[11] Carriage Ambushed by Bounty Hunters

In the middle of all the corpses were what appeared to be a human and an anima species fighting one another.

They had their weapons drawn at each other's throats, both bloodied and bruised, evidence of the large battle that had just taken place. Behind them were the remnants of a carriage, burned and broken beyond recognition. However, I noticed the ornaments that once adorned the dead horses nearby matched the colors and patterns on the human's clothes and armor.

The anima was undoubtedly the leader of the bounty hunters, wearing the same garments as that foul-mouthed one who hunted me long ago.

Putting two and two together, it was clear the bounty hunters had ambushed these men. Judging from the bodies, both sides had been equally matched in strength. However, I hadn't spotted any important-looking figures among the dead. When I looked into the carriage there was nothing inside that indicated human life, dead or alive.

I moved to intervene but stopped when the man in armor screamed.

"WHO DO YOU WORK FOR?!"

His opponent, a man with black skin marked by red patterns—a species of snake I couldn't recall—smiled. It was a creepy smile, the kind that gave the impression he had already won, though there was no proof to back it up. The mere arrogance was enough to bring shivers down my spine.

"Confidential information. I'm here to finish a bounty, that's all you need to know," the anima said.

The knight's cold eyes glared at the snake. His voice, low and almost growling, replied, "I've killed every last one of you."

"Is that what you really think?" the anima taunted.

I dismissed their conversation then. My earlier observation was correct—the important figure was still alive. Judging by the snake anima's confidence, they wouldn't be for much longer if I didn't intervene. That was my cue to act quickly.

Bounty hunters weren't good people—they were ruthless and insensitive. If someone was about to be captured by them, there was a good chance their death wouldn't be peaceful.

Through my magical sight, I spotted small particles of a wind spell targeting a particular point. With confirmation from King's keen sense of smell, I grabbed him and raced off at top speed, hoping to arrive in time. The bear, adept at tracking, turned his head occasionally as he caught the specific scent we were following. I would chase that direction in response.

It didn't take long before we drew close. A distant sound of cackling reached my ears. Were all the bounty hunters anima?

King roared at the sight of men wearing garments similar to the snake anima's. His attack was immediate, leaping from my shoulders with momentum from our run.

He landed on a monkey anima's face, his claws elongating and embedding deeply into whatever they could grip. The damage was brutal—he tore off the anima's ears and deformed his forehead. The monkey's scream echoed through the forest, drawing attention from those with a sense of hearing.

King was relentless. He scrambled over the hunter's head and bit down on his nape just as the man, in desperation, stabbed himself in the eye. I let King do his thing and turned my attention to the rest of our audience.

My gaze locked onto their victim—or rather, victims. Lying on the ground were a teenage boy and a woman. Mother and son, perhaps? I couldn't be sure. Their faces and hair were drenched in fresh blood, making it hard to distinguish their features.

The boy seemed unharmed, but the woman was bleeding heavily from a large gash on her arm that cut down to the bone.

With the men distracted by King's onslaught, I skidded in between them before stopping right in front of the victims. My weapons were drawn before I even faced the bounty hunters.

They wielded spears with a design I didn't recognize. Their faces were obscured by cloth wrapped tightly around their heads, yet their eyes, hair, and other animal features betrayed their identities beneath the masks.

Perhaps the cloth was more of an aesthetic choice?

"Who are you?" one of them asked, his spear aimed directly at my head.

Enough with the observations—it was time to fight. I couldn't afford to be distracted. "We're not letting you hurt these people."

"Then you're signing your death sentence," the hyena anima said.

He hurled his spear at me. I couldn't believe what I saw—it moved toward me in slow motion. The wolves in the dying forest had been faster than this.

I caught the spear mid-flight, and with a firm grip, I snapped it in two. Before they could launch another attack that might harm the people I was protecting, I charged forward, my legs pushing off with powerful force. They barely had time to react.

I planted my heels firmly and pivoted, using the momentum to slice their arms clean off.

The pain brought them to their knees.

I flicked the blood off my daggers and pointed one at the last remaining hunter. He should have taken it as a chance to escape, but he mistook it for a challenge instead.

He let out a war cry as he charged at me. His cheeks expanded, and a long tongue shot out to grab one of my daggers. I severed the tongue before it reached me, but unlike his companions, this hunter didn't retreat in pain. Instead, he closed the gap and tried to skewer me with his spear.

His skill with the spear was impressive. Granted I didn't have a good example to compare it outside it of the children back in town who played 'Knights and Warlocks'. He was getting a few nips at me here and there but I dodged them without breaking a sweat. Despite his best efforts, I found that his speed was lacking.

He was slow. Slower than the spear that hyena threw at me.

I ducked under one of his strikes and used his surprise to my advantage. Biting the spear handle, I snapped it in two. Before he could react, I slammed my legs into his chest, sending him flying into a distant tree with a sickening crack.

No need to slit his throat—the impact had already killed him.

I turned just in time to dodge the slash of a short sword, only to be in line by a spear from the other one, targeting my shoulder.

Grunting, I shoved the sword-wielder away, but the motion drove the spear deeper into my skin. The hunter seized the opportunity to unleash a flurry of slashes with a similar short sword he unsheathed from somewhere in his person, hoping to wear me down so his companion could finish me off after reccuperating.

By now, my right arm was covered in scratches, but something was off. Despite the initial thrust of the spear, this man was incredibly weak. His short sword felt like it could barely cut through paper. What should have left my arm useless had only scratched me, as if by a stray cat.

Enough was enough. I snapped the spear lodged in my shoulder and thrust the broken end into the hunter's throat at an angle. It emerged from the back of his skull, the decorative metal at the end of the spear glinting with blood and bits of brain matter.

The hyena anima was the last one standing. He watched in horror as his friend choked on the spear before collapsing to the ground, dead.

Tears filled the hyena's eyes as he charged at me, screaming. I prepared to face him, but King barreled into the hyena with deadly precision. The bloodied white bear latched on, tearing off the anima's ears and mauling his face with savage zeal.

King's claws weren't just for show—he swiped at any attempt to dislodge him, even severing the hyena's hand at the wrist. Any effort to escape was brutally met with a wild bite. The man was considered dead the moment King got his claws into him.