CH 279: Battle Before Dusk

Victoria guessed correctly. They arrived just before the sun began to set. They were ready, however. Jasmine spotted the women gathering at the edge of the treeline and alerted the rest of their party. She pondered attacking, but chose not to. Assassins work better when you don’t expect them. Jasmine spotted the woman Victoria talked about. The woman didn’t even seem bothered about her arm being missing. She was barking orders to the group. She retreated to her position with Elsie and Toni. It let her observe from the shadows and jump into action if need be.

“Remember the plan?” Jasmine asked Elsie.

Elsie took a deep breath and gripped her wand. “Yes. Once they reach the gate, lift them with my ice wall.”

“And before that?” Jasmine nodded.

Elsie glanced at Toni, who was fidgeting with his skirt. “Attack only when necessary. We don’t know how much information they have on us, so magic may be a surprise.”

“Good,” Jasmine smiled softly. “Once again, we’re putting our faith in your magic. And you’ve always delivered.”

Elsie wanted to banter back or make a comment, but chose not to. She had to focus on the battle before her. “Hopefully never will.”

Behind them were Ana and Lily. They had Samira watching over Victoria, but they weren’t too far behind either. Samira was one of their failsafes in this fight. She was mentally preparing herself while watching over the passed-out spy. She could feel the lingering dread of using her magic slowly taking hold of her. She truly hoped it wouldn’t come to that.

Claire, Ursa, and Hannah were positioned in front of the reinforced door. It was an extremely risky position, but they had the opportunity to slay some women early. They’d need to make it to the steps for Elsie to lift them, or else Ursa would have to transform. From there, they’d need to scramble together and leap into the opening on her back. But it’d be worth it if they could pick off a few that were too focused on getting into the fort.

Only select parts of the wall were cleared of traps, so going over it could prove to be fatal.

Something their pursuers learned quite quickly. They watched grapples fly over the walls, and the women quickly ascended. However, the three that made it up were blasted straight off the wall in three successive explosions. It would have been comical, had their situation not been dire.

Claire took a deep breath. Her eyes were glued on the gate before her. It was the only cleared area they could use. She could hear the raspy voice of their leader shouting orders. She gripped her shield tightly.

“Ready Claire?” Hannah stood to Claire’s right in full armor. Claire could tell just from her barely exposed eyes that she was smiling. “I know Ursa is.”

Ursa was pacing to Claire’s left. To say she was ready was an understatement. Her berserker trance was threatening to take over and make her charge for the gate herself. She held back as best she could, her free hand fidgeting with her collar. She growled in response to Hannah.

“I am,” Claire exhaled. She could feel her adrenaline rising. “Stay focused. We need to take out any bitch we can.”

Hannah nodded. “And get back here for the lift.”

Bang! Bang! Bang!

They began slamming on the gate. The reinforcements strained under the sheer force. The double doors gave slightly at the combined might of the women. However, that was part of the plan. Let the gate open just enough for them to squeeze through, one by one. Funnel them straight into the three. They just needed to take the bait and not get smart.

They quickly got into position with Claire as the bait. From what they guessed, they’d recognize Claire from her red hair, given they were after the group and knew her name. Her hair, which she normally kept tied up, was flowing out from under her helmet. As obvious as she could make it for them. She hoped they were far too eager to get back at the leader of the Scarlet Seraphs for all this.

And the first woman to break through was. She crashed through the gate, barely tripping between the two giant doors as she flew through. Her crazed eyes focused solely on Claire. Without even hesitating after catching her footing, she bounded towards Claire. However, she was clotheslined by Hannah’s shield. She hit the ground, then was struck by Ursa’s axe.

Instead of ending the woman, her body shook violently.

Her corrupted wolf form burst from underneath her human skin, pouncing towards Claire. Claire reacted swiftly, with her shield glowing a bright red. She pushed forward and struck the wolf with her Defensive Strike. For once, she nearly lost her footing after landing that skill on someone. It took all of her might to stay on her feet, but she did.

The wolf bounced off her and shook its head. It growled at Claire, but was able to dodge both Hannah and Ursa’s attacks. Even if the woman was dimwitted, she was powerful enough to live through one of Ursa’s strikes. Claire could see the next woman clambering through. They had to be quicker with this one.

“Hannah,” Claire commanded with a surprisingly calm tone. “Strike with me.”

The knight didn’t have to be told twice. Her shield glowed a darker shade of red as Claire switched her shield and sword. She flung her shield at the wolf, baiting it to dodge. Which Hannah was there to capitalize on it. She slammed her shield into the wolf, sending it straight onto the ground

She brought her axe down on the dazed wolf. This time, cleaving into its hide. She held it down for Claire and Hannah to move in. They quickly stabbed at the writhing wolf, targeting its weak spots. After a barrage of strikes and a thoroughly bleeding werewolf, Ursa kicked the wolf off her axe. Then brought it down once more.

This time, cleaving its neck clean off. Its body continued to writhe while its head rolled away. Claire’s stomach churned seeing the half-wolf, half-human head stop and its expression change. She held back her vomit to refocus on the fight.

They took way too long with this one, as the next one was already through the doors. And was evidently smarter than her comrade. She was working on getting the gates open wider while her ally was beheaded.

“Retreat or press the advantage?” Hannah asked as she kicked the dying wolf’s body. “Nah, too risky.”

“Far too risky.” Claire glanced at Ursa. Who was growling at the women squeezing through the gate. “We have to retreat, Ursa. Too many all at once.”

Ursa huffed, but she nodded. She spat on the body before walking towards the interior door. The next step of the plan was to bring them in close. Elsie’s ice wall could not only lift them, but it could also freeze the enemies trying to strike them. They just had to time this properly. They needed to be above the wall when it first formed, or else they’d get frozen too.

“Remember,” Claire and Hannah backed up slowly while Ursa casually strolled towards the inner door. “Jump when she says.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Hannah said on instinct. “Get inside. Reinforce the opening, back up to Master Toni.”

“Good. Get that Ursa?”

“Woof!” Ursa was smiling with her axe slung over her shoulder. She was ready for what came after.

The second door was far more reinforced, forcing them to choose. Go through another small but less reinforced entryway or focus on the door. All while Jasmine and Elsie rained down upon them from afar. It was their job to deal with the women who got through that barrage.

“That woman was tougher than we expected.” Claire relayed the information to Jasmine. “Took all three of us to take down.”

“I saw.” Jasmine was biting her thumb. She was just on the other side of the door. “Elsie. You may have to go all out after freezing them. Taking out that many women all at once is worth risking you running out of mana.”

“You sure?” Elsie’s eyes never wavered, despite her voice doing so. She was locked onto the path they had planned for her icewall. “Alright. I’ll retreat to help with Victoria once I run out.”

“Sounds good.” Jasmine took a deep breath.

She’d need to step up here. Her class excelled at taking down stronger opponents. One skill in particular was quite deadly for this, and one she rarely used or shared. Lethality. A skill she’s had almost as long as she’s had her class. One that let her bypass defenses at the cost of most of her mana. She wouldn’t be able to use many other skills, but landing it once, or even twice if she pushes herself, could mean all the difference in this fight.

“Here they come!” Claire’s voice cut through Jasmine’s thoughts.

She jumped back up to her perch and readied her bow. She aimed for the fastest one and waited for the perfect moment. She needed to slow them down so they attacked in near unison. She let loose an arrow the moment the fastest woman got too far from her comrades. It was deflected, but it kept her in step with the others. Then, she did the same with the other two beside her.

“Ready?!” Claire called out.

This was specifically to Elsie. It was now on the mage to control when they’d move. Jasmine stopped her barrage. She’d kept them in a tight race to her companions. Now was the time for Elsie to attack.

“NOW!” Elsie cried out. She couldn’t focus on the nervous crack in her voice. She had to deliver. She raised her ice wall the moment she saw the three women jump. They were flung up almost ten feet, while the women pouncing on them were frozen. She watched her companions jump through the window above the door, shattering the glass.

Then, Elsie started her attacks.

She started with a Lightning Bolt spell to shatter the icewall. All three were heavily wounded by both the shattering and the electric magic. Their retreat was cut off by Elsie’s next attack, her Firewall ignited beneath them. While they were screaming in agony from the heat, she focused on laying down her three traps for their reinforcements. Fire, Ice, and Lightning traps scattered across the field and were quickly set off by the next group of women.

“Mages!” The women cried out. Elsie felt a bit satisfied that they thought there was more than one of her.

“Good work,” Jasmine’s voice was calm. She wove the compliment between firing her arrows. “That’s one woman down.”

“That makes two so far?” Elsie gulped. All feelings of confidence were quickly fading. All that effort between the five of them, and it led to two kills. “What the fuck is Victoria? How could she take on fifty of them?”