Just as I was about to raise my head, my instincts kicked in again and I put my sand shield under the blow. It felt like I had been hit by a bull... while running. I was knocked to the side again and bounced like a pebble on water, trying to overcome the inertia. It took me a while to realize that the sand shield had been completely blown away.
Then, as if by magic, my brain switched on and seven seals from a special artifact of the memory provider fell into my free hand. I rolled to the right, jumped as hard as I could, jumped up, grabbed the branch with my knees, somersaulted, and jumped again. I tried to keep my distance from the unknown man, whom I barely caught a glimpse of out of the corner of my eye a few times, and even then — a blurred shadow and the emanations of magic, strongly compressed in an attempt to hide. Jump out of the tree with a high somersault, roll, another somersault.
It's hard and heavy, and this creep keeps flickering at the edge of my vision — trying to get into position for some kind of direct attack, looking for a point where it's hard for me to react.
I don't think it will last long though — he will soon realize that I can jump from any position — I have been taught THAT thoroughly, and special potions taken in time help a child develop in the right way. I will never be too strong, too muscular, my way is the way of Chinese Wu-Shu: endurance, mobility, agility, speed and elasticity.
I pretend to stumble, which makes the next somersault come out crooked, I really lose my balance, fall to the ground and go into a roll. I jump up sharply on half-bent legs to escape, but the enemy catches up with me. I finally had my crafted weapon ready to use, but it hit me in the wrong place and I had to cover myself with my sword. A red ball of fire surrounded the gray metal of the halberd and slammed into my tsurugi.
The flames scattered to the side, and there was a clang of iron, then a creak and a crack, and my blade, at the moment the enemy drew his weapon sharply, twisted cleverly and aimed elsewhere, shattered into small fragments. I met the new blow as I had originally intended — on the open palm of my left hand. I couldn't see the enemy's face, but my senses were sharply assaulted with emotions of confusion, fear, and surprise.
There were a few millimeters between the skin of my palm and the halberd when a half-meter long gray circle with a bunch of crossed squares and a central circle erupted. A blue flash of energy and a jolt occurred in an elusive instant, literally shooting the enemy into the forest.
Personal shields flashed, their destruction crackling, and wisps of gray mist flew in different directions — the effect of the seal's battle complex being dissipated. By the time the cocoon of gray smoke had completely dissipated, I was two-thirds of the way done with the exact same supplement. It's not Ajax's shield, but it's not bad.
I stood there, having already managed to retrieve a Yari Battle Spear, unfortunately made of simple hexed steel, and completed the construction of a set of "Human-to-Human Repayment" seals. In short, there are an infinite number of both individual seals and complex defense-defense-counterattack complexes in Omyoji practice, for a wide variety of situations.
This seal only works when a weaker magician is attacked by a stronger one and wants to kill/implode/enslave, only then the complex unfolds at full power when the enemy has no doubts and wants to inflict a painful death. So to speak "balance of nature: the weak also have defense mechanisms". Here I am, looking at my enemy, and I realize that even with the seal, I have little chance of just running away.
She is short, wiry, with muscular shoulders and arms, and almost no breasts — perfectly visible in the traditional Chinese qipao, with a long black braid, muscular legs, and soft closed slippers. The face is simple, frozen with a mask, dark cold eyes, and guan dao, quite predatory in appearance.
Part of the dress of the Chinese woman, about thirty-five years old, judging by her face, was burned, and light burns were visible on her arms. How many protective amulets was she wearing to get off so easily?
She also froze, with a characteristic gesture of putting her weapon behind her back, a move and stance I've seen in movies before. I hold the spear differently, grasping the center of the shaft, arm extended slightly back and to the side, point angled toward the ground.
I'm out of luck! I didn't think the locals would work with mercenaries and even the Chinese, longtime archrivals and in some places enemies. Or is she the only one? Never mind! This killer is here now and she won't let me go. I have to think.
We "rested" for two or three minutes, not taking our eyes off each other, not blinking, looking at each other all the time. I thought about the Flickering Step, but my mother didn't say anything about it being a clan secret, so there's a chance that the Chinese woman knows about it.
And if I start using it, according to the unspoken etiquette, she will use it too... in short, you can't. Puppets are useless in this case: coordinating the spiders requires a long and detailed explanation to the "brigadier" of what for what and why. Not an option. If I had a humanoid puppet, or in the form of a cat, or a dog — then yes, the options would be added.
Especially since even if you destroy the crystal, the spirit will simply be released and go to the spiritual plane (with conditions), and it can be returned later. Hmm... good idea about the big puppets, I have to remember that... I blinked, and when I opened my eyes, the Chinese woman was already rushing toward me. I was particularly alarmed by some writing that appeared on the woman's skin in blue lines of Sanskrit hieroglyphics, a rather archaic one that I was unfamiliar with.
The blow struck at such an angle that I had to arch my back and joints as if I'd been splashed with boiling water to get my palm up. The seal flashed, the writing on the Chinese woman's body flashed red, and it ended with a simple but powerful kick that threw the opponent only a dozen meters away.
Somewhere a sixth, maybe a seventh part of the reserve was left, and I decided to save it for the escape, the plan of which flashed unusually brightly and clearly in my head. I don't know where it came from, but I'll think about it later....