"We didn't do anything wrong!", echoed Lorn's despairing shout through the darkness.
Obviously, the criminals weren't resigned to surrender. They both grabbed the spears lying beside them. Blood ran down their legs as they tried to ignore the spreading pain.
"F*cking army dogs! I won't let you put me into enlightening prison. Go to hell!!"
The younger brother Eftim shouted vulgarities, his eyes burning in anger.
Emantarel analyzed the situation in a split second. It was obvious that the criminals wanted to engage in a hopeless fight. He easily closed the distance. A spear tip welcomed him.
The young recruit's sword heavily collided with Lord's spear. Despite the criminal's injured leg Emantarel was slightly pushed back. His skills focused too much on magic.
Unfortunately, light magic was useless in the Frozen Hell. This was one of the big lamentations of a soldier on planet Hex. As the Luminous Army, a lot of their fighting style naturally revolved around light magic.
Therefore, soldiers on Hex usually had to learn an additional skill compared to those on other planets. For Emantarel this was wind magic, which he trained until level 13 by now.
Making use of his prowess in magic, the young recruit supported his sword play. With every swing a small stream of air accelerated his blade. Since the runes for this spell were engraved on his weapon, he needed almost no time to perform the spell.
Suddenly Lorn had difficulties keeping up. I was apparent that he didn't have any systematic training. The criminal grit his teeth. He wanted to rip out the white-robes tongue as Emantarel tried to persuade him.
"Just see the mistake of your ways! Embrace the God of Light! If you surrender now, you will receive forgiveness!"
"Stop spewing your bullsh*t!", interrupted Lorn suddenly.
"We did nothing wrong! We worship our God like very human does!"
"Then why would you blaspheme his holiness?!", asked Emantarel with visible anger on his face.
"We didn't! We were only talking about a rumor."
Lorn desperately tried to state his point over the clanging of metal.
"I'm sure you have heard it! The one ruling the empire isn't the God of Light! They are abusing his holy n…"
"How DARE you?!", roared Emantarel.
Before the young recruit could apprehend the criminal for his blasphemous words, the situation changed elsewhere.
Suddenly a painful scream sounded out. The two combatants disengaged as their heads shot towards the side.
A quick look was enough to understand what happened. Eftim stood no chance against the two expert soldiers. Shortly after their fight began a kick landed on his seriously injured leg. The man bent over as pain numbed his nerves. He screamed tragically.
One of the soldiers put his blade against the criminal's neck. It was apparent that Eftim could have been easily killed if the soldiers wanted too.
The other recruit took out syringe from below his white robes. A viscous blue liquid was contained within.
With a slightly malicious grin the recruit lowered the syringe towards Eftim's neck.
"Blocker?!", sounded Lorn's disbelieving voice. The blue paralyzing liquid was considered one of the more vicious means the army used to knock out its enemies.
Just as the needle's tip was about to pierce Eftim's skin, a crazed look appeared in the man's eyes. A shout left his mouth:
"Extinguish the false light!"
Emantarel's eyes widened in shock. The younger brother's words confused the recruit. But his danger sense went into overdrive as he felt movement of mana.
"CAREFULL!"
Whether from Emantarel's warning or because their own instincts were telling them to, all the recruits hastily sprang into action. The needle still entered Eftim's skin, but the young soldier didn't care for the result.
Both white-robed close-range fighters immediately jumped back. Everyone felt the mana moving around Eftim's leg.
The soldier's healer showed perfect reaction.
Instantly recognizing that the amount of mana was more than an apprentice like Eftim could control, the healer focused her own will. She did her best to guide the mana's direction, influencing the imminent explosion.
Emantarel and Lorn also did their best to gain as much distance as possible.
Crazy laughter left Eftim's mouth. The mana around his leg turned volatile within moments.
Suddenly a loud tremor ran through the Frozen Hell. Rock debris splattered everywhere. Muffled screams followed. One of the recruits didn't manage to stay on his feet as he rolled over the ground. A shockwave hit Emantarel's side.
A powerful force ripped out Icestalk in a multiple meter radius. A teardrop shaped indention was forcefully carved into the floor. This was the result of the team's healer's fast reaction, influencing the explosion's direction.
Moloan screamed angrily as she had the best position to observe her teammates' injuries. Mana chaotically shot through the air, blurring everyone's senses.
Lorn had a lost look on his face as he searched for his younger brother. But where a human once was, now only mangled flesh and blood remained. A hoarse cry left the man's throat. Tears ran down his cheeks.
Emantarel was also disoriented. A lot of pain wildly ran up and down his right side. He staggered slightly, but he managed to remain in control of his body. Only his ears were ringing crazily.
"Is everyone…?", even before the temporary team leader could finish his sentence, a new change occurred.
A silent arrow suddenly shot towards Emantarel. The young recruit's eyes widened in anger. He tried to dodge, but his right leg was reacting slightly too slow. Suppressing a scream, Emantarel clearly felt a cold metal piercing through his right arm.
Knowing that their situation was dangerous, the young recruit immediately did his best to calm down. He hastily ordered his team:
"Ambush! Gather around 7!"
Following his own words, Emantarel quickly fell back towards their healer. Luckily for him Lorn was still in shock and didn't pursue his opponent.
Loud steps sounded from multiple sides. Five hidden figures suddenly appeared as they ran towards the army's team. It could be heard that they had never received any formal training as they widely screamed to encourage themselves. Naturally this destroyed any chance of a surprise attack they still had.
Moloan did a quick analysis of their enemies. They were five people with one archer still in hiding. Turning on her VSI lens, the green haired woman relaxed slightly. She noticed that their enemies were only apprentices. Despite the cowardly bomb attack, their squad should be able to deal with them.
The gunner quickly raised her pistols. Her eyes focused on the incoming attackers. Two of them tried to go for their healer. Moloan knew she couldn't allow them to get closer.
Her heartbeat slowed down for a moment. Her breath calmed. Everything around her seemingly went into slow motion. Trajectories were calculated in her intelligent mind. Her fingers bent. She pressed the trigger.
Two small mana stones were activated. They were the biggest assets but also the biggest detriment of choosing guns as your weapons. On one hand they freed a gunner from having to use their own mana, on the other if the wielder's mana control was too weak, their opponent could influence these mana stones. Just like their healer did earlier to Eftim's bomb.
Of course, Moloan knew of these risks. But she chooses pistols as her weapons despite all this. The young woman fell in love with guns the moment she touched one for the first time. Her talent quickly became apparent, and she was ready to show it off once again.
Two dense balls of mana shot out of the pistols a moment later. Influenced by the Frozen Hell, they took on 'ice'- and 'shadow'- attributes. For the incoming enemies they appeared nearly invisible.
Only at the very last moment were the two apprentices able to move their upper bodies. The shots narrowly missed their hearts. With pained groans the two ambushers fell to the ground.
Meanwhile the other recruits were also acting quickly. The healer cast a spell as fast as possible, somewhat elevating the lesser injured recruit's wounds.
Under these conditions the recruit was able to pick up his college, who received the brunt of the shockwave. He hastily carried him as they gathered around their healer, who was already preparing her next spell.
Emantarel also ignored his pained leg as he ran towards his team. Together with Moloan and the lesser injured recruit the formed a triangle formation around the other two team members. Their solemn faces observed the incoming enemies, ready for a bitter struggle.
Emantarel had already sent out a distress signal. They only needed to buy some time.
With an arrow sill pierced into his right arm, Emantarel had no choice but to use his left. Unfortunately, the occasional twitching made him a prime target for their enemies. Another arrow shot through the air. Its target once again Emantarel.
The young man steeled his mind, gathering all his concentration on his left arm. Suppressing unfavorable movements, he expertly managed to deflect the incoming attack. But it was only a matter of time until something went wrong.