Chapter 91: Silhouettes

Night ambush, especially in a forest, was one of the hardest battles to fight according to Emery's late father. Indeed, Emery could claim true to this sentence. A simple rustling of the leaves, a wind blowing in their direction, a crunching branch, not knowing what was behind a tree, etc. wrecked the nerves of some fighters Luna had hired to join this expedition from being on-guard at all times. Due to the all-time-high tension, several paid fighters had already ran away even before the battle had started.

However, the deafening shout from Gregory the Giant reverberated in their bones, giving the rest who had stayed courage to charge in.

Still it was difficult to see with only the torches as well as the bonfire; the darkness also made it difficult to gauge how many humanoid silhouettes that had beasts heads were there exactly behind the trees. 

Emery drew his sword raised and kept calm. After all, he had been to the Magus Academy, seen absurd magical creatures, spent time with a dragon for six months, even he, himself, had a transformation relating to his Fey bloodline. He didn't charge in though because the duty assigned to him was to protect his employer, Luna. Not to mention, Emery felt a faint connection to these men with beast heads, as if he knew them for some reason. Although that was what he felt, it didn't stop the humanoid with a beast head to try and stab him with a bone spear. 

The bone spear sliced into the air with great speed and power; Emery twisted his neck, dodging it barely. This half-human, half-beast clearly was a cut above the large marauder he had fought in the rundown house back in Lionarch. Still, that was before and this was now. Emery had improved several points in battle power due to the increase of his spirit force, which meant his overall speed, strength and endurance couldn't be compared to his previous fighting prowess from before. 

Emery deflected the bone spear, and when he saw an opening, he quickly struck the beastman with the blunt hilt of his sword. The beastman collapsed on the ground. Emery then grabbed the head of the beastman but the head slipped, revealing that these half-human, half-beast were in fact humans in beasts clothings!

"They're humans!" exclaimed Emery, raising the deflated beast head.

The remaining paid fighters and guards became fiercer because it wasn't as they had initially had thought. These weren't monsters, rather, these were savage people with tattoos wearing animal carcasses to strike fear into their hearts and minds of the ordinary people. Still, even though the paid fighters and guards fought harder and regained some of their spirit, it was a fact that these savages were ferocious warriors who were as strong as knights of a kingdom, probably stronger based on Emery's estimation.

It didn't take long for Luna's expedition party to be joined by the guards Silas had taken yesterday. The brother and sister's guards created a circle formation with their shields and spears stretched out, passively defending against the relentless attacks of the savages. Then, a loud hum echoed from the distance, causing the rest of the savages to retreat in the shadows while pulling their fallen people within their reach and disappear almost completely. 

The fighting stopped, giving them a room for breather. Kastan immediately took command and arranged those who were injured to be inside the circle formation..

"What are they?" shouted one of the wounded paid fighters.

"They're like more of a beast and not human! How come they strike so hard and so fast?"

"There are so many of them also."

"Sister Luna…" said Silas. Before he could say more words though, Luna ran to him and gave him a big hug.

She took him by the shoulders and looked at him with teary eyes but that didn't last long as her affectionate gaze was immediately replaced by an angry glare. Luna said, "Silas! You shouldn't have come here!"

"But Sister... I am the man of the family! It is my duty, my job to—"

"Fool, that's what you are!" Luna sighed. She added in a calmer tone, "Regardless of your intentions, it is not wise to come here not prepared. You should know that! I have been so worried…"

"I am sorry sister Luna…" said Silas, almost in a whisper.

"We need to head back to town as soon as possible. We can return here once we are ready," remarked Luna. She turned to Kastan and said, "We are leaving now"

"But Luna, I—"

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The loud hum echoed again. And this time, the ground seemed to tremble as well as the silhouettes of the savages wearing different kinds of animal heads ran in circles around them behind the trees.

Silas spat on the ground and said, "These damned Chrutin! Can't they just leave us be in peace?"

That word caught Emery's attention. Chrutin, it was the same word that Fantumar had called him just a day before his family's estate had been raided by Padraig's marauders. Actually, he had asked several travelers he had met on the way, including the former residents of Mistshire, however, not one of the people he had inquired seemed to know what the word meant. Now, however, he inferred that Chrutin referred to these people they were fighting with and he had blood of a Chrutin, which his late-father had confirmed.

Emery's view of this battle changed. He hadn't fully decided yet on what his next course of action would be, but he decided to at least show he was enacting his duty while being careful to not kill any of these so-called Chrutins.

Silently, Emery used his understanding of the elements, particularly the plant and earth elements. From the vibrations on the ground and disturbed energies of the branches and shrubs. He estimated they would be facing about an equal number of Chrutins with the people he had come with. It was also a no-brainer for him to understand that if these Chrutins came to take their lives, their chances of survival were close to none. 

Kastan stood before Luna and Silas, and said, "Don't fear! Circle formation, guards! We will hold them off by keeping the formation tight!" 

He then looked at Asur and ordered. "Light another torch and throw it on the ground." 

"Kastan, do you think we can win?" asked Luna, her face brightened by the growing fire, providing lighting in the area.

"Don't worry, Ms. Luna. Please just stay close to me," said Kastan.

The fighting started with waves of arrows and spears being thrown at the expedition group but the guards made sure to protect everyone with their large shields. After the wave of spears ended, the Chrutins then proceeded to charge at them with melee weapons. 

Gregory the Giant pushed one of the guards and went in front, swinging his mace crazily. However, the reaction times of the Chrutins he had swung his mace toward managed to dodge his attacks. One of the Chrutins got close to Gregory but Emery had noticed it and deflected the bone spear with the sword on his left hand. 

Chaos ensued, similar to their situation from earlier. Emery managed to parry and counter with the hilt of his sword the incoming attacks from the Chrutin, saving Gregory countless times. He then went around their circle formation, as ordered by Kastan, to fend off the other Chrutins and knocked them out one by one.

Although Emery decided not to kill these people, that wasn't the case for some of his current comrades, especially Gregory smashing the heads of the Chrutins who had been knocked out by Emery.

"You sure are a great fighter, Merlin. But don't show mercy! It's kill or be killed!" Gregory then continued screaming and swinging his mace in hope of finding more Chrutins to smash.

Emery retreated back in the circle and observed their surroundings. There were around forty people after the merging of the brother and sister's forces, but a dozen of these men were beginning to take injuries and some ended up dead, particularly paid fighters Emery had come with while the soldiers in the white and gray uniforms kept their ranks and protected Luna and Silas.

The fighting abilities of these guards by the Quintin family were better than Emery had initially thought. Especially the head guard, Kastan. His fighting abilities could possibly match the strongest knight Lionesse Yvain.

With the help of his understanding of the elements, Emery felt disturbance of the scrub behind a line of trees. It looked like there were still a lot of Chrutin warriors staying hidden. While fighting with his sword, Emery realized the Quintin's guards were moving bit by bit. And based on the direction they were heading toward, he figured they were planning to break through the line of trees wherein Emery had felt the disturbance. 

Emery jumped and rushed to the group of guards who were about to break through.

"Miss. Luna! Don't go there!"

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