chapter 29: Night attack

Jason yawned as he looked out the window, the past few days having been uneventful. The only times it got a little exciting were when Vulcan's team brought over the hover bikes. Seeing those things float and move around like that had racked his brains. Once they were a good distance from the village, they replaced the team of sentries pulling the armored carriages. Not that they were slow; in fact, the sentries pulled the heavy things far faster than any horse would. But the bikes were faster. From outside his own special carriage that Vulcan made for him, Jason could see how the terrain just flew by. It reminded him of when he first rode on a horse with his father when he was a kid. What would have been a month's journey only took two days. They had to eventually let the sentries pull the carriages again. Roriksten was visible in the distance, as well as several civilians taking the same road. He didn't have to wait long for the walls of the town to be seen.

Along the way, many carriages had to make way for their convoy. They gawked at the size of them, wondering where in the world these things came from. Down the road came a guard from the gates riding a horse. "Hold, identify yourselves!" asked the guard. The guards must've been alerted by the large convoy along with the many well-guarded sentries. One of the sentries approached, and the guard got a little wary of his size. It handed a document with the seal and crest of the lord of this very town, along with several other things explaining that this convoy had special privileges and held treasures for His Majesty's anniversary. "Apologies, good sir, we had been expecting your arrival as the lord instructed. Just not as quickly. I will clear the way so you may bypass the waiting line," said the guard as he left in a hurry towards the gate. With everything approved, the convoy began to move again. Passing the long line left some people in grumpy moods. Why is it that these strangers can cut the line while they've been waiting since morning? Others wondered who they were. Only nobles as well as the kingdom's military could get special treatment like this. Reactions like these grew more common when they took the main road into town.

"Mom! Mom! Look, those men are so strong, look!"

"Oh my, what could they possibly be guarding in those things?"

"Hmm, they could be carrying wild beasts. I hear nobles pay top coin to have pets like these."

"Hey, let's go let the boss know what's happening. They have to be hoarding a bunch of gold in there; we're going to strike it big!"

"Are you crazy? Look at those guards, and even the guys pulling those damn things must be stronger than us!"

Like this, a bunch of different conversations could be heard. That last one was a little concerning. If they chose to attack though, Vulcan wouldn't have cared. Cleaning up the filth that were criminals would be a deed that he would take pleasure in.

Lord Roriksten's personal Steward had met up with the convoy once they reached the manor. He had offered the magi-craftsman Geppeto a comfortable room to stay and rest, but Jason refused. Reaching the capital took top priority, so they left after the steward gave them more instructions and paperwork to pass through the next set of towns with ease. With that, they headed off, not even staying a day in town. Jason had everything he needed in his carriage. Food, drink, and a bed. Vulcan was inside the carriage as well and had shown the man some of his "board games" to help pass the time. This time he pulled out an instrument that looked like a longer and bigger version of a lute.

"What's that?" asked Jason, his eyes eyeing the well-crafted instrument. Vulcan strummed the guitar, and it let out a rhythmic sound. "It's called an acoustic guitar. Want to hear a little tune?" asked Vulcan as Jason nodded his head. He began playing one of his many favorite songs during the dark times of his past life, Hurt by Johnny Cash. He began mimicking the voice of the man in black. Jason was mesmerized by the song immediately. Once the song ended, he felt his face was wet from the tears. "Wow, that was amazing. I don't have any words to describe what I just felt from that. You think you can teach me how to play like you just did?" asked Jason as he wiped away the tears. Vulcan handed him the guitar and began to teach him how to hold it and where to place his fingers. Like this, the two passed the time until night began to fall.

In the distance, the road they were taking led to an isolated area off the road. Deep dark woods and several beasts roamed as they watched the convoy pass through. Sentries scanned the area for anything brave enough to attack them. Just then, a massive tree collapsed at the front, effectively blocking further advancement down the road. What alerted Vulcan more was that another tree collapsed behind them as well. That was when the first attack happened. A volley of arrow bolts were shot from both sides in the dark woods. Sentries standing on guard were hit and collapsed dead on the floor.

"What's happening!?" asked Jason as some of the bolts hit his carriage and penetrated through the wood. "Stay down, we're being ambushed," called out Vulcan as he put himself on top of the man to protect him. "I know that, but why aren't you fighting back!?" he said in a panicking tone. He didn't hear any outside combat. Everything went quiet after the arrow bolts hit them. "Who says I won't?" responded Vulcan.

Meanwhile outside, several cloaked figures emerged from out of the forest brush. They held their crossbows aimed at the downed guards. The strange men wore clothing similar to that of ninjas and had black expressionless masks; the eye holes revealed that all of them had glowing red eyes. In the far back, a pair of men wearing the same clothing but different masks. One wore the mask of a wolf while the other of an ape. "This was far easier than I had expected, brother. The white prince will be most pleased," said the ape mask-wearing figure. Something told the wolf mask figure that this wasn't as simple as it seemed as he carefully observed the surroundings, "Careful little brother, we need not let our guard down. Our targets may be a magi-craftsman, but the Order of Nyphili will punish us for being careless," said the wolf mask.

When the lackeys of the two got to the convoy, they were about to roll over the guards to check if they were still breathing. Now was the time to act. Vulcan's sentries grabbed hold of the attackers. Some were grabbed by the necks, others by the legs. Taken by surprise, most of the men couldn't react as the sentries grappled onto them. For those who didn't fall for the trap, they were hit with the crossbow bolts of their own comrades. Vulcan forced the men he took hold of to point their own weapons at the rest of their comrades. Once they served their purpose, he broke their necks. Some had their legs broken like a twig leaving them crippeled. "How is this possible!? We made sure to coat the bolts with a toxin that would leave them paralyzed!" exclaimed the ape mask.

"Fools! Everyone attack, kill them all. We must steal the new secret weapon of the Rodden kingdom. For Lord Nyphil!" ordered the ape mask.

More attackers rushed from the treeline, some pre-shooting more bolts towards the sentries but none managed to slow them down. These enemies were well-trained; they held curved blades and jumped around like real ninjas thought Vulcan. But no matter how skilled they were, they were far weaker in cultivation. They seemed to be peak bronze fighters, while the steel sentry guards were low iron stage fighters themselves. It was obvious who would win soon.

Seeing their side taking heavy losses, the wolf mask sent his partner to aid their fighters. "Hehe, with pleasure. I will show these insects the power of Lord Nyphil!" as he ran to join the fight. While the wolf mask, on the other hand, held a heavy gaze. About a few weeks back, they had received intel that the Rodden kingdom would receive a shipment sent to the capital. A shipment delivered via a large heavily armored convoy, the weapons inside would be able to change the tides of the war between the Oros kingdoms and the Rodden kingdom. In the shadows, the Order of Nyphili supported Oros. This was a well-kept secret, so if they failed now, it would be their heads placed on a spike. Failure wasn't an option.

Just when a steel sentry was done hacking down one of the attackers, a new enemy showed up. He appeared from the shadows as he smashed the sentry with its fist, sending it crashing against a few trees. That hit alone was able to destroy it.

"Too easy, this is too easy. I don't know who you worms are, but you are facing up against me now. I'll show you the great power of our god!"