"AMB—"
A silhouette blurred past the bushes, running straight at him. Jason was about to shoot when the moonlight, reflected off the blade of the ambusher's sword, flashed into his eyes.
It caused him to close his eyes. He instinctively stepped back, only to stumble because of a pebble.
On the ground, Jason hurriedly raised his bow to block, barely blocking the sword. He fell to the ground.
The ambusher once more tried to swing his blade at Jason, only to be interrupted mid-swing by a flying dagger that deflected his sword from its original trajectory.
The dagger phased out of existence, leaving only smoke.
'Looks like Rio woke up.'
It seemed the commotion had woken up his partner, Rio, though Jason did not have time to look back. The dagger fading out confirmed it. Rio had the [Weapon Duplication] gift, which let him copy weapons for a short while.
The deflected blade barely missed Jason, grazing his shoulder and hitting the ground.
But the ambusher, momentarily distracted by the dagger, looked in the direction from where it came.
Jason acted on instinct, kicking the ambusher's leg.
But it had little effect on the ambusher.
The ambusher twisted his wrist and swung his sword diagonally, aiming for Jason, but Jason blocked the sword using his bow.
Jason supported the bow with his whole arm. He used his other arm to grab an arrow from the quiver on his back and aimed for the ambusher's eye, but his arm was grabbed by the ambusher's off hand.
Jason's and the ambusher's fight had turned into a stalemate, with Jason trying to stab the ambusher with the tip of his arrow and the ambusher putting more pressure on his sword arm, aiming to throw Jason off balance.
This time, under the moon's illumination, Jason looked at the ambusher. Though they were the same age, the boy was taller and slightly stronger than him.
For seconds, neither gained any ground.
Until a second dagger flew in the direction of the ambusher. The ambusher reacted promptly, tilting his head.
The dagger grazed past his cheek, leaving a shallow cut on it. A light groan escaped from the attacker's mouth.
"agh"
Taking advantage of the opening created by Rio's dagger, Jason shifted his weight toward the hand grabbing his arm, supporting himself through it.
He raised his leg and kicked the sword away with all the strength he could muster in the moment. He threw the bow and pulled back his now freed hand, grabbing another arrow from the quiver. He stabbed the eye of the disoriented ambusher.
"ugh"
The ambusher staggered back, but things weren't looking good for Jason either.
For one, he was far from Rio and farther from the camp. Secondly, he was now unarmed—unless one counted the arrows in his arms, which wouldn't amount to much against a sword user.
To make matters worse, he could see another person stepping out of the bushes, charging at him. This one was wielding an axe.
'They should have woken up by now. Why is no one coming?'
As the thought entered his mind, he turned to look at the camp.
What he saw made him anxious. From the start of the battle, he had been confident in his chances to survive, but looking at the sight in the far distance, he wasn't sure anymore.
Far in the distance, right outside a makeshift tent, stood a corpse. Its body was bent at an unnatural angle, supported by a spear that pierced straight through it, embedding itself into the ground.
He recognised the corpse. It belonged to one of the members of his group. Chen was his name.
Jason's eyes darted around, looking for the perpetrator. He looked toward Rio's direction.
Rio was in the process of throwing another dagger.
But behind him stood a dark figure.
"WATCH OUT!!!"
He shouted, but it was too late. As the dagger left Rio's hand, a sword flashed, beheading Rio.
He could clearly see the figure, but Jason didn't have time to ponder. The axe wielder was closing in.
Jason decided to activate his gift. Strength flowed into his body while his opponents slightly weakened.
He had to choose who to deal with first: the axe wielder who was closing in, the dark figure in the distance probably heading toward him, or the swordsman who was removing the arrow Jason had stuck in his eye.
Jason chose to deal with the axe wielder first. While the swordsman was removing the arrow and the dark figure was closing in, he had to act fast.
He ran forward, picking up his bow, then proceeded to create distance between himself, the axe wielder, the swordsman, and the approaching figure.
He nocked an arrow in his bow, aiming at the axe user who was dodging the dagger Rio threw in his last moments.
He released the arrow, letting it fly toward the axe wielder. Without stopping, in one fluid motion, he nocked another arrow, then another, all while backing up step by step.
Swish~
Swish~
Swish~
The first arrow missed due to his hurried aim. The second arrow hit the axe user in the shoulder. The third arrow grazed his waist.
Before he could fire the fourth one, the warrior was already upon him, bringing his axe toward Jason in a swift downward motion.
It was full of openings, but sadly Jason could not capitalise on them. As an archer, close combat was not his forte, nor did he have a dagger or a short sword.
He did, however, sidestep, letting the opponent's axe hit the tree trunk behind him.
He took out another arrow from his quiver and proceeded to stab the axe wielder's face, only to be blocked by his other hand. The hand in question, however, got stabbed by the arrow in the process of blocking it.
Jason stepped back.
The axe user was now covered in a white aura, a sign of gift usage.
Jason did not let him, though.
He launched arrows upon arrows at the axe user. Some missed him, but most hit—near the chest, legs, and shoulders.
One tore through his stomach.
After fifteen arrows, the axe user stopped advancing and fell to the ground.
Jason was so focused on him that he did not notice the swordsman creeping toward him.
He caught the outline of the swordsman from the corner of his eye. He reached for his quiver, only to find that he was out of arrows.
He raised his bow toward the approaching blade, but he was not lucky this time.
Squelch~
Crunch~
The sword tore through his wrists, cutting them off cleanly and heading toward his chest.
But before it could hit him, a dagger flew from the blind spot of the swordsman, lodging itself into his neck, killing him.
Jason was confused as to who threw the dagger, but his confusion was short-lived.
A dark figure came into view, leisurely walking toward him. The moonlight made his features clearer.
The figure had short black hair and purple eyes.