THE FORTRESS BURNS
The Iron Hounds were losing.
Every street, every hallway, every barricade they built was torn down within minutes.
The monsters rampaged through Fort Blackthorn. Their bodies crashing into walls, their claws slicing through armored men like paper.
The fortress that once stood as an unshakable stronghold was now a graveyard in the making.
Garrus Ironjaw fought at the center of it, his great axe dripping with blood.
Every swing crushed bone.
Every step was over the bodies of the fallen.
Every second was another reminder that they were running out of time.
“WHERE ARE THE DAMN REINFORCEMENTS?!” Garrus roared, splitting an ogre’s skull in half.
Drake dodged a wolf’s snapping jaws, stabbing a dagger into its throat before kicking it off. “There are none Garrus! This is it!”
Lena stood atop a pile of rubble, her spear impaling the throat of a troll. “We can’t hold out much longer!”
The air reeked of blood and death.
And then..
A voice cut through the chaos.
Calm. Unbothered.
“You look busy.”
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THE GHOST NEGOTIATES
The Iron Hounds froze.
The monsters did not.
But in the middle of it all, standing untouched on a broken ledge above them..
Relay.
Isaac sat casually on the edge. 0ne foot dangling, the other resting on his knee. His featureless mask gleamed under the light of the burning fortress.
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He held up a glass bottle. Lazily tilting it back and forth, letting the foul-smelling liquid inside swirl.
His voice was amused.
"You're all having fun right?"
No one responded.
Not because they didn’t want to.
But because they were still fighting for their lives.
Isaac leaned forward slightly.
“Tell you what, I’ll make this simple.”
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THE PROPOSAL
Isaac stood up. stretching his arms before placing his chair down once more.
Then he spoke.
“You call off this little blockade of yours. You stop bothering my clients. You let me work in peace.”
His masked face tilted downward, watching as an ogre smashed a wooden watchtower to splinters.
“In exchange?” He rolled the potion between his fingers. “I pull all the monsters out of your fortress.”
The Iron Hounds kept fighting, but they were listening.
“Every last one.” Isaac continued. “Gone. Just like that.”
His tone was light. Casual.
But the weight of his words settled heavily over the battlefield.
Garrus’s grip on his axe tightened.
Isaac could hear the gears turning in their heads.
Then...
He chuckled softly.
“And hey, you all get to live.”
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THE WAITING GAME
Isaac sat back down.
Rested an elbow on his knee.
And waited.
Just watching.
Mocking them without saying a word.
His body language was relaxed, as if he were waiting for his meal at a tavern. Not sitting in the middle of a battlefield.
Even as men screamed.
Even as monsters tore through barricades.
Even as the fortress crumbled.
He waited.
Because the Iron Hounds had no choice.
They could refuse and die.
Or they could agree and live.
Simple.
He drummed his fingers against his knee.
“So? What’s it gonna be?”
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THE IRON HOUNDS’ DILEMMA
Garrus gritted his teeth.
“Bastard.” he muttered.
Drake wiped blood from his forehead, his chest rising and falling heavily. “Garrus… we need to take this deal.”
Lena pulled her spear from a dying monster, panting. “This was never a war. It was a damn execution.”
Garrus knew it too.
His men were dying.
The walls had fallen.
The fortress was lost.
And yet, Relay sat there like a king watching an empire burn.
Calm. Amused. Untouched.
Garrus clenched his fists.
He had underestimated this man.
And now?
Now he was at his mercy.
Garrus glared up at Isaac.
And then...
He made his choice.