Chapter 205: Amp-Bush
It was a new day, and the group had just set up a new campsite after having another couple of close calls with some Gallian scouts. Illococoo and Charlotte were watching Tiffania practise her Void Magic, which was progressing at a good rate, especially Charlotte's presence to provide some advice on things. She might not be a Void Mage, but Charlotte was a genius at all things magical regardless.
Her mother was resting in a nearby tent, the woman had spent the entire night awake and watching the tent entrance for any intruders, thinking someone would send an assassin for her... Truly, it was an unsettling and morose situation. Michael genuinely hoped they could help her, despite the little time he'd known her.
Charlotte's stories of the woman made her out to be one of the kindest people around. Even in madness the woman attempted to keep her child safe, even if said child was just a doll.
As for what Michael was doing? Well, he was upside down, doing situps from a nearby tree branch. Yeah, pretty boring, but with Ralf gone, he needed to remind himself to keep up his training and exercises. He was honestly running himself ragged, with little to no time to himself lately..
He'd train himself to exhaustion in the day, occasionally hunting to prolong their supplies. In the afternoon he'd spend his free three hours in the Book of Heroes... Well, more like two hours and two minutes... He still didn't last very long against Slark.
With him both physically and mentally exhausted after that, he was the first to watch the camp while everyone was asleep... Compared to his old world where the toughest thing he had to do was go to school, this would be compared to a man having almost two full-time jobs...
Despite it all though, Michael felt satisfied with the way things were going... For now at least. He was still incredibly tense, feeling as if something was going to happen to stop the group from leaving this world. But this feeling was slowly calming down the closer Tiffania got to learning the World Gate spell.
Letting out a huff, Michael does one more upside down sit up before dropping to her feet. Stretching himself out and wiping sweat from his forehead. He was about to pull out a change of clothes from his inventory when he feels something... Off.
He squints and looks around but doesn't find anything out of the ordinary, but still, the feeling remains.
He anxiously wets his lips and gestures at Derflinger which had been stabbed into the dirt not far away, casting Shackles and using the ephemeral orange ropes to pull the sword into his hand. Though, he has to make sure only to grasp the handle with the spell, as the blade would absorb it.
Derflinger gives a slight yelp as he flies through the air and into Michael's hand, the sword clacking its makeshift-mouth in annoyance, "What was that for!?"
"Quiet, sword." Michael whispers as he begins walking towards the others, "Hey guys, I think we should probably-*BANG!*" his voice is silenced as a gunshot goes off, unfamiliar pain ripping through his body.
He tries to speak but all that comes out is, "KKkahhkk..." his hand reaches for his throat and immediately feels the wetness... Blood was spewing from the huge hole in his neck.
"MICHAEL!" Tiffania screams in terror, the girl not able to do anything else but sprint towards him. Illococoo was locked in place, unable to pull her eyes away from the torrent of blood now streaming down Michael's body.
Charlotte managed to keep her senses however, her past experiences with life and death battles allowed her to ignore the fact that Michael had just received an obviously fatal wound. She twirls her staff in her hands and slams it onto the ground, causing a circle of wind surrounding the campsite to explode outwards,
"AAARGGFFFGHH!" a couple unseen men scream as the heavy winds blow them off of their feet. The other's who'd managed to keep their footing is also affected however, their enchanted cloaks blowing off of them and revealing the line of musket man surrounding the treeline.
From the treeline, Loutiel steps out with his wand-sword in hand, a small smile on his face as he looks from Michael and towards the others, "Surrender and you will be unharmed. You have my word on this. This is an order from Princess Henrietta herself, please do not force my hand." he explains, sounding rather arrogant. Probably believing that this fight was already over.
Michael himself was struggling to remain conscious, his mind in overdrive as his survival instincts scream for him to do something, his thought process was so messed up that he didn't even remember to use the skills that would save him. Fortunately, the shock of Loutiel revealing himself swaps his panicked adrenaline to quiet rage.
"Ghkklllll..." he just to name the piece of shit who betrayed them, but blood is all that comes out. When Tiffania finally reaches him, he uses the last of his bodies strength to throw her to the side, allowing him to sacrifice some blood to Dark Pact and activate Shadow Dance without fear of hurting her.
Loutiel and his soldiers look at Michael in surprise as thick, heavy-looking shadows envelop him, leaving only his glowing eyes visible. "Hmph, so you can survive that, then? Let's see if you can survive without a head." he casually remarks while pointing his blade at Michael. "Men, capture the others." he commands as he awaits Michael's attack, his blade becoming surrounded with visible Wind Elemental Energy.
Michael spits out the bullet that was lodged in his throat as Shadow Dance gets to work on healing him. "Lou-tiel..." he rasps out, his throat pulsing with pain as he growls the name.
Loutiel smirks as he hears it, "What, Michael!? Are you so afraid of me?" he invites his enemy forward, his off-hand making a 'come-hither' gesture that only makes Michael angrier.
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