I can only look on, paralysed as the shadow charges towards me. I know that I am supposed to react and move out of the way. I still can't bring myself to move, even as it becomes clear that the shadow is aiming for me.

  Why is he coming after me? I am about the worst target he could have picked to attack. I am exactly in the middle of this room. Attacking me would mean that the shadow would come within the attack range of everybody here. I would still be able to react if the other party was not coming at me with such force.

  All of these thoughts are why I can't even move an inch as the shadows get closer to me. I stare at the shadow, seeing it get closer as I try to move my body. Thankfully, John manages to break out of his shock and react.

  He is not close enough to get near me himself. That is why he throws his sword with superhuman force. The shadow is only a few meters away from me as the sword hits the shadow.

  The shadow has gotten close enough that I can see that it is not some kind of creature. It is a man. A man cloaked in shadows. He had gotten close enough to me to strike. The force of the sword is great enough that it has caused the other party to crumple to the ground. Even as he gets up, the shadow covering him dissipates a bit, showing his face.

  I recognise who the man is. After all, I have shadowed him for an entire week. It would be poor form not to recognise him now. Well, I will be honest, I am confused. I was not expecting that we would have to deal with Enrique Navok. Don't get me wrong, the man is strong enough to challenge us all. It's just that he is not supposed to be here.

  After all, the man is supposed to be in charge of the shipyard. It doesn't make sense that he would abandon that to come after us. Why is he chasing us now? Well, whatever the man's reasons are, I have to admit that it is good for us. The man being here means that the Mayfires will have an easier time defending our ship. For better or worse, that ship is going to be vital in our escape.

  I study the man even as he does the same thing to us. He is not in a very pretty state. The main reason for that is the sword that is presently stuck in his chest. John's sword had hit the man on the side of his chest. The sword is lodged in his chest so firmly, it looks like it was always there.

  That is going to be a pretty hefty injury.

  "Why are you here, Enrique?" John begins speaking.

  The other party doesn't bother to reply to this, as he just stares at us all. I can see that the man did not expect to end up like this. Well, the man has taken quite a few risks by coming in here. (Honestly speaking, he should have expected it.) I think that the reason for risk-taking was his speed. That speed of his is much faster than somebody at his level is supposed to be. I have to assume that his shadow is somehow involved in this.

  This shadow must be the magic of the Navoks. (We actually do not know much about their magic. All we know is that it is some variant of shadow magic.) The shadowy mist covers him like a cloak made up of darkness. I think that the cloak is also supposed to be obscuring his features a bit. Not that it is working right now. Well, this effect would have been a bit more effective in the dark. That is just the nature of using shadow magic.

  Enrique is in a bit of a dicey position right now. The man had taken quite a risky gamble that had utterly failed. Even as he stares at us, I can tell what his plan was. The man was trying to get to me and the vampire. We would have made good hostages. My becoming hostage would have been more than enough to cripple the rest of the strikeforce.

  After all, even as we are staring at each other, we are being surrounded. It is actually very hard for me to tell just how many Navoks are out there. All I know is that there is a significant number of them. (Their magic shields them somewhat from my mana sense.)

  Even now, they are standing outside, looking for an opportunity to attack. If even one of us had become a hostage, we would be screwed. They would have all rushed us and attacked us before we even had the time to process what had just happened. Now that their leader is stuck in here with us, though, it gives us some breathing room.

  Well, I might not be able to tell their numbers, but I know that they outnumber us. They number enough that I know that we won't be able to fight them. The only reason that they have not yet attacked us is because of Enrique. They must be quite unsure as to what they must do right now.

  The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

  After all, Enrique is their leader. With their leader stuck in such a dicey situation, they must be paralysed with indecision. After all, blindly attacking us might lead to Enrique being killed. I am sure that is something that they absolutely cannot afford.

  Still, we are in hot water here. After all, the people outside might decide that now would be the best moment to attack. Once that happens, this place is going to be pure chaos. Then escape is going to be the last thing on our minds.

  Even as I am looking at the man, he has been studying us with a scholar-like intensity. Looking at the man, you would think he was bored, having nothing to do. Just looking at his eyes reveals his hawk-like gaze. The man has not bothered to remove the sword stuck in his body. Wellche is wise not to. Well, the blood loss from that wound would have been enough to kill him. That is a pretty deep wound, if we are being honest.

  "Why have you come here, Navok?" Anthony begins again. (After all, how long can we stare at each other?) There is a bestial growl to his voice that makes it clear he is trying to provoke the other party.

  Even as the guard utters this, I can see the look of irritation on everybody. Why is the idiot running his mouth about like this? Offending the man is about the quickest way to start a fight. Right now, a fight would be disadvantageous to us.

  Thankfully, Enrique doesn't seem to notice such an obvious provocation. The man is busier studying us. Even now, the man seems to be calculating the best method of attacking us.

  I can see from a corner of my eye that John has taken a position behind me. The man will at least be able to react should an attack happen. Even with the ridiculous speed, the man seems to be capable of. (Though, I think that he should not be able to pull off something like his precious strike, though.)

  Well, things would still be manageable if he had only planned to attack. He would still be trapped amongst us, after all and would be fully at the mercy of the strikeforce. We would at least be able to kill him before things inevitably become chaotic.

  If the man gets out of this place, killing him would be impossible among his soldiers. That is why his planning his escape means we are going to have a harder time. Shadow magic is about the most slippery magic that I have ever seen in my life. Its practitioners also tend to be pretty hard to kill.

  "Why are you attacking us now?" John speaks.

  I am confused, as trying to enrage the man now could be enough to break our present stalemate. A glance at John results in a withering look that is enough to warn me. The man looks ready to take my life.

  "Well, we are not in the habit of being merciful to people who attack us." The man replies. He is trying to project authority in his voice, though his voice breaks. "What else did you expect would happen?"

  "Well, we have not attacked you." John speaks. "Our target from the start was the vampires that you have been harbouring. Even you know that monsters like that are fair game. Be thankful that we have not attacked you for harbouring them."

  As he continues speaking, I can feel a tiny burst of mana to my left. I don't turn to look at what it is. The mana signature is weak enough that normal mages will not be able to detect it. (They would really have to be focusing on their mana sense.) I know that the signature is from the direction are the Searchers. They are doing something, and I have no desire to attract any attention towards them. (They might be the only chance that we have left.)

  "Do you expect us to ignore the fact that somebody managed to convince the rats of this town to come into our home. That too on the very day you attack these vampires." He sneers. "You do realise that there is a vampire, safe and sound with you. From our side, it looks like you are harbouring vampires."

  The mana of the Searchers has begun to intensify. It is reaching a state where somebody like Enrique would be able to sense it. I can feel sweat form on my back. If he felt it, this would be enough to trigger a fight, and the chaos that it would eventually lead to is not what we want.

  "Do you expect us to know anything about your internal conflicts. We are literally outsiders here. How do we know that this is not something that happens every other week? We have completed our task in hunting and capturing the vampires in your casino. A fight would be useless to all the parties involved, I would say.", John replies.

  As he does so, I realise that the man is playing a risky game. He is trying to piss off the other party. John is gambling that if the other party is angry, he won't bother to sense the Searcher's magic. I can see Enrique clench his fist, getting ready for a fight. Well, I can't really blame John now. Diplomacy like this is not something he is good at.

  Instead, this is something that Anthony is supposed to be doing. That reminds me, what in the hells is Anthony even doing?

  "This is your final warning, noble. We do not want a fight with you." The man speaks, a calm edge to his voice. "If you don't cooperate with us, though, we shall kill you. Do you think your elder will be able to track your bones in the wilds of the bone pit?"

  "Well, nothing like that will be happening over here. I wonder what makes you think that you will be able to get rid of us." John speaks with sarcasm in his voice. I can detect the hint of relief deep in his voice. Well, I was sure for a second that the other man would be attacking us.

  Even as John speaks, though, magical runes form on his hand. Even as the runes leave him, Enrique collapses to the ground. The reason for that is John's sword, which has returned to his hand. The sword returned to John with such speed that it took a second. I get worried that it will strike John, but it slows down at the last moment as the hilt of the sword slips from John's grasp.

  Enrique is completely disabled right now. Even now, he tries to stop the bleeding in his chest, as the Searchers act. They finally cast their spell as a bright light covers us all.