Chapter 112

(Mihar and Eri POV)

Mihar was glad that Ace spent time training him in Observation Haki. If Ace didn't, he and Eri would probably be dead by now. 

With Eri safely in his arms, Mihar darted across the carnival that suddenly turned into a hellish battleground they needed to escape immediately. Mihar was nimble enough to crouch behind any reliable cover as he moved while bullets whizzed towards him.

"Sensei! I… I'm scared!" Eri mumbled into Mihar's chest as her hands trembled, no doubt shocked by the noise of gunfire and explosions.

Mihar couldn't afford to respond to Eri. He held her closer instead, hoping that it was enough to convey to her that he'll do anything to keep her safe. Tired and slightly weary from the stress of suddenly being attacked, Mihar hid behind a carnival booth to catch his breath.

His senses screamed, and Mihar didn't hesitate to act. It wasn't safe to rest here. Groaning at the effort, Mihar jumped away just in time as the booth he used as cover exploded from a bazooka shot.

"Damn it! How the hell are so many of them here?" Mihar said, frustrated at their current situation.

Three marines suddenly appeared in front of Mihar with their rifles at the ready, aimed at him. Ignoring the pain from his shot up shoulder, Mihar raised his pistol and fired three quick shots. Each of his shots hit their intended targets. The three marines that appeared in front of Mihar collapsed in a heap sporting bullet holes on their foreheads.

Mihar didn't stop to look at the result of his marksmanship. With cold apathy, he stepped over the corpses of the three young marines he killed. It was either them or Eri, after all.

"He's here! Mihar of the Royal Aces!"

Mihar heard the shouts of marines nearby. He didn't look back and kept running, hoping to lose his pursuers at this big carnival. This was what he's been doing for five minutes now after he and Eri were suddenly surrounded by marines as they watched a circus show in the carnival.

Despite his efforts, Mihar was unable to shake off the marines tailing him. They were either incredibly skilled, or-

"Fuck!"

Mihar suddenly shouted as pain shot up his thigh. He crashed on the ground, clutching Eri to his chest. He looked down at his right thigh and realized it was shot. But, from where? Mihar's basic Observation Haki should've made him notice a nearby presence.

A glint in the distance caught Mihar's eye. Without even thinking about it, Mihar rolled away with Eri still in his arms. Mihar heard a loud thud that sounded like stone cracking from where he was. He didn't need to look to realize that it was because of a bullet.

Mihar raised his pistol and aimed at the tall wooden tower where he noticed the glint. There was a sniper there, at least one. The tower stood tall and would definitely have a good view of the carnival. Was that sniper the reason why Mihar couldn't shake off the marines?

Without hesitation, Mihar fired a bullet at the sniper. If it hit or not, Mihar didn't care. If the marines were as serious as it seemed they were, there were others on that tower. That bullet, even if it hit, wouldn't make much of a difference. Mihar finally had an objective: destroy that watchtower so Eri could escape and find Tanya and Kotatsu. Mihar didn't mind being the bait to lure the marines away from Eri.

Ignoring the pain from his newly wounded thigh, Mihar got up and ran. With each step, Mihar struggled. But, he didn't let the pain slow him down. Pain was good. Pain meant he was still alive.

"Eri, I need you to be brave, okay?" Mihar said. "You'll get out of here safe, I promise."

"What about you, Sensei?"

"I'll be fine, I promise."

A squad of marines spotted Mihar after he spotted them first. One of them, the biggest of the four, was carrying a bazooka on his shoulders. When their eyes spotted Mihar, it was already too late. Mihar's pistol was already aimed at them.

Mihar fired at the big marine carrying a bazooka first. Luckily, these marines were rookies that were only good enough for what Ace called 'run-of-the-mill' pirates. The big guy carrying the bazooka died immediately as Mihar hit him right between the eyes.

With a quick precision, Mihar fired at the other three marines as well. Each of them went down after being shot in the head… except the last one. Instead of a bullet, Mihar's pistol made an audible clicking noise. It was empty.

"Damn!"

Mihar rolled out of the way and found cover behind some random boxes that were thankfully there. The remaining marine fired at where Mihar was a split second ago while Mihar tried to reload his gun, which was difficult to do with one hand.

Unfortunately, Mihar could no longer reload his revolver pistol. There were no bullets left in his pouch and the Living Metal Bullets that Hepha forged for him with Vash's metal arm were still trying to reach him. 

Thinking quickly, Mihar picked up a stone. The remaining marine was not shooting. Mihar peeked out to see the young marine trying to reload the rifle that he mindlessly emptied at the boxes Mihar hid behind. Mihar was thankful that he was dealing with an amateur marine, judging by how he was reloading his rifle in the open like a sitting duck.

Mihar leapt out from behind his cover and aimed at the marine before throwing the stone in his hand. Just as the marine was done reloading his rifle, the stone Mihar threw hit him on the head with enough force for his forehead to bleed as his head jerked back.

The marine fell on his back, letting go of his reloaded rifle in the process. Mihar ran to pick up the reloaded rifle, ignoring the pain shooting up his thigh. Mihar picked up the rifle and with one barely decent arm, aimed at the fallen marine.

The marine recovered from the pain of his head being hit by a hurtling stone just in time to look up at Mihar pointing the barrel of his own gun right at him.

"N-No, plea-!"

Mihar fired one bullet and ended the marine's life. He holstered the strapped standard-issue marine rifle on his back and went to pick up the bazooka on the ground. Mihar was strong enough to pick up the bazooka and place it on his shoulder, once again ignoring the painful protest of his shot up shoulder.

Thankfully, Mihar and Eri were currently hidden from the tall wooden tower. A tall tent blocked them from its view. Mihar then decided to put down Eri.

"Sensei?"

"Eri, I need you to do something for me," Mihar said, placing a reassuring hand on top of Eri's head. "I need you to hide inside those boxes and wait a few minutes. After that, go and find Tanya and Kotatsu. Can you do that?"

"Sensei…"

"I'll lead the marines to the opposite direction of where you need to go."

Eri suddenly hugged Mihar's leg and looked up with teary eyes. Mihar knew that she was doing her best to be brave.

"Be safe, Mihar-sensei!"

"...I will, Eri."

Eri then let go and went to the boxes Mihar pointed at. Once she was hidden, Mihar went into action. He looted the marines' corpses for rifle bullets. Noticing a Transponder Snail Earpiece on the big marine that carried the bazooka, Mihar took it and put it on one ear to listen in on the marines communicating. 

Mihar also found a first aid kit on one of the marines he killed. Thanking his luck, Mihar went to patch himself up. He knew how because Vash deemed it necessary for the crew to know basic first aid and Mihar was thankful that their vice-captain doctor was adamant about it. After patching himself up, Mihar then ran to look for a conspicuous and open spot. He soon found one and the tall wooden tower was also luckily in sight.

The snail on Mihar's ear crackled to life. "This is Eagle Squad, reporting! Mihar spotted!"

Knowing the marines on the tower were looking at him, Mihar hurried up and raised the bazooka on his shoulder and aimed at the wooden tower. He only had one shell and he needed to make it count. With the tower in his sights, Mihar fired his only shot. He watched the shell fly.

"-shot a bazooka! It's coming right at us!" said a panicked marine in Mihar's ear. "Eagle Squad, going do-!"

A loud boom was heard by probably the entire carnival. The bazooka shell he fired hit the top of the tower, engulfing the marines in it in one big explosion. Mihar didn't celebrate even if he wanted to. With his basic attainment in Observation Haki that was noticeably steadily improving from the stress of life and death combat, Mihar felt a few presences approach.

Mihar could have ran and hid… but he didn't. He needed the marines to chase him to the other end of the island away from Eri. So, instead of hiding, Mihar ran for cover and resolved to let the marines find him.

Two squads of marines soon emerged from two corners near Mihar was. San Faldo's carnival, as strange as it sounds, also had some residential areas dotting some parts of the carnival map. Mihar knew that if he wanted to survive, he needed to wisely use these residential areas to engage in urban warfare with the marines. He shouldn't rely too much on the flimsy wooden cover that the carnival booths would provide.

With his rifle trained on one of the marine squads, Mihar opened fire. Two marines were shot down. Mihar didn't hide behind his cover immediately after so that he could be spotted by the marines.

"There he is!"

Once the marines noticed where he was, Mihar ducked. Bullets whizzed past him in a volley. Once it was over, Mihar leapt out of cover and opened fire on the marines before running for them to chase him.

The snail on Mihar's ear crackled to life again. "Squad Six, reporting!"

"Come in, Squad Six!"

"Two of my men are down, requesting immediate backup on the south-western residential area of San Faldo! Mihar has been spotted and we are in pursuit!"

"Copy that, Squad Six!"

"Squad Nine, reporting! We are with Squad Six! Eri of the Royal Aces is missing! I repeat, Eri of the Royal Aces is missing! She is not with Mihar!"

"Copy that, Squad Nine! Priority target is Mihar! You are advised to stay in pursuit!"

"Copy that, Command!"

"This is Command, calling in all squads! Converge upon Squad Six and Nine's location! I repeat, converge upon Squad Six and Nine's location! Capture Mihar of the Royal Aces at all cost!"

Mihar was relieved to hear that he was the priority and not Eri. It would make leading them away from Eri much easier. He then stopped behind the corner of a building before peeking behind him with his rifle aimed. The marine leading the pursuit was shot down, bullets riddling his chest.

"Lieutenant! No!" Mihar heard the marines chasing him shout. He then opened fire again, but not hitting the marines. He was getting their attention. He then listened in to the report, thankful that his decision to take the Transponder Snail Earpiece proved to be wise.

"Squad Nine, reporting! Man down! I repeat, man down! Squad Six Team Leader is down! Where is our backup?"

"This is Squad Twelve, Squad Nine.," said a new voice in Mihar's ear. "We are coming in from the north! Hold him down!"

Mihar, not wanting to make it obvious that he can listen in on their communications, decided to humor the marines and stayed. He engaged with the remaining members of Squad Six and Nine in a firefight while he moved to a favorable position when Squad Twelve arrives.

A few moments later, Mihar's Observation Haki alerted him of a few presences approaching from the north. He then moved to 'accidentally' come face to face with them with a favorable cover he can go behind at a moment's notice.

Soon, Mihar came face to face with another squad of marines. He then shot one of them right in the head before leaping out of their sight and behind cover. What Mihar didn't expect was that the leader of Squad Twelve was rather competent compared to the other marines.

"Command, this is Squad Twelve! I believe Mihar is listening in!"

"Are you sure, Squad Twelve?"

"Positive!"

"This is far from unexpected. All squads, switch channels as planned!"

The transponder snail on Mihar's ear then went silent.

"Well… shit." Mihar muttered under his breath.