Vol. 3 Chapter 32: Capture (Part 4) (Patreon)

The civilians were being led out of the area, the knights guiding their way. About two in total here, including Alan. This was the last ring in the formation, where the civilians were still being brought to safety. And despite the fighting having already begun, there were still civilians that remained in the area.

They had to rush things, to the people’s distress. Alan felt a bit bad that fighting suddenly sprang out while the people were having their usual day, but that was just how things were. Better have inconvenience than to die. Alan turned his head to see golden lights coming up into the air.

They were far, given that he was in the rear.

Indeed, in the rear. There was a low chance that the enemies would even come to where he was, thus all he had to do was lead the civilians out. He wanted to have an achievement, but he had to admit it, bitterly, that if this kept up, he would have nothing to show.

This led him to wish that something would happen to where he was.

Although, it was understandable that he couldn’t be placed near the center where the heaviest fighting was taking place. Still, it didn’t feel good, he felt even more inferior to the others. He shook his head to shake off his current thoughts and shifted his focus to the fleeing civilians.

They all should be out in a couple of minutes. Alan could see the fear and concern in the faces of the people, which he too had to admit, he was feeling a little. This may be the first time for these people to experience a close battle, no less in their home city.

His gaze shifted upwards towards a person standing and looking out from a rooftop. It was his brother. Alan would have preferred if he was not around him, and in truth, it was surprising that they were assigned together on the same team.

Perhaps the higher ups decided it would be best if the two brothers were working together. But the thing was, Alan felt a bit uncomfortable around his brother at the moment. Even now his older brother, Alzen, was sternly looking down at him, he was not even helping guide the civilians. But then again, Alzen was one of the upper elites, he must focus on the enemies that may approach.

Gradually, the number of civilians began to decrease, and Alan let out a sigh of relief. If fighting reached this far, protecting the innocents would have been a nightmare to do. Death would have been unavoidable.

But then, a light rose from the line next to theirs. Alan upon looking up, gripped the hilt of his sword before facing the fleeing crowd.

“Hurry! Get away from here quickly! Go!”

The crowd murmured frantically as they hastened their escape. Alan looked up at his brother, waiting for his signal. And a moment later, Alzen raised his hand and a ball of white light shone from his hand, and Alan immediately drew his sword and clenched it tightly.

While taking deep nervous breaths, he glared at the road beyond, anticipating the enemy that may come in the direction where his older brother pointed his sword at.

It didn’t take long.

A beast was running on four limbs towards them, stopping the moment it saw them standing guard on the road.

It would appear that it had no intention of charging blindly, as it seemed to observe first. And then, as though it had made its mind, with a roar, it charged forward with startling speed. The knight with Alan moved forward, while he himself moved back on the far rear, he was not to face the enemy first hand — otherwise he’ll surely die without even a show for it, although he would have preferred to land a strike. But that would just be incredibly hard to achieve.

Alzen leaped off the roof and charged towards the beast fearlessly, his sword clasped tightly by both his hands. With a swing in the air, a bright arc of light emerged, hurling towards the beast. However, the latter jumped to the side, raw power apparent in its movements, leaving small craters on the ground.

Now that the beast drew closer, Alan finally had a closer look at it. Aside from its light brown fur, it had disturbing sharp claws which could easily cleave a person in half with just one. Its face was fierce, and on its mouth protruded a pair of fangs, majestic and as dangerous as a saber.

The moment the beast touched the floor, it waved its one hand, multiple arcs of light shot towards Alzen. With Alzen’s eyes wide in surprise, he met those attacks with an arc of his own. However, he was only able to destroy one, but that was enough to keep himself safe as he got in between of the other arcs of light — through the one he destroyed first.

But Alan saw just how much mana his brother poured into that attack, it was almost double to what they normally spend, and that was straining for the body to do. He ought not to do it again.

The other knight came in and engaged the beast in a melee, meeting the claws with his blade. Alzen got in and attacked the beast in the back. At the same time, while on the rooftops, each of the two priests in black robes and masks conjured spears of radiant gold.

Then they threw, aimed at the beast’s legs. However, the beast seemed to have noticed. Before the tips of their golden spears touched its fur, it jumped up high; the spears hitting the bare floor. The beast was flipping in the air, then in its hand was a handful of stone that it grabbed from the floor as it jumped. While rotating in mid-air, it threw the shards of stone with a flick of its hand at one priest. Then subsequently, used the other hand to send arcs of light towards the other.

Those projectiles were so fast that the priests failed to respond on time, and they fell with the crumbling buildings they were standing on.

But that was not where it ended. While still in mid-air, after a full flip, it sent several arcs towards the knights from both its hands and each of its claws. The knights quickly conjured barriers, but they shattered too easily.

Metals slashed and pierced, blood spilled.

The moment the beast landed, a small distance between the knights, its hand moved in a crossing motion, and slashes once again stormed the two knights, blasting them back.

Alan was in disbelief, in shock even. How could something be this powerful? It was hard to see that the elites were unable to respond to its attack properly. Alan’s breathing trembled in anxiety, it was then at that moment the beast turned to gaze at him. The lone knight guarding the path.

Its path was clear, with only a young knight standing in the way. It could easily pass through. And thus, with what appeared to be a small grin, it ran towards that young and weak knight.

Alan swallowed nervously, the beast was truly fearsome. But he shouldn’t let fear consume him, he must be brave.

Alan glared at the beast, his sword raised.

“No! Don’t engage!”

He could hear his older brother’s shout from behind the beast. Still…

I can hold it! Even for a moment!

For just a moment, he was sure within that small moment, he could buy time, just enough, for the knights and priests to regroup.

I can do it!

As the beast grew closer, the more it was apparent to Alan just how big it was. It was bigger than he had expected, and it charged towards him like a mindless raging monster he often saw during missions. No, this one was much more than any mere monster.

It was something to be truly afraid of, more than the few monsters he had faced, but he must be bold and brave in the face of such a creature. Otherwise, what kind of knight would he be? Indeed, this was no time for cowardice.

He raised his sword high and took in a deep breath, pouring mana into his blade. He must not let this creature pass. And thus, he swung down his blade, firing his armament magic towards the beast.

The beast met the arc of light with its claws, shrugging it away like a small smear on the side of its fur. It seemed to smile when it realized how pathetically weak that attack was. But Alan had no time to think, the beast arrived before him and it brought down its claws at him.

Exerting his muscles to the maximum, Alan met the claws with his blade. And the beast chuckled.

“You’re out of your comfort zone, little flea.”

As if dealing with an insect, it flicked him away with its fingers. Alan gritted his teeth in the pain from the mere force exerted by those very fingers, but he planted his feet to the ground, saving himself from being blown far.

The beast turned its back.

“You’re not getting away!” he shouted before sending slashes of light at it.

The beast deflected them before they hit its back, and then glared at Alan, annoyed. “Insignificant.” After that remark, its claws shone for a moment before waving both his hands, and arcs of light went straight for Alan.

Alan froze, not because he was overwhelmed by fear, but rather because of how fast those arcs were moving. Everything in the world seemed to slow down as reality struck like lightning. His body would not be able to move fast enough to dodge those. All he could do was stare at those waves of immense power, to wait for his inevitable death.

He was weak, too weak for this. And with every split second those arcs moved closer, the larger they appeared to become. Indeed, they were too much for him. It would seem he will not be able to keep his promise, there would be no way for him to survive from the eight slashes all coming at him, each one aimed only at him.

No, perhaps he was also afraid, deep inside. He just denied it. And perhaps that was why he could not make a decision on how to at least survive this. He was a disappointment.

The arcs got ever closer, and so will death. However, suddenly a shadow stood in front of him. And then, the arcs of light made contact. Not with him, however, but with someone else entirely.

Alan’s eyes widened in shock. “B-Brother…?”

The one who received all eight slashes was his older brother, Alzen. He used his barrier to shield himself, but those were never enough considering all those slashes, and thus they broke easily. And he took the brunt of it, shielding Alan from death.

However, that was not as pleasant and heroic to imagine. In front of Alan, Alzen was covered in his own blood. His armor shredded. Then, what fell on the ground, into a small puddle of blood, was his left arm — or to be exact, from his hand to his elbow.

His right arm was not safe as well, as his sword fell to the ground with a loud clang, his fingers too weak to hold it. His forearm was cut halfway to the bone.

Alan could hear his older brother’s rough breathing.

Through the pain, Alzen forced some words out. “I told you n-not to… engage.”

“...” Alan had nothing to say. Still… “H-Healer! We need a healer!”

“N-No time…” Alzen fell to his knees.

At the same time, the beast roared in agony. Alan raised his eyes to see the beast pierced through the leg with a spear of golden light. The beast sent waves of magic towards a priest, but the priest quickly moved to dodge them. While the spear was disappearing, another priest came in from behind and conjured chains, wrapping them around the beast’s neck.

The beast growled as the priest pulled it down. A knight came in and sent arcs of light of his own towards the beast’s torso before kicking it in the belly with his heel. The other priest conjured smaller spears and threw towards each of the beast’s shoulders.

The beast was about to use its magic, shown by its shining claws, but the knight swung down his blade to its arm, stopping it. Another spear pierced the beast’s other leg, they cannot let it give any breathing room.

The beast roared loudly. And then the other priest conjured his chains to wrap it around the beast’s arm. But its other arm was still free, and it turned to face the priest that was chaining its arm. It moved back its free hand, as though preparing to attack.

The knight was about to stop the attempt. However, suddenly, the beast swung its arm towards him, sending a handful of magical slashes. Caught off guard, the knight frantically cast a barrier — for it was only a small amount, the barrier shattered with just two hits, and the rest got through, one the knight evaded, but one hit him. The knight endured the pain and charged at the beast to prevent it from doing something dangerous again.

Meanwhile, Alan was crouching near his brother, who was bleeding terribly.

“Alan, the situation has changed…. Dammit. Take the s-shackles.”

Alan shifted his eyes towards the shackles hanging on Alzen’s waist.

Then Alzen continued. “Its magic must be sealed. Attach these c-chains to it.”

Alan nodded his head and took the chains.

“But, it will be dangerous for you… That is why… you must only move when I have it distracted.”

“W-What? How do you even hope to move in this state?!”

“Shut up, little brother. The mission takes priority, you f-focus on your task.”

“...”

“Be ready. Don’t attack no matter what… just wrap at least one shackle.”

“... Got it.”

“A-Alright. Go and get into position.”

Alan, with a bit of hesitation, separated himself from his brother. He positioned himself on the blind spot of the beast — where its back was directed at. With utter concern, he watched his older brother force himself to stand up. His severely injured right hand now gripping the hilt of his sword.

Pain was all over his face. He groaned at the weight of his sword and body. But that didn’t stop him, and he took a step forward, coming closer to the beast.

“Little puss!” Alzen shouted with pain. The beast turned to glare at him, and Alzen continued. “I will bring you down!”

He raised his sword high with one hand, its blade glowing with mana. The beast realized what he was about to do, and he quickly deflected the attack of the other knight. However, at that moment, Alzen brought down his blade with a strained shout, and from his swing, unleashed a powerful wave of magic.

It was as tall as the beast, cleaving through the ground’s pavement with ease. The beast, ignoring the pull of the chains, quickly gave its all to its free hand and released multiple slashes to intercept the powerful wave.

Upon contact, the slashes were able to weaken the knight’s attack. However, it was not enough to stop it completely. And the wounded knight’s magic collided with the beast, its torso slashed from waist to the chest. But it was not deep enough to kill it, only weaken it.

It growled in the pain. At the same time, Alan suddenly appeared before it and tied a shackle around its free wrist. It fitted quite nicely. Given it was a magic item, a magic user could resize it at will while it was still unlocked. And Alan prepared it so he could instantly lock it around its wrist.

Alan quickly backed away, turning his head to see his brother completely collapsed on the floor. He ran towards him.

Meanwhile, the beast was a bit baffled, staring at the shackle disrupting his magic.

“This… this metal.”

It wanted to try using its other arm to break it, but it was being chained by the humans. A knight charged at it and began hitting it with his fists. The beast tried to hit him with its own fist, but the knight evaded them. It tried using magic, but to no avail, its mana scattered and dispersed without even given form.

The knight hit, and hit him. It didn’t take long before the beast was unable to give strong enough force to slam the ground.

It heaved. “Damn humans… You…. win.”

With a pained breath, the beast slowly shrank down, its body slowly turning into something similar to a human’s, to a man — except for its animal ears on top of its head in addition to normal human ears on the sides. The shackle, on the other hand, changed size with him.

The knight quickly grabbed the other end of the shackle and locked it‌ on the other wrist. He sighed tiredly. He then turned to one of the priests. “Go to Alzen and save him.”

The priests could cast basic healing spells, not to be used during combat because they were slow to progress. But with the battle done, they could freely heal the wounded.

“The two of us will watch the prisoner.”

The priest undid the chains and quickly ran over to Alzen.

Alan promptly moved aside to give room to the priest as he healed his brother.

“Please don’t die…” Alan pleaded.