The perfect | TBATE X COTE

Chapter 08: Ambush - part 2

This was clearly going to be a difficult situation. While we had plenty of fighting power, the enemy's numbers were concerning. The giant man named Durden ran towards us, positioning himself as reinforcement, under the rain of reduced arrows and tension that could be cut with a knife. It was difficult to fight when there were non-combatants to consider, and I could see Arthur frowning at the situation. He couldn't be happy about being a bother.

In the midst of the mounting tension, a burly bald man with scars stepped forward. "Good hunting boys! Don't touch the women and children too much; damaged items sell for less." He declared.

Arthur stood up from his seat. Alice worriedly gripped his arm, but Arthur's face was furrowed with rage. The carriage's wooden floor creaked as Arthur took a step forward, his blue eyes fixed on the man, ready to strike.

Arthur was aware of his situation based on the way he paused before leaping recklessly. But, to avoid the worst-case scenario, I also grabbed his forearm. I tightened my grip, forcing him to look me in the eyes. His blue eyes were meeting mine. I returned an apathetic look, but with just enough warning.

Arthur sighed in defeat, deflated. As his high spirits faded, I let go of his forearm as well. He'd be a liability to the team if he left right now. Even if we are better than most kids our age, our mana core ability is poor, and we would quickly run out of mana if we tried to fight.

Reynolds lunged forward with a battle roar, as if taking Arthur's place in chastising the bald man for his bold words. Taking that as a cue, the tension that had been building between the two forces erupted into a clash. The sounds of battle echoed throughout the place, and Alice drew us back into an embrace, trying to cover our ears so we didn't hear the bandits' battle cries or pained groans.

Reynolds kept fighting with the leader at the front. His blow combinations were lethal and fast, but the bald man was defending well, and they appeared to be evenly matched. Durden summoned a wall of earth to cushion a tide of arrows that pierced Angela's barrier, causing the carriage to lurch slightly.

Meanwhile, I turned my gaze to the right, where Jasmine had become a blur, and some bandits with sinister smiles collapsed with their throats pierced, stupidly trying to hold back the blood with their hands. She used her agility to her advantage, and the air seemed to dodge her as she danced aggressively among the enemies. She was pretty good, I had to admit. My judgment may have been impaired because I couldn't keep up with her movements due to the speed, but I saw that she was well trained with the daggers.

Jasmine continued to wreak havoc wherever she went until she came across her adversary. He was a rather large man who used a chain as a whip.

Jasmine deftly avoided the first lash of the chain, causing the chain to crash to the ground and lift the earth with a thunderous crack. Because of his reach, the man had the upper hand, and Jasmine could only dodge. This was bad, but if Jasmine could hold out until the man tired, he'd be easy prey.

Alice slid her hand from my ear to my eyes and turned my head to the other side, blocking my view of the carnage the apathetic girl was staring at. However, this caused my other senses to sharpen. A terrifying buzzing noise rang out, becoming sharper and sharper as if channeling energy. I caught a glimpse of Helen aiming her bow from the left side of the carriage between Alice's fingers.

Helen clenched her bowstring, two fingers gripping the end of a sharp arrow. The mana caused the tip of the arrow to turn a greenish color, and the wind seemed to swirl around her, shaking her black hair as well as the remnants of the carriage's canvas roof. Helen let go of the arrow, which whistled through the air as it flew straight for a group of archers on the mountain. The arrow smashed a section of the mountainside, causing many of the archers to collapse in terror.