City of Desire-Chapter 873: Hold The Pass II

Aya Bandstone

"Assassins!"

I screamed as they descended on us, with the speed and agility, their blades gleaming in the morning light.

There are seven of them, but with assassins, it's tough to tell, with the stealth skills and all.

They are all wearing assassin gear, with tight black cloaks and masks that hide every part of their faces except their eyes.

My people reacted, growing more defensive as Mages attacked at my command for the first time. Until now, the spells were used defensively, but now they are used offensively.

Though the moment later, my mood soured when I saw them avoiding the spells and their mages moving to support them.

Still, it won't be easy to target us. We have practiced against every type of danger, including the assassins.

The seven of them had moved toward my men, but I didn't see even a single one of them coming toward me, which made me more alert against the enemy.

I am the leader of the company.

Killing me would instantly remove the biggest obstacle in their path and lower my men's morale.

My men defended against the enemy soldiers and assassins. It's hard, and many are getting injured, but they are holding the line.

I attacked and defended against attacks coming toward me.

Brewtan is powerful, and his attack is coming toward me every second. I had to defend against each one of them.

A minute passed and then another, but no attack came. They are attacking my people, but not me, which did not give me a good feeling.

Once more, he attacked with his blade flashing into my eyes, turning me blind for a second.

It is the most irritating skill he has. I do not mind the weight or the pain, but this skill, I hate this skill a lot. That forces me to depend on my experience and instinct.

Again, I am about to move my blade with my instinct, when my Dangersence blared once more.

It is louder than before; a powerful attack that could take my life, and it is coming from the top front. Immediately, my defence changed. I moved my shield toward Brewtan while my sword moved toward the new attack.

My shield clashed against the attack of Brewtan, before the spells hit across it.

It isn't just the blades that are coming toward me, but also the spells. Before, I used to defend against Brewtan with my sword while pulling spells to my shield.

Now, I was forced to defend both with my shield, and it gave me a massive shock that cracked my bones. A spell had snuck even through my shield and Pollin's spells and hit me squarely across the chest armor.

Threatening to send me back, but I didn't let it and dug my heels into the ground and used Steel Steps in a counter, straining my bones further while still moving my blade to defend against the assassin.

My sword clashed against the blade, and I saw the assassin; my skill was affected by the blow.

The woman grinned, with her blade locked against mine, and I felt Dangersense once more and saw two more assassins to my left and right.

I tried to pull my sword and shield back, but I found that they remained stuck.

The two reached me and attacked.

Suddenly, a shield appeared in front of the man on the left, but the one on the right's attack reached me.

His dagger struck my armour, and for a moment, there was relief on my face, before it turned into a curse. I was cut quite deeply.

He has a very scarce skill, like Echo Cut; it's a rare skill. It is especially rare for the assassin below Lv. 30 to have it.

It's a deep cut, not as deep as it would have been, but still deep. Immediately, my passive skill, Natural Healing, got to work.

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I moved to attack the enemies, which did something, turning my expression sour.

'We are spell boxed,' said Borla heavily.

They have put spells around us. Creating a box of spells with us inside. Only Borla and I, along with four enemies, are in it; the rest, including Pollin, are out.

I could see him and my men trying to break it, but he is more mages, and they are constantly reinforcing it.

This is a manoeuvre rarely used, as it requires many mages and constant reinforcement of spells against enemies trying to break it.

His men are also trying to surround the spell box, but my men are resisting. If they surrounded me, it would be game over for me.

"Last chance, captain, surrender," he offered once more, and I really want to. Against four, it would be very hard for two of us, but I cannot surrender.

I have to defend the pass.

"I will not!" I replied, finally pulling my weapons back. He shook his head and moved toward me with an attack stronger than ever.

At the same time, assassins attacked Borla and me.

I responded immediately; the only good thing that came out of it is that I do not have to worry about arrows and spells inside the box, just the blades.

I defended against Brewtan with my sword and used the Shield Bash toward the assassins.

His dagger clashed against my shield, shaking his whole body and pushing him back. I was about to press my advantage when the second of foreboding covered me.

I turned and saw Borla defending herself with her shield against an assassin, but the second assassin had his blade at her neck.

"No!" I screamed and took a step, but by that time, her head had separated from her body. 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

She is dead, beyond saving. I could see defiant eyes that had lost the light.

"It's your fault, Captain. If you had just surrendered, she wouldn't have died, and many more would have lived," he said, and they came at me.

She was a person with a bright future. I had headhunted her, and it was not easy to get her from Trobo.

She was to be married the next month; she was going to go on leave next month. Now, she is dead, all the wonderful things that were to happen to her would never happen.

I feel guilty and in grief, but I pulled myself out of the grief and moved to defend against the four.

I cannot let the grief and guilt affect me; she will not forgive me. I have to defend and survive for her memory and my people.

A Lv. 30+ and three pre-Lv. 30's; the chances are slim, but I will have to do it

My men are defending well, and I have to defend as well until reinforcements arrive. It will be tough, near impossible, but I will have to.

If I fail, more of my people will die, and I will not have that.

So, I pushed my skills beyond their limit, so that they started to shake, and I moved my weapons to deal with them.

My blade clashed against his blade, while my shield clashed against the assassin's daggers.

I defended, then dodged two more attacks. I dodged, but the second one clashed against my shoulder. Once more, it gave me a deep cut across it.

I barely got a moment before they attacked me again, and this time, they once more used the skill that made my weapons clamped against theirs.

Though this time, I was prepared and used Shield Clamp, countering my skill against his.

This created a repelling force like magnets, but only with the shield, as it is a shield skill.

It was enough, as it gave me enough momentum to remove my sword from his grip and dodge the assassin's attack.

I dodged one assassin, but another one cut me across the leg through the weak point in my armour.

Armor Piercing.

He cut me with it, but I dodged it in time. So, the cut wasn't deep enough to cut the artery. It would have, if it had gone slightly deeper.

I didn't even get a breath of relief and attacked the four of them again.

I defended with my sword and shield, but more and more cuts appeared across my body, and soon, my whole body was covered in them.

I have healing skills, but it's a massive one. Its power is not quick, but long-lasting healing.

Still, it is the reason I continue to fight, but seeing the way cuts appear across my body. I won't be able to do that for long.

I do not see any other options. So, the only thing I could do was keep pushing myself and defend until reinforcements arrive.

Seconds passed and turned into minutes, and I kept fighting, pushing my skills harder and harder until they began to quake so hard that I felt they would be broken.

"You must have really good healing and survival skills to last this long," said the assassin.

"Jealous much," I replied, using Ulo's tone.

I am at my last leg, I am losing blood and pushing my skills, body, and mind beyond what they could handle. In a minute, everything would collapse.

I might not have a minute. I could feel the humming of my bones; the medicine had only suppressed the effect, it didn't heal me.

Now, with me pushing myself to such a limit, the bone-breaking disease has started to open its fangs once more.

And the thing is, there is nothing I could do to stop it.

I am fighting four, three of them are at my level, and one is beyond it. My surviving against them until now is a thing, even I couldn't believe it, but not for long.

I was thinking that when the dagger nearly cut through the neck.

If not for reacting quickly, I would have been decapitated like my lieutenant. There is a high chance I would, but until then, I will keep fighting with every bit of will I have.

And I did for a few more seconds, but soon, the humming of bones became painful.

Soon, it will be more than that.

Still, I pushed myself, but my body is not moving with me. Still, I kept fighting, like my people are fighting against the enemy, defending the pass.

"See, boss, this bitch has started slowing down. It won't be long before we kill her and kill the rest of her men," said the assassin, who killed Borla, while laughing.

"You will not kill anyone, while I am standing here!" I replied, and his pale blue eyes turned mockingly at me.

"We will, and I will even keep you alive and let you watch how we will kill them. We won't stop even when they surrender," he said.

Hearing that, anger I had never felt bubbled in my heart.

I have fought countless battles, here and in Baxzar, and death is part of it, but there are rules of the battlefield between armies, and first among them is that you do not harm the enemy if they have laid down their weapons.

Here, this man is telling me that he will kill my people, even after they surrender.

I do not fear dying; I had long accepted it due to my disease, but I refuse to let my people die.

"I will not let you!" I roared with defiance and heard something break in me, and the next moment, something vast broke out of me.