"Yumina," Jay said over his shoulder. "Take the girl to the carriage and keep an eye on her. Use your power to protect if you have no choice."
She nodded without expression and, with a slow, birdlike economy of motion, lifted the demihuman girl into her arms. The demihuman's tail twitched weakly as she cradled her like a child. Yumina strode back toward the carriage without haste.
Jay turned back to face Ruel as he closed. The thug swung a heavy arm with the clumsy confidence of someone used to striking cattle and serfs. Jay bent, feeling the rush of the club's wind past his ear. He sidestepped and let the swing pass, grabbing the man's elbow with both hands. In one fluid motion, Jay used Ruel's momentum to pivot him off balance, then slammed his shoulder into the thug's chest, breaking the bones of his thorax. The man lost consciousness and hit the ground with a loud thud.
Jay looked down at the fallen man. He hadn't meant to hit so hard; the force surprised him.
The leader's smile faltered. "Not bad," he said. "Your turn." He raised his voice and the others surged forward in a loose, practiced formation, a flurry of clubs, knives, and a thrown net that would have been messy if it landed.
Jay moved. He kept his posture simple and direct, shorter arcs, economy of motion, boxing left, quick parry, pivot, a low kick that took a man's knees out. The horses stamped and reared, and someone cursed as they slid in the dust. One of his kicks shattered a guy's pelvis and uprooted a tree simultaneously. Jay's muscles burned with a sharp ache.
Each strike felt true, honest, and terrible in its consequence. The bracelet warmed against his pulse as if approving.
A longer figure lunged with a spear. Jay ducked and felt the spear pass close enough to singe his hairline. He rolled, came up behind the attacker, and rammed a shoulder through him, sending man and weapon sprawling. Another tried to tackle him from the side; Jay caught his wrist and, twisting, sent him pitching headfirst into the dirt.
The riders' coordination frayed under Jay's sudden, raw intensity. They'd expected a quick subdual; they found, instead, a stubborn and effective rage. One by one they fell back, bruised and swearing.
"Enough!" the leader shouted, drawing a short sword. He closed the distance in a measured dash, blade flashing. Jay met him in the open, knuckles raw.
Meanwhile, one of the women from the group, a red-haired adventurer named Yona, took advantage of the chaos and slipped away into the woods, aiming at the carriage. Her lips curved into a small smirk.
"Grand Oscuras," she whispered, casting a spell of concealment. This was the highest possible level of concealment magic. No matter how sharp were one's senses, they wouldn't be able to detect the user of this skill. They'd have to wait until Yona attacks, which could be too late by then.
Yona steadily approached the carriage. Even the sounds of her footsteps and breathing was concealed.
She enters the carriage and sees two woman inside. Yumina and the demihuman. Her goal was simple: Kill Yumina and return the demihuman to the leader.
"Nothing personal, kid," Yona says to Yumina while taking her knife. Of course, Yumina couldn't hear a thing due to the spell.
She approaches Yumina and swings her knife with surgical precision.
"Perish."
*THUD*
Yona froze. Her eyes went wide and then she instantly collapsed, lifeless, her body hitting the carriage floor with a dull thump. She never even realized what happened.
Yumina only sighed at the scene.
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Jay and the leader traded blows in a brutal dance. The leader's sword tasted Jay's forearm, drawing lines of heat and fire across the skin. Jay's palms responded, slamming into the leader's torso, feeling ribs give under the strike. A flash of blue pulsed, almost like lightning, along Jay's eyes for a heartbeat, and the bracelet at his wrist thrummed.
The leader's sword sang and scored. He grinned through the pain. "Not just strength," he panted. "You got spirit."
Jay pushed, threw the man's weight aside, and then, with a move he barely thought through, he slipped low, wrapped an arm around the leader's waist, and used a quick, desperate pivot to throw him. The man hit the ground with such force that the earth shuddered, creating a crater five meters deep. He lay there, winded. Around them the remaining riders muttered, disorganized.
They didn't retreat because Jay was superhuman; they retreated because the discomfort of being on the wrong end of sudden dangerous force made fear practical. The leader scrambled to his knees, coughing, hatred hot as a furnace in his eyes.
"You… you'll pay for this," he spat, forcing his men to pull back. "We'll be back."
Jay didn't say anything. He stayed where he was, with the taste of iron in his mouth. They quickly returned to their horses and started to flee the scene.
However, as they were doing so, the ground below abrupty opened, swallowing them whole.
"What the?!"
"NOOO-!"
Sounds of tearing and smashing flesh could be heard. It seems they weren't alone in the hole they fell through.
It didn't take long until the screams stopped completely. Only the faint sound of a growling could be heard, and it was gradually increasing.
Whatever it is, it's coming here: Jay thought.
A moment later, a massive figure leapt from the hole and landed before him, shaking the ground. The creature towered three meters tall, a grotesque mix between a bear and a demon. Blood dripped from its fangs, and in its jaws hung the half-eaten head of one of the adventurers. Its red eyes glowed with primal rage.
Jay's body tensed. "You've got to be kidding me."
The creature saw Jay and then roared. It lunged forward with terrifying speed, swinging one of its claws. Somehow, this monster was way faster than the adventurers from before.
Jay dodged just in time, countering with a punch to its abdomen. The impact made a dull, useless thud.
The beast retaliated instantly, slamming its elbow into Jay's torso. The world blurred, Jay's body smashed through a tree, splitting it in two.
"Shit…" Jay gasped, blood dripping from his mouth. His shoulder throbbed with pain. He forced himself to his feet, staggering.
*BOOM*
The monster stomped, launching itself toward him again. Its weight made the earth tremble.
Jay clenched his fists. By this point, he realizes that he is physically weaker than it. Conventional punches and kicks won't help here.
As the beast's claws neared, Jay tried to grab its arm and use its weight to flip it, but the creature's sheer strength and mass stopped him from slamming its body on the ground. It resisted easily and countered, easily biting through his shoulder with its sharp teeth.
"Aaaaagh!" Jay screamed, the creature's teeth sinking deep into flesh. Pain exploded through his body.
In blind desperation, Jay drove his hand like a blade into the monster's face, piercing its left eye. The beast howled, releasing him and thrashing wildly. Jay stumbled back, clutching his bleeding shoulder and gasping for breath.
But something changed.
His vision tunneled. His heartbeat thundered in his ears. The golden bracelet around his wrist blazed like fire, sending heat and adrenaline through his veins. His body felt stronger, tougher. The thrill and consequences of the fight were changing his body.
The beast roared again and charged, raising its claws for a killing blow.
Jay didn't dodge this time.
He met the strike head-on.
Their blows collided, claw against fist, the impact echoing like an explosion. The beast's claw shattered instantly, bones snapping like twigs. Jay's fist tore through flesh, punching through its hand, arm, and deep into its gut. It felt effortless, like cutting through butter. Next, the shockwave from his punch followed forward, passing through the beast's body and destroying hundreds of trees and half of a mountain in its range.
The creature froze. A guttural moan escaped its throat, blood spilling from its mouth. Then it collapsed forward, lifeless, shaking the ground beneath it.
Jay stood there, panting, his arm drenched in crimson. "...It's over."
But the ground trembled again.
From the woods, three more of the monstrous beasts emerged, each one larger than the first, eyes burning with fury at the death of their kin.
Jay's heart sank. His body screamed in protest. There's no way I can take all of them...
Just as the beasts prepared to pounce, the air itself shifted. A heavy, suffocating aura descended upon the area, powerful enough to make the beasts hesitate, then whimper. The three creatures backed away slowly, then turned and fled into the forest, their roars fading into the distance.
Jay fell to one knee, overwhelmed by the oppressive aura. The ground beneath him cracked.
The creatures froze mid-step, trembling. Their red eyes flicked toward the carriage, where the driver still sat, hands calmly on the reins.
Jay turned, startled. "You-?"
The driver stood up. He raised a single hand, and from his palm radiated a pulse of pure, invisible force.
The bear creatures whimpered, then bolted back into the forest, crashing through the trees to escape the unseen power.
The driver turned toward him, expression calm beneath the conical hat he now pulled over his head and a cloak made of leaves.
"I have to admit," the man said in a colder voice. "That was entertaining to watch."
Jay's heart pounded as realization sank in.
This aura… it was him all along.
The driver, the one who'd been silent the entire journey, was the same cloaked figure who had been watching from the treetops that night.
The man takes a red bottle from his pocket and gives it to Jay. "Here, take this. It will help that kitty's recovery faster."
Jay takes the bottle. He suspects at first but decides to trust this man. Somehow, Jay had a feeling that he was not a threat to them.
Jay returns to the carriage and gives the bottle to the demihuman, who drinks it with effort. Her body slightly glows green for a moment as an aftereffect.
The demihuman stirred and opened her eyes, focusing on Jay. Jay extended an unsteady hand. "You are safe here," he said.
She nodded, then pressed her forehead against Jay's palm in thanks.
Yumina reappeared at Jay's shoulder. "You made a mess," she observed while looking at battlefield. There was no accusation in it, just a flat assessment.
Jay didn't know whether to laugh or cry at her statement.