73 Authority Burst

Something must have set off the archduke, and the hunts master couldn't blatantly ignore his lord. Despite the dangerous game Artie and Clarissa decided to play, the man only nodded and made a whistle to alarm the rest of the professional hunter servants. They then rode away from the group and scattered in the woods.

"Lord Ellis, what's happening?" Callum twitched and turned to the archduke. However, Larkin only rode his horse forward after leaving a few words for him: "Stay close to your sister."

Callum followed Larkin with his gaze before turning to his sister, but she had followed Clarissa and Artie already. The knight cussed under his breath and went to track them down. The other servants and knights stayed with Wusso and Gustova, soon escorting them back to the resting stop.

…

Whoosh! Another arrow was set loose as Clarissa tried to hit Artie… or play with her as if torturing her. Artie was evading the arrows only through the directions of the system. Without it, she would be catching them and counting down her HP. Then again, she had no idea if this would force her to enter a Conquest.

"What's wrong, Artie Shen? Not fond of returning my shots?" Clarissa laughed out before drawing her bow again and sending another arrow towards Artie. "Let me have it! You want me to show you how I hunt? Then, let yourself be the target in this—!"

Swoosh! An arrow flew just past Clarissa's face. The fletching didn't even hit her, but she felt a kind of presence from it. Strike! She heard something get hit by the arrow, and when she turned, she saw a rather black figure that wriggled on the ground. The older twin yelped in fear and stirred her horse to the side all of a sudden. However, from the terrain, it was easy for the horse to trip.

The sudden shake actually pushed Clarissa off of her horse that quickly ran away after. She landed on the ground, and Artie came to her as fast as she could. The archduchess leaned down to reach out to her. "Are you okay?!"

"What was that?!" Clarissa picked up her bow and accepted the ride, not wanting to be left with just her legs for mobility. "That black thing over there!"

"I saw it jump from behind you." Artie rode towards where the black thing should be, but it was already gone. Only a pool of dark blood was left. She then consulted the system, but the system was not responding to her. The archduchess then rode Lupina forward. "Let's head back to the resting stop for now."

Clarissa only nodded. Unlike earlier, she seemed to be exhibiting fear that she had not felt before. Even if she hated Artie, she was still hugging the archduchess and trembling behind her. It was strange to see her like this.

Artie then only held her bow against the reins of her horse and made Lupina cross the woodlands swiftly. "What's wrong? You're trembling. Is there something that hurts because you fell?"

"N-Nothing… I just… felt like… I know what that thing is..." 

Clarissa could barely finish her statement when Artie spotted three duplicates of the black thing she just shot down earlier. Despite Lupina's speed, she saw how the black creatures look like humanoid beings but with no eyes and only huge noses to locate their targets. The ears were standing up firmly, and the extremities were clawed. 

[Authority conquest is now active! Defeat the demons to relieve the woods of their infestation!]

"Demons..." Artie frowned. It should be low-leveled ones if a bow with around 30 attack points could penetrate its skin. Besides, she had 200 Veneration points so her attacks would pierce through low-leveled demons. She then prepared to set three arrows loose on those things.

Bang! The three couldn't even escape their fate when they met the arrows against their foreheads. They simultaneously fell to the ground and turned into a pool of black blood. The two women on horseback twitched when they saw it. Clarissa gulped down the lump in her throat. "T-They can't be here for me, right?"

"If they're here for your demon blood, shouldn't they be targeting Larkin instead?" Artie gritted her teeth later. She had to find Larkin fast. However, it felt like the woods had become less recognizable. The paths had become harder to follow. "Let's just find our way back—"

"Killer! Killer!" More black things showed up and rushed from the shadows. Clarissa screamed in fear, but Artie only gasped at their count. She wouldn't be able to shoot them down easily.

[Active battle tutorial 7: using the Authority Burst! Sometimes, the direst missions would result in ambushes from the enemies. When cornered, an angel's Authority Burst is the most dependable tool. During an Authority Burst, bright light will shoot from the angel's body and push away all the enemies. Stronger and well-timed Authority Burst would even scorch demons to death.]

[Use the Authority Burst to escape an ambush attack.]

Before the notification could even be fully read out in Artie's mind, the black creatures had all jumped towards them. Even if Artie was exposing herself, she had no choice but to unleash her power. She didn't want to weigh a person's life against her own interests. So when the notification finished, she quickly rode forward. The black creatures surrounded them, and that was when she held onto Clarissa and activated her Burst.

Boom! A low booming sound echoed, and a white light flashed across the field. The demons were all decimated, but Artie felt like she grew dizzy for a moment. It was probably from the light that came from her. She then continued on her path and prepared her bow for the other incoming demons.

"Hold on, I'll make a path for us!" Artie had no choice but to make use of her new innate talent. As she was a system wielder, she didn't need to practice whatever she had learned from it. Mounted archery must have been registered as a passive skill, but she had no time to find it in her system screens right now. She drew her bow and shot whoever tried to block them.

"What are you?!" Clarissa knew what an elf could do, and that was way outside the capabilities of an elf. "What is that white light? How could you kill demons so easily?! Are you here to kill my father?!" The older twin gnashed her teeth and screamed through the rushing wind of their fast travel. "I won't let you do anything to him!"

"I don't think I need to be not-human to harm Lord Wessel." Artie chuckled as she glanced over her shoulder to find Clarissa. "Unless you mean someone else."

Clarissa growled before screaming as she spotted something upfront. "Artie Shen!"

Artie looked up and saw a black creature drop from the tree. She aimed her bow up and smiled widely. "Now this is my high shot!"