331 Chapter 331: Avalanche, Assassins and Ambushes

Thankfully, even without Harrison's instructions, we were all able to automatically dive for cover and evade the bombardment of elemental spells and mana beams that lanced into the snow, boiling it immediately.

Grabbing Theodore by the collar, I dragged him along with me and hurled the both of us into a hollow underneath a tree. Flames scorched the trunk and lit the whole thing aflame, but I quickly extinguished the fire with a basic water spell.

"We need to counterattack!" Theodore growled, heaving. He nodded at me, as if realizing he had forgotten something. "Thanks for saving me."

"No, I didn't really do much."

The crimson beams of mana continued to slam mercilessly into the snow, forcing us to keep our heads down. They were followed by a volley of fireballs, and a web of lightning bolts that arced toward our cover, dissipating against the snow.

For some reason, nobody was using ice spells. I wondered why. In this environment, ice mages would have the absolute advantage as their spells would be buffed tremendously and their mana amplified. The terrain and environment mattered a lot to magic battles.

Glancing at the fire spells, I suddenly realized how they were able to trigger an explosion powerful enough to cause an avalanche. Must be those grinning fire mages standing atop the ridge. Those bastards.

"Who are you guys?!" Craig demanded, trying to poke his head out from behind cover. A screaming fireball scorched the air above his crimson hair, forcing him to duck. He cursed. "Fucking assholes!"

"Cover fire!" Harrison ordered, his bellow drowning out the shrieks of fireballs, howls of mana beams and roar of lightning. Dong Fang Yue Chu and I instantly responded, popping out to toss out a few ranged spells of our own. The former unleashed a volley of fireballs at the ridge, forcing the shooters back while I peppered the fire mages with a hail of azure arrows from Orion. Bu Fan also cast a powerful Fiery Fist spell, obliterating a good chunk of the cliff, before he unleashed Divine Lightning from the skies to strike a few others, scattering them.

Behind me, Theodore emerged, his thunder hammer out. With a growl, he smashed the hammer into the ground, throwing out a blinding curtain of snow. Simultaneously, chains of lightning snaked out to crash against the position of our assailants. More than a few cursed or cried out in pain before they were blotted from sight.

"Now!"

We didn't need Harrison to tell us what to do. The moment Theodore conjured that impromptu snow screen, the close-ranged fighters were already up and running. Cody was darting ahead, almost blending in with the snow, followed by Craig and Sheila – both of whom had their spears out.

Pearl stayed behind, to ensure that she could heal anyone who was hurt. Lily, on the other hand, bounded across with Harrison by her side, the two Holy Saints members working in tandem because of their years of training alongside each other.

Before the snow was gone, we already reached the ridge. My friends, under cover fire from me, Yue Chu and Bu Fan, scaled the ridge by running up the steep wall or bouncing from segment to segment, and reached the surprised gunners. Craig's spear lashed out in a crimson blur, slashing the nearest gunner and sending him toppling over.

"Whoops," he said, as if suddenly remembering something. "We're not allowed to attack other teams, right? Oh, wait. This is self-defense. Never mind."

Then he thrust his spear forward and stabbed a second one in the chest. A third mage spun around, his hands glowing as he prepared to launch a fire spell at pointblank range, but Sheila chose that moment to show up and her spear went through his neck. The guy gargled as he went down, clutching his throat.

The gunners leveled their devices at the two spear users, but Harrison and Lily vaulted over our teammates and landed right in the middle of them. with a few punches and kicks from the former – enhanced by holy magic – and slashes from the latter's sword, they broke apart the ranged formation and laid them low.

More of the mages twisted around, frantically trying to cast their spells in close range, but Cody rendered them either unconscious or killed them outright with daggers to their backs or necks. They didn't even know what hit them, or even noticed their comrades falling beside them. Cody silently moved from one target to the next, taking them out methodically and silently.

However, while our melee and close combat fighters were dealing with the ranged mages, new enemies emerged from below.

"!!"

One of them included the guy from Edgar Pole Academy. I recognized him as the "stalker". Damn bastard.

They were unsheathing daggers or shortswords as they burst from the foliage nearby, wisps of shadow magic curling around their blades and bodies. They must have mistook us for long-ranged fighters and intended to eliminate us in the same fashion. Clearly, they didn't expect our vanguard to take out the ranged fighters, but they were determined to exact vengeance for their fallen comrades.

"…"

I was expecting them to shout something, but even if they were not complete professionals, it seemed that they were at least well-trained Assassins. The first one came at me, slicing his dagger toward my throat. Dismissing Orion, I summoned Gemini and parried his blade. This guy wasn't worth the bother of drawing my real swords, and I didn't want to reveal them too soon in the face of an enemy anyway.

"!!!"

While I stopped him, Theodore smashed the ground and sent a few of his assailants flying. Meanwhile, Yue Chu whirled around, his arms wreathed in flames, and almost melted the weapons of the Assassins coming at him. The three of us formed a bulwark between the Assassins and Pearl, ensuring that they did not reach our healer.

The Assassins, distracted by us, did not realize that one of us was missing. Bu Fan had melted away using some sort of shadow magic, and then reappeared behind them. His fists crackling with flames or lightning, he unleashed his dual elements upon them, using intermediate spells to take them out. A fireball to the back of one hooded figure, and a lightning bolt that sent a second professional killer into convulsions.

Parrying another strike, I whirled around and delivered a roundhouse kick at my opponent, sending him toppling into a stream of lightning from Theodore's hammer spell. Spinning around, I threw a second kick at another Assassin before he could slash me, sending him toppling. He rolled back to his feet, thrusting his sword at me, but I managed to parry his blade with both of my Gemini twin swords and staggered back.

By now, my friends had rejoined us. My erstwhile opponent gurgled when a spear burst out of his chest, courtesy of Craig. Fortunately, the remaining Assassins were of a higher caliber, and they quickly withdrew to regroup. We had taken out about five of the close-ranged, Umbra Assassins, but there were at least fifteen left.

Most of them had been wounded by our spells, though. I doubted it would debilitate them much. I had seen them shrug off a fatal injury that would have incapacitated a lesser man. Probably because their systems were pumped full of combat drugs.

"These are the real Assassins," Harrison warned. "Be careful, they are more skilled than the ranged mages above."

"Those aren't Assassins," one of the hooded figures replied with a shrug. "They are Dark Church followers who insisted on accompanying us for our mission."

"So you're from the Assassins Guild after all!" Craig growled, pointing his spear at them. He wanted to rush forward and stab them, but given their defensive formation, he couldn't just crecklessly charge in.

"Please." Cody rolled his eyes. "They should be ashamed to call themselves Assassins. They haven't even killed a single one of us yet."

Credit to the Umbra Assassins, none of them rose to his provocation. Instead, they remained silent and on guard.

"What are they waiting for?" Sheila asked, puzzled. "Why aren't they attacking?"

"They have seen our skills and already suffered quite a few casualties," Theodore pointed out as he rested his bloody thunder hammer on his shoulder. He had bludgeoned at least one of the Assassins during the fierce melee earlier. The others managed to survive his lightning spells, courtesy of their high magical resistance. "They can't help but be cautious."

"That guy…" Lily's eyes were fixed on the Edgar Pole Academy student. "Isn't he…?"

"Yeah, he is," Yue Chu confirmed grimly. "The same guy who tried to spy on us back in the train station in Southampton City."

"So you were already on guard ever since back then." The guy had the temerity to look astonished. "How long have you anticipated that we would ambush you?"

"Even before your grandfather was born!" Craig sneered. Seriously? What kind of provocation was that?

As I thought, the guy remained unmoved.

"Uh…" Pearl nervously spoke up, her eyes darting from the faces of the Assassins toward the fallen ranged mages atop the ridge. She swallowed. "Where are the other students from Edgar Pole Academy? Other than that guy, I don't see the rest of them. These people…they are definitely not students from Edgar Pole Academy."

Wow. Pearl certainly had a good memory. I didn't even notice, to be honest. Even after she pointed it out, I still couldn't tell, mainly because I didn't bother remembering the faces of all the students from Edgar Pole Academy.

However, now that she mentioned it, I noticed that a lot of the Assassins were certainly older than high school students. A few of them looked like university student, or in their early twenties, so they definitely were not from Edgar Pole Academy.

"What have you done to the students from Edgar Pole Academy?" Harrrison demanded, his eyes narrowing. For a moment, the emotionless façade of the Assassins cracked, and as a unit, they chuckled ominously.

"Isn't it obvious?" Bu Fan murmured softly, folding his arms. "They slaughtered them all. Seems like their first target wasn't us, after all."

"Well, you're actually slightly mistaken there. You were our first target, but it is true that the poor souls of Edgar Pole Academy had to die first. They were the easiest to eliminate, considering that we already had a mole in their midst."

"You bastards…" Lily's face was murderous, and she tightened her grip on her sword. "Killing innocent people for no reason…"

"No reason? That's not true." The lead Assassin shook his head. "All potential eyewitnesses have to be eliminated, in order to maintain our cover. We cannot allow them to give us away before we launch our plan."

"For such a reason…" Sheila was pale.

"Bastards…" Craig growled.

"Why?" Yue Chu was shaking his head in disbelief. "Why go through such lengths? Why kill so many innocent, uninvolved people? Just what do you want?"

"It's not what we want," the lead Assassin replied with a shrug. "We were ordered to eliminate certain targets – and it's our employers who choose our targets. We just obey their wishes, as per our contract."

"Why do your employers…the Dark Church want to kill students?" Theodore demanded, slowly bringing his thunder hammer down to rest it on the floor. "What exactly do they stand to benefit from the slaughter of young innocents?"

"How would I know?" the lead Assassin shrugged again. "As per our contract, we're not allowed to pry into the privacy of our clients. They designate a target for us, we carry out their orders, and we get paid. No questions asked, as it always has been."

"Just assume the Dark Church is a bunch of overly zealous nutjobs with psychopathic tendencies," Bu Fan cut in irritably. "There's no need to over-think this. Not everyone has a rational reason for what they do."

The Edgar Pole Academy mole chuckled at that. "You're probably right."

"Edward." The lead Assassin gave the youngest of the Assassins' number a glare, and the mole fell silent. He then returned his gaze to us. "I apologize, but all of you have to die here today. It's nothing personal."

With a single signal, the fifteen Assassins kicked off the ground and launched themselves at us, their deadly weapons flashing in blurring speed. My group immediately lunged forward, meeting them midway, magic flaring up and spells colliding as we fought in close combat.

We were outnumbered by half…or rather, five to three, if we didn't count Pearl because she was a non-combat team member. Even though we were at a numerical disadvantage, we didn't yield and fought fiercely.

"!!"

I ducked under a swipe from one Assassin, and then turned around to parry a blow from another. Twirling my Gemini twin swords, I deflected and blocked the constant barrage of attacks from two Assassins, the pair determinedly slashing at me with their short swords. Magic erupted from them in the form of shadowy spikes, seeking to pierce through me. I twisted to the side, avoiding the first black projectile, and then cut the second apart with Castor. The third nearly caught me in the chest, but I just barely managed to bring Pollux in time to parry it.

Clang!

"Huff…"

Heaving, I withdrew some distance away, but the pair of them pressed on relentlessly.

I smiled.

"Taurus!"

"?!"

The two Assassins were knocked aside when the gigantic bull materialized and smashed into the snow with the force of a meteor. Grunting, he twisted his head around and unleashed Aldebaran, turning the surrounding snow into boiling steam. Kicking out with his hooves, he caught a third Assassin and flung him deep into the forest.

Of course, being trained Assassins with high magical resistance, they survived the initial onslaught. They were really different from the relatively fragile ranged mages that took potshots at us from above. Despite smoldering and suffering burns, the two Assassins launched themselves out of the boiling fog to collide against the giant bull, but their swords only scraped against metal.

By now, I already had Capricorn and Aries ready, having tried to summon the three of them simultaneously. That whole pause earlier where the Assassins exchanged dialogue with us really bought me enough time to summon quite a few of my larger Constellation spirits.

"?!"

The Assassins whirled around, only to scatter as Aries and Capricorn ran rampant in their lines. In the blink of an eye, I had switched the numerical advantage over to our side.

"I really have to revise my view of summoners," Sheila said with a shake of head before she blocked an Assassin's dagger with her shield.

Despite the new setback, the Assassins didn't retreat. Instead, they switched to a defensive formation, trying their best to evade my huge Constellation spirits while launching counterattacks.

Then I realized why…I wasn't the only one who benefited from dragging the time out from the earlier dialogue.

"!!!"

A new shape emerged from the forest, streaking forward like a black bullet. I was just barely able to jump in his way and protect Lily from having her head cut off, but at the cost of my Gemini twin swords. Despite successfully parrying the strike, my Constelaltion weapons shattered and I toppled backward, blood spurting from my arms.

"Ugh…!"

"Oh?" the familiar bald Assassin raised an eyebrow when he saw that I had somehow halted his attack and prevented a killing blow. "You actually survived my strike? Impressive."

Dread colder than the surrounding snow filled me when I recognized the grinning psychopath before me.

"…Rei."