Chapter 44
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Now's my chance. I can do anything, and my opponents will only see their expectations of me. Damn, I don't have much time to make a decision!
Vlada stayed put, but four of her subordinates began to come at me from both sides, clearly intending to surround me. Well, we'll improvise.
Arcobaleno mode on.
Absolutely nothing changed for me, but the enemies began to act as if I was attacking them. All four of them jumped back, and one fighter even fell to the ground. Do they think that I'm swinging my scythe like a peasant in a field? Great! More importantly, the skill's working out even better than I expected.
Stone Spikes pinned the guy who fell prone thinking that he was dodging a blow. Well, that's one enemy temporarily disabled. Not paying attention to the remaining three fighters, I rushed to Vlada, raising my scythe at her. The woman was ready to attack and put up a block, crossing two short blades over her head. But I wasn't going to do what she expected. Hiding the scythe, I activated the stream of flames, aiming it at her eyes. Hmmm... Two inches was certainly not the impressive-looking fire flood sweeping away everything in its path that I had hoped for but that matter little so long as the fire hit its target. Vlada screamed hysterically, clutched her face and collapsed from pain. I even shuddered, imagining what she was must've been feeling, but pushed the thought away. I had no time for sentiments.
An archer was aiming at me from the left, a man with a smooth polished club was coming at me from the right, and another one was trying to come from behind, holding a small, but obviously dangerous, dagger. I set the grass and the scattered pinecones in front of me on fire. They didn't burn well, but they did provide a lot of acrid and dense smoke. As expected, the archer missed. I made a false attack in his direction and attacked the man with the dagger, sending a stream of fire in his face. Blinded, he stumbled and fell, while I rushed at the two remaining men. The one I pinned to the ground with Stone Spikes was screaming and swearing, using the dirtiest curses I've ever heard. The grass next to him was already burning. Suddenly I remembered an old book about a hobbit, in which Gandalf the wizard set fire to the cones and threw them at wolves. Hissing with pain, I endured as the improvised incendiary shells burned in my hands. My confused enemies obviously didn't expect something that. Honestly, who would ever think that a man in a silly headband would throw lumps of fire at them? Some of the pinecones were resin-soaked and burnt better; they also stuck to clothes of the person I would hit. By the time Arcobaleno ended, all enemies were neutralized. With the help of the potion I habitually cut off their arms, and then kicked them to prevent them from getting up.
"Well done, Cat!" I heard Semyon's voice beside me. "You are good! They can't join the battle until they resurrect, and we can deal with the rest now. Now we just need to put the fire out, or we'll burn to a crisp."
Fortunately, the damp grass burned slowly, it smoked more than anything. The cop and I managed to quickly trample all of the blazing spots.
At that moment we heard a deafening ringing, as if someone had cracked a huge old TV tube. Petrovich and the rest managed to cope with the invisible shield. I thought that we were about to see something similar to our base, but I was wrong. Our opponents lived in a forest glade surrounded by tree trunks and slept, apparently, in a few mud huts. I counted five little houses which meant that each could fit at least two people. Save for the invisible barrier, their base was defenseless. Our place was at least surrounded by stone and a river on both sides.
When we broke into the enemy territory, there was already a serious battle raging. Our recent captives were fighting fiercely against each other. It was unclear who fought against whom at first — there was a pile of bodies on the ground.
"Kill Innokenty!" a man's voice yelled.
It was Boris. He tried to put Innokenty's hands behind his back, but the guy, despite his flimsy appearance, was as strong as a wild bull. He kicked, head-butted his opponents, and wriggled his whole body, trying to escape. Meanwhile, Ravshana leaned on Boris, clasping his neck with her hands in an obvious attempt to strangle him. The Major, without thinking, slashed her back with his sword; the girl screamed and loosened the grip. Boris managed to throw her off. She fell, and Petrovich killed her with his monstrous lance.
Marina rolled out from the general mess, stood on her feet and sharply raised her hands up, shouting: "I'm on your side, don't kill me!" Someone threw her aside, but I couldn't see who it was. What happened next seemed unreal, or as if it was a scene from a very bad movie. I saw the Major raising his sword and bringing the blade down on someone — again, again and again. Olga and Dasha dragged someone from the heap; the man was resisting and wriggling like a worm. A minute later it was all over. We had a clear advantage in numbers.
Innokenty, Ravshana and Lina were killed. Boris writhed on the ground, lulling his unnaturally twisted arm; Marina was sitting next to the entrance of the hut and crying hysterically. Nobody from our squad was hurt, only the cop was slightly limping, and Olga's face was twitching in pain, though it was unclear how exactly she had been hurt. Dasha and the blacksmith rushed with buckets of water gotten from the earthen well — the fire broke out again, and they were now in a hurry to put it out.
"Where are your tombstones?" Petrovich asked Boris. The latter seemed not to hear him and even began to howl. Apparently, the pain was unbearable.
"They're there," Marina sobbed, choking with tears and pointing at the hut next to which she was sitting.
"They're there already!" cried the archer, pointing at the clearing, which had until recently been filled with disarmed enemies. "They killed themselves!"
Not bad. Some of them are determined, I must admit. I wondered how they managed to do it.
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Now's my chance. I can do anything, and my opponents will only see their expectations of me. Damn, I don't have much time to make a decision!
Vlada stayed put, but four of her subordinates began to come at me from both sides, clearly intending to surround me. Well, we'll improvise.
Arcobaleno mode on.
Absolutely nothing changed for me, but the enemies began to act as if I was attacking them. All four of them jumped back, and one fighter even fell to the ground. Do they think that I'm swinging my scythe like a peasant in a field? Great! More importantly, the skill's working out even better than I expected.
Stone Spikes pinned the guy who fell prone thinking that he was dodging a blow. Well, that's one enemy temporarily disabled. Not paying attention to the remaining three fighters, I rushed to Vlada, raising my scythe at her. The woman was ready to attack and put up a block, crossing two short blades over her head. But I wasn't going to do what she expected. Hiding the scythe, I activated the stream of flames, aiming it at her eyes. Hmmm... Two inches was certainly not the impressive-looking fire flood sweeping away everything in its path that I had hoped for but that matter little so long as the fire hit its target. Vlada screamed hysterically, clutched her face and collapsed from pain. I even shuddered, imagining what she was must've been feeling, but pushed the thought away. I had no time for sentiments.
An archer was aiming at me from the left, a man with a smooth polished club was coming at me from the right, and another one was trying to come from behind, holding a small, but obviously dangerous, dagger. I set the grass and the scattered pinecones in front of me on fire. They didn't burn well, but they did provide a lot of acrid and dense smoke. As expected, the archer missed. I made a false attack in his direction and attacked the man with the dagger, sending a stream of fire in his face. Blinded, he stumbled and fell, while I rushed at the two remaining men. The one I pinned to the ground with Stone Spikes was screaming and swearing, using the dirtiest curses I've ever heard. The grass next to him was already burning. Suddenly I remembered an old book about a hobbit, in which Gandalf the wizard set fire to the cones and threw them at wolves. Hissing with pain, I endured as the improvised incendiary shells burned in my hands. My confused enemies obviously didn't expect something that. Honestly, who would ever think that a man in a silly headband would throw lumps of fire at them? Some of the pinecones were resin-soaked and burnt better; they also stuck to clothes of the person I would hit. By the time Arcobaleno ended, all enemies were neutralized. With the help of the potion I habitually cut off their arms, and then kicked them to prevent them from getting up.
"Well done, Cat!" I heard Semyon's voice beside me. "You are good! They can't join the battle until they resurrect, and we can deal with the rest now. Now we just need to put the fire out, or we'll burn to a crisp."
Fortunately, the damp grass burned slowly, it smoked more than anything. The cop and I managed to quickly trample all of the blazing spots.
At that moment we heard a deafening ringing, as if someone had cracked a huge old TV tube. Petrovich and the rest managed to cope with the invisible shield. I thought that we were about to see something similar to our base, but I was wrong. Our opponents lived in a forest glade surrounded by tree trunks and slept, apparently, in a few mud huts. I counted five little houses which meant that each could fit at least two people. Save for the invisible barrier, their base was defenseless. Our place was at least surrounded by stone and a river on both sides.
When we broke into the enemy territory, there was already a serious battle raging. Our recent captives were fighting fiercely against each other. It was unclear who fought against whom at first — there was a pile of bodies on the ground.
"Kill Innokenty!" a man's voice yelled.
It was Boris. He tried to put Innokenty's hands behind his back, but the guy, despite his flimsy appearance, was as strong as a wild bull. He kicked, head-butted his opponents, and wriggled his whole body, trying to escape. Meanwhile, Ravshana leaned on Boris, clasping his neck with her hands in an obvious attempt to strangle him. The Major, without thinking, slashed her back with his sword; the girl screamed and loosened the grip. Boris managed to throw her off. She fell, and Petrovich killed her with his monstrous lance.
Marina rolled out from the general mess, stood on her feet and sharply raised her hands up, shouting: "I'm on your side, don't kill me!" Someone threw her aside, but I couldn't see who it was. What happened next seemed unreal, or as if it was a scene from a very bad movie. I saw the Major raising his sword and bringing the blade down on someone — again, again and again. Olga and Dasha dragged someone from the heap; the man was resisting and wriggling like a worm. A minute later it was all over. We had a clear advantage in numbers.
Innokenty, Ravshana and Lina were killed. Boris writhed on the ground, lulling his unnaturally twisted arm; Marina was sitting next to the entrance of the hut and crying hysterically. Nobody from our squad was hurt, only the cop was slightly limping, and Olga's face was twitching in pain, though it was unclear how exactly she had been hurt. Dasha and the blacksmith rushed with buckets of water gotten from the earthen well — the fire broke out again, and they were now in a hurry to put it out.
"Where are your tombstones?" Petrovich asked Boris. The latter seemed not to hear him and even began to howl. Apparently, the pain was unbearable.
"They're there," Marina sobbed, choking with tears and pointing at the hut next to which she was sitting.
"They're there already!" cried the archer, pointing at the clearing, which had until recently been filled with disarmed enemies. "They killed themselves!"
Not bad. Some of them are determined, I must admit. I wondered how they managed to do it.
Now's my chance. I can do anything, and my opponents will only see their expectations of me. Damn, I don't have much time to make a decision!Vlada stayed put, but four of her subordinates began to come at me from both sides, clearly intending to surround me. Well, we'll improvise.Arcobaleno mode on.Absolutely nothing changed for me, but the enemies began to act as if I was attacking them. All four of them jumped back, and one fighter even fell to the ground. Do they think that I'm swinging my scythe like a peasant in a field? Great! More importantly, the skill's working out even better than I expected.Stone Spikes pinned the guy who fell prone thinking that he was dodging a blow. Well, that's one enemy temporarily disabled. Not paying attention to the remaining three fighters, I rushed to Vlada, raising my scythe at her. The woman was ready to attack and put up a block, crossing two short blades over her head. But I wasn't going to do what she expected. Hiding the scythe, I activated the stream of flames, aiming it at her eyes. Hmmm... Two inches was certainly not the impressive-looking fire flood sweeping away everything in its path that I had hoped for but that matter little so long as the fire hit its target. Vlada screamed hysterically, clutched her face and collapsed from pain. I even shuddered, imagining what she was must've been feeling, but pushed the thought away. I had no time for sentiments.An archer was aiming at me from the left, a man with a smooth polished club was coming at me from the right, and another one was trying to come from behind, holding a small, but obviously dangerous, dagger. I set the grass and the scattered pinecones in front of me on fire. They didn't burn well, but they did provide a lot of acrid and dense smoke. As expected, the archer missed. I made a false attack in his direction and attacked the man with the dagger, sending a stream of fire in his face. Blinded, he stumbled and fell, while I rushed at the two remaining men. The one I pinned to the ground with Stone Spikes was screaming and swearing, using the dirtiest curses I've ever heard. The grass next to him was already burning. Suddenly I remembered an old book about a hobbit, in which Gandalf the wizard set fire to the cones and threw them at wolves. Hissing with pain, I endured as the improvised incendiary shells burned in my hands. My confused enemies obviously didn't expect something that. Honestly, who would ever think that a man in a silly headband would throw lumps of fire at them? Some of the pinecones were resin-soaked and burnt better; they also stuck to clothes of the person I would hit. By the time Arcobaleno ended, all enemies were neutralized. With the help of the potion I habitually cut off their arms, and then kicked them to prevent them from getting up."Well done, Cat!" I heard Semyon's voice beside me. "You are good! They can't join the battle until they resurrect, and we can deal with the rest now. Now we just need to put the fire out, or we'll burn to a crisp."Fortunately, the damp grass burned slowly, it smoked more than anything. The cop and I managed to quickly trample all of the blazing spots.At that moment we heard a deafening ringing, as if someone had cracked a huge old TV tube. Petrovich and the rest managed to cope with the invisible shield. I thought that we were about to see something similar to our base, but I was wrong. Our opponents lived in a forest glade surrounded by tree trunks and slept, apparently, in a few mud huts. I counted five little houses which meant that each could fit at least two people. Save for the invisible barrier, their base was defenseless. Our place was at least surrounded by stone and a river on both sides.When we broke into the enemy territory, there was already a serious battle raging. Our recent captives were fighting fiercely against each other. It was unclear who fought against whom at first there was a pile of bodies on the ground."Kill Innokenty!" a man's voice yelled.It was Boris. He tried to put Innokenty's hands behind his back, but the guy, despite his flimsy appearance, was as strong as a wild bull. He kicked, head-butted his opponents, and wriggled his whole body, trying to escape. Meanwhile, Ravshana leaned on Boris, clasping his neck with her hands in an obvious attempt to strangle him. The Major, without thinking, slashed her back with his sword; the girl screamed and loosened the grip. Boris managed to throw her off. She fell, and Petrovich killed her with his monstrous lance.Marina rolled out from the general mess, stood on her feet and sharply raised her hands up, shouting: "I'm on your side, don't kill me!" Someone threw her aside, but I couldn't see who it was. What happened next seemed unreal, or as if it was a scene from a very bad movie. I saw the Major raising his sword and bringing the blade down on someone again, again and again. Olga and Dasha dragged someone from the heap; the man was resisting and wriggling like a worm. A minute later it was all over. We had a clear advantage in numbers.Innokenty, Ravshana and Lina were killed. Boris writhed on the ground, lulling his unnaturally twisted arm; Marina was sitting next to the entrance of the hut and crying hysterically. Nobody from our squad was hurt, only the cop was slightly limping, and Olga's face was twitching in pain, though it was unclear how exactly she had been hurt. Dasha and the blacksmith rushed with buckets of water gotten from the earthen well the fire broke out again, and they were now in a hurry to put it out."Where are your tombstones?" Petrovich asked Boris. The latter seemed not to hear him and even began to howl. Apparently, the pain was unbearable."They're there," Marina sobbed, choking with tears and pointing at the hut next to which she was sitting."They're there already!" cried the archer, pointing at the clearing, which had until recently been filled with disarmed enemies. "They killed themselves!"Not bad. Some of them are determined, I must admit. I wondered how they managed to do it.
