With the captain's yell, every soldier drew their weapon, eyes straining in the poor visibility as they searched for their unseen attacker.
FSSHT! KRRK!
Another arrow tore through the air, piercing a soldier straight through the eye and bursting out the back of his skull—his body hitting the ground, dead in one shot.
The captain stared at the corpse, then at the direction both arrows had come from.
"There's only one person," he said calmly. He pointed at a group of ten soldiers. "Charge straight ahead and bring me his head."
"Kill!" they roared as they rushed into the darkness.
The captain then signalled for five archers to follow behind them.
The fifteen soldiers disappeared into the woods, their loud, valiant battle cries fading with distance. Soon after, faint sounds of clashing steel echoed through the forest.
A few minutes later, silence returned.
The remaining soldiers waited, expecting their comrades to return with the head of the attacker.
Then—the silence was broken by hurried footsteps.
One of their archers stumbled out of the darkness, his expression hidden behind the night's darkness.
Just as he drew within a few steps, an arrow suddenly protruded from his neck. His eyes widened in horror as he choked on his own blood, collapsing to the ground within seconds.
"The trees! Hide behind the trees!" the captain shouted, diving for cover.
FSSHT! FSSHT!
Two arrows flashed past, killing two more soldiers before they could find shelter.
Heavy breathing filled the air. Hearts pounded as the survivors pressed themselves against tree trunks.
"What the hell is happening?!"
"Fifteen of them died just like that?"
"Who's attacking us—some divine archer?"
"Even a divine archer shouldn't be able to wipe out ten melee soldiers and five archers that fast unless it was open ground!"
FSSHT! FSSHT!
Two more soldiers screamed as arrows struck them down. This time, the shots came from the west.
The captain's mind raced as his men continued to die, their final cries echoing like ghosts through the forest.
Then—it clicked.
"The torches!" he shouted. "Put out the torches! Even a divine archer doesn't have night vision!"
The soldiers immediately obeyed, extinguishing the scattered torches as quickly as they could.
When the last flame died, the forest finally fell silent. No screams. No arrows.
The captain released a breath he hadn't realised he was holding and quickly did an headcount.
Only twenty-three left…
A terrifying archer.
"Where's the signal flare?" he said. "We need to call for reinforcement."
His deputy pointed toward the corpse of a soldier up ahead... This was the first soldier that had been killed by the enemy archer.
The captain's eyes narrowed. Coincidence… or deliberate?
He opened his mouth to give the order—
FSSHT! FSSHT!
Two more soldiers fell.
"I see him—!" someone yelled.
Only for an arrow to pierce straight through his mouth, exiting the back of his head mid-sentence.
But that was enough, the assailant was now visible to them.
"Charge!!" the captain roared in fury.
"Charge!" the remaining soldiers echoed as they rushed forward.
Remembering what had happened to the previous fifteen, the captain hesitated—then turned around and sprinted towards the signal flare instead.
Just as he reached it—
An arrow slammed into his leg with terrifying force. It punched through and buried itself deep into the ground, pinning him in place.
His scream tore through the night as he crashed face-first into the dirt.
Gritting his teeth, he snapped the arrow shaft and tore his leg free. Dragging himself forward, he crawled with everything he had left, his ragged breathing pounding in his ears.
Just as his fingers reached the flare—
A shadow fell over him.
He froze, terror locking his body in place, as a figure in damaged dark armour stepped past him and picked up the flare.
The figure glanced down.
A foot rose.
The last thing the captain saw was the sole of a boot crashing into his face.
---
Qin Feng's POV
SQUELCH.
"And that's a wrap."
It had taken less than thirty minutes to wipe out this unit. He'd been careful—no mistakes, no flare set off. One signal would have ruined everything.
With the first flare triggered, the main camp would assume he'd been captured. But until he was physically brought back, the camp wouldn't recall all deployed units. Instead, nearby units would move toward the signal, while distant ones would camp out in the woods, awaiting orders.
Only by daybreak—if he hasny arrived at camp—would both the camp realise something was wrong and deploy even more units. And the already deployed units, seeing no return signal from camp, would resume their search earnestly.
That gave him time and made all units grouped together, not scattered in small units, searching every nook and cranny.
His plan was to slaughter as many units as possible, then slip back to his fortress—leaving the enemy units in that direction untouched. Thus, the Northern Khaganate forces would believe he was still hiding out in the forest and continue sending reinforcements straight into the trap.
He clenched his fist, crushing the flare tube, then bent down to retrieve the captain's identity token.
Turning, Qin Feng vanished back into the trees.
His next target lay to the northeast.
All through the night, the North Bast Forest witnessed similar scenes—entire Northern Khaganate units erased to the last man.
By two hours past midnight, Qin Feng had wiped out three more hundred-man units.
Total units annihilated: five.
---
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