Chapter 171: I Am Their Worst Nightmare [Part 5]
Not only that, after the Orcs ran away, fireballs started to descend inside the Stronghold, which made the young man frown.
When his and Lily's smokescreen was blown away by a powerful gust of wind, he knew that it had been done by the Shamans of the Three Great Tribes.
It was arrogant to think that only the Allied Tribes had Shamans on their side, and Ethan wasn't delusional enough to think of such.
"Everyone, retreat!" Ethan ordered as he continued to cut down the lives of the warriors in front of him.
The sound of a horn spread on the battlefield, signaling the Allied Tribes to pull back as fast as they could.
Ethan, Lily, and several warriors held the ring, holding the line for as long as they could.
The young witch was the only one on the front lines who could use magic, and she didn't hesitate to summon an ice wall in order to block the enemy's advance.
Her face was a bit pale from continuously using magic since the beginning of the battle. At this point, her magical reserves were gradually running dry.
Only a single Ice Fox was left by her side because the other one had turned into particles of light after it tried to delay the enemy's advance.
"The Ice Wall will not hold for long," Lily stated. "Let's go."
Ethan nodded and ran alongside her. The last Ice Fox stayed behind, and it was doing its best to reinforce the Ice Wall by creating more Ice Walls.
Everyone knew that it was only a matter of time before their last line of defense broke, so they ran as fast as they could.
Fortunately, the Allied Tribes had prepared an evacuation plan in advance.
Their wagons had already left the stronghold long ago, carrying the women, children, and the old people with them.
The warriors of the Allied Tribe fled in the darkness, leaving their burning Stronghold behind.
Naturally, they knew that their enemies might pursue them as well, but they were not too worried about it. They had made a contingency plan for when their Stronghold fell into the enemy's hands.
Soon enough, the war cries of the warriors from the Three Great Tribes could be heard behind them.
Ethan and Lily glanced back and saw dozens of warriors running in their direction.
The two of them were at the very back of the formation, running alongside the most elite members of the Allied Tribes. They wouldn't have any trouble in dealing with the enemies behind them, but they knew that if they really did that, the bulk of their enemy's army would catch up.
Since that was the case, they simply ran.
"We're nearing the river," Rex stated. "We will definitely lose them there."
Ethan nodded. "If they dare to chase us, I can do something about it."
After a few more minutes, they arrived at their destination. The river was wide, and the other side was at least a hundred meters away.
The river was two meters deep, and the torrent was quite strong. If anyone were to try to cross it on foot, they would definitely be swept away by it.
Fortunately, they didn't have to do that because a wooden bridge had been built across it, allowing wagons to pass over it easily.
Standing on the other side of the river were the women of their tribe. These ladies were not allowed to join the battle because their duty was to escape and protect the children. Now that they had successfully crossed the river, they all stood holding bows and arrows in their hands.
When the Barbarians forced them to migrate to the South, the Allied Tribe lost most of its warriors. Because of this, the Great Chieftains decided that during times of great need, their women should also fight.
But they weren't taught the way of the spear, axe, or sword. They were not allowed to fight on the front lines, regardless of the situation.
Instead, all of them were required to learn archery.
The moment a girl turned ten, she was taught how to wield the bow. Because of this, every woman in the tribe was a proficient archer, and even though this was the first time that they would be using these skills to kill humans, there was no hesitation in their faces.
"Ready!" Safiya, who led the evacuation of the women earlier, raised her hand.
The wives and daughters of the warriors of the Allied Tribe all nocked an arrow on their bows and pulled the strings as far as they could.
They were waiting for the members of their tribe to reach the wooden bridge before they unleashed a volley of arrows that would kill those who were chasing them.
The moment Ethan and Lily stepped onto the wooden bridge, Safiya gave the signal to attack.
Immediately, hundreds of arrows flew, and rained down on the warriors of the Three Great Tribes, catching them by surprise.
Screams of pain and death reverberated in the night as the arrows hit their targets. Faced with the deadly barrage, the warriors of the Three Great Tribes didn't know whether they should continue with their pursuit or turn back.
However, when one of their Head Hunters arrived, he didn't hesitate to give an order.
"Destroy the bridge!" the Head Hunter ordered.
The warriors then gritted their teeth as they raised their weapons to hack the bridge, ensuring that the members of the Allied Tribe would be washed away by the river.
Safiya and the other Shamans chanted at the same time. A moment later, dozens of Stallions made up of water, rose from the river and clashed with the enemy.
Their unstoppable charge sent everyone they hit flying, including the Head Hunter whose screams were drowned out by the screams of his men, who had suffered the same fate.
When Ethan and Lily crossed to the other side, the handsome young man didn't hesitate to use his Trident to destroy the wooden bridge, preventing their enemies from chasing them for the time being.
"Retreat!" Safiya ordered.
Although they could still kill their enemies using their long-ranged weapons, she didn't dare to stay for long because their enemies also had Shamans with them.
It was quite possible for them to create a bridge that would allow their forces to cross to the other side and continue their pursuit.
In order to prevent this scenario, they didn't hesitate to escape, leaving the warriors of the Three Great Tribes screaming in anger and frustration as they were left with no choice but to watch their prey escape from their grasp.