"Good, it's time to begin our hunt."
Four figures walked up to Alex and Kaede. Two men and two women.
One of the men was in his mid-thirties, had a long brown beard with long hair reaching down to his back, and had eyes matching his hair color. He was carrying a two-handed greatsword, which helped his muscular build stand out, as it seemed the sword would be extremely heavy for anyone with an average build.
The other man looked different. He was an older man, seemingly in his fifties at least. He had gray hair that was already starting to recede and reached down to his lower waist, his eyes staying shut, and a mustache that looped around his lips. He didn't carry a weapon, but both Alex and Kaede could tell he was talented at magic.
One of the women had long, dark green hair and amber-colored eyes. She was quite beautiful, in all honesty, but Alex could see she was as beautiful as she was deadly. She carried two swords in her hands, both shorter-style shorts, which meant her fighting style must've relied on speed and quickness.
The last figure being a woman with black hair and beautiful blue eyes. Like her counterpart in her group, she was also quite beautiful with delicate features. In her hands were a metallic bow and arrow, her eyes observing every part of the battlefield. She was experienced in combat, especially in forests like this one, as Alex could see her picking out trees for her to take a vantage point.
"She could be the most dangerous of them all..." Alex thought to himself.
Kaede had a similar thought as she looked at them all.
"Alex, please get back to the house and inform your mother of what happened. I'll hold them off." Kaede said to Alex as she entered her combat stance.
Alex shook his head. "Kaede, if I left, you would be hurt or worse. While you would put up a fight against them, we both know you couldn't win against four of them at once."
Kaede sighed "My life doesn't matter, young master; yours does."
Alex grinned. "See, that's where we disagree."
In barely a millisecond, Alex had vanished from where he was standing. He suddenly appeared next to the black-haired girl and punched her directly in the stomach, causing blood from her mouth to spill.
"YSABEL!" the green-haired girl yelled out, calling out to her friend.
Alex turned to Kaede and said "Your life may not matter to you, but it does to me. Don't think for a second that I'd let you die for me. You're way too important."
Kaede was stunned at what Alex had just said. She had only been told that by members of Alex's family, but still hearing these words surprised her. She held little value in her own life, but it seemed like Anna and Alex both held her in higher regard than she held herself.
The green-haired girl leaped towards Alex with her twin swords in her hands.
"YOU'LL PAY FOR HURTING YSABEL!" she yelled at the top of her lungs.
Alex looked up at the girl, showing no emotion at all as he stared her down. "Get out of my way."
Alex kicked his right leg up and hit the girl directly on the side, which sent her flying towards Kaede and rolling on the ground. She had a cut on her head as she looked up at Kaede.
"I'll leave her to you." Alex said. "I'll finish off the archer and whichever one of these guys is brave enough to follow me."
Alex once again used his speed to disappear, everyone assuming he was heading towards Ysabel.
"Simond...handle the boy." The older man said. "I'll deal with this young woman."
The man with the brown beard ran towards Alex as the older man turned his attention to Kaede.
Kaede, not hesitating to make this an equal matchup, stabbed the green-haired girl in the neck, causing her to bleed out and die in seconds.
"Ancreta was a foolish young woman. Always driven by anger. I will not make that same mistake." the older man said.
Kaede turned her attention towards the man who used his magic of wind on Kaede. Creating sharp gusts of wind capable of cutting someone in half just due to the strength of the wind alone. As soon as he shot them towards Kaede, she dodged and noticed several trees behind her collapsing, each cut perfectly even as the top of the tree fell over.
"You have good reflexes, girl...no wonder you were recruited by the workshop..." the older man said.
Kaede's eyes widened. "How do you know about that?" she said with further killing intent.
"I saw that logo you were sporting on your leg when you dodged my attack. Now what is someone with your background doing serving as a maid? I've never seen one of your kind myself, but even this...I'm very intrigued."the older man said. "Oh, before we continue this fight, let me introduce myself. My name is Regnier; it's a pleasure to meet you..."
Kaede attacked instantly, which Regnier dodged quite easily. It appeared his advanced age didn't affect his agility and speed as Regnier dodged nearly every attack from Kaede, suffering only minor, small cuts..
"It seems my age is getting to me. Five years ago, I could've dodged every one of those attacks." Regnier said, slightly taunting Kaede.
Regnier launched attacks of wind at Kaede, which she dodged, her skirt being cut up by the attacks since she couldn't dodge each attack perfectly.
Kaede would answer back with her ice magic, which she used to cause an area attack with rain made of sharp ice, which Regnier couldn't dodge completely.
"You're talented, young ma'am. Mara would be proud." Regnier said.
Kaede gripped her weapon tightly. "Don't ever say that name again." she said her voice filled with anger.
Kaede charged at Regnier, who did his best to dodge again, but Kaede this time had a plan. As Regnier dodged her attacks with her weapon, she would cast magic in the only location where he could dodge. Kaede had been reading his movements perfectly, which led to her outmaneuvering him. She had used her magic to create an ice spike from her foot, which went right through Regnier's chest, hitting his vital organs.
Regnier coughed up a ton of blood before saying one final thing "It was an honor to die a warrior's death from someone like you." Regnier smiled as best as he could, with blood trickling down his chin, and he drew his last breath. He had died smiling.
Kaede looked at him and sighed. She had wondered how Regnier knew about parts of her past; he must've seen her crest before...but how? She cleared these thoughts from her head and figured they were best asked at another time. Now she had to find Alex and head back to the Blackwood house.
She started to run in the direction of where Alex had gone, disappearing behind the trees in the forest.
*Alex's Perspective*
Alex arrived where Ysabel had landed. She had a broken leg as she cried on the ground, screaming out. Alex walked up to her, and without mercy in his eyes, he asked her "Who are you?"
The girl refused to answer as she bit her lip so hard that it started bleeding. "Screw you, kid!" she said in pain.
Alex sighed "That's not the answer I wanted to hear."
Alex stepped on the girl's broken leg with a lot of his weight, causing the girl to scream once again.
"Tell me who you are and who sent you, and the pain will stop. I don't want to have to do worse...don't make me." Alex warned the girl.
"What kind of kid is willing to torture somebody?" the girl asked with tears rolling down her face.
"This isn't torture, at least not yet. You see, you attacked people I care about. That is something I just cannot let go of. I guess you can say people who try that bring out another side of me. So, one last time. Who are you and who sent you?" Alex said, looking at the girl with cold, emotionless eyes.
Alex didn't want to do this, but for some reason he just felt this was the best way to get the information he needed. He would've never done something like this before, but it was as if he was compelled to do it, like he was forced.
The girl didn't answer him, which made Alex frown. Alex manifested lightning in his hands as he sent a shock throughout her system; it wasn't a severe shock, but enough to cause pain throughout her body.
The girl's body convulsed, feeling the electricity; she had never felt such pain before.
"Who sent you!" Alex yelled at her this time with more anger.
The girl still refused to answer, which caused Alex to send even more lightning throughout her body, this time worse than the last one.
This continued until the girl completely passed out due to the pain.
"Dammit..." Alex thought to himself. All that effort had been wasted now as she didn't speak. Alex thought he'd have to give up until...
"YSABEL! You'll pay for this, you fucking brat!" The main with the beard said as he appeared from the bushes.
Alex smiled devlishly before saying "Perfect."
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