Heroes to Hunted

Lilia smiled and waved, watching as her brother departed with the guard captain out of view behind the homestead.

Meanwhile, I couldn't be at ease. Though the guards were sent away, meaning we'd only have one combatant to worry about, that combatant was a fullkin. Beyond her, Vincent was also a fullkin.

According to Barik, he was exceptionally dangerous. If either of them discovered us, the battle would likely carry more risk than simply fighting a platoon of goons in armor.

So far, I've skirmished with a single of their kind; the woman in the manor. Her chilling presence, maniacal rage, powerful strikes, and inhuman speed were all I needed to see to know their kind wasn't to be taken lightly.

I'll admit my victory against her was purely my luck and her inexperience. If I was to fight either of these two, 'I need as much information as possible.'

'Barik must know something!' I thought, remembering he was a native of this world, a seemingly old one at that. So I turned to him and whispered, "Any tips on fighting vam-... fullkin? Does sunlight affect them at all?"

His expression became puzzled with a hint of forlorn regret. "Oh... I guess the General hasn't told you." He inhaled deeply and shook his head in apology. "No, as I've said to the General, I'm afraid I have no advice to give. Even in all my years, I've never fought against a fullkin before... Sorry, kid."

"It's fine," I shrugged my shoulders and grinned to mask my disappointment. 'That explains why we built our plan off of assumptions...'

"Keep focused; she's coming," Mizuno pointed to Lilia as she turned toward us.

Lilia had begun a march toward us with playful steps and a wide grin. Though she exuded the presence of a seasoned killer, her posture was almost childlike and immature. She held her arms behind her back, humming an upbeat tune as she traveled.

"You know, the situation might suck. But at least it has a silver lining," Barik smirked and pointed out the transport the fullkin arrived in. "If we can draw attention away from the carriage, I'll have my golems load up the supplies, and we'll ride out of here."

It sounded like a decent plan on paper, one that solved our issue of transport. However, there was still one glaring issue. "What's the plan to save Joseph?" I turned to Mizuno, who was eyeing the approaching fullkin with hostility.

With Barik's plan, we had to fight the girl. She was in the way, and conflict would be inevitable. Plus, the battle would likely draw extra attention from the guards outside the compound; the longer the fight, the less our odds of survival became.

Beyond that, we also needed to break past Lilia to save Joseph from death unless his foolishness had already gotten him killed.

'Save Joseph AND secure the carriage in time to escape while keeping our insides from becoming our outsides? There's only one way we'll accomplish that...' It was a pain, but I knew what was to be done. Mizuno did, too; that's why she turned to me with a look of subdued sorrow. It was the expression of someone about to send a comrade to their death.

Mizuno, with a somber tone, looked at me with pitying eyes. "I'm sorry, but there's only one way we'll save Joseph and accomplish our primary goal." Mizuno paused before shaking herself to recover the resolve and give the order.

'Here it comes,' I sighed, and Mizuno continued.

"We need to split our forces. Sato, you have military experience. You defeated me AND Shrug in simultaneous hand-to-hand combat, and you've your affinity. Right now, you're our best option to rescue Joseph. It's a hard ask bu-"

"Just give the order," I replied with impatience. There was no time for rousing speeches. Every second passed was a second wasted.

Mizuno took a breath and, upon exhaling, bestowed upon me an impossible task. "Sato, save Joseph at any cost. Bring him back to the carriage so we can escape this hellhole."

'And there it is.' Just like that, I was forced into a direct conflict with the one Barik explicitly warned against. My posture slouched as I pressed my temple against the wood of the crate. 'Well, better give my answer...'

However, before I could, Mizuno added one extra stipulation. "And Sato, come back in one piece. It'd set a bad precedent if one of our newest members died on their first mission."

I chuckled at her sense of priorities. 'You're lucky you're my superior,' I smirked. After all, I wasn't one to disobey an order. "Understood," I replied and drew my blade from its sheath.

"Take these with you," she continued, reaching into her pack and handing me two of our last four red potions and the blue. "Whatever you do, only use the blue if you ABSOLUTELY have to, understood?"

"Understood," I repeated, stashing the three bottles into my pockets.

A moment of heavy silence passed as we steeled ourselves for the fight to come.

"So," Barik intoned, "we're distracting the girl so Sato can get past, right?" He readied his legs for a mad dash and his flail to pave a path forward.

"That's right," Mizuno nodded and peeked over her cover, catching a glimpse of Lilia. She was a few moments away from entering the alley. "We're moving on three."

Mizuno began her hushed count, our suspense growing as each number passed.

"One..."

Lilia's first footstep on the wooden platform covering the alley resounded.

"Two..."

She was a few paces closer. A few more, and she'd be right on top of us. My heartbeat quickened as I shifted into a sprint position. This last moment was do or die.

"THREE!"

'Time to die!' I smirked with sarcasm. I didn't know if I thought that as a threat to the fullkin girl or as a foreboding warning to us.

Obeying Mizuno's order, we dashed out of our cover to confront Lilia, only to find ourselves as the ones confronted.

Lilia leaped to us, grabbed Barik by the collar with a single hand, and effortlessly hurled him into a wall with one seamless motion.

"Oh shit!" Barik shouted as his body left the ground and slammed against the second warehouse. A loud creak of steel-reinforced wood followed the crash as his body succumbed to gravity, falling to the floor. A reminder he'd been thrown remained in the form of distinct indentations and cracks within the warehouse wall.

Lilia then returned to her spot in the alleyway, her piercing yellow eyes haughtily watching us. She flashed her fangs with a sneer and said, "Took you long enough to show yourselves. I've been waiting for you lot to make a move," as she outstretched the fingers of one hand. "I got bored of waiting, so I made the first move."

Rather than her, we were the ones frozen to place in shock. 'She... She saw us coming?!'

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