Welcome to Hero of Rome, a litRPG historical fantasy set in Ancient Rome. If you’re new here, start the story in Chapter 1.
Enjoy the chapter!
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With a choreographed display of Roman bureaucracy and amateur sleuthing, juicy tidbits on Bulla Felix's hideout bubble to the surface, drawing the net tighter and cueing the stage for an impending showdown as scouts swarm like gossip-hungry seagulls.
Camilla’s first arrow, blessed by Diana, struck a mounted guard at the front of the caravan in the throat. The other guards didn’t have time to react as three more cavalrymen were pierced by arrows from the archers. The blinding sun upon the archers’ shoulders would keep them hidden as a battle cry from Bulla and his infantry charged the front.
Amidst the sudden chaos, Flavian and I took on the rear of the guard who were unsuspecting of our attack. The first strike was mine: a confused guard in his forties with his back turned didn’t even have the chance to cry out as my pilum pierced his heart through his armor. My Historical Insight, of which I only used three seconds, gave me the right angle to throw my weapon with perfection.
Flavian was just as swift beside me, cutting the exposed ankles of another guard before silencing him.
A fifth of the caravan guards remained. It seemed the goddess Fors Fortuna was on our side.
Such favor was short-lived.
As Bulla, Titus, and the infantry clashed with the front, a ripple of awareness spread through the posterior ranks of mine and Flavian’s attacks. A young guard in his twenties with light stubble suddenly looked directly at me. Though he was twenty feet from me in one moment, in the next he was standing directly in front, having moved in god-like speed.
“Agents of Pluto!” he screamed as he unleashed a fury of blind attacks with his gladius. A few of his blows clanged against my shield. Each attack made my shield arm heavier. My drumming heart soon drowned out the chaotic song of battle around me.
Stamina: 90/100
Stamina: 80/100
“Flavian!” I yelled in desperation. All of the fights I had before were completely in my advantage for the most part. But not this one.
A searing pain ripped across my exposed right side between my armor. Blood gushed from my ribs and fell to the ground where it became visible, marking my presence. I cursed, daring to cast a glance to my right where it came from: there was no one there.
I threw my shield at the invisible attacker and rolled away, hearing a grunt of pain as a result. Flavian must have seen it, for a moment later a dying man emerged from thin air next to me and died in a pool of blood.
Health: 60/70
Health: 59/70
Health: 58/70
With no time to lose, I activated my prophetic gift to ensure my survival, focusing only on the next ten seconds to make its recharge quicker. The futures exploded in my mind. It was a dizzying array of chaotic survival.
In nearly all of them, the guard with Mercury’s blessing would cut me down in a matter of moments, even with all of my armor, though it would take him some time to hack through the rare gear. He was truly a vessel of Mercury’s divine swiftness, every swipe of his gladius a blur of death. I focused on the few ones where I was not cut to pieces, learning the moves I should make to survive. The knowledge that my next moves could very likely be fatal brought a surreal clarity to my mind, a sort of high from the adrenaline racing through me screaming for me to survive.
I would have to be extremely precise to make it out of this alive.
Health: 57/70
As reality reemerged, the guard was on me before I could take a pained breath. His sword rose with godly speed and glinted in the high sun. Just before it descended to my demise, I pushed off of the ground with every bit of strength within me. The world spun as I rolled to the side of the guard, the blade swooshing by my ear as I narrowly avoided its cutting embrace. Fresh waves of pain shot into my brain as the ground dug into my exposed wound. I had to bite my tongue to avoid screaming and giving away my position.
My maneuver, while dangerously close and desperate, worked: I was outside his range and the dirt covered the stream of blood coursing from my side.
I was invisible again.
Stamina: 70/100
Health: 50/70
“Here you fool!” Flavian screamed, distracting the guard for a precious moment. It would be the guard’s undoing.
Following the moment I saw in my visions, I grunted with immense effort to thrust my sword precisely through a gap in his armor, jamming it firmly into his back. I ducked as his gladius ripped through the air above my head. This time, I was ready for my own. Guided by my gift, I swung my gladius at his hand, almost severing it and causing him to drop his sword. His eyes grew wide with shock as he screamed, but his cry was short-lived as Flavian dealt three deadly blows to his exposed back.
The man, an unstoppable force before, stumbled forward and collapsed, the light fading from his eyes as Mercury’s blessing departed from his vessel.
Stamina: 60/100
I quickly moved away from the fallen man and hoped Flavian did the same. As I predicted, a sudden swoosh ripped through the air where I was not a moment ago.
There remained one invisible guard. But how would I kill him and not accidentally Flavian?
As I moved lightly on my toes, the battle around Flavian and me still raged. From the corner of my eye, I could see Bulla had drawn the entire guard to him and his infantry where they pushed against each other with steel and fury. The sound of clanging metal, clashing shields, and the cries of the wounded filled the air, masking my thundering heart. Bulla must have used the blessing of Mars, for he screamed and almost seemed to grow red with power as he fought, his gladius strikes shearing through flesh and armor. Titus fought ferociously by his side, shield bashed and dented, pushing relentlessly forward with his war hammer and crushing the skulls before him. He seemed to ignore any wounds he received.
The air was thick with the stench of blood and dust from their engagement.
I was glad to see Camilla and the other archers were still safe from the guards up on their perch. Each shot from her was a whisper of death to the frustrated guards below.
To ensure this silent dance went in my favor, I looked into the futures of what could come next. The potential decisions I decided to look at were of me swinging my sword in a wide arc in all four directions. For the strikes to my right and behind me, my sword made contact and threw an invisible person to the ground. But upon a follow-up and driving my sword into them on the ground, I was met with a bloody and shocked Flavian, only to be knifed myself by the enemy.
Not those, then.
The future where I struck to my left was the ticket.
“Here!” I screamed, following my future self’s footsteps with precision as my sword cut the arm of the invisible assailant. His blood shimmered in the air as it poured from his wound.
Stamina: 53/100
Health: 43/70
As predicted, Flavian must have hurled a knife at him which whistled in the air. A soft thud and a groan confirmed it. More blood came from Flavian’s infliction.
I already saw what came next.
Flavian must have dashed onto the man and made him lose control of Pluto’s blessing, perhaps bashing his head against the ground, for the next moment a bloodied man materialized on the ground as he wrestled with the air. I winced as I finished him off, his neck vulnerable and unarmored.
“Lucky hit,” Flavian said, still invisible as the now deceased guard jostled from Flavian’s departure.
There were only a handful of guards left holding the line by the time we were done. Defeat was imminent for them. Their backs were turned to Flavian and me as they fought like cornered animals. The unarmed merchants they were protecting had already fled on foot. Some of them had cut their horses from the loaded caravans to make a quicker pursuit. They must have known trying to drag the treasure away would have been fruitless, deadly even to tired bandits.
Perhaps realizing there was nothing left to protect, their shield wall formation finally broke rank and the remaining seven guards fled for their lives, each in separate directions.
At least some of them are spared, I thought with relief, though that was short-lived as Bulla gave the command for the archers to target the fleeing guards. Camilla gave a confused stare but nodded in obedience, finishing off those who ran away.
I held my bleeding side as I watched the last of them fall. Sighing, I made myself visible again along with Flavian and shuffled towards Bulla to earn my due reward.
One step closer to Cetus.