Akira's Perspective
As our magic carriage approached the bridge, I hurriedly grasped the reins to stop. It wasn’t too late. We were still able to pick up the others here at this large stone bridge, which unlike the previous one, couldn’t be easily burned down. However, traps might still be set. Should we move forward or turn back?
While I hesitated, the gates at both ends of the bridge began to close. "Damn it!" I cursed. "Akira, you fool!" someone shouted as our carriage became isolated. We couldn’t communicate with Allegro and Sonata anymore.
Slowly, two men with long and short hair appeared ahead. Descending from the carriage, I braced for a confrontation. "Looks like you fell nicely into our trap," one of them smirked. "Let’s take our time with them," the other added. "Just to be sure, why are you here?" I demanded. "You know why. We have business with that secretary, Ms. Klaire. Hand her over, will you?" "And if we refuse?" "Then you die."
They lunged at us simultaneously. Elize couldn’t use attack magic, leaving me to handle both assailants – a hefty burden indeed. But in this moment of absolute peril, I decided to summon my last-resort weapon. "Appear now, Usamof!" With that, I summoned the rabbit beast, Usamof.
"Distract the man with long hair!" I commanded. "I'll take down the one with short hair." "Mof mof! I’ll try mof!" Usamof hopped towards the long-haired man, showering him with ice magic. "What the hell is this creature?" the man exclaimed in surprise. Meanwhile, I unleashed Advanced Fire on the short-haired man, who countered with Master Fire. His spell was stronger.
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Quickly, Elize chanted a support spell to neutralize the impact. It was like facing a firestorm, reminiscent of the legendary tales from Japan's "Kojiki" where heroes battled with flames. Ultimately, the direction of the wind would determine our fate. Elize ceased her support magic and began casting a wind spell. In moments like these, she truly proved indispensable, reaching to scratch where I couldn’t.
"Damn it! These guys control magic too freely! They’re not the pushovers we were told!" the enemy panicked. "If it's come to this, let’s use our last resort. Assassin Blades!" They unleashed knives in all directions. "Shoot!" The knives weren't just aimed at Elize and me but flew towards Ms. Klaire too!
While Elize’s defensive magic shielded us, it couldn’t cover the distance to protect Ms. Klaire. Just then, "Iron Barrier!" Ms. Klaire chanted, successfully defending herself. "What? The secretary can use such powerful defensive magic? That wasn't in our intel!" I was shocked.
Ms. Klaire had secretly trained in magic, keeping it hidden for such a day. "Damn! The plan was perfect, but the foundational information was all wrong… Regrettable. Survival comes first. Retreat!" The long-haired and short-haired men cast spells. "Wait!" But they disappeared using teleportation magic.
"Will they attack us again?" I wondered aloud. "Who knows? Let's just hope no more traps have been set," I replied. With that, we opened the bridge gate and continued towards the city and the newspaper office.