"AAAHHH!" Justin, the mage, cried in pain as one of the lions bit his leg.
Vimur saw the lion's attack and slashed at it, but the lion managed to retreat in time. No harm was done to it.
"Damn it! They're too fast!" Vimur cursed in frustration, "None of my attacks are working!"
Till now, Vimur had tried his best to defend against the intruders attacking them. However, much of it was in vain. Had his opponents been humanoids, he would have been able to handle them somehow, but against fast beasts, his attacks were as good as male Giholo rioting against feminism on their home planet.
'Damn it... things are not looking good.' Vimur bit his lips.
BANG!
BANG!
BANG!
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtEula was continuously shooting at the creatures, but the bullets seemed to have little effect. Her shots were only effective when the creatures were closer to them. The creatures understood it and maintained their distance from her from then on.
They stopped targeting her and focused on the others who were more vulnerable. That's how their mage got hurt. All of them tried contacting the rest of the team, however, the communication channel had been blocked by one of the enemies standing far behind the animals.
Out of the ten mercenaries and five guards they had on board, only two of them were with Vimur. Eula's bodyguards were already dead and the rest of the mercenaries had gone along with Ashton to take a look around the lower levels. Avvo was missing and the strategists... well, god knows what they were doing.
Out of the other two mercenaries, one was a mage and the other was Laihud, the team's healer. The mage was the first one to get attacked and hadn't recovered since. Laihud was trying his best to get the mage back up, but his wounds ran deeper than he thought they did.
All this time, Eula was standing behind them as three lion-like creatures began encircling them. Had they wanted to, they could have ended the farce by now. After all, only Vimur was trying to hold them off while the rest of them were rendered useless. However, the white-furred creatures seemed to be in the mood to play.
'Those bastards are quite cunning... Instead of sending people after us, they sent animals because Eula's charms won't work on them.' Vimur shook his head, 'If only these Nemean lions were a bit younger, I would have been able to handle them. But... I don't think anyone can handle three fully grown bastards on their own.'
"It's no use. Just give up already." A tall dark man barked from far away, "Hand the bitch over to us and I'll let you live... at least."
Vimur did not reply to the provocation and focused on keeping the lions at bay. The first and final line of defence between his enemies and Eula was himself. If something happened to him, the rest of them would soon follow him to the afterlife.
They were completely trapped. As they were hemmed in from one side by the white lion, while the other side was blocked off by the remaining two. One of them was injured thanks to Vimur's and Eula's continuous efforts. But the other two were unscathed.
The lion started circling them and began slowly moving in, meanwhile his uninjured partner flanked them. As for the injured lion, it was lying near the escape exit to prevent the prey from escaping. Vimur saw this as an opening... not for him, but for the rest.
"Laihud... listen carefully to what I'm about to say. There's a way we- you can retreat to safety." Vimur sighed and threw away his shield, "I'll take care of the injured pussycat. When you see the chance, make a break for it along with the lady. Once you're safe, contact the others. Is that clear?"
"...Yes." Laihud clenched his fists as a look of frustration dawned on his face. "The question is... will you be able to handle it alone?"
"Huh. I wouldn't be much of a mercenary if I can't put down an injured cat, now would I?" Vimur smiled, "You should think about how fast can you run from here."
They were moving towards the exit slowly... but then the unharmed lion charged at him. He held tightly to his sword, ready to strike, but to his surprise, the lion suddenly stopped.
Vimur got agitated and was about to charge at the lion when he heard a blood-curdling scream. He turned immediately towards the exit. The injured lion used the distraction to attack the mage once again.
The mage kept attacking the creature, as it bit into his shoulder. But it was all in vain, he could only scream in agony as he was dragged back and thrown out of the way. The rest of the lions kept biting and slashing their claws on the mage till he stopped moving. The mage was dead.
Laihud and Eula were in danger of getting attacked as well. But were able to jump away in time before the beast could attack them. But Laihud wasn't unscathed. The bastard lion dug its claws into his thigh. The wound wasn't deep so Laihud was able to heal himself easily.
He was enraged. He didn't know any offensive spell that would have worked against a Nemean lion, but he was ready to rip them apart with his hands.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmBut before he could, something landed right in front of him. It was Vimur. His armour was shattered into pieces by a single blow of the lion. The Lion was standing on top of his head and roared loudly.
"Take... her and... go!" Vimur shouted while grabbing onto the lion's jaw, "There's no time!"
Laihud heard him, but couldn't take a single step. He was in a state of shock. The entire squad of elite mercenaries were about to get wiped out like they were nothing? How could it happen to them?
In the end, Eula was the one who had to grab him and made a break for the exit, "Just hold on, we'll be back with reinforcements-"
The Lion was about to deal the final blow to Vimur when numerous wolf-like creatures rushed past Eula and started attacking the lions.
"Looks like I'm right on time. Damn... you people look like shit." Ashton turned his attention toward Vimur, "I thought you said you could handle any pussy in this galaxy? Why are you struggling against them then?"
[And you're some pussy-slayer right?]
'I have slain more than you at least.'
At this point, the man in the black suit interjected, "Who are you?"
"Let's see... you want the corny reply, the cheesy reply, the cool reply or no reply?" Ashton shrugged before grabbing the lion by its tail and throwing it at the man, "I'm not in the mood for chatting with you, so let's go with no reply."