Chapter 131: An Aerial Exhibition (1/2)
Mike ran through the increasingly panicked crowd of students.
[They need some kind of direction, or else they will be more of a liability than an asset.] He thought to himself as he dodged around a trio of male finance students who were desperately trying to take cover under a table.
It was at that point, that the rough, male voice of the Headmaster overwhelmed the noise of the crowd.
”Students and faculty! We are under attack by an unknown enemy. Until help is able to arrive, you will need to defend yourselves. Members of the Martial Arts department, you are our vanguard. Protect the other students. Mages, do what you can to support them. Everyone else, grab whatever weapon is available to you and ready yourself.”
[Well that works, I suppose.]
Mike broke free from the remnants of the mist, and was immediately faced with an entire squad of hostile soldiers, approximately twenty in number. Dressed in suits of banded mail and carrying a variety of weapons, they were moving in a disciplined, although loose, formation. Red tabards covered their torsos, with the emblem of a white stag's head emblazoned upon it.
The soldiers stared at him for a second, obviously confused by his disguise. This gave him all time he needed to close in on them and cut his way into their ranks.
Falling into the Roaring Flame stance, he stabbed forward into the leading soldier, catching him between two plates on his armor. While the man was falling backwards, Mike ran up his torso, wrenching his sword free in time to deliver a powerful overhead blow on the next enemy which nearly cut him in half.
The soldiers had finally started to react by the time he had landed. One of them, who looked to be in charge of the group, started yelling.
”What in the hells?! Surround him, don't let him get away.”
Mike deflected a blow from some kind of poleaxe, and was about to counterattack when he was forced to dodge a sword blow aimed at his chest.
'Watch it! He's a slippery one.” One of the soldiers yelled as he attempted to impale him with his spear. They had formed a circle around Mike, making it necessary to continuously avoid and parry their attacks.
[Alright, I think I've had enough of playing fair.]
Closing his eyes, and summoning a small burst of mana, he released a blast of intense Light Magic, momentarily blinding his enemies. While they were still crying out and reeling, he dispatched another four with quick, efficient strikes.
Just like that, the encirclement was broken, allowing him to begin devastating the visually impaired soldiers from behind. In a matter of seconds the squad had been reduced to a pile of corpses.
He took a deep breath to quell a sudden trembling in his hands. Despite the cultists he had killed in the cavern beneath Wyrport and the assassins he'd dispatched on a few minutes ago, annihilating the soldiers disturbed him slightly.
In the novels he'd read in his past life, the main characters often had to kill another human. While there reactions varied, typically it proved to be a traumatic experience for them. Although there was a portion them, the sociopathic antiheroes that had come to dominate a large section of modern fiction, which were able to kill with impunity from the very beginning.
That he was only feeling some minor discomfort was slightly concerning.
[Maybe one of my skills is preventing me from suffering the emotional consequences of killing humans.]
Five simultaneous roars split the sky and awakened him from his ruminations. Looking up, he saw large, winged shapes were descending from above.
For a second Mike could only stare blankly, since he felt like he was looking at a quintet of flying cats. A quick Appraise filled him in.
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Ateshan Chimera
Age: 12
Race: Lesser Chimera
Class: Bound Chimera
Title: Tamed Beast
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[So I can safely assume it's a chimera. A little plain though.]
The creatures looked pretty much like winged lions, although they were a reddish color, reminiscent of dried blood. Indeed, the only really remarkable thing about them was their size. With roughly 15m wingspans and bodies the size of small cars, the chimeras would have been quite terrifying to most normal people. Although, Mike was not impressed.
[A little scary I guess, but the others should be able to take care of them.] He thought to himself as continued towards the airship.
As the chimera approached the struggling mass of students, however, he noticed a detail that had originally escaped him. They had riders, who promptly started dropping spherical objects into the milling group. Fearing that they might be some kind of weapon, he focused a portion of his dwindling mana reserves into summoning a powerful blast of wind.
The spheres were pushed away from the students and landed on the far side of the earthen barricade. Mike expected an explosion, but instead saw a burst of green smoke over the top of the wall. Judging from the screams of the disguised servers, which started soon afterwards, the spheres contained a slightly more insidious threat.
He sent another mental message, this time with more urgency. They desperately needed air supremacy.
[Looks like I need to take care of these things now, or they are going to decimate the students.]
Summoning the remaining dregs of his mana, Mike prepared to launch himself in the direction of the flying monsters, but stopped when he saw one of the chimeras cut from the air by a trio of nearly invisible wind blades. The other four backed off, and started circling the crowd warily.
[Nevermind, looks like Tal has this under control.]
”Matthew! You bastards!” A harsh female voice yelled.
Looking over, he saw a group of soldiers dragging a familiar, platinum blonde student towards the airship. She was bound with a rope lined with glowing arcane runes, and slung over the shoulder of a particularly muscular man. Tears were streaming down her face as she struggled futilely to get free. Following her gaze, Mike saw a trio of crumpled human forms lying on the ground nearby.
He had started running towards the group of soldiers, when Andrea looked over at him. After a brief moment of shock, she nodded at the bodies with an imploring look. ”Please, help him!”
”Shut up!” One of her captors yelled while cuffing her. Her head bounced against the steel plated armor of the soldier who was carrying her, and she sagged noticeably.
Gritting his teeth, Mike changed direction to the group of still forms. He would honor her wishes, even if it might lead to her capture. When he got close, he recognized the royal twins' bodyguards as two of the still forms lying on the ground. Judging from their wounds and the open, staring eyes, they were beyond his help.
The third turned out to be the princess's twin, Matthew Almir. He had been gutted by a massive blow that had nearly cut him in half. Torn entrails and blood coated the ground around the young prince, but the shallow rise and fall of his chest betrayed a small spark of life yet remaining.
It was a critical injury, one that would have meant death under normal circumstances. Luckily for the prince, he happened to run into one of the few people on the continent qualified to save him.
Mike kneeled down next to the stricken youth, pulled another mana potion out, and downed it. He reached out with a hand, already channeling mana, and laid his palm on the prince's chest. In his concentration he felt a feeble grip on his arm, and glanced up to see Matthew looking at him with clear, imploring eyes.
He was trying to say something, but couldn't issue more than a whisper. Since it was going to take a few moments for him to finish the healing anyway, Mike leaned over and listened.
”Save…..Andrea…..please…..” Came the hoarse, breathless words.