The forest tore past them in a blur of black trunks and whipping branches.
Maya's boots pounded the uneven ground hard enough that each impact sent a sharp reminder up through the half-healed wound in her leg. She ignored it. Pain was cheaper than being dead. Ahead of her, Vessa ran with the same relentless pace, sword in its usual small length, being a knife it always was.
The rest of the strike team beside them moved in a loose, breathing cluster around them, no one wasting breath on unnecessary talk.
For the first minute the only sounds were the crash of undergrowth, the ragged pull of lungs working overtime, and the distant, fading chaos they had left behind.
Sounds of a battle could already be heard from here. It wasn't hard to realise that Rhuvia and Ines's army had started the battle.
Maya finally found enough air to speak.
"Vessa." Her voice came out rough. "Was that really not a foolish thing? Leaving her there like that. Alone. Will she even survive against that many knights and soldiers?"
Vessa did not slow. She vaulted a low root without looking down, landed clean, and kept going. When she answered, the words were steady, almost matter-of-fact.
"Well, it is natural for you all to have doubts. You haven't seen even half of what Rhuvia can do after all. Not even close to it. Every fight so far you've seen her do, she's had to hold back- how much mana she burns, how wide she lets the spells go. Wind magic isn't the most controllable magic element to use. One full-power gale in a tight formation and half the team is on the ground with their own blood in their eyes. And even if she's Tier 5, even she has to think about collateral damage when using big magic spells."
She glanced once over her shoulder, just long enough to make sure Maya and others were still keeping pace behind her.
"Now there's no one left for her to protect. No one she has to pull punches for. That Viscountess is about to learn what it actually means to stand in front of a real mage. Rhuvia will come out of there alive, believe me. She always finds a way. Worrying about her right now is a waste of breath we don't have. Oi, keep up." She barked at everyone behind her, who were getting left behind.
Maya's jaw tightened with anger as she was trying her best to keep up with Vessa. Vessa was just too fast, and Maya had a wound on her leg, too. But she still gave a short nod and ran with more strength she could gather.
----
Though they had managed to circle past the dungeon gate and angle back toward the village, their hard-won speed did not last.
The forest thickened again. Roots rose like half-buried traps. Low branches forced them to duck or risk a face full of leaves at the pace they were keeping. Vessa still led, cutting a path that stayed off the monster trail while still driving them toward Buena. The others kept formation behind her as best they could, breathing hard, exhausted, eyes constantly flicking between the dark trunks.
One of the younger adventurers, lean and quick, pushed ahead to vault a fallen trunk that blocked the narrow gap between two thick oaks. She planted a hand on the bark, coiled her legs, and sprang.
Suddenly a spear came out of the dark at her without warning.
It was a short, heavy throw meant to pin rather than kill cleanly. The shaft hissed past her ribs close enough that the fletching brushed her side.
Instinct twisted her body. Though the movement ruined the landing, making her fall, at least she survived. Her foot caught the far side of the trunk wrong, and she pitched forward hard, crashing into the undergrowth with a sharp grunt and the wet slap of body against damp earth.
The sound cut through the group, making them stop immediately.
Vessa spun, already dropping into a lower stance. "Now what? Who the hell tripped?"
Then she saw the guy just behind the adventurer.
A soldier stood just behind the fallen woman, half-hidden by the trunk's shadow until that moment. The adventurer on the ground still had not noticed. She pushed herself up on one elbow, spit leaf litter from her mouth, and cursed under her breath at whoever had thrown the spear.
"Bastard, that almost….."
She never managed to finish the sentence.
A second figure stepped fully into the thin moonlight behind her. This one wore heavier armor that caught the light even under the trees, polished plates gleaming cold and clean. His longsword was already descending.
The blade took her head cleanly across the neck.
There was a wet, final sound, steel through flesh and bone, followed by the soft thud of a head hitting the ground a short distance from the body. The rest of her collapsed forward without another noise, blood darkening the leaf litter in a spreading pool.
----
For half a heartbeat, no one moved.
Then every remaining member of the strike team saw it.
Maya's breath caught. Drosha's grip on her spear whitened until the wood creaked. The others froze in place, too, their shocked eyes locked on the headless body and the knight who had just straightened, sword still wet, expression unreadable beneath the helm.
Before long, more shapes peeled out of the darkness between the trees. More than thirty in total. Night-work armor mixed with a few heavier sets like the one that had just struck, spears and blades already in hand. They spread in a loose crescent that closed the gaps and cut off the cleanest path forward.
They had superior numbers, fresh legs, and the advantage of having chosen the ground before pinching the strike team altogether.
Even after seeing the situation turned upside down like that, Vessa did not flinch. After escaping the wall of hundreds of disciplined knights, thirty soldiers blocking their way felt almost manageable. Her breathing stayed even. The calculation in her head finished in less than a second.
She glanced once at Maya, then at the rest of the group.
"Let's not run anymore," she said, flat and final. "There's no avoiding it now. We engage here, cut through, and keep moving. Every second we waste is another second the village is in danger. Let's kill every one of these bastards here, once and for all."
Maya's eyes narrowed in understanding. Drosha gave a short, wordless grunt of agreement and rolled her shoulders, already settling into a fighting stance. The remaining adventurers shifted without needing further explanation; those with shields brought them up, those with reach weapons stepped half a pace forward, faces hard.
The soldiers opposite them adjusted their line in silence. The knight who had just killed straightened fully, blood still dripping from the edge of his blade.
Vessa's enchanted knife lengthened into its full sword form with a soft whisper of metal and her own mana.
The forest held its breath for the space of a single heartbeat.
Then both sides moved forward.