The double doors swung open to reveal a large, well-lit chamber. The room was divided on the floor by a large cross-pattern; pools of water filled the outer edges. At the ends of each path of the cross-shape were more double doors, except for the end opposite from where Sigurd had entered. On that far side was a large, throne-like chair. And as Sigurd's eyes adjusted to the light again, a surreal scene played out before him.
Sitting on the chair, and leaning towards the right armrest, was the bandit leader. In front of him, on the floor, was a small cage. Its hatch was wide open. And sitting on said armrest was Nia, whispering into the bandit leader's ear, without a seeming care in the world.
Stupefied, Sigurd said aloud, “What's all this?”
The bandit leader held up a finger as if to pause Sigurd's inquiry. Nia finished whispering in the leader's ear; he let out a hearty laugh and she got off the armrest.
“Nia here was just giving me some important financial tips to better run my business!" the bandit leader proudly professed. “She said you'd come for her, Mr. Hero. I'm glad to see you didn't disappoint her.”
“Sigurd!" she voiced in a deadpan tone, as she ran toward him.
The pitter-patter of Nia's feet echoed as she ran. It was the only sound filling the room; Sigurd was still trying to process what had just happened.
Her body slammed as she embraced his legs and snapped him out of the trance. She rubbed her face against his pant leg, mumbling, “I missed you.”
“You're... not hurt, are you?" Sigurd asked, kneeling to meet her eyes. She shook her head, which prompted him to follow up, “So you were just here, relaxing with the bandit's boss, giving him tips? Do you know how worried Mia was?!”
“I'm sorry. I went with him to protect her, though," Nia replied. She then pulled his ear close to her mouth and whispered, “I promised him I would help him improve his earnings if he ensured Mia's safety. He had me in that cage at first, but let me out once he heard what I had to say.”
Both impressed and frightened by Nia's financial prowess and calculating manipulative abilities, he grinned softly. Stroking her head, he concluded, “You did well in holding out. Now go to your sister.”
Nia sprinted to the open double doors behind them as Sigurd stood up from his position.
“Don't misunderstand me, merc," the bandit leader vociferated. “Just because you've arrived, doesn't mean I'll let her go. After I’m done mopping the floor with your corpse, she'll stay by my side.”
He then laughed heartily again, and added, “I was thinking of selling her off, but, after hearing her suggestions on how to vastly restructure my organization, I can't give her up. She's too valuable!”
“You sicken me!" Sigurd shouted. “You'd separate two sisters like that? And for what?! Not to mention you let one of your men hurt Mia!”
“Hey now, I told you not to misconstrue me. That bandit has been taken care of. I never meant for that to happen, but there are bad apples in every batch!" the bandit leader protested. “As for separating them, I do feel bad. I'm a father too and to at least a dozen women!”
He stepped forward, toward the edge of the center of the room. “...but that's just business. You can rest assured, that as long as I'm in charge of merchandise, nothing bad will happen to it. And as for Nia, I'll take extra special care of her.”
As the man chuckled to himself, his cold and cruel sneer angered Sigurd to the point of shouting: “Enough! Stop talking, and let's get this over with!”
Sigurd grabbed the hilt of his sword but paused before pulling it out. After a second, a thought popped into his head.
‘I'm not composed, and this isn't a weapon I can comfortably wield,' Joyce reasoned. ‘Screw it, I'll do this my way.’
He then took the sword, still in its scabbard, and removed it from his belt. Sigurd noticed Mia was peeking out from behind one of the double doors, and he handed her the sheathed blade. “Here, keep this safe for me. And don't move from the cover, please. Stay hidden.”
Sigurd turned away from them and started to walk forward, facing the bandit leader down. He stopped when he heard Mia protest, “But Sigurd, I–”
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Cutting her off mid-sentence, he turned his head sideways and roared, “I said stay hidden and don't move from cover!”
The sudden yell and the fury in his eyes made Mia recoil in fear, tucking her ears flat. Teary-eyed, she nodded, recalling the night before. Sigurd’s lament from before resonated with her; she blamed herself for what had happened after all.
Sigurd directed his sight at the bandit leader and met him at the center of the room.
“Going swordless? Do you have a death wish or something?" the bandit leader argued, shrugging his shoulders, cracking his knuckles, and adding, “I’ll admit, though, it's impressive you got this far with all my men in the way, and after that beating I gave you! Unlike before, I won’t hold back this time.”
“Just because you saved Mia from further harm, caused by one of your men…" Sigurd began.
‘And because I won't stand for having lost in a fistfight!' Joyce added as an afterthought.
“...I'll face you like a man, and we'll let our fists do the talking.”
Excited, the bandit leader let out a gut-busting laugh. “You're a stupid mercenary, Mr. Hero," he added. “But you make me laugh. It's almost a shame you'll die today! And don’t worry about any of my men ambushing you. I’ve informed them to not interrupt me!”
Upon declaring that, the bandit leader rushed Sigurd. Already on the defensive, he blocked the leader’s first three blows. Sigurd put his all into keeping himself grounded. Every punch was as painful as the one from the night before, but he now boasted full strength.
After being knocked back, just barely tanking the blows, Sigurd retaliated with a few well-placed punches of his own. They landed squarely on the bandit leader's chest, but it was for naught. His hits were like an ant bites on a tungsten wall.
“Is that all you can do after your big comeback? I'm disappointed, Mr. Hero," the bandit leader mocked.
Again Sigurd stepped back, trying to widen the gap between him and the brute. It pained him to admit it, but the level and strength difference was staggering. Undeterred, he changed tactics.
‘This is going to be tougher than expected, but I have the perfect solution,' Joyce thought.
Sigurd closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He changed stance; placing one foot in front of the other, and firmly grounding them both, he positioned his body in a forty-five-degree angle. Flexing one arm beside him, while the other was flexed defensively out in front of him, Sigurd was ready.
“Remember your training," he whispered to himself, as he opened his eyes.
‘...and that solution is CQC, Close Quarters Combat! It's time I showed this medieval brute what it means to face a woman with modern training!' Joyce announced to herself.
Pumped up, Sigurd took the initiative and closed the gap. Moving in such an unusual fashion caused the bandit leader to laugh mockingly, “What even is that?”
Sigurd swiftly dashed in, closing the distance as safely as possible, and began to strike. Using a combination of quick, sharp, and precise hits, he struck the bandit leader with various palm strikes, punches, and elbow jabs.
His strikes seemed to have little effect on the brute, but Sigurd knew better. Their efficacy lay not in their individual damages, but rather in the built-up force and effect. By focusing on specific points and continuously striking those areas, the idea was to weaken the bandit leader.
Still feeling like he was being struck by a mosquito, the bandit leader retaliated with some concrete punches of his own. His fists barreled through the air; physics played no part in slowing him down.
Sigurd changed tactics on the fly, switching from offensive to defensive capabilities. Instead of tanking the attacks like before, his new tactic involved actively parrying and redirecting the blows.
It was a risky strategy, but it seemed to work. After a few exhausting minutes, the brute started to slow down. His muscles ached like never before, and his movements were stifled.
That’s when Sigurd switched back in his offensive tactic and proceeded to deliver a quick set of ankle kicks, again designed with precision in mind. He ended the assault with a roundhouse kick. However, the bandit leader caught him by the foot before the hit connected.
“Nice try!" the bandit leader said before slamming Sigurd's body into the floor. “But it's not good enough.”
Sigurd's body bounced against the hard surface, but he rapidly countered by flipping backward and getting back on his feet.
“That may not have been enough, but this will be!" he then said, dashing in one more time.
However, instead of going for another set of attacks, he lunged at the bandit leader, maneuvering around his neck to put him into a chokehold. The size difference made keeping that position difficult, so after a few seconds Sigurd followed the move by leaning the brute over his shoulder into a roll; he performed a suplex on him, slamming the massive man onto the ground. The force caused a massive boom to echo, signaling the end of the fight.
Combined with the chokehold, which had already deprived the bandit leader of some oxygen, he had been effectively knocked out. Covered in sweat, Sigurd stood amid the then-silent room, his chest heaving with exertion. He panted, exhausted, and walked back to where Mia, Nia, and the two women were. “It’s safe now,” he wheezed between breaths.
“I can’t believe you actually beat him,” Mia said, staring at the felled man. “But where do we go from here? Any of these doors will just lead to more bandits.”
Mia had a point. Sigurd had taken a roundabout path to get to them. Never mind returning down the same path, and traversing the same labyrinthine hallways, he wouldn’t be able to do all that again while tired and also guarding all four females.
Just when things seemed their bleakest, a tiny voice rang out. “I know the way. Leave it to me,” Nia said.
She led the group to the bandit leader’s chair and crawled under it. They heard the sound of a stone button being pushed, before a giant slab – the wall behind the chair – slid out of the way, revealing a hidden passage.
“How did you know that was there?” Sigurd asked, impressed.
“He told me about it,” Nia replied, in her same deadpan tone. “He was quite the talker as soon as I mentioned all my tips.”
Reacting on instinct, Sigurd hugged Nia tight. “Good girl,” he said, relieved. “Let’s go, careful now!”