Binding of pleasure chapter 41

Chapter 41: Ambush

Amari readied her spear. A jackak jumped at Corantin, but a swift thrust by the catgirl ended its attack in failure. The owl faced dog fell on the ground, spasmed a few times, and then stopped moving, dead.

While it happened, Corantin had teleported his whirlwind blades. Then before adopting a combat ready stance, he conjured a small flame to illuminate the battlefield. Discretion was no longer a priority. Should they fall to the pack of predators, they would be unable to continue the manhunt.

More of the beasts rushed to the party. Vallerie charged to meet them. Two jackaks crashed on her shield, while she steadfastly withstood the impact. As the two jackaks that had taken the vanguard fell on the ground, Corantin and Amari quickly attacked them. The beast more nuisances than real danger to a party of mages, stood no chances and did not get back up.

They adopted a diamond shaped formation. Vallerie took the front, using her shield to stop the beasts' charges. Corantin and Amari took the middle points providing the main strike force. And last, Emily covered their backs.

The rest of the beasts, despite noticing their packmates being slain, did not retreat. Instead, they attacked with greater number. To prevent the beasts from overwhelming them, Emily created a maze of stone pillars around the party. Unable to surround the party, the beast became easy target for the mages. The odd jackaks that manage to find its way through the maze was immediately stopped by one of the sisters, before being swiftly dispatched by Corantin or Amari.

Lucas was feeling numb, his plan was failing hard. He had gathered an entire pack of jackaks to ambush this brat and his traitors. Yet, they had not just survived the ambush, they were now routing the beasts.

Lucas had tried multiple times to use his new communion ability to find more beasts, but he could not find anything to help him. This was a relatively small forest and this pack had expelled all the other predators.

Out of options, Lucas opted join the fight hoping to catch the brat off-guard. He approached silently; thankful his enemies had lightened their surrounding therefore making it easier for him to close in sneakily. He found a large tree and he climbed up to a branch. He gave the branch a few tugs to check its sturdiness and reassured, he cautiously walked on it until he was nearly over the brat's head.

***

The pack attacking them was down to two wounded jackaks when Corantin heard the rustle of tree leaves over his head.

Trying to ambush us too, old man? Too bad! You took too long to come. Now that the battle is almost done, it's too easy to notice you.

Corantin deduced Lucas was planning to jump on him and end him with a single strike. To avoid scaring his quarry away, Corantin pretended to be focusing on the two remaining beasts. Yet, the man was focusing on his hearing, waiting for any sound indicating Lucas had begun his fall. When Corantin heard the sound he was waiting for, he suddenly thrust his blade upward.

When Lucas saw the blade point at him ready to impale him, he panicked. He contorted to the best of his ability, but he could not avoid the blade turned spike. Managing to avoid the worse, his off arm still crashed heavily on the blade's tip. He avoided suffering injuries thanks to his wards, but he was sure they had been drained of a not insignificant portion of their reserves.

Corantin had anticipated that his tactic would not deal a lethal blow. Therefore, before Lucas could get on back his feet, he bombarded the man with spells before swinging his steel toward the swordmaster's throat.

The swordmaster, not trusting his wards would withstand many assaults, had no choice but to retreat behind layers of shields. He rolled out of the way and used nature magic to raise walls of roots around him. Back on his feet he accessed the damage on his off arm. He thanked his luck when he noticed how minimal the damage truly was. It would not pose a problem for his ability to fight.

"And now, you can use such powerful nature protective spells... Just how many elements can you use, old man? And more important, how did you learn to do this?" muttered Corantin, equally angry, annoyed, and impressed.

Meanwhile the remaining jackaks had met their demise at the tip of Amari's spear. With the first menace gone the girls turned to face the new threat. Merciless, Emily summoned a massive boulder in the air and send it crashing into the cocoon of roots. The boulder collided with the roots, but it harmlessly fell off. The roots did not show any signs of damage.

Undeterred, Corantin sent as many wind blades as he could at the cocoon. His assault proved more effective. Now, the roots were riddled with lacerations. Yet, Lucas defenses still held. Despite the heavy damage, the wind blades barrage had failed the pierced the multiple layers of vegetations and Lucas remained unharmed.

Following her man lead, Vallerie send high pressure water streams on Lucas. Yet just like the others, her attack was fruitless. Undeterred, Vallerie froze the water lingering on the roots, hoping the frost would weaken the dense vegetation. After the roots had been coated with a thick sheet of ice, she sent another high-pressure water jet on Lucas, followed by Emily sending another boulder. But the shield withstood the combined attack. Worse, a ripple, moving through the vines, was the only proof of the force it had sustained as if the cocoon itself was laughing at their efforts.

Last to attack was Amari, she had gathered mana for a while. Finally, after Lucas shields had been thoroughly wetted by Vallerie's attempt. Amari unleashed a massive thunderbolt on Lucas. The attack hit head on.

Having given everything they had, everyone held their breath, expecting Lucas's counterattack. Yet, instead of a burst of energy, the shields of roots slowly began the crumble. After the last root fell, Corantin cleared the debris with a gust of wind. Underneath, the party found Lucas; breathless. His clothes had burnt, and a dark circle had formed on his chest. Somehow Amari's thunderbolt had gone through all of Lucas's defense and ended his life.

***

"I had clearly forbidden you from weakening the old man," said a masculine voice, enraged.

"You did, master," replied a woman voice, apologetic.

"Then why did you take away the powers you had given him? And you also dispelled his ward to ensure this girl would kill him. Why did you disobey me, stupid cat."

As the man said that he stroked the woman he was chastising on the head.

"Ouch, I'm sorry master. But I had to. This Lucas had become way too strong, way too fast. They would have never been able to defeat this man from what he had become. Please, master look at the big picture, more than ensuring this young man become worthy of becoming your champion. We must make sure the challenges we have him face are ones he can overcome. We can't have him die before he succeeds or sire a new contender. With everything it cost us to empower his bloodline, we cannot afford to lose them and be forced create a new bloodline."

"Get out my sight. I don't want to see you for now," replied the man, his fury clearly increasing by the minute.

"Understood, master," replied the woman, in a modest, apologetic tone.

While she was leaving, a voluptuous figure approached her.

"Thank you, sister. We all know, we could not let him fail. Don't worry we'll help master calm down. Soon, he'll understand that it was necessary, and he'll forgive you," hushed the second woman.