Since Tus recognized that the captain would be such a pain, then he figured he would have to kill off the weaker ones first. If he rushed to attack it directly, there would be a high danger of being stabbed in the back without any leeway to evade. If he attacked one of the leaders instead, he would at least have a higher chance of getting away. Consequently, Tus rushed to one of the lesser squads

The leader and the two regulars gave muffled screams as they charged forward. Before the other leader, with the two regulars, could move to assist, they were shouted at by the captain. The captain stood still as it studied Tus with a critical eye.

Tus glanced in its direction and thought, ‘I guess it wants to see what I can do while setting the other leader to attack.’

He swung the feather, skillfully decapitating the two regulars at eight feet away. The leader roared as it hopped forward like a rabbit. Tus kept swinging the feather while aiming at its outer appendages. Purple blood sprayed as the leader came within three feet. It hopped once more and struck out with two daggers. Tus turned and slid underneath its airborne body. He used the opportunity to attack the creature with a wind blade, causing it to hit the ground and convulse before disappearing.

The other leader and its regulars were enraged, but the captain and its regulars were quiet. The captain seemed to be pondering before it gave another shout.

The leader seemed dazed for a moment before it tried to rebuke the captain by making meek noises, but it was silenced when the captain gave an even louder shout. The leader directed its resentment filled gaze at Tus.

The leader then made the two regulars spread out before all three of them dropped their weapons and trembled like they were having seizures. Oddly, their bodies straightened and their four arms and two of their legs made a popping sound before they fell to the ground. There wasn’t any blood flowing out of the stubs, but their muscles bulged with purple veins roiling underneath their skin.

Tus felt an anxious feeling rise up in his chest and started retreating backwards step by step. ‘What did that captain tell them to do?’

The three creatures widened their eyes as the skin, of where a mouth should be, ripped apart. Again no blood flowed out, but instead a purple light filled the mouths of the two regulars and the leader, who also had sporadic golden specks moving about.

Their bodies shriveled from their feet to their head as their chests expanded. The light in their mouths grew brighter and brighter before the sound of a popping bubble came from them. All three of them disintegrated into dust when three balls of light shot out from their mouths. The balls headed for Tus who had decided to run away ahead of time in zigzag pattern.

He looked behind his back and found the three balls of light following him with tremendous speed. His heart missed a beat at the sight and he forcefully swung the feather. The wind blade hit one of the pure purple balls and it strangely stopped in place.

The ball expanded before it covered a radius of ten feet in all directions before silently disappearing. Besides the seemingly impervious trees, the ground that the ball came into contact with was perfectly cut. Just after, the sound of thunder rolled through the forest, causing Tus’s ears to ring. The sight caused his heart to beat faster than a hummingbirds.

He waved the feather like mad at the other two balls that almost caught up to him. They expanded at the same time with a safe distance relative to Tus, but the ball that came from the leader did something different. The golden specks that were on its surface moved to one spot on it and blasted a golden beam with the width of a finger at Tus.

Before he could dodge, the beam went into his left shoulder, and abruptly moved at a downward angle just after piercing the skin. The beam missed his heart by less than an inch.

Tus fell and rolled onto the ground. After he came to a stop, he grabbed at his chest and wheezed.

Thunderous steps shook the ground as a leader ran up to him.

‘Where’s the captain?’ Tus looked beyond the leader to find the captain holding the head of one of the regulars with a hand that previously held a sword. The golden veil that enveloped the captain flowed and covered the regular. Over the course of a moment, that regular grew in size and the characteristic purple band showed itself. Tus groaned, ‘That isn’t fair.’

He staggered up while using his left hand to hold onto the open wound on his chest to stop blood flow from at least one side.

The leader in front of him gave a stifled roar when it came within thirty feet before it started hopping. Tus retreated to increase his distance from the captain and the three future leaders while sending a few more wind blades.