The Woman and the White Mare

Callum felt his heart stop as soon as he watched the arrow drive itself through the skull of the archduchess-to-be. Blood spurted from the entrance and exit wounds, making it believable that she was indeed hit. Even Lupina's eyes widened from the sudden shock.

'Wait… I… I didn't get 'Game Over'?' Artie gasped inwardly. Her head did feel like it was splitting, but she wasn't dead.

'Why am I not dead?! Is the arrow fake?!'

Screams soon followed the attack. Artie did some ugly screaming when she realized that her head was now like an apple shot by a hunter. However, it was more mortifying that she didn't die then and there. Moreover, the pain she felt was nothing compared to being shot by an arrow in real life.

Rich-colored blood dripped down her face as the warm liquid oozed from the wound. However, Artie was still busy freaking out over it… and the System… Heaven Creation behaved like it was normal for her to be shot in the face.

[Active battle tutorial 5: You received damage from a Normal arrow!]

"You don't say!"

[Use Heal to regain the depleted health. The total health regenerated will scale from your Reverence.]

[Make sure to cast Heal as soon as you get hit. Ignoring the wound will give you either Poison or Bleeding status. Details about the damage, scaled reduction, and status effects are available in the archives. Would you like to see the archives?]

"No! Heal! Heal!" Artie was incoherently screaming while Lupina ran around to avoid any incoming arrows from the same archer. Another arrow was launched, but she managed to evade it.

Artie's eyes widened as she watched more arrows being unleashed at her location. The family had been hiding inside their house now so she only had to ignore the archer for now. However, she spotted Callum switch to his own iron bow and shoot down the bandit archer trying to kill the angel.

"Lady Shen! Are you… are you okay?!" Callum was as white as a sheet of paper as he tried to gauge the archduchess-to-be's wound. She didn't seem to be bleeding anymore, but there was a faint glow from inside… and the arrow was still stuck on her head. "We should call for a doctor!"

"No need, no need! Just come with me! I need to save more families!" Artie turned away and ignored the arrow on her head. She just rode ahead, Callum quickly following up. Moreover, he readied his bow in case someone would dare shoot the archduchess-to-be again.

The bandits that dared attack the houses were all killed by Callum as he kept an eye on the vicinity and the archduchess-to-be. He wondered why the woman wasn't even feeling faint from the wound on her head. If it was him, he would be dead. Apparently, perhaps even the Marshal would die from that.

As for why Callum didn't say 'Archduke'... it's just because he didn't want to jinx Larkin.

As soon as Artie's random event finished, she slowed down and looked around to find where Larkin might be. In the vast harbor, she couldn't tell where he was. However, she spotted a black dot expanding in the space above one of the ships in the harbor.

"That's… him, right?" Artie's eyes widened in awe as she saw the black dot turn into a full spell circle that encompassed the big ship in the harbor. She had no idea how powerful demons were in the world, but she couldn't help but be amazed at the things Larkin could do.

The waters rose and fell, rocking the ship above it. The black spell circle soon turned into a black beam that started decimating the ship, causing it to burn and explode little by little. Even from the distance, Artie could see small figures that seemed to be bandits jumping out of the ship.

"He should be around there then..."

Callum didn't have the luxury to watch as he kept looking around. He then turned to Artie, trying to ignore the peculiar decor on her head. "Lady Shen, we should find shelter. We're free to be slaughtered by arrow rains if we continue standing around idly."

She only nodded and rode Lupina towards the center of the harbor. Like what she was thinking, Larkin was standing in the middle of the wrecked harbor, casting a spell through his left hand. The knights were fighting the bandits while the archduke was destroying the ship.

"Kill the archduke!" The bandit leader roared as he successfully got past Barda when more bandits attacked the marshal altogether. The curved blade of the leader shone and struck down some knights who tried to stop him.

"Stay behind me, Lady Shen!" Callum pulled on his bow and started shooting to deter the movements of the bandit leader. His shots were actually accurate, but the leader had impossible reflexes that kept him from getting hit by the arrows landing by his feet.

The leader slid his eyes to the side and spotted Callum and Artie. Upon seeing the woman, the leader's grin tore his face in lust. Such a very sweet-looking creature. If she was guarded by one of the ducal knights, then she must be an important woman to the archduke.

'I probably won't be able to kill the Archduke because of his magic, but that knight? Hehehe, that woman can only cry for mercy!' He changed his path and dashed towards the duo. 'Just wait for me, little girl! I will be very easy on you!'

Artie realized that the bandit leader was heading towards her. She glanced to the side and saw Callum shooting in the leader's direction, but he kept on missing. She tried accessing the Authority Conquest, but the tab wouldn't light up. Her passives were also very useless in a fight.

"Stay here, milady!" Callum threw his bow and smoothly took out the sword as he clashed with the bandit leader. He hopped off of his horse and sent a plunge attack at the leader.

However, the enemy was very nimble. Every swing was either dodged or returned with a curved blade strike. What made it hard was that bandit archers also started shooting towards Callum. With nothing but his armor and sword to defend himself, he was fighting harder than he trained for.

Neigh! Lupina neighed so loud before charging into the fight. Callum was shocked when Artie decided to lure the enemies with her very presence. Even the other knights were frustrated that the woman was trying to take attention.

"Lady Shen!" The knights all gasped; even Larkin glanced in her direction. Right now, the knights were all torn between protecting the archduke and his wife. However, there was a reason why Larkin didn't bother at all. It was because he could monitor the field completely.

The bandit leader roared as he chose to chase Artie instead. How good would it be to play a lady to death in front of her protectors? However, Lupina evaded his first strike before Artie made her rear on her hind legs. The leader looked up at the white mare… and at the woman on her back.

He didn't know why, but he felt like time slowed down. When he stared at the woman, her eyes were glowing white as she looked down at him. The rearing made her hair flay behind her, the fierceness of the fire reflecting on her body. He didn't know what he had seen, but he was terrified.

Soon, the woman smiled.