A cloud of fire and orange engulfed the gate, sending chunks of wood flying in both directions. A large band of bandits poured in from the fort's gate like a wave.

Arrows from above poured down like a steel rain, hitting teammates and settlers alike. Their shields can only cover so much, forcing Ikari to fire back and away from the moving shield formation.

“Ignore them, our main priority is getting into the stronghold and getting that bastard’s head!” Through the fiery cloud, Ishmael led everyone inside, through a small courtyard with a large door heading inside.

Archers continued their fire, now aiming at the center of the stronghold at the mass of invaders rushing towards the main door. Bandits poured out from all sides, from all entrances and tents hid in the safety of this final stronghold.

Damnit, we didn’t get all of them.

”Ikari handle the archers quickly, the rest of you make sure those bandits don’t get too close. The settlers will help us handle anything inside.” Ishmael ordered. Ikari moved to the rear, firing back at the archers on the walls while the team stayed at the edges of the formation, defending the formation with intense vigor and motivation.

Each kill took too long, every fight with a bandit that got too close resulted in a minute-long scuffle just to break through their armor and kill them. Each fight they get themselves in meant more chances to get struck by stray arrows and straying farther from the formation. Without cover, arrows pelted their backs and caused more and more issues for Lia to fix later on, but the pain only made them keep moving.

Archers fell from the walls, one or two arrows stuck in each of them, every new one that fell made the run easier and more bearable. From all sides bodies began littering the ground, chains and armor scattered about, trails of crimson and the resounding shouts of settlers and teammates roared out, they were winning once again and reaching the gate.

Kayd’s hands ached horribly, he was unable to determine if the blood on it is even his or not, the butt of his sword was just as red, and behind him, a long line of rapidly vanishing bodies, all dead because of him. Slashes became impractical and he had wholeheartedly embraced this messy and controversial fighting style with gritted teeth, silently hoping to never use it again after.

—-----

At long last, they reached the door, the shields were covered in arrows, making them resemble a porcupine. Ishmael wasted no time in slapping the explosive sticks on the reinforced wooden door.

Kayd removed his blade from a crack in another bandit’s helmet, rushing back to the formation with heavy breaths, tearing off the arrows stuck to his back.

“Brace!“ Kayd’s ears rang and the sand beneath shook violently, chains, rubble, chunks of wood, all began to rain down. But the door was now wide open for them.

In the distance, the bandit reinforcements had finally reached the stronghold entrance, seeing the team just at the foot of where leader resides. As they passed through the hole, the sound of a horn drew their attention. In an instant most of the horde started to fall back, to find whatever was causing that noise, leaving a smaller contingency to handle them.

“That’s one less thing to worry about. That horn made me stumble a bit, thought it was some nomad barbarian horde the forest would sometimes have.“ Ikari nervously chuckled. Before the bandits could reach them, they went inside.

—---

Beautiful and disgusting, elegant and gauche, wealthy but impoverished looking. The interior of the stronghold was a long list of contradictions. It was massive, filled with both obviously stolen paintings and what these bandits called their “Art” Covering the walls.

An empty hall adorned with more of these abominations lay in front of them.

Just in the middle was who they were trying to find this whole time. The bandit leader of these slavers.

“They’re getting real pissed with the lack of new supply, and it’s all because of you. Perhaps they’d pay higher prices if i got chain all of you up and bleed in the mines!” He laughed hoarsley with an entourage of his guards.

The bandits dispersed, forming a line in front of the team, each one carrying heavier armor than the last ones they fought, sending another wave of frustration and irritation to Kayd as he studied them. Mint condition armor with scraps of metal plates and broken plating stuck on top of it with weapons once Stone’s Edge with their own modifications to cause as much damage and pain with each swing.

The leader split the formation in half, walking forward, towering over the rest.

No wonder getting their helmets was an objective

Kayd was taken aback by his helmet, fashioned from a Stone’s Edge soldier helmet with a skull over it and a crown of chains on top.

‘’Let’s get this over with shall we, they need a new batch of settlers for hunting gold. Looks like i can gouge for some more cash when i bring you all as well.’’ He laughed while eyeing each of them with a piercing gaze through his helmet.

He grabbed a long chain and slammed it on the floor, causing a crack while holding a serrated sword on the other.

“Since you’re the ones causing problems, i guess i can make them pay high prices just to buy you all.” As he spoke, Kayd spotted an orange glow emanating from the man.

In an instant, multiple chains sprouted from his back like tentacles, each one thrashing and tossing around him wildly.

“Umm, Captain…Have any idea what that is?” Ikari took steps back but kept her shot aimed at the leader.

“Magic…How…I thought it was contained in the ruins.” Ishmael quivered but stood her ground.

“Mono, lead the settlers, handle the small force behind us.” The contingency was just a hundred steps away from reaching them, Mono obeyed without hesitation, shouting orders to the crowd to defend.

“Kayd, with me. The rest of you make sure his guards don’t reach.” The man slammed the chain down again in boredom.

“Quit yapping, this is why we need to beat settlers into place, to stop those jowls from opening up.’’

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With a shout and a slam of his chain, everyone charged forward. The team crashed into the bandits parrying and dodging while delivering hard hitting strikes to break the armor.

Kayd and Ishmael both ran towards the leader who remained in place. He raised up the chain and swung it towards them, managing to dodge it.

The leader stomped on the ground and finally started fighting, the chains on his back and hand flew around wildly, focused purely on destroying the area around it and hopefully hit them in the process. Ishmael and Kayd stayed back, the chains thrashed like a hurricane, turning the area blurry.

Where to strike….

While Ishmael kept her distance, parrying chains that got too close, Kayd found a spot he could dash through.

Well it’s better than staying out here, let’s do this.

A spot not as blurry as the rest, untouched by the swirling chains was what Kayd needed, he dashed through it, into the hurricane, parrying a few stray chains moving around, and spotted the leader at the center. His hands glowed purple, poised to end the battle.

This was easier than expected. An easy set of medals.

He made a straight lunge at the man, tip pointed at his chest to pierce and finish this.

His sword hit something, not flesh, rather something metallic. Looking up, the leader blocked his attack with his hatchet, the chain in his hand rapidly wrapping around the blade. Soon after, he felt the chains wrap around his body like thousands of needles, constricting and digging into his skin as he was raised up.

“Really eager to kill me huh? And it looks like you have that weird magic too! They’ll definitely pay a higher price for you!” The chains tightened around Kayd, blood started to pour out through his robes. The hatchet dug into his chest a few times before Kayd was raised higher and thrown out of the hurricane with great force.

“Kayd!” As she turned back to the leader, the chains suddenly wrapped around her as well, throwing her to the floor, leaving a dense field of wounds on her skin and coughing up blood.

‘’Get up! Kayd!’’ She spat out. The two stood up to face the leader once more.

Broken helmets, scattered chains oln the floor, and the sounds of struggles and clangs of metal filled the atmosphere. The team pushed back against the bandit guards with high ferocity, using any technique they could muster up, graceful or feral a0⁸88s long as it got the job done.

Behind them, Mono and the settlers were facing a battle of their own, swarming the bandits and blocking them from entering the cathedral, some were injured and some fell to the ground, but nobody ran while Mono continued encouraging them.

Chains swung down in front of them, forcing the two to move away just in time for more to hit them.

“How oh how the hell, did my mates lose to you two!?” He yelled, taking up a pompous stance from beyond the veil of metal, sending more chains onwards and forcing the two to split up.

Fending off the constant barrage of barbed chains striking him, slowly but surely wearing him out, one managed to wrap around Kayd’s sword and yank it away from it. The chain whirled around, swinging the sword at him before stopping and aiming straight at Kayd.

Sending out proxies to do his work, typical for a criminal, but using my own weapon to kill me…

It charged forward, forcing Kayd to dash around, smacking it away with his hands, getting a new cut for each one. The chain dove below and slashed at his legs,

As he crawled away, the sword pointed straight at him. He tried crawling back, raising a hand to try and block it again, seeing blood already pouring from the deep cuts, his own sword pierced through his hand, leaving him defenseless. The chain adjusted itself, moving away and aiming the tip at his head.

In a split moment, the sword charged forth…

A flash from metal striking against metal blinded his eyes for a moment, someone stood in front of Kayd, smacking the chain and sword away.

The sword clattered near Kayd and the figure grabbed a small ax from the floor, walking towards the chain as it slowly rose up after being rudely interrupted.

The figure dropped its foot onto the chain and began hacking at the chain, shattering and severing a long section of it and forcing the remnant to retreat. The figure turned around and uttered a single command.

“Come on, on your feet Kayd.” Lia. She gently brought him to his feet, rapidly patching up any major wounds she could find with bandages and a vial or two before running to others who need medical attention.

“Thanks Lia…” Kayd couldn’t believe what he saw, but grabbed his sword to continue the fight and giving a brief inspection, his eyes drifted to see his hands now wrapped in bloody bandages.

The chain lay on the floor, not wiggling or moving as if it truly was alive and was just killed. A quick look at it gave Kayd an idea

So, severing them is the key now.

Nearby, Ishmael continued to get assaulted by the slew of sharp chains, little by little getting cuts and lacerations and losing more energy.

So they work like a snake, cut the head off and the body dies. Now i just need to find the head…

With a nearby short ax, Kayd ran towards her side, targeting where the chains bunched together.

Grabbing them all in a bundle wasn’t the best move, he thought, but it would yield the best option now.

The barbs dug into the bandages, the pain thought was nonexistent, losing most feeling in his hands. He pinned the chains on the ground, each one wiggled around, but were too preoccupied with Ishmael to care.

Been a while since i used these things, just hard and fast strikes…

The chains began wrapping around her body and slowly squeezed, prompting Kayd to begin the plan. He swung the hatchet repeatedly and violently against the metal, sending sparks around and cracking the metal.

Ishmael fell as the chains began realizing what was happening, but Ishmael grabbed them, pulling them back from Kayd as more cracks began appearing with each strike. The chains didn’t stop, continuously trying to escape Ishmael’s grasp while Kayd beat down on the bundle.

One by one, individual chains began falling down, each one having a brief moment of life as their bodies were cut from the source, all wiggling towards Kayd before stopping.

One more…

A final strike broke through the last chain and pierced the floor beneath it, justl ike that the bundle was gone.

‘’Thanks,’’ Before a response came, another set of chains slammed near them.

‘’How dare you resist, and destroy my chains, do you know the amount of torture and suffering you will get for this!?” The man stomped forward, moving the team further back towards the entrance. The guards were all dead, leaving the man surrounded by the team.

‘’I’ll try killing him, i still have that piercing ability.’’ Kayd notified her.

‘’Alright, we’ll be the distraction, just make it quick and don’t let em see you.’’ Ishmael barked more orders at the team, each one heeded her order without hestitation, they are all now just baits.

‘’None of you ain’t have a chance in hell of getting out here alive, you hear me1/ not a chance1’’

Swings, arrows, parries, blocks, advances and dodging, the team practically did it all, trying to both weaken and get closer to the bandit leader who showed no signs of stopping. One by one, they saw the weakness of the chains and began cutting them down with everything they got.

Arrows and any attempt to strike at the field was blocked by the still present protective chains, blockng anything from harming the leader inside.

Everyone spread out, forcing the chains to split apart and thin their numbers even further, all the while Kayd stayed away, trying to go around and avoid the chains.

Sneak from behind and cut him in half, just need to get through that fied and get inside.

There wasn’t anyone near Kayd’s position, all converging on the front while still forcing the remaining chains to not unite. As more fell. Kayd snuck to the leader who had his back turned.

Each minute that passed, his grip tightened and his breath slowed, anything he thought was noise he had to stop. The glow returned as he saw through the veil of metal, at the cocky leader as he looked on in hatred and anger.

The whirlwind of chains was just a meter from Kayd’s face, no spot to pass through, nor any pause to exploit.

Only four left, make this count Kayd…

Sword raised above him with purple emanating from his hands, a single slash down caused the whirlwind to cease for a moment as pieces of chains fell, giving Kayd a chance to get in, but the cost waas too much.

‘’Oh no you don’t’’ The main chain flew towards him, fortunately he was quick enough to parry it, but a hand grabbed his throat.

‘’Sneaky one, well it won’t matter, none of you are worth selling at this point…’’ He let out a deafening roar and the whirlwind of chains suddenly sprang out on all sides and wrapped around everyone, causing them to release a choir of cries and shouts.

The settlers led by Mono saw the sight unfold, the bravery they showed turned to worry and concern as many remained far from the fight but still held their weapons up. The ground beneath them began shaking for an unknown reason, causing dust and pieces of the rotting wood to fall off.

‘’None of you are worth even the entire wealth of the other bosses. Better off as torture playthings.’’ The chain around Kayd’s neck tightened, squeezing out the last drops of blood it could and choking him out.

Everyone was powerless against it, but Lia resisted the most, kicking and squirming through the armor. She managed to rip an arm free from the chains and bash it against the chains, cracking it more and more until, like a bird from the sky, she fell to the floor.

‘’The little one sure has a fiery spirit. Reminds me of the younger settlers, all will bend the knee and head in due time.’’ He laughed, but Lia didn’t care. She threw the hatchet she once used to break the chains, the blade slammed into his face and changed his attitude immediately.

Blood dripped down her arm, covered in deep gashes and looking at the leader with gritted teeth.

‘’You little fu-’’ The stronghold began to shake, and the sound of explosions filled their ears.

A loud bang disoriented them, sections of the wall and the roof were blown off, leaving smoke filled holes in their wake.

Everyone was dropped, the chains retreated to the leader, forming a dome to protect him.

‘’Come on we have to go1’’ Ishmael grabbed Kayd and Ikari, ordering everyone to start making way for the exit with the entire structure starting to collapse.

Settlers and teammates alike rushed through the door, fire and more deafening booms deafened their ears.

Hunks of wood and stone destroyed the floor all around Kayd while he made a dash for the door, seeing the collapsing debris getting closer and closer to him.

His mind started to slow, and he became lightheaded, stumbling around like a drunken fool but still making a beeline towards the door.

‘’Kayd what the hell is wrong with you1/ come on1’’ Ikari grabbed his arm, helping towards the exit, feeling the heat get closer and closer to their skin and a rain of dust and splinters fell upon them.

The door was a few steps away, a final burst of energy and adrenaline forced Kayd and Ikari to make a final leap, just as giant pieces of the roof came crashing down upon them, their boots lifted from the ground and….

The last thing they heard were the continous explosions and the crumbling stronghold.

Kayd’s eyes opened, and he found himself on the floor, face first in sand. It was a struggle to get up but Lia came to his aid.

‘’Come on, easy now. You’re losing a lot of blood and i may need to use that magic to heal you.’’ Lia advised.

‘’That won’t be necessary1’’ A familiar voice yelled out in the distance. From the broken down walls that once protected the place, a line of shadows marched towards them with one of the figures far in front of them, heading to the team.

Princess Evelin’s army.