Sirius Chapter 29: Chapter 28: Head for a Price

Read chapter 29 of Sirius by Dealer on NovelPedia.

Clang Clang Clang The sound of metal striking metal echoed through the forest. "I never got to introduce myself, did I? My name is Jo... SEPH!" With a swing of his saber, the man once more tried to catch Jihan's neck. Clang "I don't think we've had the pleasure!" After deflecting the blow, Li drove the palm of his hand toward the man's stomach, but the gauntlet was turned away by the flat of the saber. "You know, kid, your head has quite a price on it right now!" Joseph shouted. "I can't imagine why!" Li answered. Clang Joseph pulled back and three other men took his place in the fight against Jihan. Li's concentration doubled to hold off the new opponents. "Get ready." The bandit leader said to the three waiting. "In a few minutes you'll switch with them." Jihan's eyes reacted quickly to the movements around him, trying to read every muscle twitch to predict the next strike. "These guys... aside from the leader, I don't remember the face of any of them. Could it be I never actually saw them?" Li remembered something Amelie had told him: "There are many enemies hiding their strength in this place. Be careful, Jihan." "So they finally decided to show themselves? Well, all I have to do is deal with one problem at a time." Urgh "Hahaha! Hey boss, this one's tough!" Li diverted a fraction of his attention to read the situation. Behind him, the two remaining men were attacking Selene and Irmin. "You have time to worry about others?!" One of the men slid his sword through the air. Li quickly recovered his focus and the blow barely grazed him. "Damn, I need to finish this soon, but these bastards..." "Boss, why don't we all rush him at once?" asked one of the waiting bandits. "Caution. Word from above. The kid might look like a rookie, but he managed to fatally wound a troll before he even unlocked." "A... troll?" "Exactly. They say the recoil of the strike nearly killed him... with that in mind, I'm not willing to trade my life for his. If we all come at once, it's our end." "Beat the grass to scare the snake, then?" "Yes; the plan was to wear him down until he panics and throws everything he has at us... but..." Joseph's eyes drifted toward the two women struggling against the other two men. "I have a better idea. You three, help those two idiots finish the job." "Boss?" "Let's see how he reacts to that." Joseph concluded. "Damn! They must have read my reaction." "Irmin, run!" Li, realizing the situation would only get worse, made a quick decision. "And you lot... GET BACK!" Leaping into the air and raising both fists, Jihan came down vertically and drove his fists into the ground with full force. The impact of the strike pushed back the bandits surrounding him, buying a short window to move. Irmin, reading his intention, shoved both of the men tormenting her with everything she had and turned to run. "Ir... Irmin??" Before she could say another word, Selene was grabbed by the waist and hoisted onto Jihan's shoulders. "Hey! The nerve!" "We don't have time for this." "Get them!" Joseph shouted. "Selene, do you know any magic that can buy us some time?" Li asked the girl on his shoulder. The conjurer thought for a few seconds and made up her mind. "Maybe... but you'd better not drop me!" she warned. "Trust me." Tsk "I can't believe I have to do this again." Selene closed her eyes and breathed in as deeply as she could, over and over. Push Fsssss With each breath, the concentration of blue mana around Selene increased. "A little faster, please; they're catching up!" Without Li knowing, a vein jumped on the conjurer's forehead as she kept breathing deeply. After a few more seconds, Selene's eyes opened, revealing a sharp blue tint. Still on Jihan's back, the hand gripping her staff rose. "RISING" A powerful pressure built on Jihan's shoulders, as if the woman he carried had multiplied in weight. "TIDE!" The ground beneath Li's feet trembled and, with the moisture of the earth being pulled together with the mana concentrating around the