In the end, the result was exactly what Mike expected. Charging on horseback against their carriage, only to slow down and stop on its side! With all the momentum their enemies gained while closing on them, there was no way they could orientate themselves properly after the sudden stop!

Unable to attack their targets hidden behind the planks, they had to brush by the wagon sides and continue their run on the road. Not even a single hit was exchanged between the parties!

"When they charge again, throw grain on them."

Peeking through one of the holes that an arrow made in the plank Mike was hiding behind, the merchant saw their enemies turning their horses around and preparing to charge yet again. Noticing a small nod on Xyenna side, he didn't bother with her anymore and braced himself for the next clash.

Not learning from their previous failure, pursuers charged again. This time at least two of them switched to pikes, realising that swords had to short range of attack to pose any threat to their targets. Remaining five of their comrades either didn't want to part with their swords or just didn't have other types of weapon to use.

Taking the lead, pike armed men charged at the carriage. When they got close enough, their arms sprung forward making the tip of their spears burst through the tiny planks. What they didn't expect though, was that both of their enemies would jump out of cover to attack!

All of them were wearing hardened leather shirts with hauberks on top. Without a battle hammer or a heavy axe, there was no way to penetrate their defences. Lowering their heads at the point of impact made the single vital spot covered by the helmet, hence there was no reason to fear any kind of retaliation.

All of their pride and guesses turned worthless when one of them suddenly found a heavy bag flying in his direction. Just by simply turning around his own centre and letting go of the grain he was holding allowed Mike to push one of the enemies down from his horse!

Hiding back behind his plank, he noticed that the second leader of the charge remained back in his saddle. Confused by the situation and unbothered by the swords slashing at the plank that served as his cover, he turned to Xyenna, only to see her kneeling motionless with a hand full of wheat with a dumbfounded face.

"Did you just…."

"SHUT YOUR CRAP"

Despite how dire their situation appeared to be, this small little exchange forced a smile on Mike's mouth. He couldn't believe that Xyenna listened to him so… directly!

"Stop laughing! I just thought it was another one of your brilliant ideas!"

Infuriated by her own silliness more than the lord's treason, Xyenna blushed from the rage raging in her. Unable to take it anymore, she brandished her sword and jumped at the last enemy passing by their carriage. Focusing her full strength on this single hit, she aimed for her opponent sword.

With a loud clang, both of them fall back. The only difference lied in the fact that the girl landed on the bags of wheat from standing, while her opponent felt down his rushing horse!

Thanks to some stroke of luck, dislodged enemy tried to hold to the reins when he was falling, making his horse stand up! In this brief moment when his mount was dribbling on his back legs, Xyenna used the opportunity to grab the saddle and jumped on the horse!

Sitting firmly in her new mount, the first thought to appear in her head was to run away!

Shrugging herself from this blasphemous idea, the girl kicked her heels on the mount sides and rushed forward. While the enemies heard the noise of her exchange with one of their comrades, their armour made them unable to look back and assess the situation. With that in mind, Xyenna hastened her horse and before her opponents managed to slow down to turn around, she slashed her sword horizontally to the right, looping the head of the soldier's neck.

Continuing her chase, Xyenna turned her horse to the right and repeated her action on yet another enemy, claiming her third kill in the fight. Only then did the enemies realise what was going on!

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With the Mike picking up his bow and Xyenna now chasing them, it didn't take long before the now two remaining soldiers turned around and run. After a short moment, they disappeared in the nearby trees.

"That was a rough one."

Xyenna got down the horse. Even if there was bound to be a mass of people doing their best only to catch them, they had to catch their breath. While some might call it irresponsible, if one were to keep fighting, running and dodging, he would be caught in a fairly quick manner.

"Yeah. We need at least four horses, this way we might still getaway."

Mike pointed out. But this wasn't as easy as it sounded. The clock was ticking. With every second wasted on running around to catch the mounts, their enemies would be a step closer!

"Here, this one already obeys me. Pack the gold on him!"

Not wasting a single moment, Xyenna got down from the horse she previously acquired. Leaving it back so Mike can fix the bag with gold on its saddle, the girl slowly walked towards another animal. Whispering in a calm, relaxing tone, she moved closer step by step. Thanks to its docile nature, there wasn't any problems with this one.

Turning around, the girl spotted another horse, slowly walking around the carriage. Noticing some movement in the corner of her eye, she turned around and stared in the distance. There was a crowd of silhouettes slowly appearing on the horizon!

"We have no time for the spare horses!"

Without a delay, warrioress shouted and jumped to the free horse. After checking its saddle, the girl turned around only to see Mike running around collecting the arrows.

"Are you out of your mind? They will catch up to us!"

"Calm the hell down. With their numbers, we can't engage in a hand to hand fight. Being in front gives us a better range to fight at the distance. Gather as many arrows as you can, their horses are bound to be tired as well."

Calming the girl down, Mike turned around and approached a limping horse nearby. With its broken leg, it wouldn't be of any use for them, but there was a quill full of arrows mounted on the back of its saddle!

Trying to use the opportunity, Xyenna looked around. Probably scared by the fighting and screams, the remaining horses already ran away. While still visible nearby, there was no way she would be able to catch them now.

"Okay, I got them."

Detaching the quill from the hurt horse's saddle, Mike ran back to the mount with the gold and jumped on it's back. With Xyenna promptly following his action, they turned the horses to the east and moved.

Despite the enemies already visible on the horizon, they both slowed down their horses. They still had some advantage in terms of distance, so instead of tiring their already spent horses down, they choose to let them rest first. Only after a good half an hour, they were forced to hurry.

At some times, even the most emotional and important chase was turning boring. With both parties gaining and losing the distance to let their horses have some breath, the time was passing in a speed of a rushing turtle.

Seconds stretched into minutes, minutes into hours. The army that was chasing them lost about half of its members, leaving only around fifty behind. Thanks to some serious drilling, their horses were able to endure this prolonged chase!

The only good news was that with every step they made east, Xantian's sphere of influence crept closer. They only needed to pass by the first patrols to hide in the warm embrace of Mike's former organisation.

It was about the time when they felt into the illusion of escaping. Another group showed up in the east!

Numbering as much as the party behind, there was already one hundred enemies chasing them down!

Slowing down, Mike looked into the distance. While they were still far away, he could already see the familiar hills indicating how close they were to the city. Yet halfway there, there was another rider's host slowly moving towards them.

From the way they saved their horses energy, their intentions were apparent. By no means, don't let Mike and Xyenna circumvent them!

Taking a quick look at their remaining choices, young merchant felt some kind of pull towards the north. While there was a jungle fairly close in that direction, south offered a lot better terrain for riding on horseback. There were also lesser villages but a lot wealthier ones in there, potentially capable of granting them a refugee.

After spending a good chunk of his life as a merchant, Mike preferred to listen to his guts. Working as an assassin taught him how to rely on his six sense. To really make any use of it, one had to understand the principle of its effect first.

It wasn't some kind of magic trick or innate gift. It was way easier and simpler than that. Human's never collect as much data as everyone would believe. By focusing oneself on more basic sensations, one's peripheral senses would develop. This so-called 'assassins sense' was nothing more than a more efficient way to survive on the battlefield. And Mike lived through enough to know when to listen to it.

Turning their horses, Mike rushed north with Xyenna the following suit. After just a few minutes, they could spot the lush forest in the distance. While the horses had to stay on plains, running away in woods was a lot easier than doing so in the open area.

Just when the duo thought of relaxing, Mike's horse fell to its side, barely breathing. They didn't have two horses anymore!.