The interior of the Hangman row was a maze, owning to the fact it was some old medieval castle. When the mercenary unit occupied the Camp Hearth, they didn’t put any effort in mapping every twisted corridor, dead end or hidden nook. That was their first mistake, born from either complacency or incompetence. Lucas frankly didn’t care too much about the reasons, just the fact it was there and it was exploitable. So, they were hiding in one of the many smaller corridors that branched from the main walkway and watched as the soldiers from the host entered in squads, usually ten troopers with two heavies. A dozen squads had already entered, little under the half remaining man. And he guessed some more are ready, waiting to find where the resistance is hardest, to quickly reinforce and overwhelm those positions. But for now, prison was deadly silent, all of them waiting for agreed signal to engage. Traps were also set and one of thee squads was toying with the trigger, a pressure plate that when pressed will light them all. Lucas learned that the people that went out to get the skins had one additional task: Visiting the hermit that made the concoctions which allowed Lucas to pass from the Naga Duchess. They brought back a real treasure trove of potions and other alchemical products, and a lot of them were used in making halls of the prison deadly. Lucas had to admit Bruce was pretty busy planning all of this and even more, that he did a damn good job, at least until now. Overconfident and complacent, the soldiers were lured deeper and deeper before inevitable happen. One of the heavies, eager to slay the doll that stood in the cell just out of his reach, stepped on the plate. Mana – infused tar covered everyone behind him and a second later, the familiar liquid fell over them and instantly inflamed. Screams and smell of charred flesh filled the halls of the Hangman’s row and in a cruel twist of fate, only one who was left standing was the same heavy trooper that activated the trap. That was the signal everybody expected and all hell broke loose. From many corridors the same combination was lobbed, crafters eager to help the battle taking the brunt of sporadic retaliated fire. Some poor souls feel by combined fire or by the devastating skills heavies launched, but the damage taken by the defenders was light in compared to the massacre that happened to the soldiers. Six of the eight attacks connected, each successful hit took at least half a squad with it and in two cases all of them. To make matters worse, while trying to put down the fire, some of the troopers ran into the middle of unaffected squads, his rapid thrashing spreading the extremely sticky tar further and spreading that fire. Taking advantage of the general chaos, adventurers emerged from their hiding spots, attacking the distracted squads. In emulation of successful cooperation between Lucas, Ted and Maggie, they were grouped into trios. Unfortunately, three of the four trios were pushed back, only the one with the Illusionist holding its ground and downing the two heavies from one of the squads before starting to feast on the troopers. Lucas and his team finally emerged from their hiding place and that was the signal for Bruce to once again fill the space with his apparitions. Confused, the squad nearest to the emerging trio hadn’t been able to spot them in time and they feasted on that carelessness. Maggie launched two arrows in quick succession, downing two troopers while Lucas, with his “Infused piledriver”, aimed at the heavy. He connected with the torso of the unfortunate man, his sword spinning and shredding flesh and organs in equal measure. That wasn’t enough to score a kill, but it severely disabled the man, allowing Lucas to chain two “Guiding strikes” both aimed at the troopers that stood next to him. They hadn’t had the same luck as the heavy trooper, both falling after their necks had been cut open. He activated “Dodge” somersaulting forward and out of the crowd and he scouted the situation. Maggie dropped her third or fourth trooper, while Ted was whittling down a particularly hardened heavy, each hit of Ted’s club causing a clang that managed to drown out the noise of the battle.

On other fronts, one of the trios became duos, the woman that was caught in the crossfire of the two squads, least affected by the onslaught, lying on the floor while slowly bleeding out. The Illusionist’s party was done with their first targets and he alone was active now, his illusions leading an unsuspecting squad of soldiers into another fire pit. Other two trios were heavily suppressed and one even pinched between two squads, as the fresh soldiers had begun entering the prison. In all this mayhem, Bruce’s apparitions caused even more chaos, their vague humanoid shape enough to draw the fire from the troopers away from the real targets. Wanting to go to help relieve one of the trios, the one that was in the pincer he activated “Infused piledriver” causing a very loud clang as his sword made contact with the heavy in a fight with Ted, finding the alarming amount of resistance from the woman. Not enough to completely stop the attack, but enough to change the angle and instead of going through the torso, Lucas only shredded the thigh. Woman dropped on one knee, which was enough for Ted to mutter “Overhead blow” and swing his club with a brutal amount of force, crushing the head of the heavy trooper. Thanking for the help, Ted listened to Lucas’s desire and he agreed and as soon as Maggie killed the last of the troopers, they were off. And not a moment too late, as one of the squad wizened about the apparitions and completely ignored them, putting an almost unbearable amount of pressure at the endangered trio. What they hadn’t counted on was the arrival of Lucas and his party, a Grim Reaper given human form. As was becoming the norm, Maggie’s arrow opened the battle, her unnatural precision bane of one of the heavies, who found his spine severed as the arrows hit one after another. Second was Lucas, this time opting for a “Spin Strike” which positioned him at the open backside of one of the trooper and he instantly struck it. He turned and was facing a heavy and with an angry roar, he activated “Death by the thousand cuts”, his strikes finding the mark every time, blood flying in every direction from the pure savagery Lucas displayed. He topped it off with a “Guiding strike”, a complete overkill as his sword found the eyes of the heavily injured heavy and shredding everything on its way to the brain. This savage display was enough for the remaining troopers, all three of them, to simply drop their weapon and run as far as away as possible from the Lucas. He quickly analyzed the situation once again, and the sight filled his heart. Routing troopers were everywhere and in some places they were joined even by heavies. Particularly nasty rout was from the squad Illusionist engaged, a particularly dreadful looking monster chasing the panicked soldiers. Lucas called Ted and Maggie and spoke

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“It’s time for the final act” he simply said, and at the same time all three of them started sprinting towards the entrance of the prison, using the chaos of the routing soldiers to avoid any sentries posted to prevent defenders from emerging. Their precautions were not necessary as they found the outside part of the army in complete disarray, arguing between themselves should they follow their comrades or whip them into shape. Lucas took advantage of the situation, raising his gladius over his head and while shouting.

“Our offer is always the same. Lay down your weapons and live. Resist and die as your colleagues did inside”

Covered in blood and decked in impressive armor, flanked on one side by the equally impressive armor and majestic club Ted had and on the other by the reincarnation of the warrior – princess covered in dark leather that perfectly fitted the curvature of her body, Lucas certainly looked fearsome. The sword, only thing with more blood than him certainly helped, resting above his head as the symbol of the fate awaiting everyone who resisted. Soon, the soldiers came to the same conclusion, tide of their routing brethren serving as proof of the truth. They dropped their weapons one by one, only few of the heavies offering resistance. Lucas, already in his element, quickly overpowered this scattered individuals, heavily supported by the brother and sister that were becoming his true comrades. Grizzly deaths of the defiant heavies proved enough to completely pacify the rest of the group and Lucas began tying them up one by one, soon joined by the remaining defenders which were slowly emerging from the prison. Bruce was among the last to leave, the old Loremaster looking pretty exhausted and uncharacteristically fragile. Lucas left the remaining soldiers to the rest of people present, approaching the old man.

“How did we do?” he asked, confident he already knew the answer.

“Honestly, better than expected on one hand, worse in another. I had hoped for bigger casualties and especially captives. And I certainly would like we had less deaths. One from the defense of the courtyard and four inside with two heavy wounds that should recover” Bruce said with a weird melancholy. Lucas wasn’t pleased to hear about the number of deaths, their current force effectively cut by twenty percent. But, they still achieved an outstanding victory this day and he refused to let dark thoughts plague this triumph. While Bruce and Lucas spoke, defenders finished their work and Bruce let out a heavy sigh and went to explain prisoners their fate. Lucas braced himself, sure to see many of the returning faces in the crowd of this size.