soon, a small bird made of flames materialized.

It was only the size of his palm, but it could perfectly serve as Vogel’s secondary eye whenever he needed to scout a place beyond his reach.

The only downside was that this fire bird didn’t exactly hide itself. And worse, when Vogel used this skill during the night, the enemy would spot it easily.

Unfortunately, he had no other option but to use this skill to find the location of his enemy.

As soon as the fire bird left his hiding place, Vogel closed his eyes. Using the bird’s own sight as his own, he controlled it to fly in the direction where he believed the attack came from earlier.

However, only a few seconds after it took flight, an arrow made of ice pierced its body, making it explode in mid-air.

’He could hit something this small from that distance?’ Vogel was genuinely surprised. Even for him, targeting a figure that size was not an easy feat.

Fortunately, the destruction of his spell informed the Vermillion Bird General one important thing.

His opponent was attacking him from the southwest.

’If one can’t do it, then let’s try two.’ Vogel manifested two fire birds on the palm of his hands, and willed them to fly to his left and right side.

He then increased their movement speed as he made them move in zigzags, making it hard for the enemy to predict its movements and hit it from that distance.

And just as Vogel expected, the arrows that targeted his birds a second time missed completely.

Even for Otto, it was extremely hard to attack something moving in an irregular pattern.

While he could shoot an arrow from far away, it would still take a few seconds for it to land on his target.

Many things could happen in those few seconds, allowing the fire birds to dodge the attacks meant to destroy it completely.

A faint smile appeared on Vogel’s face as he once again manifested two fire birds at the same time.

Just like the first two, they flew in zigzag patterns. Left, right, up, and down, their movements were erratic and hard to predict.

With four fire birds flying in the direction where the arrows were coming from, Vogel waited patiently as he used the bird’s vision to better understand the situation.

A few minutes later, one of the fire birds finally came close to Otto’s location.

However, it was still a kilometer away and could only roughly pinpoint the archer’s location.

The three other fire birds worked in unison to close that gap.

Suddenly, one of the birds exploded.

It wasn’t hit by an arrow. Instead, something fast and small had clashed with it a few seconds ago, destroying it completely.

Blitz had made a move and personally hunted down the fire birds. Daedalus had informed Leone that these birds were only used to scout and didn’t actually have any offensive power.

Since that was the case, the flying squirrel decided to destroy all of them before their enemy could get close enough to see the rest of Leone’s people.

"We need to take him out while he’s still alone," Daedalus said calmly. "Since your father said reinforcements are on the way, we might no longer have a chance to kill one of the enemy’s generals when they come."

Leone agreed. But he also felt that this was also a good opportunity for Otto to "level up" his abilities.

As much as he didn’t want to admit it, Otto seemed to have grown too complacent due to his ability to snipe his enemies from a distance.

If he got used to that feeling, he would feel helpless once his enemies managed to close the gap and corner Leone’s vassal within their striking range.

Little did he know that Otto thought the same.

In fact, when Blitz made its move, Otto asked Leone for a favor through telepathy.

"Great Chieftain, please allow me to fight the enemy within their strike range," Otto said calmly.

"Are you sure?" Leone asked. "You’re going to face someone stronger than Logan."

Back then, Otto already had trouble fighting against the Orc Champion. But now, he planned to fight someone who was known to be the greatest archer from the Kingdom of Britannia.

"Please allow me to fight him, Great Chieftain," Otto replied firmly.

Leone didn’t bat an eye and agreed to his request. But, to ensure his safety, he asked Astravor and Lord Azar to follow Otto within a distance that would let them save his life if it was in danger.

Having been granted permission, Otto then urged his Sky Drake to take off to the skies and fly toward the location where the general hid.

Astravor and Lord Azar followed behind him, ensuring that they would be able to save him if his life was in any real danger.

"Are you sure about this?" Conall asked Leone in a serious tone. "Your vassal might really die if he fights that general."

"He won’t die," Leone replied. "I believe in him."

The young man tried to look calm, but deep inside, he felt a little anxious.

Why?

Because Otto was going to fight a Rank 6 Arcane Sniper despite being only a Rank 3 Horizon Archer based on Daedalus’ ranking system.

Still, a part of him believed that if his vassal managed to survive this fight, he would become stronger than ever.

As Otto flew closer toward Vogel’s location, he saw another fire bird flying in the distance.

This time, he didn’t attack it.

He simply allowed it to observe him.

Suddenly, a roar of a tiger reverberated in the surroundings.

Vogel and his mount had flown back to the sky and hovered in the distance.

They were exactly a mile away from each other.

Neither said anything.

They simply nocked an arrow on their bow and prepared to clash with each other.

Meanwhile, Astravor and Lord Azar had landed, paying close attention to the battle that was about to take place.

Both of them could have worked together with Otto in order to kill the Vermillion Bird General.

But, as creatures that wished to become stronger themselves, they also understood that this was a chance.

A chance for Otto to see with his own eyes what a peak archer, who had mastered his craft, could really do.

The two archers stared at each other for a while as if waiting for the signal to start their battle.

It was then that a strong gust of wind blew past the two of them.

A second later, both of their arrows took flight.

Otto had imbued his arrow with the wind element, making it fly three times faster than usual.

Vogel’s arrow, on the other hand, transformed into a beam of light before splitting into a hundred light projectiles, taking Otto completely by surprise.