Chapter 540 Extra: Swordsman Gaeru
Hamatarou managed to reach the gates of the castle that he once stayed in when the Hamster Prince was young. The memories of the past still haunted him occasionally but he had no time to reminisce the past right now. Two large human sized Salamanders were guarding the front gates.
The druid pondered whether he should cast a spell to make them sleep or wait for the next change of guards. At the moment, he was at the top of one of the watchtowers overlooking the front of entire castle and noticed that the two Salamanders were not the only guards around.
Thus, he decided to lay low for a while, hiding himself within the wild flowers that grew in the cracks of the watch tower to monitor the situation. If he wanted to, Hamatarou could probably rest especially since the hamster had used the Totem of Atem to shrink himself to the size of a petal on the wildflower and it should be impossible for them to notice him.
Less than half an hour had passed and he was already intrigued as well as frustrated by what the Salamanders Guards were talking about. Their conversation provided him with much insight on the Salamander's own situation and future spells.
And that was when he noticed something peculiar.
A frog who was less than a quarter the size of the Human sized Salamanders approached the gates of the castle. It was wearing a cloak as well as clothes that fit him nicely. But the most crucial detail was his sword. A broad double edge sword with broken edges at the side, the frog used it to point at the Salamanders who were guarding the front gates.
"Huh, so one of the Frogs survived, eh? I thought we killed them all already. They were tasty though." One of Salamander Guards snickered.
"You cowards! Cannibals! You massacred our entire Frog Village and you ate them too?! If I do not cut the Salamanders down today, I cannot be called Gaeru!" The Frog shouted at the top of his voice, attracting the attention of the other guards too.
"Looks like we have frog legs for tonight!" the Salamander Guards licked his lips with the long tongue as he picked up his sword from the side of the wall and withdraw it from the scabbard.
"What is wrong with him? How can that frog be so stupid?! He should have realised that he stands no chance against them, much less two. Oh why couldn't you have at least attacked before the guards took their weapons out?!" Hamatarou clenched onto the petal of the wild flower he was sitting on and continued to witness the scene in front of him.
As if he was giving them a handicap, the two salamanders charged right in front of Gaeru. The frog swordsman swung his sword forward, blocking the two swords from swinging any further. However, the Salamanders were not done yet as they used their slender bodies to twist and utilise their tails to hit the frog swordsman from the side.
Still, Gaeru managed to evade it by leaning back. He released his sword grip and continued to jump over the height of the Salamanders. Upon landing behind them, he extended his tongue to grab the sword and the weapon acted as a burgeoning item, hitting the two guards on their face.
He quickly grabbed on to his broadsword and tried to slash sidewards at the Salamander Guard but his attempt was foiled when another Salamander Guard from above shot an arrow down, preventing him from attacking with full strength.
The attack barely cut into the Salamander's torso due to the poor condition of the sword, resulting merely in a skin wound. That was when the uninjured Salamander Guards opened his mouth and spewed a breath of fire towards the frog.
In response, Gaeru raised his cloak up, preventing the fire from reaching him. He quickly detached the mantle, but because of that, the guards were given the opportunity to steady themselves and prepare to fight again.
No matter how one looked at it, the frog swordsman was clearly at a disadvantage and it seemed that the Salamander Archer on guard duty had called up even more reinforcements. Hamatarou realised that his window of opportunity to save this little frog swordsman was growing smaller by the second.
"Damn it!!! So much for just reconnaissance!" Hamatarou grumbled as he remembered he had been given a portal back to the System by utilising the ring that Qiu Yue loaned him. It was apparently for Hamatarou to capture a Salamander if possible and put them in a temporary holding area.
However, from what he saw, the Salamanders that were on scene were merely lackeys and not the main leaders that he wished to 'kidnap' for interrogation purposes. "BAH, here goes nothing!" Hamatarou placed a Totem of Reverse Atem on his mouth as he cast his spell to boost his jump speed to the next level.
The frog swordsman was getting surrounded. Worse he was being made fun of with the reinforcement hiding behind their shields lazily poking towards him with their swords and pikes. Gaeru was prepared to kill himself rather than endure this dishonour of failing to get revenge.
Suddenly, he noticed a change in the winds as if a projectile was coming its way. However, if he stepped any further from his current spot, he would also be killed by the Salamanders. Thus, he placed the broadsword right beside his 'neck' and prepared to cut his own head off.
…Until the projectile suddenly enlarged into a large furry monster which both the Salamanders and the frog had never seen before. It was similar to a bear but it had black and white spots on it.
Hamatarou had shapeshifted into a Panda though he was roaring like a bear. The Druid had been intrigued by those bear like creatures he had first laid eyes on in the WunderPanda Theme Parks and thought it would be a good way to frighten the Salamanders while hopefully keeping his druid identity secret as long as he could.
Gaining his senses back quickly from the shock due to amount of experience he had in hunts, the frog swordsman quickly scanned the situation. So, instead of cutting his own neck off, Gaeru instinctively pointed his broadsword at the Black and White Bear but it appeared as if the bear was here to attack the Salamanders.
He did not know if this strange creature would turn on him next but all he knew was that he might still manage to get some revenge so the swordsman quickly shifted his target to the remaining Salamanders.
"You are mine! Salamanders!!!" The Frog managed to cut a distraught Salamander Guard into two and wished to continue the momentum he had.
However, what he did not expect was that the giant, black spotted white bear suddenly (and gently) bit onto the Frog's head. At the same time, it plunged its claws into one of the older looking Salamanders before disappearing into thin air. And like a whirlpool sucking everything it contacts with, the portal swiped the bear (with a frog in its mouth) away from reality.
The Salamanders were in a shock of the sudden turn of events and quickly reported the happenings to their leader.