Empire of India: Rise of the Ruthless Prince

Harsha's cold warning sent shivers down the group's back. He looked forward, scanning his surroundings and checking the terrain.

"We will split. Get your asses out of here."

Prince Aniruddh furrowed his brow in confusion.

"Don't you need help. There are so many assassins."

"Hmpf… I can handle it."

Naiki, controlling her breaths and pace, said, "How dare you?"

Aniruddh cut her off midsentence and nodded at Hansraj and Sachin.

"Silence; we will split."

Harsha glanced back at the approaching assassin.

"Viswa, we will fight. Turn by that tree."

Harsha pointed at the tree to the right. They split from the group of Yadavas. Turning by the tree, they then jumped over a rock and prepared themselves for the fight. The assassins approached and jumped over the rock to catch up to them. To their horror, they found them ready to fight.

The assassin who jumped first was skewered by the sword of Harsha right in the gut and thrown to the side by Viswa, who plunged his sword right into the chest, killing the assassin. The rest of the assassin gathered as Harsha and Viswa faced them with their weapons out and facing their backs to each other.

"We don't have shields. Lure them to a narrower area, dwindling their numbers. Avoid arrows and cover each other's backs."

Viswa gripped his sword tightly, taking a stance and steadying his breath to calm himself.

"Understood,"

Before the assassin could take a proper stance. Harsha charged at an assassin standing close to the rock, quickly closing in and slicing his wrist off to send his weapon cluttering away, and then a strong kick to the stomach slammed the assassin's back into the rock, and Harsha finally drove his sword right into his chest, the life in his eyes instantly fading out.

Viswa didn't respond as quickly as Harsha; he observed and then charged at an assassin close by to open a path. The assassin, whom Viswa charged, was prepared for his attack and swung at him. Viswa's flexibility allowed him to avoid the strike at an unnatural angle.

He struck his sword right into the ribs of the assassin. With his sword stuck in the ribs, he grabbed the body and turned around, putting it in the middle of an approaching stab from his comrade and lodging his sword in the body.

Harsha plunged his sword into the back of the assassin, piercing his heart as he was trying to dislodge his weapon from his comrade's body.

"Good job. Move into that narrow area."

Meanwhile, the Prince Aniruddh group has killed the two assassins that came after them with ease. Aniruddh looked down on the bodies as the blood pooled up onto the hard earth.

Sachin, dislodging his sword from the chest of the assassin, shifted his gaze to the prince.

"Your Highness, should we help them?"

Naiki looked at Sachin with a scowl.

"Are you dumb? Why risk our lives for two unknown guys?"

"Come on, Naiki. They looked very young as well. Don't you have a heart?"

Naiki waved her hands dismissively, shrugging Sachin off.

"It's not our matter; we already have so much on our plate. Let's not add more," advised Hansraj, interjecting the argument. "Let the prince decide."

Aniruddh was pondering the current situation. The number of assassins was too much for two people to handle, and it was not his responsibility to help them either.

'What should I do? Something inside me is telling me to save them.'

Aniruddh's gaze shifted from the ground to the group, and he declared

"Let's save them."

"Your Highness, this is risky." Naiki added with a concerned expression.

"Don't you worry. We will be fine. Have I ever gotten into a losing battle?"

The group made their way to the place they split and walked to the opposite side, where the two guys had split from them. Beyond the small rock, the ground was littered with corpses of assassins.

The ground was a pool of blood; corpses with their intestines and mucus dripping out were all over the place. The blades of grass were bloodied, and the footsteps showed that the assassin went chasing after to a narrower area.

Sachin gasped in surprise.

"Woah woah, two young guys did this? It is very gruesome."

Aniruddh began moving towards the narrower path, scanning his surroundings.

"They seemed to be skilled. Move along."

As they made their way deeper, the number of corpses steadily increased; most of them were killed with a single strike, very precisely. Faint noises of clashing metals and screams of agony could be heard in the distance.

"There, let's go." Aniruddh ordered, pointing in the direction.

"Sachin, take the lead with your shield. Naiki and Hansraj split and attacked the ones on the other side."

They came into a scene of two guys covered in blood and mucus from the enemies fighting fiercely with their backs to each other; they were at the edge of a small hill.

Sachin charged with his shield, and Aniruddh was close behind. Sachin slammed his shield on the enemy, and Aniruddh, taking the lead, sliced the neck of the fallen assassin. The two guys were visibly stunned by the entrance; they were huffing heavily, trying to maintain their stamina.

One guy charged without notice at the startled assassins with a crazed expression, dodging their swings unnaturally and fighting precisely. He weaved through the enemies, striking their wrists off to disarm them. The other one followed up with a deadly swing to finish the enemy.

It was a display of pure skill, talent, and coordination. The guy with the crazed expression didn't even make a single wasted movement.

"WHY ARE YOU GUYS HERE? I told you to leave." The guy shouted, stabbing another assasin and kicking his chest to dislodge his sword swiftly.

Seeing the guy fight in a frenzy, Aniruddh also strangely got excited and began to slice down enemies swiftly.

As the fight was nearing its end, the assassins all shifted their focus onto the guy soaked in blood with a crazy look.

Aniruddh stepped in and parried a swing at the young man. Sachin tried to block a blow from a burly enemy but was pushed back into Aniruddh and the young man, who couldn't find a foothold on the hill.

They both fell from the slope into the forest cover below.