The Heroine Died!? Did The Plot Armor Fail? (Hiatus)

12) Victory!

"Gah, you're too heavy..." Leo grumbled.

"Complain later!" Raine staggered upwards.

As much as he wanted to say something, unsteadiness distracted him. The same went for Leo, they both waited for it to wear off. As they did, they caught a glimpse of Yule's fight. He didn't take the usual stance knights were taught, and allowed the enemy to get close.

Both were fast, though Yule didn't take the initiative when he could have done so. He retreated a few steps back, the girl took her chances to chain her attacks. What is he doing just taking those hits? No, he's watching her. When he couldn't dodge, his agile movements parried hers.

By the time the two recovered, he lead the girl elsewhere. But there was no time to rest, people would soon catch up. On cue, Raine heard many voices approaching from a distance. Logically speaking, this was a losing battle for the three, no less trainees. What can we do to turn this around?

As he tried to formulate a plan, Leo pushed him into a run. "We need to regroup first."

Raine had a puzzled look. While we're being chased ourselves? Even if they did pull it off, they'd be closed in at worst. On the other hand, it was better than doing nothing at all. He knew better than anyone else.

"You have a tactic?"

"Well no, but if it works, we can at least run away if we can't defeat them." Leo said as a matter-of-factly.

At least sound confidant... Raine was at a loss of words and kept quiet. Actually, he was a fool to expect anything of Leo. Even sessions, the blond boy was usually laxed. That was assuming he didn't fight with minor Houses on occasion.

Something forced Raine's head down. When he looked back up, thin slices appeared on the tree trunks in front of them. Well, he couldn't fault Leo for saving him. For a moment, the air around them felt congested, followed by a breeze that seemed to release.

Leo clicked his tongue. "Lucele, go hide. I'll leave it up to you!"

"Wha- Hey, where are you going!" He watched Leo dash back off their trail.

Just great. He was no mind reader, what the hell did Leo expect him to do? Not far off, shouts echoed through the forest. Raine spurred into motion the moment he heard it. He quietly backtracked, away from their original pathway. Each step closer to the clangs of a sword, he paid close attention to his surroundings.

From his spot, Leo dodged a few clunks of ice thrown at him hiding behind a huge stump. Two swordsmen chased with a pincer attack. Raine bit his lip, did he get caught already? Betrayed by his own thoughts, Leo tackled one of them down. He stole off a sword as he did and lead the other around a tree.

"Is that all you idiots have?" Leo taunted.

"Says you, you Houseless thief!" One of them replied.

"Why don't you stop running then!?" A mage scowled.

Raine shook his head with a sigh. As he continued to observe, a mage fired barrages of light. Leo repeatedly ran behind trees to avoid it, occasionally parrying the other, and straying towards one direction. When the mage slowed down his barrage, Leo changed his tactics. He immediately turned to face one of the swordsmen and whacked them hard with the hilt of the sword.

The white-haired boy bolted behind the mage and knocked him unconscious. When Raine checked on Leo, he winced seeing the last person out. The poor guy had huge bruises all over his face, even the other swordsman got off lucky! Raine looked at the guy, shifted his eyes back to Leo, then looked at the poor guy again.