CH635 Royal Reinforcement
***
"Go! Kill them all!" the bandit leader ordered the remaining fighters.
Then, he stepped onto the battlefield himself.
His gaze locked onto Kavakan.
In his mind, the strategy was simpleâ
Eliminate the strongest, and the rest would fall apart.
However, before he could reach his target, a figure intercepted him.
Mogal.
"I was planning to let you live a little longer," the bandit leader sneered. "But it seems you have a death wish. Allow me to grant it."
Without hesitation, he slashed forward with his curved desert blade.
Mogal evaded the strike and immediately countered with a punch of his own.
Having already witnessed the destructive force behind Mogalâs blows, the bandit leader chose not to meet it head-on.
Instead, he sidestepped, narrowly avoiding the attack.
In the next instant, the two were locked in a fierce exchangeâ
their battle intensifying as Mogal subtly guided the fight away from the main clash.
Kavakan noticed immediately.
As per Alexâs prior instructions, their roles had been clearly defined:
Mogal would engage the enemyâs strongest combatantâ
âwhile Kavakan would cut through the masses.
With Mogal fulfilling his role, Kavakan wasted no time.
He activated his Mark of Slaughter rune tattoo.
His Killing Intent surged to an even greater level.
Several weaker-minded slave bandits collapsed instantly, their consciousness snuffed out under the overwhelming pressureâwhether they lived or died remained uncertain.
Those who remained conscious fared no better.
Kavakan descended upon them like a reaper, cutting down all who dared raise their weapons against him.
A massacre began.
Recognising the threat he posed, six Gold Rank bandits swiftly surrounded him, employing coordinated hit-and-run tactics in an attempt to wear him down.
Elsewhere, the remaining Gold Rank fighters turned their attention towards the raiding party.
At the same time, Mogalâs situation began to deteriorate.
The bandit leaderâs blade found its mark again and again, carving shallow cuts across his bodyâ
Each wound was minor on its own, but together, they formed a steady drain that would inevitably sap his strength.
Mogal considered unleashing his trump cardâbut hesitated.
It was too early.
Sensing the shift in momentum, the bandits grew emboldened.
Their confidence swelled as the tide began to tilt in their favour.
Rather than finishing off the weaker raiding party members swiftly, they began to toy with them, inflicting deliberate, painful wounds.
Cuts designed not to killâbut to prolong suffering.
Kavakan and Mogal felt the pressure mounting.
Anxiety crept inâ
âand that momentary lapse only invited more injuries from their opponents.
Skrreeeâ!!!
Regality Aura!
Just as the situation teetered on the brink of collapse, a majestic eagleâs cry rang out across the battlefield.
It carried with it an overwhelming sense of royal authorityâas though its owner were declaring absolute dominion over the skies above.
Spatial Rend!
Without warning, a blade of spatial energy tore through the air, hurtling towards the bandit leader.
He reacted instantly, abandoning his attack on Mogal and throwing himself backwards in an ungraceful dodge.
The strike missedâ
âbut the aftermath did not.
A deep gash carved itself into the ground, the very earth split open by the force of the attack.
The bandit leaderâs eyes widened.
âCould I have survived that head-on?â
For a brief moment, his attention waveredâand that was all Mogal needed.
"Unlock!"
The restraints of the Chains of Unyielding fell away.
A surge of power flooded through his body.
Without hesitation, Mogal channelled that energy into his fist and struck.
There was no outward burst of forceâ
Every ounce of energy was compressed into raw kinetic impact.
His fist drove straight into the bandit leaderâs midsectionâa brutal, perfectly placed liver strike.
The effect was immediate.
The bandit leader was blasted aside, blood spraying from his mouth as his body crashed violently into a rock face, his Aura coating unable to mitigate all of the impact.
Mogal dropped to one knee, the fatigue flooded his bodyâa momentary backlash of the unleashed power catching up to him.
The bandit leader struggled to rise, his body trembling under the weight of severeâlikely fatalâinjuries.
Still, he forced himself to his feet.
Dragging his broken form, he attempted to retreat.
But the new arrival would not permit it.
Dream Dive!
From the sky above, the eagle descended.
Her form shimmeredâturning partially illusionary as she plunged towards the ground.
At the final moment, she turned overâarriving talons first.
Her dagger-like claws, sharpened further by spatial energy, tore cleanly through the bandit leaderâs body.
He fellâ
âsplit into four separate pieces.
Skrreeeâ!!!
Once more, the eagle released a commanding cry as the dust settled, revealing her form in full.
Who else could it beâbut the herald of the Raging SunWolf Kingâ the Rune Sageâ the self-proclaimed Queen of the Skies...
Senu.
Senuâs predatory gaze swept across the battlefield.
She quickly locked onto the six Gold Rank fighters surrounding Kavakan.
Spatial Step!
With a single flap of her wings, she vanishedâ
âand reappeared instantly above Kavakan.
Dazzling Strike!
Shadow Scream!
A burst of blinding radiance flared from her eyes, while a piercing, disorienting screech tore through the air.
The combined assault struck the Gold Rank bandits directlyâ freezing them in place.
Strangely, despite standing at the very centre of both effects, Kavakan remained completely unaffected.
The moment the bandits were locked downâ Kavakan did not hesitate.
Whirlwind!
Spatial Slash!
His axes spun in a savage vortex, tearing through the nearest three bandits in a single, fluid motion.
At the same time, Senu descended upon the remaining targetsâ her talons flashing as she tore them apart without mercy.
In mere seconds, all six were dead.
With the immediate threat eliminated, Kavakan, Mogal, and Senu turned their attention to the rest of the battlefield.
What they saw broke the enemyâs will completely.
Witnessing their Combat Master leaderâand multiple Gold Rank elitesâfall so decisively, the remaining Gold Rank bandits chose survival over pride.
They fled.
The raiding party attempted to intercept them, cutting down severalâbut a few still managed to escape.
Enraged by their losses, the raiding party redirected their fury towards the remaining slave bandits.
They cut them down mercilesslyâ until fewer than a fifth of the original number remained.
Only then did they stop, subduing those who had already thrown down their weapons in surrender.
Senuâs arrival had turned the tide of battle in an instantâbut the damage had already been done.
The raiding party had lost nearly half of its members.
Those who survived bore injuries of varying severityânone had escaped unscathed.
Without delay, they regrouped and began their return to BloodIron.
The lightly injured supported the heavily wounded, moving as quickly as they could manage.
There was only one thought driving them forwardâ
As long as they made it back to their mansion...
To Eleanore...
They would live.
That belief alone kept them moving.
And when they finally arrivedâ Eleanore did not disappoint.
The moment she saw their condition, she sprang into action, swiftly organising them based on the severity of their injuries.
At the same time, Alex joined inâ supporting her efforts with his own, albeit weaker, healing spells.
***