Kaiz zigzagged between the raining arrows. Thankfully, the second archer had deemed him a large enough threat that they both focused their attention on him.

It did put him in a tricky situation though.

They fired from the top of the tallest sand dune in the area. Obvious height advantage aside, it was getting to them that was troublesome. Traveling vertically through sand was a nightmare. Doing so while also having to dodge a multitude of flaming projectiles was an asinine ask. The exact kind that Kaiz answered all too often.

Unlike his previous dance with a bow and arrow, these arrows didn’t adjust mid-flight. He kept his eyes glued to each bowman's shot, watching their spells form and complete. Before they loosened their strings, he already knew their exact trajectory.

Left. Left. Right. Left.

They didn’t even graze him as he gained ground, their attempts always sailing just too high or wide. The closer he got, the more they panicked. The shots turned rapid-fire. Accuracy fell to the wayside as two or three projectiles became nine or ten. Kaiz stopped preserving mana in turn.

[Stairway to Salvation]

[Wings of Liberty]

Combining the two spells, he practically took flight. Each step up the floating staircase of clouds carried him decameters at a time. The archers couldn’t keep up. At the sight, one immediately began their retreat. The other valiantly continued firing. Foolishly as well.

Kaiz reached the top of the dune before they let loose more than two arrows. As they nocked the third, a throwing knife caught their arm. To his surprise, the arrow still flew toward him. Wide, but it was a commendable effort.

The marauders were displaying a lot of those.

No matter, little of his momentum was lost as he barreled toward his target. It only took another step to plant his foot on their collarbone. His kick dented their chest piece and catapulted them off the back side of the dune.

Certain that he had incapacitated them, at the minimum, he turned in the direction of th—

“Ugh!”

His shoulder burned. The other archer hadn’t run, merely repositioned.

Kaiz staggered as he tore the offending object from his left shoulder. A searing pain spread through his right chest, but it was no arrow that hit him. It was something he could have never expected.

A javelin?!

Another came, but he carefully dodged. He rushed, as did his blood, to create some distance from the apparent javelinist.

The dune was both high and wide so he had plenty of space to withdraw. As he avoided the third javelin, he ripped a pair of glowing bandage patches out of his medicine pouch. He scrambled for a spare battery, immediately activating both of their runes before slapping them on the two holes in his torso.

Once applied, he quickly calmed. The pain receded and adrenaline spiked in his veins.

The fourth javelin wasn’t a threat.

As shocking as they were, they were a poor weapon choice. Unless in the hands of a freak like Lyn, javelin’s were cumbersome and had a very small optimal range. The marauder was average at best, so Kaiz didn’t have to back pedal too far to neutralize their threat.

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He took a second to gather himself before he began his second approach. His boots’ mana was low. They had one to two spell uses left before he emptied them out. Unless Viz pulled a miracle, he still had more melees waiting for him. Using it all on a single opponent would be foolish.

That changed his plan of attack.

Kaiz retrieved two of the javelins from the sand and tossed them. He followed the second only a step behind.

As surprise reached the ranged specialist’s face, and their own throw erred wide, Kaiz casually noted they were a woman. It wouldn’t change his next steps, but it did add to the list of irregularities. Female outlaws were far from nonexistent, but they got rarer the farther from a major city you went. They were in Struleren.

He charged with lethal intent all the same.

To the woman’s credit, the surprise only held her for a moment. She evaded both javelins and pulled out a dagger in preparation. As Kaiz arrived, she immediately thrust for his eyes. Or at least where she thought they were.

“Die you evil bastard!”

Hm?

The words caught him off guard, but he still managed to jerk his head to the side, just clearing the edge of the blade as it scraped against his mask. He had to focus. Without access to his boots’ abilities, he couldn’t effortlessly glide away from strikes, he had to rely on his body control. He also had to use his hands.

His outstretched fist met nothing but air as she mirrored his movement. In tandem with her jerked head, she dragged the dagger back across his face. Kaiz stepped back to avoid the swing and kicked out at her shin. She failed to move her feet in time so when his boot hit bone she buckled.

Before she could recover, he struck her temple. Then followed it up with a jab to the forehead. The quick combo stunned her further, giving Kaiz the opening to drive his foot through her chest. It wasn’t quite as lethal without the extra force, but it still knocked her off her feet and sent her tumbling down the back of the dune.

The opposite side didn’t have as long of a vertical drop as the side Kaiz raced up, so she only rolled roughly fifteen meters before she found her footing. She immediately started waving her knife around in wild and erratic patterns, attempting to ward off any further unseen attacks. It was a poor attempt.

Kaiz caught her dominant hand and twisted it sharply. Only grunting in response, she quickly swung her free one. Clearly still dazed, and maybe winded, there was no strength behind the punch. He easily blocked it before grabbing her other wrist and headbutting her.

It may have looked barbaric, but winning fights was about winning fights. Kaiz only cared for efficacy and efficiency. Right now, he needed both. The noises he heard from the other side of the dune were becoming concerning.

After confirming he’d knocked the marauder out with the strength of his forehead, assisted by the enchanted mask, he retrieved her weapon and moved to slit her throat.

The edge hung above her skin.

It was rarely not the objectively correct course to kill those that sought to kill you. They were resting peacefully at an oasis before the group ambushed them. They had every right to kill them all and Kaiz hadn’t hesitated once.

Until now.

Until he began questioning who exactly they were and who they thought he was. The details were all starting to add up and he didn’t like the picture his mind was painting. Unfortunately, he didn’t have the time to ponder it. The noises had only grown more concerning.

He decided to spare the woman, for now, breaking her ankles instead of killing her. It was an injury that wouldn’t be too hard to get fixed, but would keep her immobile and ineffective for the rest of the fight. He’d deal with her after he confirmed his two party member’s survival. .

Turning back towards said party, he ran. He hadn’t visually checked on the others since he picked the arrow out of his mask, but he could always hear the ongoing fight. The sounds were never particularly encouraging, they were all outnumbered, but hadn’t heard any cheers or the like. Now he did.

Once he sprinted back to the top of the dune and peeked over its edge, he grimaced.

Things could never just be better than they sounded.

Red was on the run. Her two daggers were nowhere to be seen, but she replaced them with two dual welders chasing her down. He could see her exhaustion from here, so that was a race he couldn’t allow to continue.

He may just have to, though. She was doing the best of the two.

Viz was surrounded.