Chapter 197: Battle in Rosewater---2

Hunter had reminded the others to wear armor, but he himself had not followed the advice. So, the dagger was buried directly into his body. Duncan twisted further, with a sneer on his lips, and malice in his eyes.

"Noo---" A high pitched devastated scream came from Zyra’s mouth. Without thinking, she hurled her spear with every ounce of force in her body. The weapon hissed through the air and slammed squarely into Duncan’s chest with a sickening thud, coming out of his back.

Duncan staggered back, coughing up blood, his eyes wide in disbelief.

Hunter didn’t waste the opening. Moving as if he didn’t feel the pain from being stabbed, he grabbed the handle of Zyra’s spear and pulled it from Duncan’s chest. After ripping it out, he spun around, slicing the bandit leader’s throat in one clean, fluid arc.

Duncan collapsed into the mud, twitching as blood pooled around him.

Suddenly, a large bandit leaped out from the smoke behind Hunter, extending two beefy, clawed hands to snap Hunter’s neck while he was injured and bleeding.

Hunter, without even looking back, flicked his wrist and threw Zyra’s spear over his shoulder. It spun through the air and left a large hole in the attacker’s right hand. The man shrieked in agony as it burrowed through, flying back to its owner.

Zyra caught it mid-air as she slid past Hunter, spinning around and thrusting it straight through the attacker’s throat without mercy.

"Damn!" Tessi whispered. "Okay, she is cool. Or her moves are cool."

Bianca rolled her eyes.

"Move ladies, strike them down! Leave no enemy standing or breathing!" Achilles yelled from the rear. "I want to see blood, I want lifeless bodies. I want every precious thing they brought with them. We are bandits today. So look alive--"

"Shut up." Bianca snapped. She sped away the next second, taking out a female bandit the very next second. If you asked her, the bandits were fools. They had come wearing similar red leather outfits, so they stood out in the crowd. It made it easy to pick them off like cherries.

The arrival of Zyra’s team turned the tide instantly.

Achilles’ eagle swooped down from the clouds like living lightning bolts, it’s talons shredding the remaining bandit archers perched on the backs of transport beasts.

Bianca was a blur as she twisted necks, her inferno lynx bounded across the battlefield, its body engulfed in white-hot spirit flames as it tackled the bandits.

Armillo’s bear crashed through the enemy lines like a bowling ball, throwing men into the air with heavy paw-swipes, while Tessi’s Twin Echo Leopards moved like shadowy blurs, disarming bandits before they could even draw their swords.

Zyra’s own beast squad went absolute wild.

Squirrel whipped its bushy tail, shooting concentrated arcs of fire at the bandits trying to flee. Her Razor-Beak Ducks swooped around at ankle height, their beaks snipping through tendons and boots with terrifying efficiency. Meanwhile, spice slithered through the chaos, spitting poisonous mist that turned bandits purple and paralyzed them in seconds.

With Duncan dead and his Fire Bull became weak and confused, setting itself on fire, the remaining bandits panicked. The terror spread like wildfire. Demoralized and leaderless, the surviving raiders turned to run, but Zyra’s team cut them down effortlessly.

Within ten minutes, the battlefield fell dead silent, save for the crackle of burning wood and the heavy breathing of exhausted warriors.

"Hunter! Oh heavens, Hunter!" Zyra dropped to her knees beside him, her hands trembling violently.

A healing serum materialized in her hands and poured it directly over his gushing side wound. The skin hissed, but the blood swept right through it.

"Dammit! Drink this!" She uncorked a second vial and shoved it into his mouth. Still, red blood spurted out between his fingers.

Panicking, she popped open a third serum and slammed it against the wound, holding her palm down with all her weight until finally his flesh knitted back together and stopped the bleeding.

Through all of this, Hunter just sat there, staring at her with a lazy, lopsided smirk.

Zyra slapped his shoulder_ carefully avoiding the fresh scar. "What is wrong with you?! Do you not feel pain at all?!"

Hunter chuckled softly, wincing slightly. "I feel it. It’s just_ watching you get this mad over me kind of makes the stabbing worth it. Other than Achilles, I have never had anyone fawn over a scratch on my body like this."

"You idiot, this is not a scratch." she muttered, though she pulled him into a tight embrace, burying her face against his neck. "Do you think you can regenerate like a Somnivore?" She muttered. "Next time, I will play hero and you will stay home and cook for me."

He chuckled in response, patting her back.

Quiet returned to the village. Slowly, the underground hiding spots opened, and the surviving villagers began crawling out into the open square. Cries of grief echoed through the ruined village as families found the bodies of their loved ones who hadn’t made it in time.

Tessi moved quickly among the survivors, resetting broken bones and healing them.

Krugger, supported by two young men, limped over to Zyra. He looked broken, his old face covered in soot and tears. He bowed his head. "Ma’am_ if you and your soldiers hadn’t arrived_ Rosewater would be nothing but bones and ash today."

Tessi walked over, wiping sweat from her forehead, and reported, "Divine maiden, we have six confirmed deaths. The injured are okay now, I have healed them."

Divine Maiden? The surviving villagers froze, turning their heads toward Tessi in shock. Whispers immediately spread through the crowd.

"The Divine Maiden? She came here for us?" Krugger’s eyes went wide.

Tessi beamed proudly, She tipped her chin and said, "Yes, this is the real Divine maiden. Not the fraudster hiding in the capital. This is the Divine maiden of the wild lands."

Whispers swept through the air. While Zyra rolled her eyes, people looked at her with eyes that carried worship.

Krugger pressed his palms together, stretching his arms out far in front of him, and pressed his forehead deep into the dirt. "Divine Maiden! You didn’t just send your divine general to fight for us_ you walked into the fire yourself to save a wretched place like Rosewater!"

Zyra felt a bit awkward under all the bowing, rubbing the back of her neck. "Hey, get up, old man. It’s_ it’s the least I could do. Nobody deserves to get wiped out like this. Ignore what she just said, I am no divine maiden."

Krugger slowly stood up and looked around at his home.

The sight was devastating. The grass-roofed houses they had spent decades crafting were burnt to blackened embers. Storage granaries were smoldering heaps of ash. The entire labor of their lives had been erased in less than an hour.

Mr. Krugger broke down, sobbing uncontrollably as he dropped back to his knees at Zyra’s feet. "Years_ it took us fifteen years to build this tiny haven, and it has been destroyed in minutes! How are we supposed to live? Where do we go? How will we survive the floods?"

He looked up at her with desperate, tear-filled eyes. "Please, Divine Soul maiden! You were sent by the heavens to find us! Please save my people!"

Zyra opened her mouth to speak, but the words caught in her throat.

"Save us oh Divine Soul maiden!" The villages sang, falling to their knees like devout believers.