“Cut off the head of a snake, and the body dies. Beware, however, for at times a cut head could still bite back.” - Liang Shi-zu, famed tactician from the Huan Confederation.

Elfriede frowned a bit as she noticed one of the targets in fancy armor turn and run. From what bit she heard, the runner was likely the Marquis, which left his general as the one still in front of her. There were fourteen mounted guards by him, likely playing rear guard to the escaping Marquis, but all that was irrelevant to her.

She was just rather ticked off that her main target escaped before she got to him.

Granted, being able to catch the enemy general was also an acceptable outcome, but it still annoyed Elfriede somewhat. It felt much like going out to hunt for boar and returning home with a pheasant instead. There was a feeling of missing something despite the outcome still being a good one.

In the end, she decided to vent her annoyance on the remaining enemies instead. It would be far easier – and safer – for her to just wait for the rest of her allies, as they were approaching her rapidly from behind, but that would be less satisfactory for her. Instead, she rushed forward as four of the riders thrust their spears at her much like she expected they would.

The riders were clearly trained to coordinate their attacks, as one stabbed straight towards her another the other three thrust their spears to the left, right, and below the first one’s to cover her escape routes. Their coordination was not so good that it left her no way out, however.

Elfriede twisted her body sideways and slipped between the spear at her left and the one aimed straight for her, cleanly avoiding the right one. As she moved, she stepped on the spearhead of the low thrust and pressed the spear down against the ground, neutralizing it for the moment. The other riders pulled their spears back and went for another thrust, but she was much closer to them by that point and was prepared for it.

She ducked under the highest of the thrusted spears while she caught another between the handguard and blade of the weapon in her right hand, using her leverage to push it harmlessly away. The last spear she caught under her armpit as she twisted her body and yanked hard, causing the rider to almost fall off his horse as he was unwilling to give up on his spear.

Then before he could recover her mithril-edged blade sliced through his eyes and made him scream in agony.

The unfortunate rider’s scream distracted his fellows for a brief moment. It was but a heartbeat of hesitation, a split second where they instinctively recoiled at the sight, but that proved to be their undoing in the end. Elfriede had not missed that moment and pounced upon the other three guards during their stupor and mercilessly took them down one after another.

One of the riders suddenly found that the aventail that hung from his helmet was sliced through from the front, and he was unable to even make a sound of surprise, as all that came out from his throat was a gurgling noise as blood flooded his windpipe. The man fell over and slowly suffocated to death on the ground, all while wondering just how that could have happened to him.

The second rider had a far less pleasant – if at least somewhat quicker – end as Elfriede landed an uppercut against his jaw with her right hand. Unfortunately for the rider, Elfriede was wielding her weapon in hand, and the crescent-shaped handguard was what slammed into his face instead of her fist. The mithril coated edges of the handguard tore through flesh with ease, with the lower point snagging and tearing off the man’s lower jaw.

On the other hand, the upper point got stuck against something in his skull and the forces involved ended up practically tearing the poor rider’s head off his neck, connected only by the flesh and skin on the back.

Compared to the other two, the third rider had a swifter, less gruesome death as Elfriede swung her other blade and jabbed the pick-like second blade through the woman’s left eye and into her brain, likely killing her before she realized she was dead.

Due to the cramped quarters – they were fighting in the middle of a throng of people after all, each of which were busy with their own fight elsewhere – the guards couldn’t really use their numbers against Elfriede and could only come against her four at a time. She found it trivial to take them out one group at a time, and one of the guards in the last group even turned and ran to save their life instead of fighting.

At that sight, the general behind the guards looked at the distance, then sighed loudly and told the remaining three guards – who were now uncertain whether they should fight on or not – to stand down and drop their weapons. Elfriede stood watch over them to ensure that they were not faking it until more of the mercenaries came over to take them prisoner a short while later.

As for the escaped Marquis, she no longer thought much about him, as the direction he took before he left her sense sphere indicated that he was likely trying to skirt around the mercenary right flank. Both Erycea and Alycea were stationed at the flanks and warned about the probability of their primary targets trying to escape through the area they were in charge of, so they would be prepared to intercept such an attempt.

Some part of her was glad that the Marquis went towards the right flank, as Alycea might still be too young and inexperienced for such a weighty task. On the other hand, Erycea would likely be ready for the challenge that the task presented. Her platoon was similarly far more experienced than her younger sister’s and thus more capable for such a task.

After all, a young beast needed to have a proper prey for its hunts as well.