The explosions that sounded in the distance didn't concern Kim. She was focused on those who she was fighting in front of her. She was actually making some head way now that she had others to fight alongside her.
However, the explosions at least did distract her opponents. Which made it easy for Kim and her allies to cut down a couple more rows of enemies before they focused on Kim and her allies again.
They'd made it about ten feet from the door, though Kim didn't want to look to check. It was likely to take too long for her to even get an estimate and could easily be killed by those in front of her before she would be aware of it.
As such, she merely kept a mental estimate and hoped that those they were fighting wouldn't be getting reinforcements. Especially with how her allies weren't exactly wearing the best armor that they could have found. Though, it was the quickest they could put on. Which was pretty much either just a chain shirt or a breastplate.
While she felt she should have insisted on them wearing more armor, she was pretty sure this would be the best they'd be able to do anyway, even if they'd waited a couple hours first. Although, after they came out to assist her, she was able to take a moment to get the shield from the severed arm that had still been on the ground from when she'd amputated it.
Kim swung her sword, cutting through a seam in another opponent's armor, biting through a tendon that cause him from being able to move his left arm in any way, which made him freeze in shock and surprise, which then let Kim slash through his throat, cutting open his carotid artery as well as his jugular artery.
Even as she moved on to her next opponent, she knew that she was running out of stamina. If she fell out here, she was certain that she wouldn't survive. Even if her allies rallied to protect her, she didn't have faith that they'd succeed. There were still too many on their enemy's side for her to be confident that they'd be able to handle them without her.
She didn't discount the possibility that they'd somehow manage, but she didn't really think it likely. Though, it was possible that they would show some intelligence, she didn't hold out much hope of them using any of it.
However, suddenly their opponents disengaged from them, falling back towards the gates that the guests had entered through. The timing of that happening triggered alarms in Kim's mind. Somehow she knew they were in deep trouble, possibly worse.
However, her allies were invigorated by their enemies falling back, but Kim grabbed the shoulder of the ally to her left, who was the closest to her.
"Fall back!" she snapped, her gaze startling the man, who glanced at the others, hesitation clear in his eyes. "Tell everyone to fall back."
She let go of the man, who watched her in confusion, his indecisiveness his problem. She'd done what she could. If he couldn't realize what she'd had, it wasn't her problem. She especially didn't have time to explain what she could tell was about to happen. Not that she knew precisely what exactly it would be. She just knew they were in a killing field.
She grabbed the shoulder of another man, who turned out to be Guy. "Fall back!" she snapped at him, startling Guy.
"Why? They're on the run!" he replied.
"We need to fall back. They're up to something," Kim merely said, then started to head back to the manor, which seemed to be around fifty to a hundred feet. She could already see them reforming ranks in the torchlight. They were essentially forming a wall of shields in a half circle pattern around them, while others were getting set up behind them, though she couldn't make out what kind of units they would be in the darkness.
She would have tried to tell others of her allies, but she could tell they were too far away from her for her to have the time to warn them before what was about to happen happened. As it is, she had a feeling that she was already too late to get out of there herself.
"Everyone! Fall Back!" Guy shouted, and Kim had to admire his ability to project his voice. Especially with everything that was going on.
Kim glanced behind herself as she neared the manor, hoping she feeling was wrong, even as she knew she wasn't. All of the young men who'd come out with her were making their way back as fast as they could, though Kim could tell it wasn't fast enough.
Kim was within arms reach of the doors when the hammer fell. Arrows started shooting out through the shield wall, striking her allies hard. If Kim had remained fighting, she knew her shield would have been useless with the arrows coming in from at least three directions.
The first wave of arrows hit the ally of hers the farthest away from the door, though it didn't take him down. Yet, almost a moment later, the second wave took him down. After that, the arrows started coming in uneven waves, striking others. As Kim started to take cover behind the doors, an arrow found its way through a seam in her armor to pierce her thigh through its side.
Kim nearly fell over, mostly from surprise than the pain, but she knew she certainly wasn't going to e able to make another stand out there again. Her leg wasn't going to be steady enough for her to have a reasonable chance of survival to do that. Which meant she had no alternative at the moment other than to seek an alternate way out.
Under a hail of arrows, some of her allies were making their way inside the manor themselves, ducking behind the doors like Kim had done. Though, no one seemed to have been spared from being hit by at least one arrow. Even Guy had been given numerous arrows as a parting gift.
"So, what now?" Guy asked, his voice full of pain as they slowly closed the doors, mostly from their injuries and the weight of the doors rather than fatigue.
"Now we find another way out of here," Kim said matter-of-factly. "I'm sure they'll recognize we're not up to oing back out there."
Guy sighed. "I was afraid of that," he said, his voice tinged with sadness. "Four of my friends fell down out there."
Kim nodded at him, not feeling anything for his friends, but recognizing that they'd been willing to risk their lives to help her. While she didn't think much of men, she had to at least respect what they did, especially since they clearly knew the risks and assisted her anyway. Anything less would be an insult to them.
Not that she had anything about insulting men in general, but not only would it sour any relationship she had with her surviving allies, she would also feel like she'd be allowing herself to become more callous towards others in general. Which she didn't care to do. For her, if she started demeaning the sacrifice others make to help her, whether they're male or female, she was afraid that she'd start looking at everyone that way. That they were disposable themselves and merely tools for her to use or discard as she needed was desired.
"We can drink to their memory later," she said, as the doors finally closed. "Though, we have to survive in order to do that."
"Where should we go?" Guy asked.
"Well, I'm sure you know this place better than me," Kim retorted. "You guys'll have to be the ones who decide where to go from here."
"But you're the one who led us out there," one of the other men protested, giving Kim a bad feeling. Not that things were going to be heading south, but rather a feeling that she wasn't going to like what was clearly happening around her.
"You're our captain," another said, confirming Kim's suspicions. "We'll follow you anywhere."
Kim sighed, holding up her hand to get these morons to stop talking. "No matter what you think of me I'm still just human," Kim said, hoping to at least get them to stop talking so she can get them to find a way out, since she hadn't been in this building before and she suspected at least a few of them had, at least once. "I haven't been in this building before, so I don't know where other possible exits are. I can take the lead if you want, but that doesn't mean I won't get lost in this building."
The look she saw in Guy's eyes seemed to say that he understood what she was getting at. "Okay, yeah, I understand," Guy said. "Everyone! Let's try the servant's entrance!"
While just the sound of that exit didn't inspire confidence in Kim, she didn't have any other suggestions or reasons why it would be a bad idea, so she kept quiet. Besides, on the way, they might be able to find something they could use to help deal with all the arrows sticking out of them. Especially since a couple looked like they'd become porcupines from the arrow shafts protruding out of them. Which Kim really hoped weren't as bad as they looked.
Though, as they started out, Kim wasn't really surprised at how slow they were moving. She herself could only limp, unable to put weight on her injured leg. While she wished Elin was there to heal her wounds, she was happy that Elin would be out of there soon enough. While she hadn't seen Elin when Jonas had first brought the guests to the main entrance, she was confident that Elin was being evacuated with everyone else. That was enough to give her full peace of mind, no matter what else happened that night.