Chapter 196 - Long Night

Zaos couldn't take them down so many assassins in the darkness without mana. Drannor and the other guards wouldn't be able to fight properly in the total darkness either. He could always make the trees burn by using the mana he had, but in the end, it wouldn't help in the long run. After a while, he had a pretty good idea… even without magic, he still could fight the enemies while keeping a certain distance.

Zaos returned to the mansion entrance, and there he picked the fallen rapid-fire crossbows that hadn't been used by assassins Zaos had killed on his first two attacks. While he couldn't exactly carry all of the ten he picked, he brought them to the back of the mansion.

"Who knows how to use these?" Zaos asked.

"You just have to pull the trigger, right?" Drannor asked while he raised his hand to get one.

"Wrong, you don't aim at your allies and then pull the trigger," Zaos said. "Let's leave these with Ameria and Erean. I will rest easy knowing that a moron can hit me from behind."

"You want us to watch your back?" Erean asked.

"No, just use them in case some enemies try to approach," Zaos said. "I can feel their presence, but I can always tell you where they are. So, I am going to enter the forest alone."

Zaos was the only one who could fight them in the darkness, and while it was dangerous, Zaos was pretty sure that it would be better if he went alone. Then he won't have to worry about shooting his allies. Although Zaos could use Light in the Darkness to solve that problem faster, he decided to use the rest of his mana to increase his movement speed and dash toward the dark forest with two rapid-fire crossbows in his hands. The enemies didn't hesitate and tried to pull bolts all over his head, but they didn't think that Zaos could be that fast. In the blink of an eye, Zaos had disappeared into the darkness, and neither the enemies nor his allies could hear or see him.

After a couple of seconds, the sound of bolts being shot echoed through the area, some of them hit nothing, and some of them hit the trees. Still, a small number of them made the sound of flesh being pierced echo through the area as well. Soon after, the sound of grunts increased, and one by one, they fell silent.

Drannor and Ameria heard all that, wondering if Zaos had get hit somewhere. A single mistake, and he might lose his life after getting hit in the head. Still, eventually, all the sounds disappeared, and Zaos showed up carrying more crossbows than he brought to the forest. He was also completely fine.

"Did you kill all them?" Drannor asked.

"No, they killed each other," Zaos replied. "I fired bolts at them, but only enough to scratch them. However, since I positioned myself between the enemies and kept a low profile, they ended up hitting each other."

Zaos's plan seemed pretty stupid and crazy, but in the end, they confirmed it when Erean left the back of the mansion with two torches. The back gate was already opened thanks to Zaos, so the carriages were stationed, and those who were awake began to work to move the unconscious ones there. The question was… where should they go? The other side of the island didn't have many houses. The people living there were common people who wouldn't have the courage to help those who were being hunted by assassins.

"Do you know any place we can hide for the time being?" Erean asked. "We can't send messages, so we won't have help for the time being. So, we need to find a good shelter and then think of our next steps."

Zaos head began to hurt thanks to that, he was ready to lose some days after the party, but things suddenly took a weird turn. Now that some individuals wanted to kill the heads of the most famous merchant families, he will probably waste a lot more time. It wouldn't be weird if another war starts and he is forced to participate. After all, those who started the fight won't rest knowing that all their targets are alive and well, and those who helped them were a group of foreigners.

"Well… there are some mines on the other side of the island," Orleand said while patting the head of one of his sons, who was trembling. "They are abandoned and the region is quiet since it is too far away from the port."

"As a soldier, I don't like the idea of taking a shelter in a place where there is nothing but a dead end behind me, but I guess we don't have any choice," Erean said. "With some luck, we will be able to find several connected tunnels and that will help us gain time."

Erean sure would need a lot of time because not a single member of that group knew a way out of that mess. Despite the number of people on the ground, they somehow managed to fit in all the unconscious individuals inside the carriages. That being said, aside from the drivers, pretty much everyone else will have to walk.

"Drannor, America and other guards will guard the front of the convoy," Erean declared. "Zaos and I will follow behind to deal with any possible enemies that might pursue us. Keep the pace and follow lord Orleand's lead, everything is going to be just all right."

Erean was trying to pass confidence to everyone, but in the end, it was hard for them to feel confident while they were that tired and stressed. Drannor was used to that kind of situation, the other guards as well, but Ameria still was quite tense. Most likely, she will only relax once the sun rises.

"This will be one heck of a long night," Zaos said.

"I will be counting you to avoid the ambushes," Erean said. "If we let the enemies attack again…"