Chapter 207 - 208
Thick streams of water began to seep out of the ground at Caedmon’s feet until they formed a dozen globes of liquid that were large enough to completely encase an adult man. Floating above the group, the foremost sphere hardened into a hefty ball of ice that quickly flew through the air and crashed onto a part of the path that one of the oncoming attackers was about to pass by. Caedmon’s spell was avoided with ease, at which point he froze the rest of the globes and launched them forward at the same time.
A hooded, middle-aged man suddenly blinked into existence a ways down the pathway, crushed beneath one of the icy spheres before the large projectile cracked and fell apart into several pieces. Seeing the blood that had spattered around the corpse, Anice almost fainted.
Her father wasn’t a fighter, however, so it could already be considered lucky that he was able to kill one of their unseen enemies. Mr. Albeck, on the other hand, was more versed in the use of offensive magics and decisively converted his shield into a whirlwind of sharpened ice scales that quickly engulfed the path ahead like a storm of razorblades. The spell conversion successfully drew blood from all of those that approached—the closest being about fifteen paces away—and, although not managing to inflict any significant injuries, it disrupted whatever spell or enchantment their attackers were relying on to obscure themselves from sight.
In the midst of the confusion, the horses reared violently and neighed in fright before dashing off in random directions, leaving Anice and her friends more exposed.
Another arrow suddenly flew from behind the cover of a distant treetop and pierced Mr. Albeck’s abdomen with such strength that it punched directly through his body and sailed on for another hundred paces or so before silently falling onto a patch of roadside grass. Judging by the magic that Anice had briefly sensed on it, the projectile had been reinforced in some way.
"Jin!"
Caedmon immediately seized control of his friend’s spellwork, maintaining the flurry of scales so as to hamper the movements of those that were now approaching them with well-timed steps.
Seeing that Caedmon’s spell would only delay their attackers for a couple of seconds at most, Mr. Albeck coughed up a large amount of blood while roaring out with his dying breath. At his behest, a fifteen-pace stretch of the pathway undulated as if the earth itself were shivering from the cold, before abruptly parting to create a large pit with a depth akin to the height of two men. Most of the approaching assailants fell into the hole, only one managing to leap free from its confines before the walls of earth on either side smashed inward and crushed those trapped within.
Seeing the scene before her as if time had slowed, Anice screamed as the hooded man sprinted through the icy winds, leapt skywards and then landed atop her father with no small amount of force. The second he fell into their midst, he plunged a dagger into the area just beneath Caedmon’s collarbone, her father wrestling with him with all his strength after casting a worried look in her direction.