Chapter 18: Attacked

Just as Cavell was driving, he noticed two unfamiliar chariot closing in on them. The car's speed was only 45mph—so the chariot pulled by horses gradually catched up. Cavell wondered if these were Trion knights assigned to report information, but he tossed the possibility to the back of his mind. The chariots were brown, while Trion chariots were typically blue.

"We're being followed." Cavell heard a voice from behind. He looked at the rearview mirror and saw Ace–that still had his eyes closed–ruffling his hair with a small frown on the face.

"Indeed so, young master." Cavell replied. He was shocked by his young master's senses. The chariots weren't loud and was still several tens of meters away, so he was very surprised his young master knew.

Ace on the other hand, was frowning inside. 'Is it some nobles exacting revenge? My sister? Some organization?' He wasn't unaware of the risk when this operation started, he knew he will make various enemies. Just from the weeding of criminals, he made quite a name for himself.

Just as he was thinking, a figure in black clothing raised its hand and held a lit dynamite!

Cavell obviously saw this and turned the wheel forcefully to the side. The Trion knights in chariot noticed it as well and turned, following the car. This made the dynamite unable to land on the car, but it landed near the Trion chariot.

BOOM!

It exploded loudly. The area it exploded was devastated by the mighty explosion, and the knights were thrown out of the vehicle as the chariot flipped.

Meanwhile inside the car, Ace and Cavell felt the vibrations from the explosion.

"Hold on, young master!" Cavell shouted while exerting force on the pedal—further accelerating the car— and turning left of the fork road.

BOOM!

Another explosion sounded. The sound of deafening explosives had probably alerted the residents of Deca Street. They curiously looked and saw a blue car being chased by two brown chariots.

One of the chariot had a large crossbow—more like a smaller version of ballista—aimed at the car.

POW!

A ballista bolt hurled towards the car in a frightening speed. It would undoubtedly hit!

Seeing the incoming attack, Cavell gritted his teeth.

"HOLD ON YOUNG MASTER!" Ace held tightly at the seat.

Cavell made a oversteer. The inside of the car was thrown to the sides. If Ace hadn't held tightly, he would have been thrown as well. Seatbelts aren't actually mandatory in this world!

BAMMM!

The large arrow-like ballista bolt completely blasted the rear segment of the car. Rocking the car's inside and almost flipping it over.

'The bolt was magically enhanced!' They both exclaimed. The bolt completely destroyed the rear, which a normal bolt wouldn't be able to do.

The car was badly damaged and had the rear completely blown-off. No doubt, the steam engine inside the car took damage.

"Young Master! The engine's damaged!" Exclaimed Cavell, confirming Ace's thoughts. The car still slowly moving but was gradually decreasing in speed. The two chariot had started to catch up.

Seeing the chariot getting closer, Cavell glared at them and grabbed his massive two-handed sword that was resting on his side. He then stomped his foot on the brakes!

Luckily, Ace was still holding tightly at the chair so he avoided falling forward.

"STAY INSIDE, YOUNG MASTER!" Yelled Cavell loudly at him while getting out of the car with fierce and enraged expression.

Honestly, Ace became a little bit afraid seeing Cavell's face. This was his first time seeing the big muscular man completely angry, and honestly he was hundred times more intimidating.

Gazing at the closing chariot, Cavell growled and raised his sword.

"YOU DARE!"

POW!

A ballista bolt was sent towards him at a terrifying speed. But instead of evading, Cavell gripped his sword with both hand and faced the incoming attack head-on! His massive blue double-edged sword clashed with the magically enhanced bolt.

BAMMMMM!!!!

The bolt was deflected to the side, completely devastating the road. Looking at him from the car window, Ace's eyes widened in shock and awe. From what he knew, Cavell was the best knight in the entire Trion family.

Now, seeing this display of pure prowess, Ace was speechless. Even with all his mana poured into a water barrier, he highly doubt he could defend against such a magical bolt without losing an arm.

The figures—two in each chariot—saw the Blue Knight's power and looked at each other. They nodded. All of them immediately jumped from the chariot. Suddenly, the four of them took out a weapon Ace was familiar with: A pistol!

It looked crude compared to typical pistols on Earth but Ace knew there's a possibility that the bullets were also enhanced by magic.

Ace looked at Cavell and shouted, "Shield yours-"

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

The figures fired at Cavell.

Cavell was not unfamiliar with guns, he saw guns before. And he knew their effects and triggers. Clenching his teeth, he raised his sword at lightning speed to block.

The bullets were deflected by his massive sword, but one managed to grazed his shoulder.

"SH*T!" Ace exclaimed. He did not know what magical properties were in the bullets, but he knew it could not be a simple wound. As expected, he heard Cavell growl in pain despite his forceful suppression.

He saw the figures putting something on the pistols and began to aim at Cavell again.

"M*ther f*cker!!!" He got out of the car and sprinted towards the pained Cavell. Without hesitation, he raised his hands and descended it.

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

The bullets headed towards the knight was suddenly blocked by a dome-like structure! The blue barrier managed to block three of the attacks, but the last bullet destroyed the barrier. Fortunately, the bullet was thrown off course and only landed at the road side.

Standing in front of Cavell was Ace. He glared at the back figures and snapped his fingers. Several two meter swords floated above him and aimed menacingly at the attackers.

Ace noticed surprised from their body movements, but he didn't care. With one swift motion, he launched the swords towards the figures.

BAM! BOOM! BOOM! BAM!

Surprisingly, none of the swords managed to hit!

'What the hell!?' Ace exclaimed inside.

He looked at the black figures nimbly dodging the attacks. They would bounce like springs and would twist their bodies in weird angles to avoid his swords. Despite dodging the swords, they still aimed at both of them.

'Sh*t!' Ace hurriedly controlled the swords left behind to block the bullets.

BANG! BANG!

He succeeded in shielding both he and Cavell, he then pointed at the figures and grinned.

The swords broke into tiny pieces and formed small droplets. The droplets were uncountable!

He aimed at the attackers. "Dodge this!"

Bullets made of water rained at the figures with frightening speed. Seeing the unavoidable attack, the figures stopped moving and simply stood. The figure didn't even bother shielding themselves.

"What are they doing!?" He voiced in bewilderment, but he didn't stop the attack. Instead, he injected more mana on the bullets making it glow brighter.

The bullets of water rained mercilessly towards the figures. Ace could hear the sound of cement being blasted to smithereens, and loud explosions. He felt satisfied that he delivered such a force towards these mysterious fellows.

As the dust and debris cleared, Ace saw the scene in front of him. But his grinned vanished when he witnessed the unbelievable sight.

The area around the black figures had been devastated. The road was filled with holes, the chariot and even the horses were littered in holes, but the figures were unharmed!

They stood there, but their outfit were torn with holes, exposing their skin. But the skin was unharmed. But that wasn't the strangest part, the skin was transparent!

Suddenly, the gun held by the figures began glowing in green. It was aimed at him and Cavell.

Seeing this, Ace gathered all water in around 100 meters from himself. This was their limit distance he could control the water without leaving his control.

He conjured the most powerful shield he could. From what he saw, those guns were undoubtedly enchanted. Underestimating the bullets fired by those guns would undoubtedly result in death.

It wasn't long before a massive dome appeared, protecting both him and Cavell.

The figures pulled the trigger and fired, four green bullets came out and collided with the dome.

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! The blue dome shook immensely from the impact.

Unexpectedly, the bullets weren't able to get through, but the green glow spread throughout the blue barrier and making it crackle. Ace knew, the dome was leaving his control.

CRAACKKKK! The barrier shattered like broken glass.

"ARGH!" Ace groaned in pain. There was not enough body of water in the area that he could control, unlike in the Manor that he could prepare large amounts of water. This was one of the most fatal weaknesses of a Water Mage, they needed water.

With no other choice, he used his mana to create the barrier instead. And with the barrier completely destroyed, he suffered something called a Mana Backlash. He felt a stabbing pain from his chest.

Cavell was in a state of disbelief when he saw his young master perform magic. But when he heard his groan of pain, he momentarily forgot his and ran towards Ace.

"Young Master!" Cavell shielded him with his body while glaring at the tattered black-cloaked figures. Although Cavell was experiencing extreme pain from his bullet wound, he tried his best to suppress the pain.

PLURT! Cough! Ace coughed up a small trickle of blood. The backlash from having the mana structure destroyed was no joke. According to Castileo's memory, if a person's mana is destroyed, it would undoubtedly damage the person's mana heart and other organs.

Now that he was in the right state of mind, he thought as to why he did that. But he knew it wasn't him, it was Castileo. But he didn't have time to think about that increasing influence.

Staggeringly getting up. He looked at the Cavell's large back. He then looked at black figures. He stared at them with scorn.

He didn't know who these people was, but judging from their weaponry and skills, both him and Cavell thought of people from the Armorial Kingdom's Capital.

Only those people could have such weaponry of such caliber. But they were still uncertain of that. Based on the skin, they could also be from another Kingdom. But one thing is for sure, these individuals were highly trained in such weaponry.

"Goddamit... " He muttered under his breath. He highly doubt that Cavell and him had a chance of winning. The knight was already injured, while he didn't have enough mana and water in the surroundings.

Breathing heavily, Ace readied himself a fight to the death with hardened expression. Even Cavell did the same.

Cavell looked at the figures with pure hate. But deep down, he hated himself for failing his young master. Looking at Ace, his grip on his sword tightened, he clenched his jaw hard.

Blood started to trickle down.

'I shall fulfil my oath, Milady.' Cavell raised his sword. But it was not aimed at the figures, but to himself.

With a swift motion, his left arm fell to the ground. The knight slashed his own arm!

Ace was dumbstruck by the sudden action of the knight. He saw Cavell's arm falling to the ground with a thud and he wasn't the only one so. The figures looked at eachother with questioning gaze.

Cavell suddenly began to mutter a rhyme!

"One Knight, Two Arms. Sealed Inside, Place To Hide."

Ace looked at him in inquisitive gaze. He was outrightly confused by the sudden action and wanted to ask Cavell what was wrong, but held himself back.

The figures sensed the strangeness of the knight and hurriedly aimed at the two of them.

Cavell looked at the figures with cold eyes. His expression, indifferent, as if not feeling the pain from his shoulder.

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

The gun shots rang in Ace's ears. But for some reason, he saw the world pause momentarily. He suddenly felt fear.

Fear and Terror.