Sirius Chapter 31: Chapter 30: Insurmountable

Read chapter 31 of Sirius by Dealer on NovelPedia.

Bum When the two were already at a distance from the edge of the bridge floating between the mountains, an explosion made the stones on the ground tremble. Both spun around quickly; their eyes found Jihan's, standing motionless in the distance, watching them. "LI!" "GO! Circle around through the mountains; I'll meet you on the other side." Tsk Without much choice, Irmin, who was carrying Selene, could only comply with Jihan's request and started running. "Now..." Li turned toward the forest. Twelve men stepped out of the shadows. "What is this? An act of sacrifice?" "I thought there were nine of you." "Haha; I had a reserve group in case something went wrong, but I don't think I'll be needing it this time." Joseph laughed. "Either way... let's finish this quickly, and then we'll go after those girls." Li furrowed his brow. "I thought I was the target!" "Don't be jealous, Jihan; you're the target, but I do hold grudges against people who hurt my men..." Joseph mocked. "You're never getting past me." "Is that so?" Li pressed both palms together. Bending his knees slightly, he drew his left arm back close to his body, keeping the hand open horizontally. At the same time he extended the right and raised the hand vertically. Both covered by a thin layer of mana. "I've been dying to test a few new things I've learned this past month." "Have you?" "Though I think I'll have to hold back; what would I do if I accidentally broke the new equipment I just got?" Jihan retorted. The bandits bristled at the provocation. "You five, go first." Joseph ordered. "Sir?" "And don't make the same mistake of underestimating him again; I won't tolerate another failure." "Aren't you coming first?" Jihan provoked. "A body stays alive if it loses a limb, but not if it loses its head." he explained. "Just be careful you don't bleed out." The leader remained calm. "I couldn't destroy that bridge, and the kid did it without even breaking a sweat. My instincts are screaming, but I can't back down here... we have the numbers and the terrain advantage." While Joseph thought, the five closed in on Jihan. When they reached a certain distance, they began to spread out to surround him. "You think I'm going to let that happen again?" Li advanced at full speed toward the nearest enemy, who tried to respond by cutting at him with his saber. The palms of Jihan's gauntlets, coated in a thin layer of mana, accelerated and slid along the surface of the blade, redirecting it. Cutting nothing but air with all his force, the man, already off-balance, stumbled. Li seized the moment, driving the palm of his hand into the man's chest. The moment it connected, the white mana flared bright and, compressed in that small space, suddenly expanded; repelling the bandit's body and sending him crashing into a tree near the leader. Vushh The hurled body cut through the air close to Joseph, who made a pained expression. "Damn..." On the other side, Jihan smiled, snapping his fingers beneath the gauntlet. "Come on, all eleven of you... let's wrap this up." * * * While the fight was happening, both women arrived at the other side of the bridge. "You can put me down; I think I can move now." Selene said. Irmin heard and set her down. "So, what's the plan from here?" The conjurer asked. "We loop around and meet him on the next island." Looking back at the bridge, the bandits and Jihan had nearly vanished on the horizon. The island of Cadmus had a U shape; at this point, they had just crossed from one end to the other. There was another bridge connecting the end to the middle, and another in the middle reaching the other side. Irmin picked up a stick from the ground and drew a sketch in the dirt so Selene could better understand. "We just need to cross the bridge connecting the two midpoints and come back to the other end." She explained, tracing between the islands to indicate the path. "I believe that's what Li meant by circling around through the mountains." "Wow, where did you learn to d