Mount Larshen - Stalling for time.

Still stunned by this sudden appearance, Géandre widened his eyes. He didn't understand how Ewan had ended up there, or why.

He might have seen the distress signal Valshesia had sent up in the air with her bamboo tube, but the monster tamer would never have believed that the other hunter would want to help him, once he realized the identity of the people seeking urgent assistance.

However, he was also relieved to see reinforcements, even if it was only one person; and turned his attention back to their target.

The enemy, still reeling from the impact of the crossbow bolts, stood motionless; and Géandre wondered if the projectiles had really hit him or not. He wasn't sure if the solid, thin points had pierced the black-rimmed armor of the man in the mask, and Ewan wasn't going to wait to find out.

Retrieving new short arrows stowed on his armbands and leggings, he reloaded his halter positioned on his left arm in one motion and fired again.

With five very close whistles, five crossbow bolts were fired into the enemy's armor, hitting their target with precision. The sixth and final shot was nevertheless intercepted by the black-bladed sword of their attacker, and ended up shattered on the ground.

Not wasting a moment, Géandre regained his balance and took several steps backwards to get back into fighting position.

"Tell me what's going on!" Exclaimed behind him Ewan.

"Did you come alone?!" Answered him with a slight annoyance Géandre.

The hunter behind him was again ready to fire his halter, and the monster trainer recognized the military training Ewan had once received. He found it hard to admit, but having someone as responsive in their group wouldn't go amiss in trying to fend off this assailant.

"Yes!" Ewan replied, "Hasn't anyone else arrived yet?!"

"Unfortunately, you're the first," complained Géandre.

Ewan ignored the unpleasant tone of the hunter with long black hair, and repeated his request.

"Can you tell me quickly what happened? I need to-" Ewan began, before stopping abruptly.

This alarmed Géandre, and turning his head briefly towards Ewan, saw that the latter had a confused and shocked expression on his face.

"This is bad..." Said Ewan finally after a few seconds.

"Of course it's bad as a situation! Otherwise we wouldn't have sent a distress signal!" Replied Géandre.

The masked man in front of them had finished removing the crossbow bolts from his armor, revealing that he had not suffered any injury, and was again pointing his sword at the monster tamer.

However, the latter soon realized that he was no longer the target of the weapon.

"What the-" He managed to say before Androanni dashed towards them.

Ewan shot to slow down the man who was running towards them, but the latter deflected and broke with force all the projectiles flying towards him. Then, arriving at the level of Géandre, he pushed the latter with the flat of his blade to continue his trajectory towards the newcomer.

Rolling on the side under the blow of the impact but without dropping his own sword, Géandre saw while raising his head that the masked man and Ewan were holding sword against sword; one as the other trying to push back by brute force the opponent.

"Ewan! Watch out!" Géandre exclaimed.

The hunter he had just called out had just enough time to widen his eyes when the masked man directed his free hand towards him.

"He has an artifact!" Géandre shouted.

Ewan could barely move the black sword away from the enemy when he was thrown backwards and hit the trunk of a tree with his back.

He let out a cry of pain, and collapsing, he barely rolled to the side to avoid the sword wielded at him.

The trunk of the tree was slashed horizontally where the young man's neck had been a few seconds earlier, and a sudden explosion spread a thick cloud of dust throughout the wooded area.

Taking advantage of this smoke screen, Ewan took out of one of the pouches attached to his belt a very thin and shiny cable, and not wasting a moment, he tied the rope to a tree before running between several trunks to unroll it behind him. He could partly see a human figure moving through the artificial fog, and taking advantage of his enemy's lack of visibility, set to work.

Quickly, he managed to circle the area covered by the cloud of dust, and completely surrounded the enemy with the strong cable before reciting an incantation. Géandre took the opportunity to join him, and as he wanted to rush towards the enemy still trapped in the smoke, Ewan stopped him by placing his arm in front of the monster trainer's chest.

"Don't touch the wires!" he warned him.

Understanding that the other hunter had just trapped the whole area, Géandre decided not to advance any further, and used this short respite to quickly explain the situation to Ewan.

"We were following the tracks of the Behemoth when the monster attacked us. And soon after, this guy showed up." He explained.

"You mean he was following the Behemoth too?" Ewan asked.

"Not exactly. This guy is controlling it with some kind of hypnosis I've never seen." Grimaced Géandre. "And that's not all..."

"You talked about an artifact," Ewan pressed him.

The figure in the fog had just disappeared, and the two men tensed, mentally preparing themselves.

"This guy has one... some kind of mobile shield," Géandre said in a low voice.

"A mobile shield?" Ewan repeated in a whisper.

"It's a kind of invisible magical bulwark, and he can literally move it..."

That fit well with the kind of completely unheard of power an artifact could possess, and Ewan gritted his teeth. Of all the people who could have had this kind of object in their possession, the man they were trying to fight was surely the worst choice.

"It's impossible to land any kind of blow or approach him, because he can push us away with a wave of his hand."

Ewan frowned.

"Are you sure about that?" Ewan asked him.

"Yes, I'm sure. Even Valsh's spear couldn't hit him," replied Géandre.

"I hit him with my projectiles," Ewan contradicted him. "So there's definitely a counter to his artifact."

Géandre widened his eyes. In the heat of the moment, he had not paid attention, but now that Ewan was talking about it... No physical attack had been able to get past the strange transparent slabs, unlike the crossbow bolts, which had hit their target directly.

However, he did not have time to think more calmly about a new strategy, as the masked man emerged with velocity from the cloud of opaque smoke to run straight towards them.

He arced his sword forward, and the blade struck the wire rope that Ewan had deployed throughout the area without cutting it. No sooner had the weapon grazed the wire than a spark flashed at the point of contact. The entire cable caught fire, the flames following the entire length of the cable and growing almost instantly until they licked the foliage of the trees, creating a sort of flame barrier that trapped the masked man.

"Listen to me, Géandre, this guy is much more dangerous than he looks," Ewan warned.

"I already knew that, so stop stating the obvious," scoffed Géandre. "This guy has an artifact, a damn artifact!"

"No, I'm not talking about that!" Ewan urged him, "I've already confronted this guy, and he's a leader of a mage organization!"

"A mage?! Are you kidding me!?" Géandre exclaimed.

No sooner had he said these words than a crystalline sound resounded, and a huge spike of ice water shot up from the ground to pierce the curtain of flames from side to side.

The transparent ice, with a height of at least ten meters, began to smoke from contact with the flames; the water turning directly into steam without stopping in a liquid state.

"Damn it!" Géandre exclaimed.

"Call one of your creatures, quick!" Ewan urged him again.

"This guy already killed one of my summons!" Géandre protested. "If I call another one, he'll kill it too!

"If you don't call one, we're going to die!" Ewan said fiercely.

Géandre clenched his teeth. This guy didn't understand that for him, the creatures he captured and trained were like family members. He didn't want to sacrifice another one unnecessarily, and frantically looked for another solution.

Faced with the inaction of the other hunter, Ewan then pulled him by the collar to drag him with him just in time under a tree: the masked man had just climbed on the edge of the icy peak positioned horizontally, and observing the surroundings, was trying to spot the two fugitives.

As the monster trainer obviously refused to call on his creatures, Ewan would have to fall back on another plan.

"You must have a ranged attacker in your group, right?!" Ewan whispered sharply.

"Y-Yes," replied Géandre.

"In that case, we need to attack this guy on two fronts," said Ewan in a low voice.

"He's probably currently trying to kill the Behemoth," Géandre informed him.

The masked man, still perched high on the ice pick, finally spotted his targets and jumped down to their level.

"He's coming! Let's split up!" Said with haste Ewan.

"Keep him busy a fex minutes, the time for me to go and come back with Thervis!" Answered him with haste Géandre.

The two men didn't waste a second more, and going in two opposite directions, saw from the corner of their eyes the masked man landing on the ground gently; two magic circles appearing under his feet to slow his fall.

Slipping through the trees, Ewan threw explosive spikes in his wake and planted them in the ground.

If this guy was trying to follow him, he was in for a pleasant surprise.

However, the young hunter was not getting any ideas: he was not sure he would be able to overcome this enemy, and the only strategy he could apply for the moment was to gain as much time as possible, hoping that other hunters would come and join them after they saw the green light that continued to shine above them in the sky.