“Between those who traipsed around like they owned the place, and those who kept themselves hidden in the dark until the right moment, victory rarely favors the fools, unlike what some say about fortune.” - Old mercenary saying.

From the vantage point of those watching above, it was almost as if Erycea’s people had completely vanished into the ruins, which was quite a feat given that there were a pair of bear therians larger and wider than the vast majority of people amongst them. Those above could only notice the occasional glimpse of movement when Erycea’s own group dashed from cover to cover in difficult terrain, towards their target the enemy base and its flag.

As for the teams led by Tasha and Vera, they set themselves up in ambush between what they considered the most likely – that was, the easiest – paths that the enemy team might have taken towards their base. Given the amount of rubble and otherwise damaged buildings in the area, it was easy for them to find hiding spots that allowed them to survey the area while remaining hidden.

Vera’s team had the fortune of having their targets stroll right down the largest, most convenient path on their side. There were four youths headed towards them, in an inverted triangle formation with two at the front, one in the middle, and the last covering their backs. They all wore the same armor and carried the sword and shield in their hands with confidence, though their uneasy steps betrayed some nervousness.

All of the youths were human. Due to the age cutoff, it was less likely for there to be any that had dwarven or elvish heritage since for them, a twenty year old was still a child. It was not the case with the relatively rare orcs and goblins seen in the city, but the councilor who sponsored these knights clearly didn’t have that good a relation with them.

Similarly, therians were relatively rare in the former empire’s territory, as they lacked direct contact with the southern continent unlike Knallzog. Those who did venture that far north often headed to Boroes instead, to gather with their own kind, rather than settle in the empire. Humans formed the majority of the empire’s populace partly thanks to their greater fertility, so it wasn’t that odd to see many of them around.

While the youths were well armed and armored, there were still flaws that could be perceived simply from how they moved. For one, they were too rigid with holding their formation in the difficult terrain, often going to the trouble of crossing rubble the hard way rather than adjusting the formation to compensate. They were also nowhere near as vigilant as they should have been, a mistake they would pay for moments later.

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The instant the young knights entered the ambush zone, Aurora rose up from behind the pile of debris she had been hiding behind, on the third floor of a ruined multi-storied house that looked like a precarious perch. Even so, the young girl was light-footed and easily climbed to her spot, which incidentally also doubled as an ideal spot to snipe from.

That the young knights only reacted after the crossbow bolt she loosed thudded into the eye of one of their companions hinted at their lack of real life experience, as they were befuddled for a moment before they momentarily panicked. The knight in their center had just raised his voice and called for them to gather when the ruins exploded around them.

Vera burst right through the remnants of rotten wooden walls that had covered her from sight, from a house just beside the path, right next to the knights who could only stare in abject surprise at her sudden appearance. Her massive battle axe flashed through the air and took off the head of the second knight at the front – Aurora’s bolt having taken the other out – before they could even react.

Even as the remaining two knights regained their wits, they immediately turned to run. The appearance of a behemoth like Vera was not something they had expected, but neither of the two were foolish enough to entertain the notion that they could have given her a fight worth mentioning. Unfortunately for them, Vera was faster than she looked.

Before the young knight at the center of the formation had taken ten steps, Vera had caught up to him and slashed him in the back. Even with the youth’s armor, the slash still packed more than enough force to crush his flesh and break his bones, as it easily snapped his spine in half. He fell right in front of Vera, who nonchalantly finished him off by stepping on the back of his neck with her weight on that foot.

She had not bothered to give chase to the last runaway, as Beth awaited him just as he was about to turn a corner and bashed him insensate with her shield, before mercifully finishing the man off with a quick stab to the throat. The fight had taken mere seconds, and had caused quite a commotion amongst those who were watching from above.

They had expected a fight, not a one-sided slaughter like what they had seen just then.

Reinhardt noticed how councilor de Kars seemed to be trying to reassure other doubtful-looking councilors that the incident was only a fluke achieved by cowardly tactics or something of the sort, or at least he guessed that was what the man said with his wild gesticulations. He himself just grinned and watched the ongoing duel below.

Moments later, Tasha’s group ambushed the other team of four young knights that had been sent out on the other path and annihilated them even faster, with three of the young knights killed before they could even react and the last one begging for mercy on his knees once he noticed that he was all by himself and surrounded by three opponents who had just killed all his teammates.

The three looked at him questioningly for a moment before they shrugged and tied him up.