Chapter 61 - Hidden sun unit

"Protect the Young Lady!" Sir Carter shouted drawing his sword. Two of the five knights rushed over to where Tessa and Joren were, the Glenn and the others drew their weapons and prepared themselves for battle. 

A flurry of arrows rained down on their position, now corner was open for retreat. The knights tensed preparing to block the oncoming arrows while Arnold put up an earth barrier which was fortified by Derry putting up a barrier as well. 

As the arrows were about to hit their targets, a large, red flame burned the oncoming arrows to a crisp. The sword that Sir Carter was holding was engulfed in red flames. Once the onslaught of arrows descended upon them, he activated his fire mana and with one slash, burned them all. 

Once the fire dissipated, figures dressed in red and black clothing descended from the shadows until the number reached nineteen. The symbol of the sun was draped on their clothing like the Knights protecting Tessa, but unlike them, these figures weren't dressed in the usual metallic armor. 

These people wore light thin leather armor covered by a red and black skin-tight suit that also covered their entire head. Each of them was equipped with daggers in each hand and the weakest among them was in the 3rd circle while the strongest was in the 5th circle. 

Looking at their attire and the orange mana surrounding their body, Joren assumed these people belonged to the Solight Noble house. "Friends of yours?" He asked, still holding Tessa in his arms. 

She pushed him off and adjusted her clothing. "No, definitely not friends, but they do come from my family home." She had a nervous look on her face as if she was scared of them. She positioned her hands in a type of stance that Joren didn't recognize as a fighting stance.

"What are they doing here then? Don't tell me you ran away from home or something?" Joren did hear the conversation between Tessa and Sir Carter but that didn't mean he knew the full story. He and his companions still needed answers, after all, they were not informed that they would have to be dealing with forces from a Noble family. 

"It's complicated, you don't need to know anything commoner! Just do your job!" She didn't even glance at Joren when she spoke those words. Her eyes stayed glued to the enemies in front of them as if once she looked away, she would die. 

"What's going on?! Who are these people?!" Glenn asked as he moved closer to Sir Carter.

"Not now, focus on the task at hand, I'll explain everything to you once they are dealt with." Sir Carter readied himself and prepared to strike but before he could, one of the enemies in the front spoke up.

"Carter, the personal Knight of Tessa Solight, hand the girl over and we'll let you go. Our business is with her, not you. There is still time for you to walk away from this, to see that you are on the wrong side, join us, and you will be rewarded." He extended his hand out to Sir Carter. 

Tessa looked back and forth between Sir Carter and the man, anxious about his answer. He had been with her since she was a child and was the last person on her side. If he took his hand, her life would be over. Tessa didn't notice that Joren secretly slipped his hand between hers and she started grabbing it unconsciously. 

"Sorry, but, I already swore my allegiance to the Young Lady and I don't intend to be a traitor to the family, like all of you." At that moment, he engulfed his arms, legs, and sword in red flames. Flames extended from the rest of his body, coating him in a thin layer of fire. 

Tessa visibly relaxed at Sir Carter's answer and that's when she noticed that she was holding Joren's hand. 

"Ew! Get off of me commoner!" 

"Come on, are you not tired of saying the word 'commoner'?" 

"Just stay away from me and focus on stopping the hidden sun unit." 

"Hidden sun unit?" Joren asked 

"Sigh, they are the stealth force of my family. They are trackers, killers, and assassins, and they handle the dirty work of the family. Now, they are my enemies." 

"We need to have a chat once this is handled." Joren got into a fighting position. 

"You're the weakest one here, I doubt you'll be able to do anything." Tessa snorted 

"Oh, we'll see about that," Joren smirked and waited for Sir Carter to make his move. As soon as he did, he would rush in and attempt to kill the strongest hidden sun member here in one go.

"Such a shame" the Hidden Sun leader spoke. "Then allow us to send you to hell." Six members of the hidden sun lept towards the mercenaries while another six lept towards Tessa and her Knights. The remaining seven, the strongest of them, stayed in front of Sir Carter, prepared to confront him. 

"Not if I send you there first!" Sir Carter swung his sword, slashing at the enemies in front of him. His fire was so hot it scorched the ground without even touching it. The hidden sun members moved out of the way, avoiding the fire slash and the flames hit the forest trees, burning them to a crisp. 

At that moment, everyone attacked. Glenn, Arnold, and Lenny took the offensive while Derry supported them with her Arcane magic and Pantera focused on stopping their movements and healing her companions when needed. 

The Knights held off five of the six hidden sun members while the sixth one charged at Tessa and Joren. 

"Tsk! {Flair}" Very tiny balls of fire appeared around the hidden sun member coming their way, blocking his path on every side. Tessa clamped her hand and the tiny balls of fire exploded in a devastating ball of fire. 

"Impressive," Joren remarked unserious about the situation they were in. 

"Can take this seriously! My life is on the line here!" 

"Don't worry beautiful, I won't let anyone harm you." He blew a kiss at Tessa and started walking backward. 

Coming from the fire and smoke, the hidden sun member readied his daggers to pierce Joren in his unsuspecting back. The length of the daggers extended when flames erupted from them and solidified making the daggers short have the same length as short swords.

"Amature." The hidden sun member spoke. 

"Joren, watch out!" Tessa called out, pointing behind Joren. She had genuine worry on her face. Whether it was worry for Joren's life, or for her's, he didn't know.

"Aw, look at you opening up to me." Right as he was about to get stabbed in the back, five mana arrows implanted themselves in the hidden sun member, one in each leg and three in his back, joren was already thinking ahead. 

He turned around with a smile on his face and punched the hidden sun member so hard, a shockwave rippled through the air. Lightning crackled under his feet and he rocketed off, appearing in front of the hidden sun member, cutting off his head in one go. 

"And that, ladies and gentlemen, is why you never underestimate your opponents." He bowed toward Tessa, leaving her in shock. 

Sir Carter easily defended against the six hidden sun members who were in the 4th circle. As someone in the 5th circle, a 4th circle cultivator couldn't do much against him even if they teamed up. The squad leader of this hidden sun unit, however, was a problem since he was also in the 5th circle. 

"Out of my way!" Six of the Hidden Sun members rushed at Sir Carter but were stopped as fire surrounded Sir Cater in the form of a dome preventing them from attacking as the fire would burn them. One by one, a spear of fire jetted from the dome, piercing the six hidden sun members in the shoulders. 

"It's futile, Carter! Give up! This will only end badly for you." The Unit Leader dove into Carter's flames, covering his body with flames of his own, and clashed swords with Sir Carter which vanquished the fire dome. 

The confrontation between the two 5th-circle cultivators was on a different level than Joren was used to. The sheer force of their clashes rocked the forest and sent ripples down everyone's spine. Small craters formed in the ground with each step they took and each time their swords clashed, but their speed was so fast that by the time the crater was formed, they were already gone from that spot. 

"You should have joined me when you had the chance!" The hidden sun unit leader dodged Sir Carter's coming attack and cut his wrist. 

"Argh!" He winced in pain, stepping back, putting distance between the two of them. But the unit leader didn't allow that to happen. He pursued Sir Carter and continued his onslaught, stabbing, and slashing away, nicking away at his body. 

Panting heavily, Sir Carter engaged the unit leader dismissing the bloody cuts he had on his body. He skidded his sword on the ground picking up dirt, and flung it in the unit leader's direction. 

The dirt caught fire as it soared in the unit leader's direction. He easily moved out of the way but was met by Sir Carter coming down with a vertical sword strike helped by gravity as he was in the air. 

When their blades met, the powerful collision jetted fire in all directions. The unit leader wasn't weak at all but he still had to use a lot of his strength so he wouldn't be pushed back. The sheer force of the attack made his bones rattle. 

Sir Carter, wanting to end things as quickly as possible, kicked the unit leader in the leg causing him to lose balance. He followed up with a powerful palm strike amplified by his red flames sending the unit leader flying backward. He kept his momentum by slashing the air vertically and horizontally sending two fire slashes at the unit leader. 

"Shit!" The unit leader cried out. As he was distracted by their swords crossing, he didn't protect his lower body which put him in his current position. A palm-shaped bruise singed on his chest as the fire burned his clothes slightly. The unit leader didn't even have time to catch his breath as two fire slashes were coming his way. 

He dodged the verticle slash by dodging opposite to it, but as he did, the horizontal quickly made its way over to him, forcing him to jump in the air, the worst place to be when avoiding an attack. 

A red light shined in the corner of the unit leader's vision. The heat was intense and the sky slightly darkened. When he turned, Sir Carter was above him, his sword burning fiercely with his red flames, ready to strike him down. The unit leader knew from feeling the intensity of the flames that even if he managed to block the attack, he would be injured, but that was his only option. 

Flames erupted from the unit leader's body as he prepared himself to tank Sir Carter's attack as best as he could. When Sir Carter brought his sword down, six figures appeared around him. They each had injured shoulders but that didn't stop them from engaging Sir Carter. 

One by one they positioned their daggers in the shape of an X, flames engulfing their blades, and they brought their hands down to their sides, firing an X-shaped fire slash at Sir Carter on six sides. 

'Shit I can't dodge!' As Sir Carter was prepared to stop his attack and try his best to defend himself, lightning struck in the paths of the X-shaped fire slashes, fizzling them out.