I couldn't count how many assassins were present in that moment, for all they wore was a raven-like black that concealed them in the night,

I could see the glint of a ravenous eye from time to time but that was it, there was not much else to see between the gaps in the carriage door.

I acknowledged the landscape that consisted of a forest on either of our sides, the trees were tall and ghostly in their nightly silhouettes.

By now, we had all been disrupted from our slumbers.

Ken took the Count and Audra behind him as he unsheathed his golden-black katana.

A clean and slate sound crept through our small compartment as I tried to look for more information on our devastating situation.

The horses were taken first.

Muffled neighs and squeals echoed in our small compartment.

The carriage master himself had long fallen victim to a flying object of some sort. Presumably a Kunai.

There were no signs of life from the Servants in the back either, for they were the closest to the numerous assassins.

We all knew at that moment that we were undoubtedly next.

Another dangerous calm settled down.

We were getting to around the minute mark and nothing had happened since the highly probable death of the horses.

I had already prepared a fair share of stores so that any Assasin who entered would be blasted back to wherever they came from.

I watched in concern as Ken's katana trembled slightly. He was aching to get at them.

Another few seconds passed and out of nowhere, Ken suddenly drove himself, the Count, and Audra out.

His eyes were wilding with madness as though he had just realized something terrible.

He moved at such a speed and with such a level of power that the Count let out an immodest "Gah." and Audra let out a small unladylike squeal.

As they took the left door I took the right. I fumbled on the door knob and barely opened it as I heard their figures squelch in the soaked soil that had not yet become mud.

I was slower than them so I used the lotus step to propel me out instantly.

As soon as my left hand touched a hard, cold tree stump an ear-rupturing noise broke out behind me almost synonymous with my action.

My back soon felt incredibly fervent and my surroundings were for a split-second, engulfed in a golden hue that rose and fell in an instant.

Embers blew past alongside the wind.

I had no time to rub my searing eyes as my eyes fell upon the site of a burning carriage.

Its innards had been blown up and all that remained was a roaring, blazing ruin.

The corpses of the horses were soon turned into mere ashes as a flock of assasins manouvered through the air.

I looked to the other side of the carriage.

Ken kept the Count and Audra behind him as he kept his blade outwards.

His left arm had a nasty burn mark that still seemed to be raw and flared.

His eyes betrayed his stoic and strong figure as they darted around and shook with every movement from the assassins.

His bulging muscles now bulged in pain as the flock of assassins circled around their group.

I watched from my side. I had not been noticed somehow.

Sneakily, I hid behind the oak-tree I had been touching.

My breathing was cold and invigorated.

I locked in a few sources of world energy and squeezed them as hard as I could. If Ken died there then it would just be me, and I wasn't confident in my chances against highly-skilled fighters in those numbers.

The group of assassins just swirled around the group in a melancholy way. As if they were waiting for something.

I then noticed a flare rise from the North, just above the treetops.

They had reinforcements.

The group of assassins soon descended into Ken, The Count and the Young Lady.

I could only see the sprays of sparks and the gushes of blood that were thrown into the air as Ken ravaged his way through the attacking assassins.

Every backhanded kunai they threw couldn't even pierce his skin.

Their eyes widened at this development as a katana was skillfully wielded to chop their limbs away from their body, one by one.

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His rotating blade traveled so fast that the only things his enemies saw were a fluorescent gold circle getting closer and closer before their innards were furled into a bloody mess.

Every clash involving Ken rarely lasted more than 2 bouts. His opponent's faces were shocked and infuriated as their bones broke, skin split and kunai faltered.

Slowly but surely, the crowd ruthlessly attacking began to thin and dwindle.

As their kunai merely scratched his tenacious muscles Ken continued thrashing through his enemies violently.

From desperation, an assassin on a tree dangerously lit a kunai with an odd, red-painted tag.

He dropped it off as it was a second away from eradicating the targets.

Not today.

A blast of world energy sent the prelit and heat-wrought kunai straight into the densest part of the remaining assassins.

It had turned an uneasy red.

The surroundings were shortly coated in a golden hue before the sight of 3 crawling and silent assassins broke out.

Their skin was charred as they crawled to finish the commission.

No matter the pain, they stayed silent.

Their dazed eyes crossed with Ken as they slowly drew out kunai despite their deplorable states.

Ken did not kick their heads in as he could've, but rather took a step back as their bodies soon slumped and their flames soon roared and joined in the making of a ruthless scene.

Ken sheathed his blade as his eyes shut firmly. It had been a tense yet surprisingly clean battle.

I slowly dashed over to ensure their safety from a closer angle whilst I brushed some dirt off my face.

While I checked around for anything, I felt an odd gap in the wind.

Like a rabid dog, A black mirage curved through our forces and aimed his blade right for Ken's nape. His short silver dagger waved in the air as it made its way to Ken. His eyes were bloodlust and crazed.

He had been hiding, just like me.

I instinctively took out my sword and our blades clashed.

It was a surprisingly easy opponent. He stuck in place, allowing me to keep him there before Ken violently shoved a sword through his head.

Twisting it before yanking it out, Ken flashed his blade on the ground, allowing a generous splatter of blood to coat the floor.

The last of the men's bodies dropped to the floor where it lay, sullen.

They were too weak.

I voiced my opinions out loud to break the unnerving silence.

"Hey. Weren't those guys... a bit weak?"

Audra and Craul looked at me in confusion whilst Ken nodded silently.

His voice was grave as he spoke his next words.

"They were the scout force."

The meaning of that statement sent a shiver down my spine.

So another force of even stronger men would soon be coming for us?

I was confident in Ken's combat strength but defending both the Count and Audra would be a major challenge.

He wouldn't be able to dodge or weave attacks as they would meet the two.

The issue of this matter had already begun to surface looking at Ken's state.

Although he was fighting opponents far weaker than himself, he was wrought with small cuts that drooped rose-red blood all over himself.

His left arm was still flared,sore and gave me the impression of the texture of well-cooked pulled pork.

Ken gritted his teeth at the occasional sting of pain as he remained on the lookout.

I now took care to review the states of the weakest members of our party, The Count and Audra.

Audra was shivering nonstop and her dress was stained with mud and pebbles. She held onto her Fathers hand desperately.

The Count was calm and stable yet his actions gave away signs of weakness.

Our state wasn't good.

If that explosive-kunai from earlier hadn't been intercepted by me then these two would probably be gone although Ken could probably tank it.

Speaking of Ken, he was a monster.

Although he couldn't use skills or techniques like how I couldn't use magic due to the constant appearance of enemies he still tore through them as his blade left a golden trail throughout the night.

It was only after a dreading 5 minutes passed that we fell into a grimacing realization.

The real party was waiting for us.

They would let us fall asleep or become incredibly dazed before attacking. It would seem that they wanted to use our degrading physical states to their advantage.

Ken, also realizing this stared hatefully into the forest beyond.

As if realizing our hopelessness, the assassins main force sent 3 haunting green flares into the air.

As if to remind us of their looming threat,to worsen our mental states.

And they continued to do this for hours.

Soon our entire party were in posession of sunken eyes and irritated demeanors

I cursed silently as yet another round of haunting flares of ethereal greens rose.

The trail of the last round had still yet to fade.

I could've probably knocked them out of the air with a blast of world energy but doing that would mean alerting them of my abilities.

And so as the voiceless wrath of the night ensued, we played an oddly anti-climatic waiting game.

Our hopes escaped their sodden constraints as more and more time passed without a flare rising.

Had they gone? Had they given up? Were they at least going to attack now?

Our thoughts were as such. We all met eyes from time to time as we eyed our surroundings with heavy breaths.

It was only then that we were reminded of the direness of our situation.

From 6 angles, around the forest.

We could see no faces or silhouettes, just ghastly,ghostly and ghouly greens that marauded the sky.

A strong howling sound wreaked havoc on our mental states.

Any chance we had for sleep was long gone.

We had no food supplies and our stomachs would soon begin an ensemble of whining.

Our lives were in their hands.

Ken's wellbeing was only degrading and with it, our chances of survival.

Although this may have seemed like merely another mental game, it had its motives.

They would attack soon.

I could feel it.

Despite the chilling wind embracing my pale skin, I could read their minds.

They would attack from all angles.

Their goal was either The Count, Audra, or both.

There was no way it was me or Ken.

It seemed like they might've had some knowledge of Ken's power.

If not they would have surely attacked already and on top of that, I was certain that they wanted their jobs done swiftly.

If they lined up and fought Ken they'd probably lose.

Although I said things like that half of it was my bias since I didn't want to die.

Who did?

I had covered our entire party in materialization plates. The deafening peace period we were in let me regain my energy and stamina.

Although the earliest morning came, it did not feel early or like morning.

It felt like a subtle calm before a certain storm.

I felt the wind subtly pierce all around us as tiny black objects traversed through the wind.

And it was then that a storm enshrouded us.

A storm of piping hot tinged red and searing kunais.

They were so numerous that they looked like a large school of fish swimming around. Yet their points were undebatably aimed for our party.

So this was what the wait was worth to them.

I tightened every single barrier present, Ken felt my barrier lightly with his hand and nodded in astonishment.

And as the storm closed in on us, Audra shut her eyes tightly as the Count patted her head in disbelief. His eyes had a blank look. As if it had all come down to this.

To them who had not felt the barrier, this truly was the end.

Even to me and Ken, however, it still felt like the end.

I was confident I could block an explosive kunai or two but numbers that rounded to hundreds?

It was just implausible. Even for myself.

Ken took Audra under his wing and the Count by his side.

I merely held my hands out and put everything I had into the barriers. My consciousness threatened to slip from me via the cold grip of sleep. But I held on, snugly.

And so the storm descended.

And the flames rose.