Chapter 187- A Bitzer raid (Patreon)

A Bitzer Raid

Mr. Thomas shuffled forward while breathing heavily. His eyes open wide in shock as the last sliver of doubt departed from his mind. A Bitzer! Drawing a deep breath to calm his shaking hand, he turned to Chu.

"A demon beast called a Bitzer. This must be a scout from a pack since they don't move alone. Hurry, we have to leave!"

Mr. Thomas scanned the surroundings uneasily while mounting his horse.

"Lucy, ride to the guard post and warn the gateman. Tell the captain to gather the men and meet us at the villa. You're the only one capable of avoiding an ambush."

Chu froze on hearing the words of the ex-military man. He recalled the words of the scroll he had copied for umpteen times at the academy. Glancing at the open grasslands and plains, he thought he glimpsed faint flickering lights in the distance, much like sparks. Chu blinked his eyes as he peered across the shadowy outlines of the open plains but saw nothing. He turned to the clawed beast and then to Lucy.

"The trail shows it came from the north. I can't smell others probably because of the wind."

She frowned while replying as they hastened to the horses. She could follow the trail but her detection skills depended on her sense of smell. Being upwind didn't help her cause.

"Keep on the road closest to the trees since Bitzers can't climb."

Mr. Thomas warned them as the four of them rode towards the villa under the protection of two wolves. Lucy headed in the opposite direction towards the guard quarters located at the entrance.

"Ming, have the servants meet us in the hall. Notify the maid quarters."

"A scout means a pack is near. Most likely they will follow our trail so we don't have much time. The worse place to fight a Bitzer is out in the open."

Mr. Thomas informed them. They walked up to the huge steps, under the carved wooden doors, and into the wide open hall. The east side of the hall had tables and chairs for socializing and resting while the west side contained a few bookshelves and long benches with a couple of sculptures as decorations. Large windows allowed the summer sunlight to pour inside during the day while heavy wooden shutters constrained the winter chill at night.

"Close the shutters and barricade them. A Bitzer can shred a piece of wood that thick in a few breaths."

He looked up at the wide stone staircase on the opposite end which served as a marker to separate the open east and west sides. Two doors on either side of the staircase led to the dining room and kitchen.

"Light the torches and lamps in the hall. We will barricade the top of the stairs and use the narrow balcony on either side to fend them off with the crossbows. Out best option is to deter them. Once they find the losses more than gains, Bitzers tend to escape and regroup for another attack."

"I read that a Bitzer is a weak demon beast. Why the concern?"

Mr. Thomas paused in issuing instructions to Miki and the girls who joined them. His experienced eyes turned to Chu.

"Have you ever faced a suicidal man in battle?"

Chu shook his head in the negative on hearing the question. All his opponents, man or beast fought under the goal of survival. Maybe the grapefruit-sized spiders in the underground hall of the ruins might have come close.

"Bitzers fight in a suicidal manner. They rush and retreat forcing you to strike at them. If given the chance they will trade blows with you. If you inflict a wound on a Bitzer, you might probably make it happy since it would be your last. We have to avoid close combat with a Bitzer at all costs."

***

Half an hour later, a portly man dressed in casual clothing entered the hall while berating the servant who moved slowly in opening the front door.

Captain Fill was a genial man who attained the post as leader of the guards for the villa last year. He served time as a mage guard in the north and had returned after four years of hellish baptism. He maintained a cordial face but those who worked with him knew that under the facade lay a shrewd character.

After serving as protection for Mages he had acquired a haughty streak. The unbelievable report of a demon beast sighting near Limerock made him scoff at what he considered sheer paranoia. Scanning the clusters of jittery servants and maids in the hall, he decided to dispel the fears.

"My subordinate delivered a report stating you wanted us to gather at the hall? He said something ridiculous like finding a demon beast nearby...haha."

"Captain, are these all the guards? We don't have much time. I've seen it myself, a Bitzer."

Mr. Thomas replied, hoping to convince the man.

How many times during his tenure in the Military did this very scene play out? Men trying to outdo each other while the world burns...

"Calm down, guest. This villa belongs to the Tower. I assure you that you are safer here than anywhere in the city. Head maid, why don't you prepare some tea to relax the nerves."

Captain Fill suggested while walking to an open window. He waved his hand at the servant to stop closing the shutter. Looking out into the darkness he breathed in a breath of fresh air while soaking in the silence. Tonight not even the chirping of insects dared to interrupt the tranquility.

"Guest, I heard some of the servants say you might have been a part of the Military but rest assured, you have nothing to fear."

Captain Fill said while turning around.

A wolf growled.

"So fast!"

Lucy said.

The captain turned his mouth up into a reassuring smile. Ignoring the screaming maids, he bent his neck and blinked once at the bloodied claw emerging from his chest. Dropping his jaw, blood flowed out as he gurgled indecipherable words. As Captain Fill slumped to the marble floor, his glazed eyes blurred on the blond haired girl shooting past him.

Death descended at that time...

The hall enveloped into chaos when the Bitzer leaped inside from the open window and pierced a claw into the back of the captain like a knife through butter. Before the killer and the victim hit the ground, sounds of splintering wood echoed through the hall as demon beasts clawed and bit at the shutters.

The servants began screaming and fleeing in all directions while the guards remained rooted in shock at witnessing the brutality of the kill.

The only ones prepared were the so-called guests.

"Ming, attack them while their busy breaking in."

Chu shouted while rushing towards a beast clawing its way inside a broken window. Ming reached it first as it scrambled to pull half of its body across the wide stone sill. He swung a sword aimed at the skull of the creature but missed as the beast twisted at the last second. His sword managed to wound it on the side.

With a crackle, Chu saw the boy freeze on contact like a statue. Seeing the Bitzer taking advantage to swipe a claw into the chest of his defenseless companion, Chu launched a cleaving strike of his own. Again the Bitzer tried to lurch to the side in an attempt to avoid the blow but partially trapped with its rear outside the window it proved futile. His sword cut into its neck, slicing the carotid artery releasing a spray of blood onto him and Ming.

Chu wanted to avoid the bath but his body refused. When his sword made contact, he heard a crackling sound followed by a jolt of energy entering his body using his iron sword as a conduit. The energy contracted the muscles in his fingers preventing him from releasing his sword. It also paralyzed his body for a few seconds.

A hand tugged at his cloak from behind, pulling him away from the dangerous thrashing claws of the Bitzer. Recovering he turned to see Ming shaking and staggering a little as if in a drunken stupor. Chu glanced between his iron sword and the dying Bitzer. In this world, he probably understood what happened here better than anyone who ever lived. He was all too familiar with it as a Modern day man.

Electricity...

"Don't use swords, use the wooden spears or crossbows. If you don't they will put you under their spell!"

Mr. Thomas shouted.

Currently, the guards began to move, rushing at the beasts while they tried to break through. The hall proved too large for them to defend as three demon beast managed to break in and enter from an undefended window on the east side. Chu turned on hearing the screams as he witnessed why Mr. Thomas refused to fight them on open ground.

The Bitzer literally streaked across the hall, twisting and turning to avoid the bolts which chipped the marble floor. One minute their speed matched a Jaga, the next it doubled in an explosive burst. One of them zipped through the escaping servants who fled up the stairs, leaping and ripping bleeding gashes across their necks. The other two aimed for the guards fending off the ones at the window, worrying them from the rear.

A second or two of paralysis might not seem like much but locked in a battle the outcome proved disastrous.

A guard turned from the window and clipped an aggressive Bitzer on the snout only to freeze for a second. The beast clawing through the window lurched forward and bit at his ankle. The sounds of snapping bones drowned by a cry of anguish suddenly stopped. Paralyzed again, the man fell to the ground without a sound as his tongue froze. Before he could recover, the other Bitzer with the bloodied snout savagely ripped his throat out in one action.

Blood spurted in arcs, decorating the walls and floors across the hall.

A white wolf slammed into the stalker presently engaged in killing the fleeing servants tumbling together in a tangled mass of claws and fangs. The Bitzer separated first as its open jaws tried to latch onto the motionless wolf. An iron bolt cracked into its skull seconds before it utilized the opportunity.

"That freak has been evading my crossbolts ever since it entered the hall. Dyna call Fenrir back!"

Miki yelled while reloading her crossbow. She aimed and sent another bolt racing towards a Bitzer scrambling through a window. Unable to dodge fully because of its front and back legs dangling on both sides of the window, the beast tried to roll. A howl added to the ruckus as the bolt thumped into its chest through a slit behind the front leg. Wheezing it buckled on the window, thrashing before finally slumping on the ledge.

The neighboring guards faced overwhelming odds.

Managing to kill a demon beast breaking through the door, they focused on two more at a nearby window. The arrival of the two Bitzers from the east side proved catastrophic. For every wound delivered on a Bitzer, a guard lost his life or ended up incapacitated because of a crushed leg or arm. Facing a two-pronged attack from the front and rear, a Bitzer managed to break through the window.

The remaining four guards glanced at each other while swallowing saliva in dry mouths. A Bitzer stalked over and clamped over the skull of a recent friend. Squeezing like a vice, it cracked like an egg, splattering the majority of the contents on the polished floor. The three wounded companions lay on the ground moaning tears and snot while scrambling in haste to back away.

Three circling them in the hall, one splintering and halfway through the window.

The future looked grim...