HP: Spirit Talker

I spend a few moments on a quick activation, and a shuddering, translucent wave of numbness spreads out from me. It's a handy and versatile spell. I feel the reaction and immediately rush to the partially stunned mage, shaking his head and searching for something in his belt pouch with my other hand.

A clot of fire under his feet, and the mage, trying to move, is hit by a shockwave that twists him in the transfer and immediately throws him a few meters away in an obviously inadequate condition. In three jumps I am at his side, pick up the staff, and strike him in the head with a leg, and again I feel the surge of power and the shudder of the astral. Dead. I sink heavily to the ground next to him and try to catch my breath. What a fight! If it weren't for the science of the last few months, I would be twisted like a blind man.

I drink a potion that restores my body tone and temporarily speeds up my metabolism. I have to wait a few minutes, so I spend them looting and collecting trophies.

I put everything I've taken into a leather duffel bag, throw in his staff, and seal it in the ring where I keep my wardrobe — there's plenty of room. As the dope begins to take effect, I stand up, retrieve the sand ball and arm myself with the tsurugi.

I smack myself on the forehead with the tsurugi — it hurts! I pass the two remaining gas grenades to Ba-san and use my free hand to pick up a burst grenade. That's it. During the fight with the mage, we had moved far into the forest, so the only thing we could see of the ongoing battle on the outskirts of the city was the noise and bright multicolored flashes.

I decided to take advantage of my position and move to the flank of the first group. After a few minutes of cautious advancement, I could already see the battlefield, and I was surprised by the bodies that had appeared in the clearing.

I had thought that the mages would continue the positional battle until victory, but a few torn bodies in the places of the explosions, as well as simply motionless with weapons in their hands, suggested that the battle was going differently.

Even now, the mercenaries outside the dome were clashing with the mages, including my kitsune, who were actively pouring fire into the thicket on the hill. Two human mages were slowly pushing the three ayakashi. Another non-Asian (European?) looked particularly confident, with a straight European sword in his right hand and a battle wand in his left.

The instrument looked more like a pole-axe than a wand, with its metal spikes and facets, only the scarlet crystal shining between the metal "petals" identifying the exact nature of the object.

I was particularly struck by the moment when the ayakashi attacking with the katana was first thrown off by the impulse thrust, the ayakashi performing a somersault in the air, bending in the right direction and immediately pushing himself off the ground and running toward the mage in a new attack.

It looked very dynamic and spectacular, but the mage took the blow of the katana on the sphere of pink light created by the staff, and the ayakashi's weapon stuck, confusing the master. The mage wasted no time, easily blowing the enemy's head off and throwing the sword away, freeing the concentrator. The Ayakashi, noting the loss, tried to retreat, but the mages developed an offensive.

And if earlier the mage with the European sword had been held back by two men, and his partner was not so strong, now the Ayakashi, left alone, barely dodged the cunning and skillful attacks, taking rare magical blows on artifactual protection, it seems, some kind of bracelet.

A strange sight, no doubt, but I kept moving, noticing what was happening out of the corner of my eye. I missed how the mage and the ayakashi had managed to die, but I could clearly see the remaining ally receiving more and more wounds, albeit minor ones, that weakened him further.

 If he wasn't helped, it wouldn't be long before he would be finished and the enemy warrior would get a reprieve. All the more reason to eliminate such a strong fighter in the enemy camp as early as possible. Pondering his decision, he approached from a distance that would allow him to retreat behind a wide but low tree. A lot! A lot!

I was wrong! It turned out that the flank attacks were more of a test, and the main force remained on the hillside, camouflaged, but from this distance I was able to penetrate them. I saw over two dozen fighters, and that was against fourteen surviving Ayakashi! Besides, my night vision can only see a hundred meters, and I was about sixty meters from the nearest group of enemy fighters.

I have no idea how many more there are. Well, the choice is clear, I hope the allied swordsman can hold out for another three minutes while I prepare, but I won't leave him without help: Shikigami shot through and stuck to the Ayakashi's neck, immediately activating the healing seals.

 Stopping blood loss in battle is very important. I myself, camouflaged as much as possible, went lower, sneaking into the path of the mages' attack on the Ayakashi, and laid down stretching grenades from all the remaining grenades. He even used some experimental ones, a high-temperature steam grenade created by delirium.

A glance at my ally, slightly encouraged by the approaching wounds. I turn away and set up the last stretch, a light one, analogous to a flare, and turn again to see the ally catch the ribs of another's sword strike. I snap out of my seat and realize I'm out of time.

An awkward attack, filled with a desperate desire to live, is easily sidestepped and the one-handed sword enters the Ayakashi's chest, emerging from his back. The remaining thirty meters blurred with a gray veil, and I flew past the enemy with inertia, trying to strike a secant blow to his side. It was deflected, so much so that my fingers ached. I somersaulted to dampen the inertia and immediately used a sliding block, which again almost ripped the weapon out of my palm.

The power of the blows is monstrous! Several of my blows hit a rough block, causing pain in my joints and bones — like hitting a rock. The enemy fought back with a shield ball and counterattacked. I tried to circle around, kept moving away and only blocked the blows in the rarest of cases, which, to my regret, became more and more frequent.

The mage swung his wand, capped by a familiar pink orb, and I jerked aside, unwittingly giving my opponent time to swing in for a heavy side kick. I arched back, noticing that the force invested in the blow had caused the enemy to slump forward slightly, and decided to alter my intended somersault slightly.

 I bend to the limit, resting my hands on the ground, and with a jerk I kick my legs up, nailing the mage's chin with the toe of my boot. Unfortunately, not enough to break his neck, but enough to make him "lose".

Overkill, body bending, rolling, and a strong undercut literally threw the mage's legs up in the air, and he fell heavily on his back, his chest pierced by my tsurugi the next moment. Another blow cut off his head.

The mercenary wanted to fish in troubled waters, to get rich, but found only ruin. Already on some reflex, I quickly went through my bags and pockets, turned my head, took off four rings, a medallion on a chain, and picked up the enemy's sword and battle staff.

Sealing everything, I immediately start to collect the sand orb and head towards the group of allies. One of the foxes follows me all the way, while the other one helps to hold the collective shield. When I get very close, I don't let the fox who opened his mouth get a word in edgewise.

— There are two more in the forest, as many as we have already killed, if not more. — The group leader, who turned to me, frowned. — I've mined the passages there, but it won't do much good, so when the explosions start — we'll make a friendly escape.

— Are you sure there are so many of them?

— Yes. We can't hold them off if we want to, but if we join up with the main force, we'll have a good chance...

— That is, if the enemy forces in the other directions aren't so numerous, otherwise we'll just squeeze into a ring and be destroyed. — The commander added grimly, and the free fox nodded.

I know how right he is, but there is no other choice: either this or we break through somewhere to the side and run away. But my mother is my last and only relative here (I don't think I have a father), and I can't leave a little dragon girl behind!

While I was thinking, a ball of sand the size of a basketball gathered in my hand, and I also noticed that the fox had put some shields on me. She used a magic wand, the first time I'd seen it in battle. I had to get back behind Ryuko, and I had to get back to the center, so I had to warn them....

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