Chương 74: Ambush (3)

Rowan had time to utter but a single curse before his body slammed into the forest floor. He felt the impact drive the air out of his lungs as he bounced off the ground, only to crash into the earth again a moment later. He bounced once more before his body finally slowed down, skidding to a stop. For a moment, Rowan just lay there on his side, groaning and dazed. Then, there was a bang, almost like a muted gunshot, and a crossbow bolt struck the dirt just a foot from his face.

Instantly, he snapped out of his stupor, stumbling to his feet just in time to avoid a second crossbow bolt. Taking deep breaths, Rowan forced himself to ignore the pain and figure something out. It was nothing compared to what he'd experienced in the caves; he could take it. There would definitely be some bruising the next day, but just as he'd thought, his toughness had prevented anything from breaking. He was still holding onto his shield, which, while damaged, seemed like it could take another bullet or two.

His sword, however, was no longer in his hand. Looking up, he saw it on the ground half a dozen yards away from him. Rowan shook his head. With how far he was from the sword and especially the people trying to kill him, he'd bounced quite a distance. Seeing that the tip of the blade was tinted red with blood, he smiled; the woman may have dodged away enough to save her life, but she'd still been hit. Still, it was a good reminder that he had to be careful.

In his head, he still thought of other people, and sometimes even himself, as normal people. But that simply wasn't true anymore; they were all superhuman. Perhaps not as powerful as he was, but still far beyond the realm of what a normal human could achieve. Not letting the crossbowmen get any more shots in on him, he sprinted forward, stumbling slightly as he went.

The gun-wielding woman seemed like she was still recovering from the injuries he'd inflicted, but he still held his shield out before him while he ran, just in case. Once he'd reached his sword, he picked it up and faced his opposition. The two men armed with crossbows were in the process of reloading, while the gunner was doubled over, clutching her now bleeding stomach. The rest of the group, all armed with melee weapons, had turned toward him.

They had spread out while trying to encircle the tree, though, so he had some time before they arrived. Then, Rowan turned his attention toward the orbs of mana lying on the ground. They had already been close to exploding when he'd leaped from the tree, and from what he knew, the impact with the ground had only sped up that process. He'd aimed them as best he could, but with how the people were moving, most of them were already outside the range of the orbs.

There were still a few who would probably be caught by the explosions. Disappointingly, the gun-wielding woman wasn't one of them, having stumbled away from the nearest mana bomb after Rowan had struck her with his sword. In the end, Rowan realized that the mana orbs weren't going to be much more than a distraction; while they may have been terrifyingly effective in the small confines of the caves, up on the surface, their usage and range were limited.

He even tried to reach out and move the orbs toward their targets with [Mana Manipulation], but they were out of his range. At that thought, Rowan frowned. He really didn't know how great the range of his skill was. He faintly remembered testing it sometime back in the tunnels, but the skill had leveled up since then. Stolen novel; please report. There were more pressing matters at hand, though, so he turned his attention back toward the bandits.

The gunwoman was still doubled over, face distorted by pain, so he wouldn't have to worry about her—at least for now. The two crossbowmen, on the other hand, were still a threat. One of them was almost done reloading, while the other already had a fresh bolt in their weapon. The man raised his loaded crossbow, firing it toward Rowan. But he was ready. His shield caught the bolt, sending it shooting past him. Even as the second man raised his crossbow as well, Rowan didn't charge, just playing defense. Waiting.

Then, as he deflected a second projectile, the explosions went off. One after another, just a split-second apart, the mana orbs burst, sending deafening bangs through the forest. Sprays of dirt and glowing energy shot into the air, accompanied by screams of terror. With his opponents in disarray, Rowan finally attacked. He burst forward, shooting toward the men who'd been sending projectile after projectile at him. As he neared them, though, he found his path blocked by one of their allies.

Rowan skidded to a stop before the man's outstretched sword, not wanting to impale himself on it. But the man barely seemed to have noticed him. In fact, it seemed like he was having trouble just staying upright. A moment later, the man collapsed, falling to the side. Looking down at the man, Rowan realized what had happened. The entire left side of his body was marred, the clothes and skin torn. The man had been hit by one of the explosions, and it had happened to fling him right in front of Rowan.

Looking away from the man, Rowan searched for his targets, but they were already gone. Still, it took him only a moment to find them once more. They'd run back to hide behind their melee weapon-wielding allies. They were still disorganized, but most of them seemed to have recovered, especially with how they were charging toward him. Letting out a breath, Rowan readied his weapons and chains. Then, as the people sprinting toward him grew near, he turned and fled.

Rowan sprinted away, running straight toward the gunwoman. In the corner of his eye, he'd seen her stand straighter and even begin to raise her pistol, and he couldn't let her do that. If he did, she would be constantly firing on him while he tried to fight off the rest of their group, and he just didn't want to have to deal with that. As he rushed her, she fell back, raising her weapon with both hands to steady her aim.

With both of her limbs occupied, Rowan could finally see where he'd struck her stomach, and it wasn't pretty. The wound, exposed by her sliced shirt, wasn't deep, but it was long, stretching all the way across her abdomen and leaking blood. Lots of blood. She unloaded two rounds at him as he charged, neither of them striking his raised shield. But that didn't mean that they'd missed. While one bullet flew over his shoulder, he could only let out a cry of pain as the second struck his arm.

It wasn't a direct hit, but it still tore into and through his flesh. Rowan stumbled at the hit, slowing down for a moment to regain his balance. But before he could speed up again, he stumbled once more, heart pumping as a crossbow bolt flew past his head. Cursing, he looked between the two forces attacking him. If he went for one, the other would fire upon him, and he didn't want to know if his toughness would be able to save him from a shot to the chest or back.

Then, instead of moving toward either side, Rowan just smiled. Then, he whipped an arm forward, bringing with it a length of chain nearly ten meters long. He'd been pouring mana into it and extending it as quickly as he could in the past few seconds. And now, it was just barely long enough to reach the gunner. The woman tried to pull back, but she just wasn't fast enough. The chain struck her wrists and gun with a resounding crack, whipping the weapon out of her hands and adding to her injuries.

As she cried out in pain, Rowan watched as the pistol flew from her hands, skittering into the distance. Then, he faced the main group of robbers, sword and shield raised as they rushed toward him. Since their last shot, neither of the crossbowmen had fired again, seemingly out of worry that they would hit their own allies. So, taking advantage of it, Rowan constantly kept one or two people between himself and the two men with ranged weapons.

For a while, he kept fighting, but they were five to his one, and he was being overwhelmed. And, as one of their blades passed by his shield and nicked his side, Rowan leaped away and faced the group. He didn't want to kill a human. He didn't want to be the reason their lives were cut short. So, the mana projectiles still floated at his side, the flails made from his chains were limp, yet to be used. But if he kept going like this, he would lose. And he knew what would happen if he did: he would die.

If one side had to die in the conflict, then Rowan knew one thing: he couldn't let it be him. With his decision made, he let out a breath. Then, he charged.