As the Bloodmaws were charging toward the gates, the guards shot arrows aimed at the flank of the group to get their attention and separate them. The guards aimed right, but the arrows simply bounced back on the Bloodmaws` thick skin. That didn`t harm them in the slightest but that was within expectation. However, what wasn`t within expectation was for the arrows to even fail to get the Bloodmaws` attention. The group of monsters stayed together.

　　Balin took a bow from one of the guards, and under Edward`s focused gaze, Balin used his aura, imbuing the bow and arrow with it. He extended the bow, aiming, before releasing the arrow still imbued with his aura. The arrow planted itself in the shoulder of the left-most Bloodmaw, drawing blood. The monster roared with more outrage than pain, finally giving its full attention to the guards on the walls.

　　I didn`t even know that one could maintain one`s aura on an object even after it left our contact.

　　"Nice shot." Edward declared.

　　Balin gave the bow back to the guard. "Run, while you still have that monster`s attention! We must separate those Bloodmaws. We won`t be able to fight all of them at the same time if they stay together." He ordered the guard.

　　The guard followed the order immediately, the Bloodmaw left the group, chasing the archer alongside Agripin`s walls to get its vengeance.

　　That`s one less to deal with for now.

　　The other Bloodmaws hadn`t stop and they had already reached the wooden barricades filled with spikes installed in front of the gates. The barricades exploded into splinters, not even managing to hurt the Bloodmaws. However, they still managed to stop their charge.

　　Edward and Balin looked at each other.

　　"Now, it is time for our part of the job." Balin told him before asking another guard to inform Caspian of the situation.

　　"I would have preferred for us to be able to deal with this situation on our own. But we have to warn Caspian, we will need his help. Even if we end up exhausting him in the long run by overlapping our guard duty, it is better than letting the Bloodmaws tear our defenses and enter the village." He explained to Edward.

　　"I agree with you." Edward answered. "We will have to take care of two of them each. We should put our safety first if it gets too dangerous. We can stall them until Caspian comes to help us if needs be."

　　"Yes, it is not the best, but it`s what we have. Let`s do this". Balin threw a rope around one of the wooden tips from the palisade, before jumping and rappelling down the wall. Edward smiled at the scene, before directly jumping from the wall without even getting a rope under the aghast looks of the guards.

　　Edward let himself be taken by gravity, his fall accelerating, before teleporting above one of the Bloodmaws, landing on him daggers first. Both Edward and the Bloodmaws flinched from the impact, but Edward didn`t let go and used the opportunity to add some more wounds to the monster before having to teleport away as the Bloodmaw tried to shake him off.

　　Balin had just climbed down the wall and was turning to face the Bloodmaws standing only a few meters in front of him. Two of them charged at him at the same time, Balin had to do a barrel roll to avoid them, the Bloodmaws pass him by and crashed against the wall. The rampart shook from the impact, the guards on top of it having to hold on to their grip to avoid being shaken off. While the monsters were having their back facing him, Balin swiped at them with his sword, managing to injure both of them.

　　Meanwhile, Edward was avoiding the strikes of two Bloodmaws, including one who wasn`t injured yet. The two Bloodmaws were attacking him, either successively or at the same time. Edward was saving his teleportation power for emergencies, to avoid a blow, or to get on the offensive.

　　His reach was ridiculously small compared to the monsters due to the sheer size of the Bloodmaws. To wound them, he had to walk into their reach while avoiding their attacks. For that he had to be faster than them and anticipate their movements. Edward was a good boxer, but he wasn`t trained to fight against inhuman monsters. This was something that was still too hard for him to do. So instead, he was relying on his teleportation to get close to them and stab them.

　　His favorite trick was to teleport onto their back. When he was directly on their bodies, the Bloodmaws` size became an inconvenience rather than a boon. They had trouble dislodging him. They had to roll on the ground to attempt to squeeze him, or they had to get help from another Bloodmaw to do so.Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.

　　However, Edward had also his fair share of trouble. Since there were two of the monsters, he had difficulties landing a good strike to their head, the other Bloodmaw was always getting in the way. Moreover, his teleportation power had a slight delay between each teleportation. He had to be extra careful not to get hit while his power was unavailable. One bad hit could be enough to put him out of the fight.

　　Luckily for him, each time he was injuring them with his daggers, the slow down time was getting active for a short instance. With this help, he was able to analyze his surroundings and avoid being surprised by a blind hit after a teleportation. Edward was slowly but consistently whittling them down. Even if Caspian didn`t come to his help, he would be able to kill them both as long as he stayed focused and didn`t get surprised by an attack.

　　On the other hand, Balin was having more difficulty. He didn`t have any power to rely on, and he was only able to hold on thanks to his experience. He had never fought Bloodmaws before, but he had had his fair share of fights with dark wolves. The guards on the wall were trying to help him as best they could. Whenever they had an opening they were firing arrows at the monsters. This didn`t have much effect, but it could distract them for a moment.

　　Another group of guards had left to monitor the last Bloodmaw who was still running madly after the archer alongside the walls.

　　The monster was far faster than the guard, it was occasionally jumping over the trenches to reach the wall. After a jump, it was bouncing back from the palisade or falling in the trenches on the wooden pikes. The pikes weren`t enough to injure him, but they prevented him from getting a good jumping spot to get over the wall. The walls were four-meter high, but even from a distance, the monster was able to jump two meters high, leaving impressive claw marks on the wooden poles.

　　While Balin was struggling to hold on, Caspian finally came to give his assistance. He stood on the wall for a few seconds, assessing the situation before joining the fight. He used his power, his body surging with muscles and growing noticeably larger. He then took his sword with both hands and jumped from the wall directly onto one of the Bloodmaw harassing Balin. Balin was the closest to the wall, so the monsters attacking him were the closest to the wall and within reach of Caspian, the ones attacking Edward were too far away for him to help.

　　Caspian landed with a big thump directly on one aghast Bloodmaw who vomited a huge amount of purple blood. Caspian had landed in a kneeling knight pose, the sword turned toward the ground, and had impaled the monster, nailing it to the ground. He was like a hero delivering his judgment to demons from the abyss. He slowly got up, retrieving his sword in the process, while gradually strenghtening and growing his aura. The severely wounded Bloodmaw under him collapsed in a growing pool of blood, left to die from blood loss.

　　The different combatants had stopped the fight and were watching Caspian, speechless from his entry and from the strength of his aura. The Bloodmaws even retreated a few steps before his intimidating aura, shocked by his sudden irruption, and trying to understand how to process this new threat.

　　However, this moment of silence didn`t last, the three remaining Bloodmaws all charged at Caspian at the same time. In the end, they decided to face the bigger threat first, dismissing their previous opponents.

　　Caspian side-stepped the first Bloodmaw before taking the brunt of the second one`s charge. He managed to stop the charge, but he was now pressed against the wooden wall with the weight of a Bloodmaw on him. Balin rushed to help him, preventing the last Bloodmaw from ganging up on Caspian. Edward also used this golden opportunity. It was the first time since the start of the fight that he had a clear shot he couldn`t miss it. He teleported on the Bloodmaw holding up Caspian and managed to pierce its skull with both daggers. Edward enjoyed the stream of energy coursing through him from his daggers, before jumping back.

　　Now that the Bloodmaw was dead, and that it was only a dead weight pressing him down, Caspian used his impressive strength to push the carcass away. Only two monsters were left on the battlefield. Between Caspian, Balin and Edward, the two Bloodmaws didn`t stand a chance, the power balance had reversed.

　　While Balin was occupying one Bloodmaw, Caspian took care of the other, piercing it deeply with one stab from its blade. Edward then teleported on its back to finish it. They easily repeated the process for the last one who was quickly minced to pieces.

　　Just as they were releasing a breath of relief, the fifth and last Bloodmaw arrived. It had still been running after the guard that it believed had injured it. In this short time the monster had already managed to run for a complete circle of the village, it was now back at its starting point.

　　The Bloodmaw slow down as it realized that the others accompanying it were dead and that it was now facing three unidentified individuals. That didn`t stop it from charging at them, the monster too dumb, or too angry to realize that he would die like the rest of them. Caspian, Balin and Edward avoided its charge while staying close enough to injure it as it passed them by. The monster had only the time to turn around from its charge before getting slain by the three of them.

　　Those monsters are really dumb. But they are outright tough, I`m having trouble just dealing with two of them at the same time.

　　We would have been in a difficult situation if Caspian hadn`t arrived. I wouldn`t have been able to kill the two Bloodmaws I was fighting before the last one came back. And from then on, it would have been five against two and we would have probably lost the fight. Facing several tough opponents at the same time is hard for me.

　　My battle style is more compatible with ambushes. I can teleport while a monster hasn`t noticed me and deliver a critical strike. Even against a tough opponent, I can whittle it down slowly, but with several, at the same time I`m forced to teleport to avoid some hits, and that gives me less opportunity to go on the offensive. I will have to find a way to correct this weakness or to avoid such situations from happening in the future.