As soon as the family entered the hall, they were greeted by their close friends with enthusiastic waves.

"Nathan, Arielle, Ashley, over here! Hello Grandpa Patrick and Grandma Emily." said a 12-year-old boy, Thomas, with brown hair and brown skin. His ocean like Sapphire eyes looked toward the family. Sat next to him was a 9-year-old girl, Chana, with brown hair, Amber eyes and light brown skin, who was half asleep but also greeted them. Thomas and Chana both wore white shirts and blue pants. Their mother, Maya, also greeted Patrick's family as she walked back after getting a jug of water. She was an older version of Chana but with black hair.

"Right before you arrived, we were just told that the chief is negotiating with the bandits." Maya informed the family with anxiety. "The bandits are asking for a hefty sum."

"But this year’s harvest is bad, isn’t it?" Emily commented. "I wonder how it goes."

"We need to brace for an attack. They are likely to attack in bad years like this one." Patrick logically and calmly commented.

"Let me pray to Goddess Liliana. Hopefully, Harold and Jonathan will come back safely." Maya said, crossing her fingers and closing her eyes.

"I will go and grab the weapons for everyone." Patrick said and walked away.

Grandpa Patrick went to the person in charge of the armory. He picked up three spears and three small wooden shields and came back. "Here you go." he said, handing two sets to Emily and Maya and kept one for himself. With quick and efficient movements, they secured the shields onto their left forearms using leather straps.

"I am very sleepy, Grandpa. Why are the bandits attacking at night?" Ashley complained with sleepy eyes.

"Because the Knight Order never responds to emergencies at night…. Well, sleep here Ashley." said Patrick. Ashley leaned her head on her Grandpa’s shoulder and closed her eyes. Seeing that, Nathan went and occupied the other one of Grandpa’s shoulder and Arielle to her Grandma’s. Tom and Chana both rested on their mother’s shoulders. The children quickly fell asleep.

After a few hours, "Bandits, coming from the west!" The scout on the top of the town hall suddenly shouted.

"Close the door! Everyone, get inside!" The leader of the town hall guards called out loudly.

"Move all noncombatants to the courtyard. Go! Go! Go!" The leader yelled again.

The town hall had only one gate, which was located on the eastern side and led directly into the main building. The open courtyard was on its west, surrounded by high walls that offered a sense of security.

The voluntary village guards guided Nathan, Tom and their families to the courtyard. Ana was one of the voluntary village guards and said to her children as they passed by, "Just wait there for a bit, I will come back soon."

For the next three hours, the bandits relentlessly attacked the gate with a massive ram, each blow shaking the walls and filling the air with a deafening noise. Some of the voluntary village guards, however, were former knights like Ana. They were able to use the Divine Spell: Iron Wall to reinforce the gate, making it hard to penetrate.

"Bandits climbing up from behind the walls!" The watchman on the top of the town hall shouted.

Some village guards hurried to the back and started throwing stones and shooting arrows at the bandits with all their mights.

"Boom!" an explosive spell blasted away the guards on top of the wall, and some of them fell down from it into the noncombatants. Although the wall was around five meters high, all of them were still alive, protected by Stoneskin. Several elderly men and women were injured as they tried to shield the children from the falling guards.

Suddenly, Nathan's eyes widened in shock as he saw four bandits effortlessly scale the walls and take their positions atop, their stances menacing and ready for battle. They talked to each other. Then, the person who seemed to be their leader said, "There is no time. Kill them all."

"Roger!" said the rest of the bandits.

"Divine Spell: Chain Lightning." "Divine Spell: Wind Cutter." Two of the bandits chanted and the other two, including the Leader, unsheathed their swords and jumped down from the wall.

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

Five of the guards who fell to the ground stood up and formed a giant stone wall of shields. "Divine Spells: Iron Wall, Phalanx." One of them additionally cast "Divine Spell: Elemental Shield." They were pushed back a step after the spells hit. The two charging bandits cast the same spells and used their shields to push the five guards backwards. Several more guards swiftly went to help them as reinforcements.

Nathan, together with his sisters and grandparents, started moving back into the town hall's main building. He saw his mother running to the courtyard to help fight the four bandits. He could see the bandits split up and were fighting individually. They cut through the guard's shields as if they were made of, not even butter but of cabbage, leaving deep gashes in their wake. The injured guards were quickly ushered away, replaced by fresh fighters eager to defend their families and friends.

"Bang!" "The gate is broken!" "Why are the noncombatants here? Move them back to the courtyard!" Nathan could hear people shouting. Patrick, Emily, and Maya formed a triangle to shield their children.

Sensing imminence danger from both the eastern and western side, Emily said to her husband, "Patrick, walk in the middle and watch the children, you’re carrying Henry. Let me and Maya guard the front and the back." Then, the three of them moved accordingly. Nathan held hands with Arielle and Ashley and their hands were sweating. Other families also made similar formations to protect their children as the bandits came charging in.

From behind his Grandma, who was guarding the back, Nathan could still see the four bandits who had climbed over the wall. They wore metal plate armors, unlike the bandits who came from the main gate, where the majority of them wore leather armors or even pots and frying pans. However, those plate armors were not the same as those typically worn by knights. Just like the other bandits, they covered up the lower part of their faces with pieces of cloth. With ruthless efficiency, these four plate armored bandits kept slicing through the village guards, and if given a chance, would occasionally charge into the elderly and children and slaughter them indiscriminately. Many women and elderly pushed the children behind them and formed a human shield against the bandits. Many children were screaming and crying.

"Goddess Liliana! Please come and save us!" Nathan could hear many people crying for the Goddess' help.

After a few grueling minutes, casualties continued to pile up. Patrick, Emily and Maya did their best to block the children from seeing or getting close to the slaughter. Many villagers without children bravely allowed themselves into danger to assist the western side's defense. Suddenly, Nathan's heart skipped a bit as he saw Ana lying on the ground behind some of the village guards. Her shield was broken and she was holding her left arm in pain. Her sword laid on the ground next to her. At this rate, the four bandits would reach her in a few moments. "Mom! Grandma! Mom is hurt! Over there! We need to save her!" Nathan shouted with utmost urgency as he pointed toward his mother.

"Where?" Emily asked as she tried to look. With the anxiety in Nathan's voice, she wanted to find Ana as soon as she could. However, the situation was chaotic and packed with people trying to escape. It was very impressive that Nathan was able to locate his mother. Arielle and Ashley tried to look but they also could not see her.

Nathan dashed toward his mother as the adults stood frozen. Patrick, Emily and Maya tried their best but failed to catch him. Emily immediately attempted to run behind him, but she was kept by Arielle, who also tried to run toward her brother. Nathan reached Ana within twenty seconds, just as she stood up, picked up her sword and prepared to rejoin the fray.

"Nathan? Stay back!" Ana yelled, noticing Nathan.

"Huh?!" Nathan suddenly realized that one of the four plate armored bandits was right next to him, with his sword lifted up and readied to deliver Nathan to Heaven. In a split second, his mother stood between him and the bandit as her chest was sliced through, her sword broken while trying to block the strike.

"Huh?!" Nathan said again as time seemingly stopped. This moment felt like an eternity to him. He could never forget this scene.

The bandit that cut down his mother was a man in his mid twenties with green hair. His face was stained with Ana’s blood.

The other three bandits’ appearances also became imprinted in Nathan’s memory.

The leader of the plate armored bandits was a man in his forties; he had short grey hair that was typical of military men.

The one who cast the Lightning spell was a man in his mid-twenties; he had dark blue hair, Emerald eyes and fair skin. He gave out the vibe of a noble.

The last one who cast the Wind Cutter spell was a woman in her mid-twenties, with long green hair, black eyes and dark brown skin. Her long and carefully combed straight hair was not typical from a group of bandits.

"What should I do? Mom?" At a loss about what to do, Nathan nervously tried to close her mother's wound with his hands.

"Haaa!" Emily came running, thrusting her spear toward the bandit. The bandit switched his focus from Nathan to Emily. However, the green-haired bandit easily dodged the attack and cut through Emily’s shield with his sword. Emily’s leather bracers were also cut through. After that cut, the bandit lifted up his sword and delivered the final strike.

"Emily! No!" Patrick shouted from afar. "Grandma!" Nathan knelt on the ground with one knee, he was horrified and did not know how to respond. Maya blocked the eyes of the children from seeing what happened. "What happened to Mom and Grandma?" Arielle and Ashley asked, trying to look.

Emily fell beside Nathan, as if Nathan could not get more shocked than he already was. "Grandma? What should I do?" Nathan wanted to cry.

The green-haired bandit lifted his sword again and prepared to skewer Nathan.

"I guess I will be joining Mom and Grandma soon." Nathan looked up and thought as a strange sense of calmness fell upon him.