Helping Hand (2)

Leon wanted to dodge the huge man's charge, but his escape routes were blocked by the kidnapper who released ice magic that froze Leon to the ground. Before he could muscle his way and break the ice, the huge man knocked into Leon like a freight train and the force catapulted Leon into the wall of the alley.

A huge human-shaped hole was not carved into the wall, Leon coughed up handfuls of blood as he dropped to the ground.

Trying to put distance between himself and his enemies, Leon focused completely on retreating backward.

'Crap. Crap. I didn't think they would be so tough. Who knew they were on the level of adventurers and decent ones at that. Shit, this hurts so much. I think I cracked a few bones. This is really bad.'

All this raced throughout Leon's mind as he continuously back-stepped towards the entrance of the alley. By then, it was completely dark and the street was only illuminated by the street lights and moon.

However the alleyway was very dim and dark towards the end, this made the three approaching men look like true devils as they ran towards the injured Leon.

Feeling his knees tremble with fear, Leon steeled himself and reached out with his free left hand.

"Wind Weapon!"

The shout echoed throughout the alleyway and the man with the scar across his eye, who hadn't even drawn his sword yet hesitated.

"Don't let down your guard! He has something up his sleeve!"

However the man's warning fell on deaf ears as the berserker of a man paid no attention, he merely caught up to Leon and swept the space in front of him with his hammer that had enough strength to shatter a normal person's body.

Leon blocked with Ensis using just his right hand. Even though Ensis was of course the superior weapon, the pure force knocked his hand away and it went numb from the impact. The man was surprised to see Leon still standing, however, he did not panic seeing that Leon's only weapon was in no position to counter-attack and he prepared to finish the job off.

Just as the man was about to punch Leon, Leon did something even more surprising and did not attempt to retract his hand, even if he could and it wasn't numb, instead he moved towards the impending fist.

With one clean motion, Leon suddenly thrust his left hand which seemed to be curled into a fist but seemed as if he was holding onto the air. The huge man's fist was altered off its course and only hit Leon in the shoulder instead of his head. This caused Leon to be flung into the street from the impact alone and his shoulder felt like it had been hit with a brick.

Leon's condition was very bad by now. Coughing up more blood, he was still on his butt in the street, leaned up against a lamp post. He was barely holding onto Ensis, which still gleamed in his hands.

Even with Leon's poor condition, it was nothing compared to the man holding the hammer, which had fallen out of his hands by now. He was slumped against the side of the alley, with a huge hole in his leather armor which was leaking pints of blood all over the stone ground. As the man slowly staggered out of the darkness into the entrance of the alley which was illuminated by the street lamp, a very faint outline like a piece of hair could be seen where the hole was.

The hooded man who had already held back his remaining ally could only constrict his eyes as he identified the near-invisible object that was stabbed into his friend's chest.

'Invisible sword? What is his class? I have never seen such a thing more than two times even in my 30 years of experience.....'

For the first time during this whole fiesta of a fight, the man with a scar across his eye drew his long sword. Even in the eyes of the amateur Leon, he could feel the faint aura of danger and power radiating from the blade and knew this man was not someone he could beat his current state or even normally.

All Leon could think about was his bad luck.

'To think I would run into some powerful kidnappers, who aren't even normal people but on a different level as me. These other two were already difficult for me, there is no telling how strong that man is. It seems this is the end....'

The man with the long sword did not even want to give a chance to Leon and he dashed towards Leon like a spring with his sword ready to strike at any moment like a snake. Just as he crossed the alley's entrance, an even bigger man than the one who was holding the hammer appeared of nowhere and punched the ground which knocked the man backward back into the alley.

When the dust finally settled, Leon saw Erik in his vision.

Standing between Leon and the alley, Erik had his muscular back that looked like a bodybuilder turned toward Leon.

"I should've known you were going into trouble somehow again. You know your bad luck of getting involved with dangerous situations is really unparalleled, it's almost like a godly power at this point."

All Leon could do was let out a chuckle as he coughed a little bit more blood out.

This time, Erik felt no need to hold back or give mercy as he saw Leon, who was like a son to him, in such a bad condition. He cracked both his knuckles and they popped with an intimidating sound, which made his giant muscles on his huge skeletal frame even more pressuring.

The man with the long sword was flung backward into the alley and barely kept himself from crashing into the back wall.

He let out a hearty laugh that made his last remaining team member scared.

"It seems I was the one out of my league this time. To think my old eyes would have the pleasure of seeing a high ranker of an Adventurer. Truly a blessing and a curse at the same time. This old man greets you and welcomes the impending battle."

Erik normally would have talked to the old man, however, he was completely serious and only let out a few words.

"Let's see what gave you the right to hurt my guild member."