Chapter 49 Cavalry Arrives

Decem 8th of the year 4831 AS

The wind in her ear and the feeling of the snow being crushed beneath her feet. Shizu and Touma were on full retreat as they ran as fast as they could to their camp.

After rushing back, Shizu and Touma ordered the volunteers and soldiers to prepare for battle. On their tail was a swarm of gengiri that were commanded by a few kengiri. Fortunately, the more dangerous kengiri were occupied by the smell of the curse bait and did not pursue.

While the expedition could push a full retreat back to Shisayama, the effect that a swarm of gengiri and kengiri would have on the nearby ecosystem would be detrimental to Kujyuri as a whole.

The forest near Shisayama extended into many other territories and had many routes that connected these territories to Yamato and Kujyuri. Numerous merchants and travelers made use of these routes and if they were hindered during their travels, trade and commerce would be greatly affected.

Wild animals and game would also dwindle, and the monster attacks would become even more fierce.

Right now, the attacks were only perpetrated by gengiri, but if the swarm of kengiri made the nearby forest their new natural habitat. The attacks will likely include kengiri in the next few days.

The farmers on the outskirts of the village would be endangered and Rulu's visit would be endangered as well.

Shizu explained this to all the men under her and they all agreed, they could not back down from this fight. But this did little to improve the conditions. They were still unprepared for the swarm of gengiri that attacked when they were making preparations.

The camp was in chaos as the volunteers had little experience in combat. They were more adept at hunting rather than combat. They did do their best with hatchets and bows, but their experience in group fighting put them at a disadvantage with the more numerous and coordinated gengiri.

The swarm numbered about 50 and began to spread out across the camp, Shizu was at the heart of the camp and was surrounded by gengiri on all sides. Touma was beside her and was firing off fireballs to repel the enemy.

With iron club and katana in hand, Shizu smashed and bashed the nearby gengiri with a flurry of attacks. This was child's play for the duo and the veteran soldiers, but the volunteers had already taken numerous casualties.

A couple had died due to recklessness and inexperience, but the surviving volunteers were clinging to life with all the might that they could muster.

They swung their hatchets in unpracticed attacks which did little to crack the gengiri's carapace but it yielded under the multiple strikes from multiple volunteers that surrounded a few lone gengiri.

Shizu continued to give orders to her trained soldiers and the volunteers, but some volunteers became overzealous from their pride and arrogance.

"You!! Stop, Get back to your group." Commanded Shizu.

"For Shisayama!! For Rulu!!!"

A volunteer had broken from his assigned group and recklessly charged at the next swarm of approaching gengiri. The man was kicked up into a battle frenzy and had little control of himself.

The expedition was able to finish off the first swarm of 50, but a second swarm came sooner than expected. The cursed bait was agitating the nearby monsters, and this was compounded by the smell of blood in the air from the battle.

As the lone volunteer charged, his anger welled in his heart, but his resolve crumbled as he was swarmed and swallowed by a black tide of insect jaws. His screams were muffled by loud clicking and clacking of the gengiri.

His skin was pierced and torn away from numerous bites that tore chucks of his flesh away. He attempted to reach out for a hand to pull him away, but it was wrapped up by a gengiri that then squeezed to break his arm in an unsightly direction.

The sight caused some of the volunteers to retch as their comrade was being mutilated, his blood pouring on the snowy ground, and it soon turned it to a crimson red.

"Hold fast, stay in your groups and stand your ground."

Shizu intoned to the faltering men in a commanding voice, but her attempt to reassure them was unsuccessful as they all still cowered in fear at the prospect of death.

After the swarm had eaten their fill of the stray volunteer's flesh, the swarm turned its sights on the expedition party. They advanced to the center of the camp, trampling over tents and small bonfires.

The volunteers flinch back and Shizu could only grimace at the current situation. The veteran soldiers were already exhausted by the rushed expedition and the first battle had further drained their stamina.

They have been battling through the night and the morning sun was already shining down on them. Deciding on a plan of action, Shizu commanded Touma.

"Touma! Launch a third flare quickly and everyone else, get ready to retreat!"

"But my lady, we can still fight." Said a volunteer.

"I know, but I do not want all of us to die. Me and my soldiers will hold back the enemy. The villager will take the kibusanshou and ride back to Shisayama for reinforcements."

The volunteers murmured amongst themselves in disapproval as they did not want to abandon their fellow countrymen to die so that they could live.

This caused a bit of pride for her fellow countrymen to rise in her chest and as she was able to tell them to get going, she noticed something.

Her ears twitching and her heart feeling a bit warmer, she asked Touma.

"Do you hear that?"

"No, I .....?"

A sudden rumbling could be then heard from the forest behind the camp and it only got louder. Hope began to grow in everyone's hearts as they held their breaths in anticipation.

As if answering their prayers, the figure of a kibusanshou could be seen bursting forth from the forest, on its back was the figure of a large man in armor and a small boy holding onto the large man's back.

"Kajima!? Azi?!"

Shizu shouted in shocked surprise and began waving her arms to get the mounted pairs' attention. Noticing the familiar voice, Azi spoke out first.

"Kajima! Over there!"

Patting Kajima's shoulder, Azi directed his attention to the swarm of gengiri directly in front of the expedition.

"I have a plan, just follow my lead"

"Wait boy, you can't..."

Before Kajima could stop Azi, the veins on Azi's legs and arms glowed a bright blue as he leapt off the kibusanshou's back and landed on the snowy ground that was behind the expedition.

A distance of 10 meters spanned between himself and the expedition party, so to close the distance Azi focused and infused fire elemental energy into his leg which now glowed red.

With a loud boom, Azi jumped high enough that he crested a couple meters above the expedition party and aimed his landing to be in front of the approaching swarm of gengiri.

As he landed with Shizu's umbrella weapon in hand, he infused his hands and the umbrella with fire elemental energy that glowed numerous crimson red lines across its surfaces.

Plunging the tip of the umbrella into the snowy ground, red lines began spreading like lightning all across the ground in front of him. The lines reached under the legs of the gengiri and in the span of a few seconds, numerous explosions sounded out as small patches of earth beneath the swarm erupted into small exploding fireballs.

Shouting, Azi ordered Kajima.

"Kajima!! Charge the flank!!"

Kajima sighed, but nonetheless swung his reins with one hand and brandished his halberd with the other as he charged his kibusanshou into the flank of the swarm. The kibusanshou roared a cry of excitement as its heavy foot falls increased in weight and momentum.

As if like a tank, the Kibusanshou plowed it way through the unprepared gengiri that were still reeling from Azi's attack. The explosions blinded them and disoriented their senses.

All they could witness next was the enormous figure of an animal trampling them and a glint of a blade as it harvested their lives like a scythe through wheat.

The expedition group could only look on in awe at the sight of a young child with a happy smile on his face as explosions, fires, and the sight of a kibusanshou raging behind him made them feel a sense of incongruity. This was only compounded as the child he waved to them in a cheery mood.

Their awareness was brought back by Azi's shout of encouragement.

"Come on, Let's go!"

Gripping their weapons tighter, Shizu and her men began to crack a smile as they looked at each other with knowing looks. A single word then rang out from everyone.

"CHARGE!!!"

With a war cry the expedition sallied forth to slay the enemy. The once one-sided battle of assured defeat for the expedition party, had turned into a victorious killing spree with timely help of Azi's and Kajima's arrival to the battlefield.

From this the duo of Azi and Kajima had gotten themselves the unofficial alias of Linebreakers amongst the villagers of Shisayama.

When the battle was concluded, Azi was pulled away to a private tent by Shizu and Kajima.

Kajima was going to give Azi a scolding for his reckless action and Shizu was going to admonish him for his lack of self-care.

Both were worried sick about him these past 5 days and Azi knew that there was no way he could get out of his punishment for his transgressions.