THAT DAY I BECAME A STAR

The next morning, right as the sun is rising, I wake up quietly, just all the others. We have been ambushed. Also, I can smell blood, which means either the coacher or the horses have been killed. There are thirty Longinus in total and judging by the intensity of the crystals, there must be Longinus men with them.

"Willhem, John and Fiz, left side. Hendrick, with me and K'nor. The others, right side."

I whisper to the group and they simply nod. Then from a tree in front of us…

"Kriekk!!"

"Now!!"

I fire bullets at them and the battle starts. I don't know why but I feel weird.. I think somebody is watching us. But who can it be that I don't feel the presence? Maybe it isn't a Longinus then.

"Kriekk!"

"Woof!"

"Orah! Orah!"

Longinus vanguards pour on us while Longinus men are shooting arrows from behind. I fly to their rearguard and take on the archers. They have already transformed but unlike those who act like mere puppets, they actually face me properly, unsheathing their weapons and attacking as a formation.

Over the seven of them, two come first while three continue to aim at the group. The other two are behind me, surely aiming at me.

I give bullets to the two coming upfront while turning around to intercept the incoming arrows of the others. But when I do, those idiots are still aiming at the other mercenaries, more precisely Hendrick. What kind of idiots are they? I run to them and slice off the neck of the first one then shadow stab the second. The two who attacked me then arrive again. The first has half of his head disintegrated while the second is in no better shape. The left side of his mouth and part of his neck is destroyed by the explosion of my bullets.

I could say I am not surprised they survived but since I was aiming to destroy them directly, those wounds mean they tried to and almost evaded my bullets. I should work on my aim properly.

"Kriekk!!"

"Kiekkk!!"

"I got you now!!" While I block the attack of the first Longinus men, the second receives Hendrick's attack without as much as even putting his guard on. He was way too focused on me and now, his head has been split in two. Too bad.

The one in front of me doesn't seem to mind and so, he receives K'nor wind balls from the side as well. I am at the first place to see the strength of that attack as the guy's head forcefully bends to the side until the neck breaks with an incredibly satisfying noise. But still…

"Kriekk!!" Seeing his bent-over head screaming makes me wonder whether it is out of pain that he is screaming or something else. In any case.

"Tremor." I finish him off then we take care of the rest. That was a good way to start the day.

***

Our coacher got killed in the attack so from now on, Fiz is the one who took the reins. He has been doing a pretty decent job though it would be better if he wouldn't go through any holes and obstacles on the road. I am not sure this carriage will be able to reach Titan with him as the coacher.

The next day, we are attacked once again. Forty Longinus again. Same configurations. But this time, the Longinus men's reactions are better. Now, while I am fighting two of them, the two from behind are effectively aiming and shooting at me and the other three are still supporting the vanguards. Still, it isn't enough, we round them up quickly and then pick up the crystals. But now, I am sure of it. Somebody is watching us.

The reason why? I can feel it. There are eyes on us and there is somebody with three crystals far from here. Too far to be seen with only my eyes but my senses. Who could it be, though?

"You can feel it too?" Willhem comes and whispers.

"Yeah. Let's see what they will do next and then counter it."

"Okay."

Willhem's senses are sharp enough to feel those eyes on us as well. I hope the others can feel it as well.

We continue to travel and for an entire week, we face the same amount of Longinus every morning. Each day, the Longinus men were a bit stronger but we still managed to win without much effort. There was no wounded as well. However, if we continue like this, sooner or later, we will end up with casualties.

"Aren't they tired of playing that game? It's getting boring already."

"What game?" Judging from John's remarks, it seems some of the mercenaries have understood what is going on as well.

"Capt'…"

"Yeah, I know."

As today is the fourth morning, another group is coming. But this time, there are less people coming. Only eight people in fact. Among them, two Longinus with three crystals are coming.

"Guys, be on your guard!! They are coming!"

"Okay!!"

Everyone gets ready and holds his weapon tight. Then silence settles himself around us. I can barely hear the trees' leaves being shaken by the wind. Finally, a needle comes and I counter it with my raizen. So, you have come at last.

"Thando!!"

"Coward!!"

Thando, followed by six people. He launches three other needles as right as I block them, I hear a sound. The sound of something that brings back memories. I reflexively jump back and the place where I was gets disintegrated by someone's landing. I thought the situation was bad but with you here, this is the worst I could have possibly imagined.

"Hello, you look good today." After the dust dissipates around her, she greets me like there was nothing wrong going on, like we met just yesterday, like we are friends that shared a meal like night.

"Tatiana..." She is using Angas. More precisely, she is using the Thousands steps of Lightning. How can she do that when I clearly feel three crystals inside her? The same goes for Thando. How do they manage to do that?

"Oh, so he was saying the truth." Willhem lands near me and only now do I notice that none of the Longinus men that have arrived have engaged us yet. Each of them is standing before one of the mercenaries but they aren't attacking yet.

"And you are?"

"You don't recognize me? I am offended."

Willhem advances to Tatiana who stops her script. Her hair didn't change color like before though. They stayed black the whole time. Did her power diminish compared to before?

"Anyway, you mustn't have been somebody important. And I don't have time to deal with small fries today. Somebody takes care of him."

One of the Longinus men, the one confronting Hendrick, jumps from his previous location and pounces of Willhem rapidly. He tries to cut him but Willhem evades as simply as catching a newborn baby's hands, then he kicks the guy's chin and slams his head to the ground. The guy tries to slash once again as if he didn't receive any kind of damage but Willhem once again dodges and kicks him, sending his body over to Tatiana.

She grabs the guy's head and makes it explode. You must really be a bitch to kill your comrade like this.

"What are you doing?!" She is bitch, Thando. A bitch.

"Are you yelling at me?" She looks at Thando and the air immediately changes. She might be a bitch but she is really strong nonetheless.

"N-no, madam."

"Good. Now, you have ten minutes. If you haven't defeated him by then, I will intervene."

"Yes, madam."

"Good." She turns to Willhem and smiles, like the demon she is. "As for you, I will give you five minutes to entertain me. I hope you disappoint me."

"Is that so?"

"Kriekk!!"

Finally, the Longinus men unleash their aura and engage our comrades. At the same time, Willhem pounces on Tatiana who blocks his rapier with a small knife, as small as a table knife in fact. Thando just looks at me in the meantime. After assessing the situation, I only have one option: to defeat as fast as possible and joins Willhem. I would like to fight Tatiana right now but it is better to take care of the weakest of the to first and keep as much strength as I can.

Thando starts walking to me while bringing out a long sword this time. A long one-hand sword. It is almost too long to be a one-hand sword. On it, there are markings engraved and some weirds lines that bring out the outlines of needles. I think there are hidden needles in that sword. It looks sturdy and sharp. He also takes out four more needles that he grabs with his other hand.

"Today, at last, I will-"

"I hope the hammer hands didn't scold you too much after I whooped your ass the other day." Let's provoke him directly.

"You think I will fall for your provocation again?"

An explosion occurs as Hendrick stroke a Longinus with his script, an arm flies by near me and Thando but we don't pay any mind to it. Right now, it feels like it is just Thando and me. My entire being is focused on seeing what he will do and counter then striking. But it seems he is the same. Is he not going to predict my movements again like last time?

"Are you not going to attack?" *

"What about you?" Oh, so you want me to open the dance. Fair enough.

"Let's roll then!"