It was indeed an impressive sight. However, they were currently fighting 2v1. Even if their enemy was skilled at evasion, they wouldn't just let him get away from them without harm. Corwyn immediately used the pause after Teo's attack to launch two more strikes at the bandit. Having just evaded Teo's sword in such a weird fashion, there should be no way he could regain his footing in time to dodge both of Corwyn's swords.
But as if to mock Corwyn's assessment, the bandit flung his body backwards, letting the sword strikes hit empty air. Once again, Corwyn was shocked at the enemy's flawless acrobatics. Having bent his back as wide as possible, the rogue followed up with a reverse somersault, kicking Corwyn's hands holding the swords. His arms were being pushed upward by the impact, his hands nearly letting go of the weapons. By the time he had steadied himself, his opponent was already back on his feet, attempting to distance himself even further from the two of them.
They couldn't let that happen. If they didn't continue to pressure that ability user, he would be able to use his golem against them, and everything would have been for naught. Teo obviously knew that, as he plunged forward and readied his trusted sword for another round.
Wide swings were apparently as easy to dodge for their opponent as simple thrusts. Since a sword swing took evidently more time to execute than a simple stab, Teo instantly switched gears and began to barrage the fleeing ability user with a storm of thrusts. The pressure on the rogue suddenly went up by a level. Although it wasn't all that difficult to dodge them, the sheer number of attacks made it impossible to evade all of them. Slowly but surely, Teo's sword began to inflict small cuts on the puppeteer's clothing, some having blood run out of them from the wounded skin beneath. The both of them moved even farther away from their initial location, passing through the small streets and alleyways surrounding the plaza.
They couldn't see his face, but the bandit was evidently panicking a little. He desperately tried to break free from Teo's ruthless assault. It took all of his ability to just avoid the young man's blade. Escaping from the fight was wishful thinking. While the outlaw was still searching for a way out, a sudden question entered his mind. Where had the other adventurer with the two swords gone? He frantically looked around, but couldn't spot him anywhere within his vision. Where could he have gone to? He had a bad premonition. Abruptly, the bandit spun his head around in order to check his backside. But it was already too late.
During his merciless pursuit of the enemy, Teo hadn't just blindly stabbed his sword at his opponent. With every attack, ever so slightly, he had altered the course of his strikes, changing the direction the puppeteer was retreating towards bit by bit. At the same time, Corwyn had taken a roundabout route in order to enter the enemy's blind spot. In an open space like the plaza they had fought at just a minute ago, such a sneak attack would hardly work against an opponent with keen observation skills. However, the bandit and Teo were battling in a narrow network of backstreets. Taking a different route around the two fighters was all it took to create an ambush.
Not letting this golden opportunity pass, Corwyn slashed at the masked bandit who had only just now noticed him. In a last desperate struggle, the outlaw threw himself to the side in order to evade the dangerous blade. Corwyn was surprised at his fast reaction time, but even then, his blade was already too close to be completely dodged. His blow connected with the cloth over the rogue's chest, and only a split-second later, with the flesh beneath it. With a loud cry, the figure's body fell to the ground, blood splattering out of the gash. It didn't seem to be a deep cut, as the amount of blood flowing out of the bandit's body was not too big. But it didn't matter much anyway. Now that their opponent was lying on the ground, his hand holding his chest, he had no way to run away anymore. One more strike would end it all.
However, something inside himself held Corwyn back from delivering the finishing blow. He couldn't explain what it was, but a certain feeling told him that he should not attack. In confusion, he racked his brain for the reason why he couldn't kill this enemy.
While he was still occupied with his disordered thoughts, the masked person's ragged breathing and light moans of pain were reaching his ears. The bandit's voice was in no way rough like the ones his companions had displayed earlier. It was a higher, softer voice, almost sounding... feminine?
Like a bolt of lightning, the reason for his strange hesitation hit his brain. A suspicion formed inside his mind, and he sheathed one of his swords away and stretched out his now empty hand towards the prone bandit. The wounded puppeteer obviously didn't want Corwyn to touch him, so he tried to ward him off with his own hand, but Corwyn neatly dodged it and grabbed the cloth holding the mask. With a quick pull, he ripped it from the rogue's face, throwing it to the side. What got revealed was a slender, well-proportioned face, its skin slightly paler than Corwyn's. It was decorated with a small mouth and nose. Big, dark brown eyes, accompanied by long eyelashes, were staring at him in shock. Long black hair flowed down from the person's head, framing the face's petite features.
What laid on the ground in front of Corwyn was undoubtedly not a man, but a woman. A very beautiful woman, in addition. It was not like Corwyn was biased against the other gender, but for some reason, not in his wildest dreams had he expected the phenomenally talented puppet user to be a female. It shouldn't really matter to him since this person was his enemy and had tried to kill him, but something inside of him prevented him from attacking this woman.
Teo showed surprise on his face as well once he came to the same realization as Corwyn. He regained his composure just as quickly though. Seeing that his friend was hesitating to draw his blade against a woman, he moved forward. He now stood directly above the puppeteer, and held his sword just above her chest, where Corwyn had wounded her just seconds before. He whispered in a cold voice:
"It seems like my brother here is too kind-hearted to kill you, but don't make any mistake, I will definitely not hesitate to finish you off. If I see you moving even a muscle, this sword will pierce your heart in an instant!"
The female bandit looked up at him, beads of sweat rolling down her face. In contrast to their expectations though, she didn't show any fear. She put forth her chin, and glared at Teo with a determined look.
"I'm not afraid of death! If you want to kill me, then so be it. I have lived this miserable life long enough anyway. At least, I will die fighting!"
It was the first time any words had left the woman's lips. Her voice was indeed the kind which belonged to a female, although it was a far cry from being high-pitched. Actually, it sounded kind of pleasant to listen to.
Teo was not moved by the sound of her voice though. Narrowing his eyes, he readied himself to stab her heart with the tip of his sword.
But shortly before he could put his plan into action, all three of them heard a loud rumbling in the distance. Each of them looked up in the direction it came from, wondering what the sudden sound could mean.
Outside of the village, in the large desert, the main forces of the two groups were still in the midst of battle. The brawl from before had resolved itself, and both armies were now engaging each other in an organized, strategic battle. Over the last half an hour, the two sides had each lost a considerable amount of soldiers, however, the outlaws had suffered more casualties as the expedition's adventurers.
Yassukan clicked his tongue in annoyance at the situation. After taking so much care in preparing the perfect trap for the expedition party, he had hoped they would be able to break them quickly. But his prey was far more tenacious and cunning than expected. Not only had they managed to live through their initial charge by splitting up their forces fairly well, they had even eliminated dozens of the Red Vipers in the following chaos. Last but not least, the adventurers had rebuilt their formation, and were now engaging them in a fierce clash between forces where cooperation and strategy clearly exceeded simple butchering.
It was not like Yassukan, leader of the Red Vipers, had no knowledge of tactics. It was just that those brainless rogues were not able to follow them clearly. Therefore, their side was gradually approaching the losing end more and more. He wanted to somehow revert the situation, but didn't see how he could accomplish that.
While he continued to rack his brain for a solution to his troubles, a part of him noticed that the wind touching his body was becoming stronger and stronger. The sand beneath his feet started to move away, being pulled by the gust of wind. An explosive rumbling was growing nearer by the second.
Yassukan turned his head towards the direction it was coming from, and panic started to surface on his face.
A massive sandstorm was moving towards them!
Hanaan too had noticed the incoming sand flood. He was currently in the midst of battle, slaughtering enemies left and right. But the incoming danger made him stop, looking at the area around him with concern. As long as they neither moved with or against the wind, they should be able to avoid being buried by the sand. However, the village behind them definitely lay within the sandstorms path. It was only a matter of time until it would become buried under tons of sand.
Of course, the leaders of both forces had discerned the same thing as him. Both were recalling their troops, putting the heated battle to an abrupt halt. Hanaan used this chance in order to run towards Rogar. But even before he had reached the man, his orders were already ringing inside his ears.
"Everyone, we are going to retreat towards this direction. It might be though, but we will have to take a detour until the storm has subsided!"
"But what about our comrades still in the village?!"
Desperation was evident in Hanaan's voice. A few minutes before, he had learned that part of their forces had retreated towards the abandoned village. From the looks of it, Corwyn and Teo were among that group. Hanaan simply couldn't accept the fact that they were about to abandon them. Rogar turned his gaze towards him, his face hard. It seemed like he didn't like this choice as well, but he had already made up his mind.
"By the time we reach them, it will already be too late! Neither of us would get out of the village, and all of us would die there! We can't help them!"
As he listened to his leader's words, who already had to scream in order for his subordinates to hear him, Hanaan's hands balled themselves into tight fists. He saw the logic behind the order, but he couldn't bring himself to leave them behind.
Between a rock and a hard place, Hanaan fervently searched for a way to solve this predicament. But before he could even arrive at an answer, a large hand laid itself on his shoulder. Looking up, he saw Dalios standing next to him, shaking his head. If Hanaan's eyes didn't fool him inside the sandstorm, he could swear that his partner wore a truly sad expression for the first time since he met him. Apparently, even Dalios had accepted the fact that there was nothing they could do for their two young friends.
"Damn it all!"
Hanaan bit his lip hard, then turned around and stomped away, following the already fleeing adventurers. One last time, he turned his head back in the direction of the village. Lowering his head, a single thought coursed through his mind, over and over again.
(I'm sorry!)