More and more guards joined and surrounded Akki within a few minutes. As the surrounding circle became closer and closer, it was clear that there was no way for Akki to defend him from all directions. He had to get out of this situation.
Jumping into the air, the ronin spun a lap horizontally and landed on the ground, bending his knees for the next jump. Two chartreuse glimmers flashed out of his soles when he relaunched himself into mid-air. Unlike his regular first jump, the second one was six meters high. He reached the tiled rooftop of a double-floor house. Seeing Akki about to escape, some guards started removing their armor to free their connection to magic from metal's blockade. Others just stood there, except one, who mimicked Akki's movement and jumped to the rooftop. Surprised that there was a man strong enough to use magic while wearing armor, Akki quickly cast High Jump again and arrived at another building's hip roof. Meanwhile, Other guards who removed their chest plates just caught up by using the same hex. At this point, Akki already had his katana in the scabbard, and others abandoned their halberds, too. They were all ready for a chase.
Vaulting over the roof ridge, Akki stepped on two tiles that were too loose to hold his weight. The tiles detached from the roof. Carrying the man on top of them, they slid down the roof valley, pushing off other tiles on their way. They broke into pieces as they crashed at the rake while Akki sprung himself up again and spun. "Crack!" The railing on the balcony was completely destroyed in two flashes of chartreuse light when Akki trod on and bounced from it. Many who tried to vault across the ridge like him fell off when they slipped on the broken tiles. Yet, more were capable of keeping up.
The chase continued for another minute before Akki saw Inn of Helan as he jumped off a building. His feet repeatedly stamped on the rock-paved road, crashing his wood sandals and leaving shreds behind. The door of the inn was blocked by three fully armored guards. All pointed their spears at the hastily approaching Bohito.
Bringing the chase to the inn wasn't the plan, but the force in front of the inn was enough clues of what had happened. Akki felt that Roal was inside the inn, and this prediction alone put an inexplicable rage in his chest. He was worrying for the old Eternian. However, he was much more angry than concerned. He hated the idea that he would be responsible if Roal died. Yet, he couldn't kick this idea out of his head, and this sense of responsibility was driving him crazy.
The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.
"Twirl!" Following the roar, the chisa katana was drawn out again while the air in front was brutally pushed away. The movement of his legs speeded up to nearly twice as fast as his regular running speed. One of the three guards was too scared to jab his spear, while the rest did it without hesitation. In spite of their bravery, all three spears were bounced out of the way by the katana as Akki forced his way into the inn.
Awaiting him, the accountant started clapping with a smirk on his face. He stood in front of the counter. Both the innkeeper and Roal was kneeling with their hands cuffed at their back. Four guards crossed their spearheads before their necks, ready to gash open their throats. Besides the four, another two guards were next to the accountant, and three more just came in from the broken door.
Akki could only glare at the accountant. His overuse of the respiratory system finally caught him. The cold air of the night repeatedly chafed through Akki's nostrils to lungs as he panted heavily and rapidly. The smell of blood had filled his nostrils.
"Just surrender, poor thing. Your crime is merely thirty years of jail," the accountant, mocking, raised his left hand and bent his wrist downward as a signal for putting the ronin on his knees. One of the three guards attempted to kick Akki in the back of his knee. What none of them knew was that Akki never bent without putting up a fight. Taking his one last attempt, the ronin pounced forward, pointing his katana at the accountant. Before his katana could even get close to the accountant, the guard next to the accountant stabbed him right in the abdomen. The guard marched forward with the ronin on his spear tip and vigorously pinned him on the rock-paved street outside the inn. The spear had penetrated his stomach. Blood and dastric acid spurted out together. The blood of the shattered stomach deluged Akki's throat, submerged his teeth, and spouted from his mouth. His aching lung also began to bleed. Akki pointed at the night sky, appreciating all the stars like his mom used to when they were lying on the grass. His finger shook, and his entire arm swayed in the air, hardly holding itself. "Jin jin(Star)," he murmured before his arm hit the ground. With stars in his eyes, Akki was about to let his eyelids take a forever rest. He didn't give up without fighting. He didn't accept his failure right away. He did what he believed to be correct. There, he lay, awaiting the bustling death to come. Not a star was shining in his eyes.
A sound of cantering appeared without a sign. It merely made its way into the dying man's ears, still igniting his will to survive. Akki, confronting all the weariness, opened his eyes. "Never give up without fighting" was only an understatement to describe him. Akki was ready to fight back whenever there was a chance. In company with the growing sound of cantering, Akki rubbed his wolf tail on the ground, pointing his chin to the sky. He widened his eyes and saw an incoming black horse. On the horse, there was a horseman. His ruby cape was longer than his torso, and his golden hair had reached his waist. Moonlight glittered on his silver armor, and his eyes were as green as emeralds. The horseman was the local lord, Akki's last hope.