Hoshi : Insurrection

Chapter 12 : An Identity unveiled.

Hirishima and Subaru snaked around the field to throw the archers off as they closed in on them. A moment later, two of the elite guards decided to intercept and eliminate the two runners. One of them was wielding a halberd while the other a greatsword. Both of them leaped right in front of the warriors who nearly reached their targets and swung their massive weapons at them.

Hirishima and Subaru completely avoided both attacks but didn't counterattack. The elite guards enraged after finding this lack of interest humiliating and continued attacking with murderous intent. The difference in skill of these elites compared to normal imperial soldiers was tremendous as even Hirishima and Subaru found it difficult to consistently dodge attacks with large damage windows. Despite that, both didn't land a single blow on any of their attackers.

Erashi reached the two elite guards and used his spear shaft to hit both guards at the same time. The proficiency of the commander's weapon hand startled the two as Hirishima and Subaru were given an opportunity to return to their objective. 

"Thanks for not laying a finger on my prey," Erashi spoke.

"We would never dare," replied Hirishima.

The commander began fighting the two guards at the same time with his spear and gave them a tough time as his hits packed a punch despite clearly having a much weaker weapon. None of the guards were given a chance to even raise their weapons as they were overwhelmed by a barrage of targeted attacks from an insanely skilled opponent.

The lower ranked warriors engaged the regular guards and each warrior had to take three or more guards on at the same time. This outnumbering didn't falter them one bit as still they courageously stood their ground without taking much damage. Compared to the ferocious demons the warriors are trained to fight against, these soldiers had trifle strength.

Very occasionally a few warriors took  slashes from the swords and spears of the enemy but landed much deeper gashes in return. The main targeted area was the upper torso armor along with the lower limbs of the guards so that they could immobilise them without necessarily spontaneously killing them. This wasn't a mortality deficient battle by any means as still quite a few pints of blood flew across the battlefield. Many guards were still killed but at least the warriors were merciful towards the downed and low skilled.

Hirishima and Subaru reached the archers and began taking them out one by one. The archers only managed to hit a few arrows at the two elite warriors in the armor and didn't do any real damage as the two masterfully kept their attention towards them this entire time. Upon striking distance, these archers were extremely weak to melee attacks as they were all knocked out in a flash. The remaining two elite guards, both wielding sharp curved swords, rushed towards Hirishima and Subaru but were interjected by a thrown greatsword which stuck on the ground as it landed between the two opposite sides. It was Erashi who was wielding the masterfully crafted halberd of his earlier foe.

"Impossible, those two should've kept you occupied," an elite guard perplexed.

"See for yourself." Erashi pointed back at his past opponents beaten to a pulp with faces barely recognisable.

"How are you this strong? You might be just as strong as Tamura!" The elite guards faltered.

"Now then, you two return to the fight and knock out the rest of the guards before The Warriors can kill them," Erashi ordered as he readied his halberd.

Both acknowledged and ran back while Erashi casually walked towards the two guards. Both were extremely intimidated despite being more muscular and having sturdier armor. 

On the way back Hirishima noticed a rolled up whip attached to the belt of one of the knocked out elite guards and smiled.
"Looks like you won't be needing this anymore."