Chapter 16: The Ambush 2
The shouts of men echoed through the blood-soaked air, attracting Rema's attention. Her eyes turned sharply toward the noise. She immediately noticed that the men shouting were wearing different clothes—coarser, darker, and unlike anyone from the coaches.
Her expression hardened.
"Who are you, and who are you calling a monster?" she demanded in a cold, angry voice.
The men froze for a moment under her glare.
Author's Note: Rema knew because she had been waiting outside the gate for Hira for over an hour, quietly observing everyone who entered the coaches.
That memory only added to her rage—because now she knew none of these faces had been among the travelers.
The bandits trembled but still ran—straight toward the coach where Mira and Hina were hiding. Panic and madness had replaced reason.
"Hey! Who are you? I'm asking for the last time!" Rema shouted again, her voice louder and sharper, ringing across the bloody battlefield.
But the men didn't answer. They just kept running.
"They are bandits!" shouted two bodyguards as they rushed forward. But as soon as they reached the area, their pace slowed. Their eyes widened at the sight—blood, torn limbs, and the ground completely carpeted in the corpses of the wolf-like monsters Rema had slain.
Clenched and Twisted!
Before the bodyguards could even react, the earth beneath the bandits came alive.
Rema's vines—thick, thorned, and still dripping blood from the previous battle—shot up, wrapping around the bandits' legs and torsos.
They screamed, but it was too late. The vines tightened violently. Bones cracked. Flesh tore. And then silence.
The bodyguards, seeing this, stopped dead in their tracks. Fear flooded their faces. Neither of them dared to move closer.
The Front Line
Far ahead, Hira still had the masked bandit by the neck.
"Aah! Release me!" the bandit cried, struggling and flailing.
"Let's see what your face looks like," Hira said coldly. He reached to pull off the man's mask—
—but before he could, a large monster lunged from the side. Hira barely managed to dodge the attack, forced to drop the bandit in the process.
His sword slipped from his hand, landing several feet away.
The masked bandit wasted no time. He jumped onto the monster's back, clutched its fur tightly, and shouted an inaudible command. The beast roared and dashed toward the deep forest, vanishing into the darkness.
Hira quickly retrieved his sword and looked after them. But they were gone.
When he turned back, the battle was already over. The other bandits lay dead or unconscious, and the bodyguards were catching their breath.
"So that was their leader," said the bodyguard captain, stepping closer with all of his men.
Hira nodded grimly. "Looks like he could control monsters."
"Wait, what? A human controlling monsters?" one of the bodyguards said, laughing nervously.
"Shut up," the leader snapped. "This is more dangerous than we thought." He looked back at Hira with respect. "Thank you for your assistance. We'll check on the passengers. You can rest here."
"No," Hira said firmly. "I need to check on my family." He turned to leave.
Just then, another bodyguard came running toward them, pale and panting.
"Help! Help!" he shouted.
"What happened? Why are you shouting?" the leader barked.
"There's a woman—she's killing every monster with vines! The entire area's covered in blood! If you don't stop her, she'll kill us all!" he cried in panic.
"What nonsense are you talking about?" the leader said, frowning.
"I'm telling the truth! She's twisting monsters and men like carrots!" the terrified guard said, his voice trembling as he grabbed the leader's leg. "Please! There were thirty monsters—thirty! And she killed them all in seconds!"
"Alright, alright! Let go of my leg! I'll go check," the leader said, sighing in disbelief.
Hira scratched his cheek awkwardly. "Maybe… I should go check first."
"No, no," the leader said quickly. "You've already helped enough. Go see your family. We'll handle this."
"About that…" Hira said quietly. "She is my family."
Everyone froze.
"Wait, what?!" they all shouted together.
"Yes. She's my wife," Hira said with an awkward half-smile.
The silence that followed was heavier than before.
Finally, the leader spoke again—his tone full of pity. "Then… we really need to go with you." He placed a hand on Hira's shoulder.
"No, no, please don't," Hira said quickly. "I can handle her."
"No, we will face it together, my friend. We are comrades in arms!" the Leader said with a misguidedly energetic voice.
"No, you all will be dead before you can help me," Hira corrected, his voice no longer hesitant, but gravely serious.
"What?" the Leader asked in surprise.
"I said she will kill you all if you stand with me, before even asking why you are here," Hira said, his tone utterly devoid of humor.
This final statement wiped the last trace of fight from the bodyguards' faces. They were silent again, glancing fearfully toward the rear coaches.
"She is here! She is here!" the bodyguard who was gripping the Leader's leg suddenly shrieked, pointing toward a figure that initially looked like a column of fire. But as they focused, they saw a woman walking toward them with a furious, angry expression. Her iconic red hair seemed to glow and shimmer like fire in the dim atmosphere.
They all flinched as she drew closer, looking at her eyes, which were glaring so intensely that half the men instantly got cold feet.
The Leader, however, managed to stammer out a question to the terrified man: "Are you sure she is the one who killed all those monsters? There isn't even a single bloodstain on her clothes."
"Yes, boss, she is the one! I can't forget the face of someone who can kill monsters in a second," he confirmed in a trembling voice.
They all scanned Rema from top to bottom, confirming the unsettling truth: she was spotless.
Looking at Rema's approaching, murderous visage, the Leader said hurriedly, his voice cracking, "You said you can handle her alone, right? Then we will not disturb you! We will go and hide behind the coaches and will not come out. Good luck!"
Hira, seeing her face and feeling the full force of Rema's glare, felt true terror. He turned and started to say, "Wait, it looks like I need some help—"
"Come on, boys, we will go and hide! Move fast, or be ready to become a sacrifice!" the Leader yelled, shoving his men. All of them scrambled and hid behind the coaches as fast as they could.
"Looks like I am going to die today. Should I run for my life? No, I can't run anywhere anymore," Hira thought, resignation settling over him. He stood there, waiting for his fate.
He stayed where he was, waiting.
After another two minutes.
Rema stopped a few feet in front of him, smiling sweetly—a smile that sent chills down his spine.
"Darling husband," she said in a deceptively calm tone, "do you know about this?"
Hira gulped. "No, I don't know about it, I—"
"Only yes or no."
Rema repeat.
"Yes."
Baam!
Her fist slammed into his head so hard that his face hit the ground, leaving a small crater.
He stood up and barely had time to breathe before—
Baam!
The next punch hit his stomach, sending him flying several meters. He slammed into a tree and groaned.
Dust rose around him as Rema walked closer, her boots crunching on the dirt.
She grabbed his collar, lifted him like a sack of grain, and shook him furiously.
"Can't you tell me things like this before we're attacked?! Do I need to remind you every time that your daughters are still children?!" she shouted, her voice trembling with both anger and worry. "Why do you always leave me guessing in dangerous situations?!"
"Wait, wait!" Hira sputtered, trying to speak through the shaking. "I didn't know there'd be this many monsters! And I didn't know about the bandits either!"
"Then what did you know?!"
"I knew my wife is strong enough to protect our kids!" Hira blurted quickly, smiling weakly. "And I only ran because I thought the driver might've been killed. I had to check!"
"Really?" Rema's expression softened slightly.
"Yes, really! I didn't want to worry you for no reason," he said, his voice half-convincing, half-pleading.
Rema sighed, lowering him back to the ground. "Fine. But next time, tell me everything. Even if it sounds unimportant. Understood?"
"Yes, yes, I promise," Hira said quickly, rubbing his head.
She turned to leave, brushing dust off her skirt, but paused halfway and looked back.
"Oh, and tell the driver to move our coach here. I don't want our daughters to see this bloody mess, alright?"
"Got it," Hira said, grateful the storm was over.
"Also," she added cheerfully, "buy me new shoes. These are ruined with monster blood."
"Yes, dear wife," he said with a sigh of relief.
"Good." She smiled warmly this time. "You're still alive—for now."
The bodyguards peeked from behind the coaches, whispering among themselves.
"Did she just… smile after that?" one asked in disbelief.
"Yeah," another whispered. "And he's still alive… the man's a legend."
Hira, pretending not to hear, looked up at the sky and muttered, "Maybe dying wouldn't have been so bad."
—_—END—_—