BXBX NOVEL Chapter 97: Chapter 97:Inside the Tree [4]
Heading up the hill, Albert felt a sense of relief as he saw over five hundred archers lined up from the emergency alarm.
Lifting his elegant white bow above his hand with his right hand, Albert stared down at his soldiers, who were either confused from the sudden alarm or nervous as they had realized this was not a drill.
Silencing the cacophony of noises from his soldiers, Albert's voice rang out, even being heard from civilians in a nearby street.
"THIS IS A NOT A DRILL! FOR THOSE WHO HAVE NOT REALIZED, THIS IS NOT A DRILL."
Raising his bow even higher, Albert grabbed an arrow from his quiver with his other hand and held it by his side.
Looking down at his quivering soldiers, who had grasped the severity of the situation, Albert suppressed his unease and nervous emotions, maintaining an indifferent facade.
The Elven Realm hadn't been attacked in hundreds of years.
Sure, they had trained these soldiers and improved their weapon technology in that time... but they were still missing the most important thing.
Experience.
This was these Elven soldiers' first time facing a crisis. A crisis where the death of themselves, their fellows Elves, and their families were on the line.
No amount of training or technological advancement could have prepared them for this moment.
The clash of emotions inside their brain, their natural instinct telling them to run away to survive, and their nerves and doubt.
All those things would simply drag Albert's soldiers down... his troops needed to be at their peak strength.
As a leader, his job was to quash those emotions, leaving only fighting and battle imprinted in their minds, allowing for the most optimal performance.
The thing was... Albert was never a good liar.
Albert knew nothing about what was going on.
Never in his life had he seen his mother that distressed, and she had even mentioned the tree, a secret that was only supposed to be known by the Elven rulers.
The implications of those words and her mother's expression were apparent to Albert.
An unfathomable danger was approaching them.
Would the Elven realm fall today? How many of his fellow Elves would die today? Was this battle even winnable? Would he survive this battle...?
How could he stand there and tell his Elves that they and all their families would survive and to focus on the battle when he couldn't even convince himself of that much?
Was he even qualified to be their leader? The future ruler of the Elven kingdom... yet he could not even lead a single squadron of troops into battle.
With his left hand raised, Albert placed an arrow in his upward-facing bow, carefully putting it against the bow's soft, elastic string.
He was never a good liar... but he was an actor.
Staring down at his troops, knowing damn well that there was a high chance that many of them could die today, Albert simply acted.
Just as he had acted naive and kind to the human visitors, he could do the opposite.
He acted as if he was oblivious to everything. His mother's odd behavior was pushed to the back of his mind.
Who cared what danger was facing them?
They were going to win this fight. It wasn't a thought or a question circulating in Albert's head.
It was a concrete statement.
Albert and the elves were going to kill whatever abominations were daring to attack their home and send them right to hell.
One of them was dying today.
Those abominations attacking them or Albert.
As the emotions disappeared from Albert's head, leaving his pupils completely lifeless, he placed the arrow against the string before pulling the string back.
With his hands on his bow, Albert turned his emotionless gaze to the shivering soldiers below him.
"I understand that you may all be worried, and there is a good reason for you to be worried. But worrying won't do anything. It will simply drag you down here. Focus on your weapons in front of you and win this battle."
Responding to Albert's words, a single soldier spoke up from the crowd.
"WHAT ABOUT OUR FAM-"
Cutting him off mid-sentence, Albert locked his piercing gaze onto that soldier, speaking harshly.
"Win here, then. If you care so much about saving whoever, then win. You all want to survive, right? Lose, and you, alongside all your family, die; it's simple. What more do I have to explain to you all?"
Turning away from the soldier, who was still trembling, Albert refocused his attention on the bow above him.
Even if they won, there was no guarantee that his soldiers and their families would survive, but all Albert had to do was convince them that there was indeed a guarantee, giving them a false sense of hope.
And Albert had just done that.
Even if they didn't know it, Albert's words were imprinted in their minds.
After all, Albert was their prince and future ruler; just like it was instinct for them to run, it was instinct for them to believe the words of their superiors unconditionally.
Releasing the string of the bow and sending the arrow flying straight up at the fastest speed he could, Albert continued.
"Ready your bows."
Nocking another arrow in his bow, now facing the incoming demons, Albert didn't turn around, not bothering to see if his soldiers were running or staying behind.
As his earlier arrow began its descent, flying straight down at speed completely invisible to the regular eye and even some awakened eyes, Albert waited until the descending arrow was right in front of his face before shooting his second arrow.
As Albert's arrow collided with his earlier one, they both were propelled at speed invisible to a C-rank and below's eye towards the entrance of the clearing.
"SHOOT!"
As Albert's two arrows reached the entrance, perfectly hitting the first demon who dared to enter the clearing, a barrage of over a thousand arrows flew over Albert's head, heading in the same direction.
Many elves could shoot up to three arrows simultaneously with their constant training, so Albert wasn't surprised or happy upon seeing a thousand arrows flying over his head.
Instead, he was shaken.
He could now see the entrance of the clearing perfectly... where countless demons were already flooding into the clearing.
The two guards stood in front of those charging demons, running as fast as they could away... but it was still too slow.
His emotions emerged again for a short moment, causing him to clench his fists; however, in the next second, they disappeared.
The loss of two people was a small price to pay for victory.
Either lose two people and win the fight, or lose millions by being defeated.
Just as the first set of arrows hit the ground, an urgent voice rang out throughout the entire clearing.
"EVACUATE AND FIND COVER IN YOUR HOMES. THIS IS NOT A DRILL! I REPEAT, THIS IS NOT A DRILL."
The Elven evacuation drill had been set off, marking the start of their battle.
Of course, Albert still remembered his mother's words throughout all of this.
Lead them to the tree.
Albert's plan was simple.
Shoot all their arrows at the demons, forcing them to take cover at the World Tree's trunk, where the branches were lower down and would block their arrow's trajectory.