1st Maelach of Ausiriel Year 1237

Belgrynd's POV

I guess going through the main gate is a bad idea... Everyone is now looking at me... dumb Belgrynd... the ghillie suit only works outside... we are in a cave... there's not a single sign of plant life inside here! Of course, I'm going to be found out the moment I enter! Stupid Bell!

Now that I am found, there is no need to hide anymore. It is a good thing that I can swap out equipment by just willing it, which means that I am currently equipped with my dragon scale armor, not the makeshift ghillie suit. Oh, I also took out both of my gunblades too! Nifty right?

" What are you all waiting for! Charge! We have the numerical advantage!" one of the humans shouted to the rest of them. Wave tactics huh. Too bad, I have something that you foolish humans don't... that is my wings! 

As the humans start to charge at me with their... weapons? Weird, though some are equipped with proper anti-mana weapons, most of them are just normal swords and spears... I guess those are people who support the main troops huh? Supply troops, I believe. But then again, the proper term for these would be..... Cannon Fodder. 

To dodge the incoming attacks, I flew up to the ceiling. Though the cave isn't too big that I could fly to the top and be safe from everything. In fact, it's still nowhere as safe as I wanted. Though the sword users can reach me at this height, the spear users could still reach me. While it won't even leave a scratch on me, I am not that fond of allowing it to even touch me, more so if it's those anti-mana weapons. 

" Seriously... looking them at this position makes me feels like I'm looking at a bunch of cockroaches that are swarming towards me...

" Fire!" I heard someone shout. Somehow, by just hearing that single word, I immediately ducked, with the gunblades pointing down, killing two more humans in the process. With that, I barely dodge being hit by those anti-mana bullets. Damn... those will be annoying, a good thing that those are flintlocks... they can rapid-fire that stuff. But the number of people wave attacking me is still annoying... there are more than  40 humans... probably at around 60 or so... and that is counting only those swarming at me! There are still those that are firing bows and shooting using their flintlocks! 

Getting annoyed by the humans, I decided to try to brute force through it. Not because the humans are too weak, but I can sense a large amount of mana ahead. If I had to guess, it's the room the far behind. They are activating something, something that I am damn sure I don't want to let that happen!

Petrasha's POV

" So..." I said towards Lucy. We bet on how many of those humans we could kill, and apparently, I won. Not only that I didn't miss at all, but all of my shots were also straight into the head. While Lucy, on the other hand, missed a few. Though those are handled by Bell immediately. Thank Astrea for that.

" Fine... I will convince her later... let's do this first ok?" Lucy answered dejectedly as we both start walking towards the human compound along with May and Amy. While Bell did say that she will charge in once there are no more humans outside, it doesn't hurt to be extra careful after all.

" Oi you two! Good job there!" Christine yelled while rushing towards us. Huh? What are you doing here!

" The mayor decided that I should come back with you guys since he said that the troops are getting too excited. So that's why I am here! So... Lucy~ My bow please~" Christine explained. Over excitement huh... *sigh* just what did you do Christine... Lucy handed Lucy the bow that Bell made for her. It is a compound bow made from some sort of fiber, I wanted to say it's carbon fiber but how did Bell even create carbon fiber? Even fiberglass sounds absurd. 

" Alright, so where are the humans?" Christine asked.

" All outside should be killed already, the rest would be inside the cave. Bell is now fighting them alone." Lucy replied. I can feel that Lucy doesn't want to reply her, I can understand why... even now I feel that this is a bit too risky.

" Wait... I can sense something..." Amy said suddenly. Huh?

" There is a lot of mana coming out from the cave!" Amy said while standing up and rush towards the cave. Oi! What happened to the plan! Aren't we supposed to sneak into it? Before I could even finish thinking, May also starts to follow Amy and rushes to the compound. Even Christine is rushing too.

" Better hurry up... while I don't think letting Bell alone is a good idea, letting them rush in would be an even worse idea," Lucy said as she also makes chase. What can I do then...

Belgrynd's POV

Finally... 

I realized what the main threat to me now. It is not those cannon fodders, nor those anti-mana swords. It's those anti-mana gunners at the back. Decided that it is better that I eliminate them first, I flew to the ceiling again while making sure that they cant predict my movements, I tried to shoot at them as best as I can, though it is harder than I thought due to the limited space to maneuver... after all, there aren't that many spaces until you hit either walls or the ceiling.

Hrmm, they're coming... I have to finish this fast. While having more allies is better, I don't really want to endanger them. Time to get more serious then!

" Quickly reload! We have cornered it!" one of the gunners said. Cornered huh, would a cornered prey do this then!

As I latch myself onto the ceiling, I used my legs and immediately launch myself towards the gunners! While I do remember some of the anime I saw before had this kind of skill, doing it yourself feels... awkward. Maybe it's because I'm actually experiencing it first-hand, or it's because of the fight that is going on, and such a flashy move might backfire, but I swear to myself, I am never doing it again!

I have to say one thing though, it's pretty effective... with that jump boost that I did... I effectively crushed one of the gunners and with a bit of a slash, two more are dead, leaving it to less than 10 gunners left, I am not that worried about the bow users as they don't have anti-mana arrows, at least I don't sense any. But anyway, since I was this close to them, and the close combat humans are still in a state of shock, I decided, it's time to start killing at a more efficient rate!

" Wha... Shoot it Shoot the da-" one of the gunners said, though I felt that he is too annoying and decided that I should shut his mouth up. Though he isn't the only one that got his mouth shut. Everything I swing my gunblades, it's two more humans dead and sometimes, I added shooting in the mix. I was wondering, if there isn't any killing involved now, would it feel like I am dancing with these fools? Nah, I would rather dance with animals than dance with humans. They just aren't worth the time.

" What the hell are you doing! It is just one enemy! Kill it now!" a new voice appeared. This time not from anyone at the frontline. A commander huh, as much as I wanted to head towards you now, these guys probably won't let me. So you just have to wait for your turn~

" This is bad... these fools are useless! Sean, how long until the circle is ready?" the commander said towards what I assume his helper or such. Why am I so carefree? It's because all of the anti-mana users are now dead! The rest won't be able to do any damage, that's why I'm not worried about it! Though, it seems the commander wanted to run away huh, how typical.

*bang* *bang*

BUT YOU'RE NOT GETTING AWAY!

" Tsk, they all got defeated already? You all hurry! Power up the circle! You get the filth out! NOW!" the commander yelled towards the remaining humans. Huh? Filth... is he trying to have hostages against me? I don't think that will work though.

" Listen, if you dare come closer, I won't hesitate to send a bullet into the filthy head of your kin you know!" the commander said as he pointed his flintlock pistol to one female catkin, and a young one too. At first glance, I can know that this should be one of their recent captures, because her clothes are quite clean, at least compared to the other that got dragged out by his other henchmen. 

" If you don't want this girl to die, you better lower your weapon and surrender to us!" the commander said. Really? I already killed almost 60 of your people, and you expect me to surrender now? Well, humans arent really the clever kind, especially the ones in this world. Cant blame them.

*bang* *bang*

Two of his henchman is now dead. The beastkin that they captured are dropped onto the ground. And I am pretty sure, the commander did not expect me to be this bold.

*creak*

" Bell we are coming to help!" Lucy yelled as they opened the door. Urgh, bad timing Lucy!

" Commander! The circle is ready! We have to go quick!" the one inside the room yelled towards their commander. Double bad timing! I dashed towards them as fast as I can. I am damn sure that I do not want to let these humans go! Especially the commander! 

" Seems like we have to go now huh. Fine, take this filth then! Filth should be gathered together after all!" the commander said as he pushed the beastkin towards me. His other surviving henchmen also did the same. Using them to buy more time to escape! Damn it! With them being thrown in my direction, I had to dodge them in order to catch up... but I can't let them fall directly too... it can't be helped...

*bang*

Wait... who shot it? I didn't! And it doesn't sound like a hunting rifle!

" Tsk... I missed it, mark my words! I will come back and make you all my slaves! I will definitely make sure that you will receive ten times the pain that you made me feel today!" he said as I saw a bright flash, and they are all gone...

Looking around, I saw the 5 beastkin that are taken hostage arent injured, at least not injured from this situation... I can clearly see that the humans didn't treat them well... there are scars all over their arms and legs. But overall, I can see that none of them are critically injured... save from being critically malnourish that is.

After confirming the condition of the captured beastkin, I turned towards the gate, hoping that they will help settle the slaves as I go check out on the teleportation circle. From what I can see here, the teleportation circle isn't destroyed after they used it, which means if I can understand how it works, it is possible that I could reverse engineer it and use it to hit the humans back!

What I saw at the gate... sent shivers down my spine...

That bang... comes from the commander... and it hit someone...

At that moment, I felt it again, the feeling...

The feeling that I might lose someone again.

I rushed, rushed towards the gate, hoping that what I saw isn't true...

How I wish I were...

Benokelvin

Hey hey hey! Cliffhanger-kun how do you do?

I suggest you hide though, I don't think many people would like cliffhangers~

I tried my best at writing a combat scene... though to be honest... I still felt unsatisfied with this one, yet I have no idea how to improve it... this is the best version I could do without it turning into a word game...