Ambush on the Journey

Elsewhere, north from Silver City, Kate and Reinhart were in a small town. In order to find Shui, they investigated all locations where the Darino Gang was said to operate, that was on route to where Shui parted from Reinhart. If they had found their headquarters then Kate was planning to head straight there, but despite being a recent force, information was well restricted within the Darino Gang. Even when Reinhart tried to read the memories of some gang members, he wasn't able to find any classified information about the gang because it was sealed. 

"I wasn't expecting our investigation to be very smooth but this is still disappointing. If my guess is right then Shui likely went to their headquarters, but how did he figure out where it was?"

While walking down a road in the town, Kate aired her complaints. She had decided to search for Shui so that they could have their fateful reunion battle, but finding him was seeming to be more troublesome than she thought. She had some hope that Shui would be able to find her if she got close enough, but she still wanted to get a solid hint of his location first. 

"Though I'm not proud to admit it, his control over the soul should be better than mine so he might have a way to get through their memory restrictions."

"He did spend a lot of time studying while I was gone after all. For now, we'll just have to keep checking the towns and villages. However..."

Reinhart understood the reason for Kate's pause so he subtly used intent communication.

[What do you wish to do about them?]

[Can you grasp their strength and number?]

[It's difficult. There seem to be stealth experts among them. Still, I don't believe any of them has a higher cultivation than I do.]

[Hmm, do you think they can move while we're in the town?]

[Based on what I know about the lord here, it's certainly possible. He wouldn't make any moves to harm us, but he would certainly be willing to look the other way if we were attacked.]

[Let's leave the town and lure them out then. Rather than wait for them, it's better for us to choose when they attack. What do you think?]

[I agree, Junior Sister. Let's run so they have to chase us.]

[Sure.]

The two shared a glance, and then dashed towards the town's exit. There was an obvious disturbance around them, but they ignored it as they slipped through the pedestrian traffic. Less than an hour later, the town was behind them and their figures went deeper into the grassland outside the town. A look behind was all it took to find a couple people chasing them. Now that they were in the open, it was easy for Reinhart to check their cultivations.

[As I thought. Two of them are in the Earth Realm, but neither surpass me in cultivation. There are also five at the peak of the Soul Realm and one half-step in the Earth Realm. Their plan is probably to stop me with the two in the Earth Realm and kill you with the rest.]

[Not even an extra Earth Realm assassin? It looks like I'm still being underestimated. Regardless, I think it's time we cut their numbers.]

[Agreed.]

Simultaneously, Reinhart and Kate fired wind bullets at those chasing them. They weren't able to do any damage, but the smokescreen created by the wind bullets hitting the ground was what they had aimed for. Once the pursuers' vision was blocked, Reinhart cast Verdant Cross at them. The pursuers could still detect the two with spiritual sense, but a pure wind-attribute spell like Verdant Cross was difficult to pick up without attention to detail. They were fairly dispersed so it wasn't able to catch all of them, but an Earth Realm cultivator and the half-step Earth Realm cultivator were among the captured and only four of them were safe.

While resonating with the Red Tiger Paws, Kate charged at the four. Reinhart had to focus on his spell to keep those inside of it locked in, but he knew that Kate could take care of herself even against opponents in the Earth Realm. The enemy was still distraught from their initial moves, but they quickly refocused once they saw Kate. The enemy with a cultivation in the Earth Realm attempted to hold Kate back using mental control while the others prepared spells, but Kate further increased her speed with a wind spell and vanished from their perception. She was still heading towards them so finding her again wouldn't take more than a second, but that was enough time for Kate to get in range of the Earth Realm adversary. While in resonance state, Kate was able to catch up to a fleeing high beast so it was impossible for the common Earth Realm cultivator to react to her speed at this range.

Kate's target had kept his barrier active so when she appeared in front of him, though he was caught off-guard, he sneered and prepared to restrict her with mental control. Unknown to him, Kate knew many techniques capable of getting past barriers that were effective even against an opponent of his level. However, with one look at his barrier she knew that she didn't have to resort to any complicated approach. Her fist was more than enough.

"!?"

He tried to slam her body to the ground with mental control, but right as he started Kate punched through his barrier and continued to his gut. Perhaps this wouldn't have happened if he had seriously tried to stop her, but with power that didn't lose to a high beast there was no way his half-hearted barrier could resist. Additionally, Kate cast a wind spell when her fist made impact with his gut so that the damage was maximized. The man was wearing a special-rank defensive artifact, but that was only able to save his life against such might.

As the man flew off with his eyes rolled back, Reinhart dispelled Verdant Cross. The two peak Soul Realm cultivators that had been trapped inside were dead, the one with a half-step Earth Realm cultivation could barely stand upright while the other Earth Realm cultivator was heavily fatigued. Reinhart had sustained the spell with the intention of allowing Kate to focus on the Earth Realm cultivator that he missed, so he was satisfied with these results.

Reinhart placed a hand behind his back and raised his sword to point at them. After moving his sword as if gently tapping on the air, a strong gust of wind attacked them from above. Though it was sudden, the two were still alert so it didn't do any damage. Nevertheless, this was only the beginning of Reinhart's performance.

He pulled the sword back to his face and then swept it across horizontally, causing a gust that dragged the two towards him and then knocked them back with another gust. Once again, little damage was done, but the two refused to remain passive against his assault. 

"Mud Wave."

The Earth Realm cultivator cast an earth spell which created a tsunami from dirt while the half-step Earth Realm cultivator ran towards Reinhart while shooting fireballs. In response, Reinhart drew a circle in the air with the tip of his blade and then thrust through the center of the imaginary circle. A powerful wind created a hole as wide as a human in the dirt tsunami, forcing it collapse. The half-step Earth Realm cultivator stopped briefly to resist the wind, but Reinhart moved before he could continue.

"Rapids."

With a flurry of swings Reinhart sent dozens of wind slashes at him. Each wind slash was too weak to break his barrier, but together they created a force that gradually lifted him in the air. Sensing the danger, the Earth Realm cultivator tried to intervene, but Reinhart used the wind to throw the half-step Earth Realm cultivator towards him. With a moment of hesitation, he caught his comrade and was pushed back by the force. However, Reinhart had no intention of giving them time to rest.