CHAPTER 418: GRAND ENTRANCE

Kai was invisible, watching the entire altercation go down. Running in the snow was a family of three: A father, a mother, and a daughter. The father had black hair, the mother had blonde hair, and the daughter had black hair like her father.

With them was a knight who was protecting them with his life. He led them to the cave, only to find that the opening had been blocked off.

"Dammit!" He attempted to destroy the opening so the family could go inside, but a kunai flew toward the father’s head, nearly killing him, but the knight blocked it in time.

"A trap!" The knight scolwed.

"Heh, smart man." An assassin dropped from a tree, wearing white clothing. Then, twenty more assassins appeared around all of them, their weapons drawn as they prepared to kill the family.

"Who’s behind this?! Who ordered you to kill my family and me?!" The father demanded to know.

"A dead man has no reason to know that information."

The father’s anger rose. "I’ve already called for backup! My knights will be here soon!"

"And when they arrive, you all will be dead!" The assassins attacked.

"Stay behind me!" The knight’s mana erupted from his body as he prepared to defend his lord. He dug his sword in the ground, then swiped upward, sending an arc of mana that tore through the ground.

While all of them dodged, the knight went to work. He cut down one assassin who had fallen on his ass after the knights’ attack, piercing his heart.

Two assassins came after him while three went after the family.

"Dammit!" The knight stabbed his sword in the ground, causing a large pillar of ice to shoot up, blocking some of the assassins.

’Ohhh! That’s pretty neat. It makes sense that ice and water magic would be their primary magical preferences due to their environment.’ Kai said as he observed the whole altercation.

The knight tackled one assassin, snapped his neck, then created a knife of ice and threw it into the head of the other assassin. For the final one, he summoned his sword to his hand, and right before the assassin could reach the family, he was split in half.

"Don’t worry, My Lord, My Lady, and Young Lady, I will protect you until the others come!" The knight went back to fight.

Unfortunately, that’s where his luck ended. The knight still did manage to kill a few more assassins, but each time he did, he was injured, and his injuries kept piling up.

For one assassin he would injure, five more would injure him. The white snow turned red, and the knight was reaching his limit.

"Nooo! Sir Carlipop!"

’A Carl?! Hell nah, he can die! Kill his ass!’ Kai knew not to trust anyone named Karl. Only a few of them were good. Hell, this one might be one of the good ones, but it didn’t matter to him.

"I-I will-Blegh! I will protect them!" The knight said, holding his sword in one hand."

"Heh, sure you will. Get ’em, boys!" The assassin leader shouted.

The knight charged, but his feet were frozen by ice magic. Before he could fall on the ground, a block of ice rammed into his face, knocking him on his back. And finally, six assassins came down, stabbing the knight in his chest and belly, killing him.

’Damn! That was brutal. Cool, but brutal. Also, it’s my time to step in. Karumi, are you ready?’

’Absolutely!’

During the battle, they had gone over what they were going to do, and now, it was time to put it into action.

"Heh, now that your knight is dead, you three are next!"

The father put his arm back, standing in front of his daughter and wife to protect them. But before the assassins came closer, they all heard the cry of a fox.

"Awooooooooooooooo!"

The wind picked up, creating a small blizzard that made it slightly hard to see. However, everyone could hear perfectly fine.

"Is someone coming?" An assassin asked, hearing the crunching of snow.

Soon, everyone saw a man wearing rags and worn-out clothing walking into view.

"Ha! It’s just a fucking hobo! Kill that bastard!"

"Yes, sir." One unlucky assassin went to kill Kai, but once he got close, the entire upper half of his body was bitten off.

As Kai fully stepped into view, the large legs and huge stature of Karumi in her nine-tailed fox form also came into view, stunning everyone in sight.

"W-What is that?!"

"A monster?!"

"Is that a mythical beast?!"

The number of assassins that remained was 10, and all of them were frightened by Karumi.

"K-Kill them!"

All ten of them decided to give up their lives, and Kai had no problem ending them.

The poison dagger of one assassin shattered on his skin, and he slapped the guy away so hard that his body exploded.

Two more charged at him, but they fell to their knees from the pressure of his mana, and all of their bones were crushed.

Some of the assassins tried to attack Karumi, but she swatted them away with her tails or crushed them with her paws.

When it was only the leader left, Kai grabbed his face, then threw him into a tree, turning him into a pancake.

"H-How brutal!" The wife said as she covered her mouth.

"S-Stay behind me!" The father shouted, scared out of his life but still wanting to protect his family.

Kai and Karumi walked over to the family slowly, not showing any hostility, and once he was in their face, he said one word.

"F-Food." His stomach grumbled, then he passed out, falling face-first into the snow.

Karumi turned into a small fox, then sat on his back to ’protect’ him. In truth, Kai wasn’t actually passed out. This was all just a ploy to get the family to take him in.

Sure, he could use hypnosis, but that would take away the fun from things. Besides, he was planning on using hypnosis in a new way.

"D-Did he just ask for food?" The wife asked.

"I-I think he did."

"Look at the little fox. It’s so cute!" The daughter went to pet Karumi.

"Hold on! Don’t touch it! Did you see how they both slaughtered those assassins?!"

"B-But Father, if they wanted to kill us, then they would have by now." The daughter started petting Karumi, and Karumi allowed it, actually liking the feeling.

"Aww."

"Lord Axel! Lord Axel! Please show a sign of your existence!" The knights who belonged to the father, Axel’s house, shouted.

"Over here!" Axel shouted.

"Oh! Thank the goddess you all are okay. Come, quickly, we’ll escort you back to the castle!"

"Thank you, Sir Richard. Oh, and take this man too, he saved our lives. We owe him a debt. And prepare a funeral for Sir Carlipop, who gave up his life for us to survive.

"Yes, Lord Axel."