... somewhere, someone, I was sure... I was sure someone, somewhere, told me... "Fight! Did you not come here, just to turn back, Girl?"... 

I... fight... I... yes, of course I didn't come here to run... 

I had ten shards; and with them quiet and blending in mostly with the darkness, they should be able to sneak up and eliminate the 9 here. Since I was still here, I put both my hands above my chest before reaching my hands out for a handshake... 

... no one noticed anything odd...

"Thanks for being so understan—!" 

"Like I would ever hand Kou over as a weapon of war!" Screams and loud groans of pain came from the distance; the man in front of us though somehow dodged the single shard I had pointed to him. "If you want to get Kou, you will need to take me on first!" 

... I took a quick glance over, before focusing on that single man... My shards didn't kill those Imperial Hunters; I wasn't sure what kind of armor they wore, but, I wouldn't be granted a chance like this again...

A bright red fireball flew up before exploding and fading; though I knew this signal without a doubt... Attack.

Helmsmen looked around in the dim surroundings. "Yell at Rudel to wake up and go, we need all eyes looking out. If you want to protect Lady Kou, prepare to fight!" 

While Helmsmen may struggle with the darkness, I could perfectly see them. The wounded hunters in the distance were being brought back by 3 others ferrying them down the hill in front of us... The one hunter in front of us, probably the Leader, readied his short sword and dagger in opposite hand. Helmsmen and that leader clashed in front of my eyes with their swords... "I need to leave..." I told myself...

I quickly left this side and yelled "Rudel, help!" at his tent. 

A elite group would without a doubt hold Magicians, though... maybe they didn't cast magic because they didn't want to harm Kou in an attempt to get her back safely... That certainly gave us a massive advantage, as we had no capable Magicians to defend against Bombardment Spells.

If I fight, my sword skills were mediocre, but at no level to match an elite group. Thus I would need to rely on my shards for any hope of survival. I would have to use surprise and the darkness if I were to want to win..

I cross over to the other side of our small camp, here in this side of the hill pass the two small sleeping tents, I counted 6 hunters cautiously moving forward. Upon seeing me they stopped... Without a doubt, both sides were making a plan; my plan was to maintain a defense with my shards while trying to strike one with a group of shards. 

I swung my arm out, and 7 shards were put between me and the hunters. The hunters probably didn't see anything other than me waving my arm, and they quickly closed the distance with one throwing a single dagger at me, which I dodged... The one that threw a dagger was ahead of the others, but that hunter was suddenly struck by 3 shards I sent out to hunt one of them. 

... They all paused, with one trying to get close to the poor hunter... "Gyuh—... forget about me..." The one fatally wounded said. Suddenly, they all looked at me and charged once more... The five all threw two daggers at me from a moderate distance—,

Ugh—! Dodge or block?... 

I allowed my shards to try and block the daggers in this short span of a few seconds. I took it upon myself, some of these daggers were thrown as measures against dodging. So I prepared myself by covering my head and chest and allowing my shards to block the daggers.

Oww—... Agh, I shouldn't worry about a small cut... "This... is fine..." I readied myself to commit to another barrage of shards and defense. 

My shards simply didn't have the power to fully block the daggers, but most of the daggers were redirected out with the exception of a few that cut my left arm. Now I really couldn't get in a close fight with the hunters, as a left-handed user. I sent fourth my shards, which didn't hit any of them. Though my shards did force them to dodge wildly. I suppose... they had some way to see the faint-black shards in the dim 

"Apologizes, I'll handle this now Tenshi." I looked besides; Rudel? He stood here with messy hair and without his armor, only his combat outfit and long sword in hand. "Imperial Hunters; not the first time I've had to defend a client against them, but to think they'd go for someone like you." 

I let Rudel take the front... "Thanks for coming..." I positioned myself behind Rudel and prepared to offer support with my shards, glancing back at the tents behind to check that no one snuck behind us. I focused my shards on targeting one particular hunter. Within a few seconds, even though that one hunter dodged the best they could, that one hunter was struck fatally by five shards... The groans were still terrifying to hear, even through all those people I've harmed and killed.

There went a pause in the battle as my shards started to home in to another hunter... Quickly, the remaining four quickly retreated, covering their retreat with a Fireball spell that smoked the area.

"Their method of ranged attacks by their dagger throwing is both unique to the Imperial Hunters, yet deadly against anyone unarmored. We are just lucky they didn't use Magic." Rudel told me as he looked around, still wary... "Go see how Helmsmen doing, I'll make sure myself to not get killed unnecessarily." Rudel reassured me.

I took his advice and quickly ran to see how Helmsmen was doing. Black shards covered me like the stars in the night skies, of which I silently counted 12 now... 2 more have come to my side...

Not that much running and I quickly saw how the battle progressed... A ranged stalemate, of which Helmsmen had nothing to attack with. Thinking back to what Rudel said, Helmsmen wore the standard Imperial Guardsmen armor, a medium-grade armor that covered all vital areas and offered protection to the important fighting areas. Even the face would be protected with a simple armor masking. 

I simply stood in a position behind Helmsmen and focused by shards on attacking that one hunter leader.

"Damn—that girl..." That leader muttered... "This was costly..." He muttered as he—? Huh? He's a Magician who can actually use Dark Magic? The strange connection from before simply vanished like nothing...

Dark Magic... Dark Magic is the only type of magic that can create Interference Spells. Interference Spells have extremely low combat potential; for most who can use it. Though those who can master it completely can warp through spaces and areas, and it is even said that some could warp through time with a forbidden spell... basically, it is a spell that messes with the world to manipulate your position, and maybe time. Normal use of warp for those who aren't Dark Magic masters is said to be extremely disorientating, so much so it holds almost no combat utility... Well, Interference Spells are rare enough as it is, so any Dark Magician who knows what they are doing is rare; even rarer is learning how to use it. 

Helmsmen looked around, again, warrily... "Lady Tenshi, keep watch around here. We'll maintain guard for the night until dawn. Knowing you and your power, Rudel and I will bury whoever you killed." Helmsmen said as he went continued to look around...

... wait... "K—Kou!" I ran into the tent—ah...

She's... still here... 

"I'm so glad..." I... heaved a sigh... "I'm so glad..."

----- 

I ended up keeping watch again... yet I felt so tired...

"That should be enough to hide the bodies from Lady Kou, as you wished Lady Tenshi." Helmsmen said as he put back a shovel into the carriage's back. "We'll pack up and leave by noon. We'll reach the Holy Kingdom's town Jewels by dusk today if we maintain pace." He—...

... today's going to be a long day...