Chapter 204: Onwards and Upwards (2/2)
Now it seemed like the section of the strike force attacking them was getting reinforcements from the remaining two groups, and not just in the form of more soldiers. Powerful experts began cropping up amongst the enemy, leading to extensive casualties among Brenden's followers. While some of the gang members were strong enough to hold their own, overall they were slowly getting pushed back and overwhelmed.
[We should be able to hold out until reinforcements arrive, at least.]
Almost as if to spite him, one section of the defenses vanished in an explosion of heat and light. The sounds of the battle momentarily lulled to near silence, as all participants took stock of the sudden change. It didn't take long for the panic to spread.
”Fire Mage!” Someone yelled, and chaos ensued as the defenders scrambled for cover from the lethal projectiles they imagined raining down on them.
For a second, Brenden was torn. Part of him thought it would be wise to rally his troops and throw back the current offensive. Already, the Tenundians were taking advantage of the defender's confusion as they pushed forward vigorously. However, he realized that he needed to neutralize the mage if they wanted any hope of surviving the next few minutes.
”Hubert!” He called to the noble who had been largely directing the battle. ”Take over. I'm going after that bastard mage.”
Without waiting for a reply from the man, he leapt over the barricade and began cutting his way through the enemy formation, heading towards the most likely place for the mage to be. Another explosion ignited behind him, spurring him to move faster.
[They would need a decent vantage point in order to avoid hitting their own troops. Additionally, they would likely try to operate out of somewhere hidden or concealed.]
Brenden started scanning the buildings on either side of the street. His instincts told him that the mage would probably try to lob spells from the nominal safety of a third or fourth story window. It didn't take long for him to find a suspicious looking one.
On the top floor of chandler's shop, he caught sight of motion in the darkened room behind a large bay window, facing the gate. Thanks to its placement at the corner of a Y-shaped intersection, whoever was inside had a commanding view of both the gate and the makeshift defenses in front of it.
Feeling in his gut that he had the right place, he gave one last horizontal sweep with his great sword, momentarily clearing space around him, before bunching his legs and taking aim. As if fired from a cannon, he launched himself across the intervening space, and neatly flew through the open window with enough force to send the rooms occupants sprawling in surprise.
Taking advantage of his natural agility, Brenden landed feet first on the opposite wall, and had enough time to take stock his surroundings while his legs and one arm absorbed the remaining force of his flight. Thankfully it was made of stone bricks, so it survived the sudden impact, at least until he jumped again.
With the collapsing wall as a backdrop, Brenden maneuvered towards the first Tenundian he could see in the room. There were close to twenty of them occupying various parts of what looked like a storage room filled with a variety of crates and barrels. They all appeared to be dressed in leather armor emblazoned with an unfamiliar silver sword sigil.
He cut down the first soldier before the man had a chance to respond, and was starting in on the next when a barrage of flame missiles forced him to dodge behind a nearby crate. One of the Tenundians was standing near the window while chanting in a low voice. Two others were standing next to him with hands on his shoulders. Brenden wasn't sure, but it seemed like they were feeding him mana.
”Come out and face us, coward!” One of the Tenundians yelled, as the remaining soldiers started carefully moving to surround him.
Thinking quickly, he grabbed the lid of a nearby barrel, and threw it in one direction before running in the other. Another barrage of flaming missiles annihilated the circle of wood, but it created enough of a distraction for him to cut his way through another handful of soldiers and start moving towards the mages.
Unfortunately, it seemed like some of the members of the team were particularly talented. A lithe individual armed with two daggers launched a dizzying series of attacks which Brenden was unable to fully avoid. He jumped back out of the man's range, but not before he suffered a handful of minor cuts on his arms and torso.
At the same time, a swordsman, using a style Brenden had never seen before, stepped around to his side and thrust at him with a rapier. The beastman was able to drive this new adversary off with a sweep of his sword, but it didn't buy much time, and both enemies were on him before he had a chance to recover his stance.
[Not good.] He thought to himself. These were exactly the kind of opponents that difficult for him to deal with using his current skillset. Not to mention the mage, who had been operating in the background and was even now lining up his next attack.
While Brenden was seriously considering whether or not to activate his Atavism, another figure flipped in through the window. Landing softly behind the mages, this new arrival dispatched them with three graceful strikes with a dagger.
The sound of their collapse caught the attention of the swordsman long enough for Brenden to grab and throw him into the dagger wielder. Thanks to the resulting entanglement it didn't take long for him to finish off the pair. Looking up, he saw that the mysterious intruder had dealt with the remaining Tenundians, and only the two of them were left alive in the attic.
On close inspection, it was clear that the figure was female. She was dressed in dark colored clothes, with her face obscured by a hood and veil, only showing the copper-colored skin around her eyes, and a few locks of curly brown hair.
Meeting his gaze, the woman affected a cocky stance and started speaking. ”You're welcome, by the way.”
Immediately finding himself irritated, Brenden frowned. ”I didn't ask for your help. I had everything under control.”
She laughed in response. ”Funny, from my perspective, you were about to be roasted.”
Growling slightly, Brenden yelled back. ”I hadn't gotten serious yet!”
Even in his own ears, the excuse sounded a bit hollow. While it was true that he could have probably made it out with some generous use of his skills, doing so would largely incapacitate him for the rest of the battle, and there was still much to do. He didn't want to admit it, but the strange woman had helped him greatly.
”Anyway, who are you? I don't think I've seen anyone like you among the gangs.”
She shook her head. ”Yeah, I'm not about that life anymore. My current boss told me to keep an eye on you, and make sure you stay out of trouble.”
Brenden was about to ask some follow up questions, when a roaring battle cry from outside drowned him out. It seemed like the Tenundians were launching another assault. He needed to get back to his troops.
Quickly walking towards the window, he made up his mind to put off any questioning till later. ”Let's go. If your job is to keep me safe, then you can help defeat the enemy in front of us, right?”
She only replied with a sigh, but nevertheless followed him as he jumped out into the street.