'OH COME ON !’ Ran thought.

‘After saving a village now I have to save a princess ? What's next ? Killing the demon lord ?'

Ran had hardly thought of that when the man took out a crossbow from his coat and was raising it to point at the princess.

Ran didn't have time to warn her or her guards, only he seemed to have noticed what was going on. The crowd was too thick to squeeze through, the princess would be dead on the ground before he got there.

No choice...

Ran violently pushed aside the people behind him, then activated another of his suit abilities.

[vertical assault mode engaged]

This mode was originally designed to air-drop exos right into an active zone but it wasn’t long before some jackass figured that the extreme downward force used to slow you down mid fall could also be used to make some crazy high jumps.

The panels behind Ran's shoulders opened up once again and a burst of air rang.

The violent push lifted Ran off the ground immediately and sent him flying over the crowd.

While he was airborne, time seemed to slow down, he now had a perfect view of the assailant, the innocent crowd and the procession, he also saw Era shouting something at him that he did not hear.

Focussing on the assaillant once more, he saw the bolt ready to strike, Ran was running out of time, but he couldn't afford to shoot into that crowd, the piercing and explosive bullets would tear everything around the assailant to shreds.

Ran pulled out his black combat knife and sent it flying with all the force his exo could muster. The blade spun furiously and pierced or more accurately hacked the man's head violently, sending him backward, just as he pulled the trigger.

The bolt went off and missed the head of the princess by mere inches, princess that was still not realising what was happening.

While the man's body had not yet hit the ground, Ran landed heavily in the middle of the carriage, causing it to shake violently.

The horses bucked and neighed in protest, and the guards, alerted by the noise, shouted orders as they gathered around the carriage to threaten Ran with their spears, but for fear of hitting the princess, they hesitated to attack.

The crowd was confused about what was going on and several people gasped or shouted at Ran, one woman screamed when she saw the attacker fall to the ground, his knife lodged deep into his face. Confusion reigned.

The princess' eyes met Ran's for a moment, but they had no time for small talk as two new figures wrapped in black appeared on the rooftops.

They ran rapidly in parallel on either side of the main street, approaching the convoy they loaded their crossbows to finish their job but Ran was ready for them. No need to hold back now. He pulled his massive side arm from the inventory with a flash of light and fired.

Two gunshots rang, and soon after, two explosions occurred, the head of the assassins as well at the upper part of their torso were blown away as chunks of gore splattered all around, their bodies slid down the roofs and into the nearby alleys.

First startled silent by the deafening sound of explosions, the crowd soon became terrified, it started with screaming, then everyone began running in all directions as panic replaced lutes and drums.

Even the soldiers took a step back, some of them trembling at the powerful and unfamiliar sound. This bought Ran time to explain the situation, or so he thought. As he was about to speak, he soon realized that it was not over.

Among the crowd that was running away, two other people had sneaked up to the carriage.

Ran didn't notice them because of the general commotion, and when he saw them, it was already too late.

He still couldn't shoot because of the crowd, and the deadly bolts were already pointing at the princess.

"Get down!" He pushed the princess with his free hand and she slumped heavily to the ground with a sharp cry.

No sooner had he said these words than fear gripped his stomach; this situation...

was far too similar to the one where he had lost his life last time. He glanced around, the soldiers were slowly closing in, yelling at him and seemed ready to stab him after Ran dared pushing the princess to the ground.

The men in black lost their line of fire because of Ran and they decided to target him instead. In the rush he didn’t have time to deploy his helmet, Deadly metal was aiming at him from all sides.

Was he really going to die again trying to be a hero?