A Predicament
"Enemy attack!"
"This woman has absolutely no pride as a warrior; she's already calling for help?"
From the bushes in the distance, a hoarse male voice rang out with a hint of disdain. In the shadows, the man called Rain stood with his arms crossed, seemingly quite contemptuous of Lupa's immediate warning.
"Huh? What are you talking about, Rain? It's perfectly normal to issue a loud warning when someone launches a surprise attack, isn't it?" The Hawk-Eye man beside him, whose eyes were still sharp in the darkness, retorted. He thought Rain's logic was the strange one.
"Hawk-Eye, if you're a warrior, it's normal to have a 'let my teammates rest, I'll handle this myself' mentality; it's the pride of a strong person." Rain snorted, sticking to his opinion, and this man with 'Eagle Sight' seemed to be named Hawk-Eye.
"Are you kidding me? If it were me, I'd want to wake you all up and have you work with me. I can't stand seeing you all resting while I'm working so hard." Hawk-Eye replied confidently, clearly demonstrating a more "equal" view of teamwork: if I'm standing, you shouldn't be sitting.
In the distance, on the open ground under the porch, Lupa and Mark had already exchanged several quick blows in a lightning-fast exchange.
The spear flashed like a dragon, the dagger gleamed like poison, and the sounds of their clashes were particularly jarring in the silent night. Although Lupa was startled, she remained calm and had already gained the upper hand. Her peach-colored figure moved nimbly and dodged in the moonlight, each thrust and parry of her spear carrying a deadly threat.
The spear is the king of weapons; if an assassin's surprise attack fails, how can he possibly defeat a warrior?
Other Shadow Warriors, lurking behind the bushes, are like patient hunters, waiting for their prey to step into the trap as planned.
Their goal was clear: after Mark created chaos, he would force out the others in the house, especially their primary targets— the Elven Mage Frieren and the dark-haired man Lowell —to be killed or subdued immediately.
The flimsy door of the wooden cabin was opened.
Frieren, staff in hand, charged forward first, her silver hair gleaming in the night, her emerald eyes sweeping across the battlefield. Close behind was Lowell, his face bearing just the right amount of tension, his gaze quickly locking onto the besieged Lupa.
Both appeared to have been startled awake and rushed into battle, their attention completely drawn to the fierce fight, seemingly unaware of the even greater danger lurking in the shadows.
There were no explicit commands like "Attack!", but the hunters in the shadows moved instantly, like a perfectly coordinated pack of wolves!
A blurry figure swept across the ground like a ghost, almost skimming the tips of the grass, and appeared silently beside Frieren. It was the woman whose fingertips were wrapped in transparent threads— Elsa.
As a mage, Frieren clearly lacked an effective immediate response to this kind of close-range physical attack that showed no magical fluctuations.
She only had time to turn slightly to the side, but countless incredibly strong, transparent threads, like living spider webs, instantly wrapped around her, binding her staff, arm, and body tightly!
"Ugh!" Frieren let out a short, muffled groan as she was pulled forward by a tremendous force.
Elsa lunged at her as if she were weightless, her knee pressing against her lower back, one hand twisting her bound arm behind her back, while the cold dagger in her other hand was already pressed against her pale cheek.
"That little girl twirling a gun over there~" Elsa licked her lips, her voice carrying a teasing, cat-and-mouse tone. She pressed the blade of her dagger lightly against the ground. "Drop your weapon and surrender obediently! Otherwise..." She deliberately drawled, the dagger shifting slightly as if to slash down, "I'll carve a few flowers on this pretty elf's face, you know?"
Almost simultaneously, Lowell was also rammed from the side by a burly figure! It was Rain! Using the powerful impact and exquisite grappling techniques, he instantly locked Lowell's hand joints, and a gleaming short sword was pressed against Lowell's carotid artery like a venomous snake.
"Don't move!" Rain's deep, hoarse voice carried an undeniable threat as he firmly restrained Lowell. "I know you're strong, a mage who can fight that Serie to a draw... but against a warrior at this distance, even the strongest magic is useless! Tell your men to stop!"
In the center of the court, Lupa had completely dominated Mark.
Her spear struck like a storm, leaving Mark battered and bruised, covered in bloody welts. Defeat was only a matter of time.
But at this moment, seeing Frieren pinned down by Elsa with a dagger at her face, and Lowell with a sword held to her vitals by Rain, Lupa was startled and had to stop her attack.
Although a very slight doubt flashed through her mind—Master...was he subdued so easily? And Lady Frieren, just like that, rushed out like that? And the other two didn't appear...this is too strange.
But the situation before her left her no time to think; the sword was already pressed against the throat of her closest person, and she dared not take the risk.
"Wait!" Lupa shouted, leaping back half a step, gun at the ready, her heterochromatic eyes fixed on Elsa and Rain. "I'll drop my weapon! Gentlemen... are you here for money? We still have some gold coins in our bags. Don't do this, don't hurt my companions..." Her tone carried a deliberate feigned panic and compromise, trying to calm them down.
Mark seized the opportunity to escape the battle. His face was pale, and he was breathing heavily. He glanced at Lupa with a complicated expression and whispered, "Tsk, this woman is terrifying. Her attacks are like those of a bloodthirsty wolf. If you had been any slower, I might have really been done for."
Elsa chuckled softly, her grip tightening, but her gaze lingered on Lupa with interest. "If you die here, it'll be one less man with a perpetually gloomy face, Mark."
She abruptly changed her tone, ordering Lupa again, the dagger drawing closer to Frieren's cheek, "Little girl, don't try anything funny. I told you to put down your weapon, now, immediately!"
Lupa's face showed a struggle, her gaze sweeping between Frieren and Lowell. Finally, as if she had made up her mind, she bit her lower lip. "Okay... don't do it, don't hurt Lady Frieren and Master..." Slowly and extremely reluctantly, she threw the long spear that had accompanied her in battle for so long into the ground at her feet with a "clatter".
"You can take the money and everything else..." she said, as she began to unfasten the clasps of her light armor. "Oh, right, this armor... I'll take it off too, as a sign of sincerity..." Her movements were somewhat clumsy, perhaps due to nervousness; her fingers trembled slightly as she unfastened the breastplate and shoulder armor one by one.
The armor pieces were removed, revealing a close-fitting white cotton lining that accentuated the young warrior's lithe and supple waist.
Seeing Lupa's "sensible" behavior, Elsa's lips curled into a satisfied smile, and her tone softened slightly. "Heh... this little girl is quite sensible..."