Rise of the Horde - Chapter 350:

The commotion of the fight awoke the nearby residents. People began appearing to find out what the noise was all about which in turn cause the group of Barika and the other soldiers to be held back. The supposed to be empty streets were filled with busybodies.

“Make way!” a roar from Barika who was annoyed by the presence of the nosy people echoed through the streets. The sudden thundering voice alarmed the residents who were blocking the paths and all of them turned their heads towards the source. There stood Commander Barika with angry eyes. Right behind him was his soldiers with their weapons drawn out. Upon landing their gaze on the attire of Barika and his soldiers, the bigmouths were frightened especially so, that the soldiers had their weapons drawn out.

“Get out of the freakin’ way!” another shout came from Barika. His voice looked like it contained a powerful magic as after his voice died down, the blocked path in front of them was opened. The busybodies split into two as they hugged the edges of the street while the others hurriedly went back where they came from.

Barika quickly dashed forward and the soldiers behind him quickly followed. As the group passed by the group of curious people, the sound of the nosy people reach their ears but they paid no heed to their words. The current event was something that only they knew about who are involved in it and the king.

Seeing that their captain was having a hard time dealing with their foe, Isma and Menna quickly joined in the fray. The trio attacked in sync with each other. There synergy was something that wasn’t easily replicated as it needed years and years of working together for it to be developed.

Although they were working together to deal with their foe, the trio still couldn’t corner their foe. The mysterious figure would always find a way to slip through their encirclement no matter how much they try to contain him in one place. There was no physical clash just yet as the slippery target would dodge and strike from a distance using his ability of the shadows or release blades of energy that was hard to distinguish from the shadows due to its color.

“We can’t go on like this, captain… The more that the battle drags on…The more destruction it would create… The king won’t be happy if we destroy a quarter of the city just to apprehend the target.” Isma said towards his comrade while taking a glance at the path of destruction that they had created behind them. More than ten structures were turned into rubble, many almost fully destroyed, a lot partially destroyed, and there was a huge possibility of casualties among the residents of the city with that much of devastation.

Ishaq turned his sights towards the damage that their fight had created. After seeing the ruined streets and buildings, he was sure that the young king would be unhappy. “Attack with everything you have. Just make sure that you don’t break your seals. There is no longer a need to capture him alive.” He commanded then breathed in to gather all his strength.

The trio then began an all-out attack without bothering to block the retaliation of their foe. There storm of attacks easily overwhelmed their foe and they quickly cornered him.

“Surrender and mercy will be shown… Continue to fight and you’ll experience the most painful death.” Isma demanded seeing that their foe was already on the defensive after they wantonly attacked alongside their captain. Their frenzied assault didn’t leave them unscathed as they sustained a few wounds but nothing serious as they focused entirely on offense.

Their cornered foe was breathing heavily and his chest was rising up and down faster than normal. Although they now have their foe cornered, the three still didn’t let their guard down.

“So what will it be?” Isma questioned as he pointed his blade towards their foe.

A soft giggle was what he got as an answer then the cloaked figure dashed forward with weapons at the ready. ‘Sh*t’ Isma screamed inside his head as the distance between him and their foe was quickly shortened, he didn’t let his guard down but the sudden burst of speed of their foe was something that he can’t cope up with.

He was certain that the weapons of their foe would find their mark upon his body. Isma can’t do anything about the wounds that he was about to sustain since it was impossible for him to fully dodge and the only thing he could do was to minimize the damage that he would receive.

A cold snort came from behind him and their captain parried the blades that were about to land on his body. The daggers of their foe were sent flying away. Menna didn’t just stand idle as he threw a punch with all his strength towards their disarmed foe. Since it was possible to capture their foe alive, he didn’t strike with his weapon.

A soft cushion like feeling was what he felt as his fist made contact with their foes right chest. Backed by his physical power, Menna sent their foe flying a few meters back and threw against the wall of a nearby building. The hooded figure crashed heavily against the wall almost causing it to collapse.

Still confused by the feeling that he felt, Menna held his striking pose.

Seeing that his comrade remained motionless with a baffled look on his face, “What happened to you?” Isma can’t help but ask. He was uneasy of the situation since their foe might have other abilities not just using the shadows.

“A woman…” Menna whispered as he slowly pulled back his hand then stared at his fist.

“What?” Isma had a puzzled look on his face. He didn’t hear what his comrade said and wanted him to repeat it.

“A woman!” Menna repeated with a louder voice then pointed at the figure that was using the wall as a support to get up to her feet. Surprise was written all over the face Isma as he stared at the battered figure. This wasn’t the first time that they fought against a powerful female foe but this was the first in this backward place. They thought that even with their real strength sealed in order to evade the detection of their higher ups, no one could rival their powers and they would easily trample over anyone who fights them but here was a woman who proved them that they were gravely mistaken. Although she was not as powerful as them, it took the three of them attacking in frenzy to contain her.

“Man or woman, it won’t change the fact that she is an enemy.” Ishaq commented then walked towards their foe that was leaning against the wall while breathing heavily. He was certain that their foe was severely injured but something about the situation doesn’t add up to him.

They thoroughly thrash her but not even a single drop of blood of hers was spilled. No wounds, no cuts and she didn’t even sweat unlike them. The only thing that was destroyed was her clothes and the weapons that she used. He suspected that their foe wasn’t even a real person at all.

“Who…or rather- What are you?” Ishaq questioned as he held the sharp end of his blade against the throat of their foe. Isma and Menna were confused about the question of their captain.

Ishaq didn’t need to glance back to guess the reaction of the two since he was certain that they would be confused by his question.

“Didn’t you notice something strange?” he said as he edged the pointed end of his blade closer towards the throat of their foe. “She doesn’t bleed… Not just that- she also doesn’t perspire.” Ishaq continued.

It finally dawned upon the two that what their captain stated was true.

“You finally noticed…” their foe finally spoke and her sweet voice was something that was pleasant to the ears. She giggled then walked forward suddenly. The unexpected action of their foe caught Ishaq off-guard and he wasn’t able to pull his weapon back. Without any difficulty, the sharp end of Ishaq’s blade pierced the throat of their foe.

Surprise by the decisive and unexpected deed of their foe, the three stared at their foe. But instead of a corpse, the body of their enemy disappeared in a thick puff of smoke.

After the smoke cleared, Barika and the soldiers finally arrived at the scene. Their foreheads thoroughly covered in sweat and their breathing heavy.

“Where is the enemy?” Barika managed to utter his question without any pause despite his exhaustion.

“You’re too late…She is gone.” Ishaq expressionlessly replied then walked away.

“You let her get away!?” Barika shouted in anger upon knowing that all the effort that he did running around to chase after their foe was useless and he didn’t even manage to exchange blows with the enemy. But then it dawned on him, “Wait! What do you mean by she’s gone?”

“It is as what you said… She is gooooonnnnnneee…” Isma dragged his words in reply then clicked his tongue in annoyance.

“The enemy was a woman?” Barika wanted to clarify it with the three.

“You are absolutely correct…Sorry no reward.” Menna was the one who answered this time then followed after their captain.

Barika and the soldiers were left behind stupefied about the information that they have just learned. A woman fought those three for so long and the fight with her cause this much destruction? The soldiers were all now doubting their very own strength and were really thankful that they weren’t the first ones to catch up to the enemy or else they would have been long dead.

As Ishaq had expected, the young king gave them an earful after they reported to him what happened. King Gyassi shouted at the three in anger for almost an hour but then with the arrival of Barika and his soldiers, the king turned his attention to them since the three who he was shouting at previously were like statues not moving nor speaking. Ishaq and his two adjutants were spared from the king’s anger as they slowly retreated in a corner.