Chapter 6: Surrounded
"There he is!" a guard shouted, blowing his whistle. "Right there! By the fountain!"
Arrows flew across the air, creating several audible whistling sounds as they raced towards Dal, who jumped to the side, rolled along the ground, and hurried back up to his feet, managing to avoid each one.
I can't get away from these people! he screamed in his mind as he looked around, searching frantically for a way to resolve this situation without either being killed or arrested.
At the moment, he was in a very, very tough spot. Having made his way back to the town square, he'd been hoping to slip through the throngs of people and blend in. Afterwards, he'd hoped to calmly stroll out of the town and make his escape. Unfortunately, the streets were now empty save for guards and a few lance-wielding troops stationed at Bradford. The citizens had apparently scattered and returned to their homes at the first sign of the alarm bells.
What do I do? he wondered. How do I get myself out of this?
The entrance to the town was behind him and completely blocked off by about twenty guards. Aside from the weapons they were brandishing, the guards were using their bodies to physically block off the gate, which itself was shuttered. The same was likely true for the rear entrance as well. But to make matters even worse, they were also closing in on his position—and from what looked like all sides.
Currently, Dal was using a stone fountain for shelter, but the fountain was located at the intersection of four different streets, and there were guards hurrying down each one of them. He was surrounded. And that wasn't good. Not for him or them.
I'm being pushed to my limits, he thought. They're going to force me to do something I don't want to!
Dal didn't want to hurt these guards. Many of them were young men barely older than kids. But things were quickly approaching the point where Dal might not have any choice. As things stood, he'd exhausted his options for escape, which meant that the only two nonviolent options were to hide or surrender. But surrender was not an option, so hiding would be his only realistic means of getting out of this without having to shed blood. Yet that option was just about closed off to him as well. The guards were everywhere, and sneaking his way out of this was beginning to look as impossible as escaping the town, especially with that God-forsaken light they kept shining on him.
Is that also powered by electricity? he wondered.
For the past few minutes, a guard in a tall watchtower near the front of the town had been shining a massive light on top of him, one that moved along with his own movements. For this reason, Dal was unable to slip away someplace dark to lose his pursuers, as there were no longer dark places anymore.
I only have one choice left, he thought sadly, tightening his grip on the magical bow in his hands.
For all intents and purposes, Dal was now a cornered monster, and as everyone knew, that was when a monster was at its most dangerous. Especially when that "monster" in this case happened to be a man with an upgraded class that nobody had ever heard of before with a bunch of skills that even he himself didn't know how to use. There was no telling the kind of damage or violence he was now capable of inflicting.
I won't let them take me or kill me, he thought. There was only one last thing he could try, and if this failed, he would be forced to go on a bloody rampage. So he prayed that this did not fail.
Standing back up and leaving the cover of the fountain, Dal reached behind his back, grabbing an arrow from his quiver, which he nocked before pulling back on the bowstring. Then, using nothing more than common sense to figure out what one of his abilities did, he activated Enchant Arrow (fire), and with that, he watched as it erupted into an intense flame even before being fired.
Raising his arms slightly and adjusting his aim, he let the arrow fly, and the result was a much louder than expected screeching noise that was so startling it caused several of the approaching guards to stop, flinch, and hesitate. But fortunately for them, the arrow was not aimed their way. It continued on past them, over their heads, and then directly struck Dal's target.
I nailed it.
In the distance, a bright flash of orange lit up the watchtower, which then began to burn, causing the guard controlling the light to begin climbing down to avoid being burned alive. Thus, finally, the light had stopped shining on him.
The arrow caused something else to happen, too.
LEVEL-UP!
Skill: "Oxygen Arrow" Learned!
If not for the awfulness of the situation, Dal might've laughed. He'd earned a level-up he wouldn't be able to keep by doing something awful to people who wouldn't ever forgive him for it. Though, it did happen to come at the perfect time; in particular, that skill he'd been given. Its use case was obvious, and Dal figured it might allow him to go the "hide" route after all.
Fishing out another arrow from his quiver, he readied it, and now, he activated his newest ability, Enchant Arrow (oxygen), firing his projectile in the exact same spot at the top of the watchtower where his previous arrow had hit. The guard who'd been inside was only about three-quarters of his way down the ladder leading up. He ended up falling the rest of the way as a tremendous explosion caused a dragon-like roar to fill the entire town the moment that the oxygen arrow met the fire and detonated the watchtower, sending thousands of broken-apart pieces of wood, stone, and mortar flying across the town as a brief fireball lit up the night sky.
But most importantly, it caused every head to turn, stare, and gawk.
Now's my chance!
Taking advantage of the chaos, Dal took off at a mad dash down the street to the south of him, slipping between two distracted guards who didn't even see him pass. A third guard did, but Dal had already moved beyond him by the time he was able to react.
It's working! he thought to himself. I can escape to the center of the town and wait for things to calm down! My plan actually worked!
As Dal began to gain distance from the enclosing net the guards had trapped him in, he became elated and filled with joy. He was actually going to get out of this hellish situation. Against all odds, he was truly going to make it out okay!
And then he saw the shadow, and alarm replaced his elation.
Dal wasn't sure how his body knew what it had to do in reaction. He wasn't sure if it was due to his current class or if he'd just gotten lucky. But right away, he realized that the massive shadow he'd found himself standing inside was not from some passing cloud—but from something large dropping directly down on top of him. Something that could very well kill him instantly.
And so, with a level of urgency that rivaled any that had come before, he used every ounce of his strength to kick off both his front feet and launch himself backwards and away from the shadow, which after a brief moment revealed itself to be the form of a behemoth-sized man in glistening plate armor with a sword that was almost as big as he was.
The sword slammed into the street right where Dal had been standing, and the result was a miniature explosion that left a foot-deep crater and nearly blinded Dal as brick, marble, and a fair bit of dirt were kicked up and sent scattering, with some of it heading his way. Turning his head and raising his left arm to guard his face, he winced as he was struck with enough force that it felt as though he'd been lashed.
"Stand down!" a youthful voice shouted from somewhere behind Dal. "Guards, stand down! We'll deal with him ourselves now!"
Dal braced himself as he heard the sound of footsteps running toward him; this, as the behemoth-sized man got back to his feet and raised his large blade as though prepared to strike.
Oh no, Dal thought, gasping as he took in the man's face.
He recognized him.
Who wouldn't?
It was Lord Garrick Ashmere, commander of the 2nd Knight Vanguard. Why was he here? What in God's name could he possibly be doing in Bradford? And how could Dal's luck possibly have soured to such an extent that he'd found himself in the path of a Dragon Knight?
"So, you're the shitbag we've been looking everywhere for," he growled. "Didn't expect it to be some punk kid. I'll cut the demon out of you!"
"I'm not a kid," Dal replied, too shocked to know what to say. "I'm your age, actually."
The man's visage became even more terrifying as though he'd taken offense to Dal's words. "Joke around all you want. You're only making this worse for yourself." He stepped out of the crater he'd formed in the street and began to approach. And as the man scowled at him, Dal wondered if he'd finally hit rock bottom: the point at which things could no longer possibly become any worse than they currently were.
And then he turned around and saw someone who looked an awful lot like the prince.
Oh boy. He was in real trouble, wasn't he?