Roland was making his way to the east garden a breeze following close behind him. Without question he knew that the breeze was his lord. Cloaked in slyphir he was almost undetectable. Smiling Roland doubted that the attack would succeed as the one guarding this land was the hero of the previous rebellion war Helmlock Huwen, and the tigress of the battlefield, Weliese Wreden, although due to her marriage her last name is now Huwen. These two powerful people would not be taken down so easily.As they made their way around the house at the north garden multiple maids and servants had already been killed. Their bodies scattered in the gra.s.s. Roland stopped to examine the bodies but couldn"t find how they had been killed. A glint of light flashed in the corner of his eye. He moved to dodge it but the blade followed him, piercing his shoulder. Wary, Roland crouched behind the water fountain, opposite of where the blade came from.
"Roland, how"s your injury?" Helmlock had been by Roland"s side, cloaked in slyphir, waiting for the opponent to attack again and take them out.
"Ha. If this did me in then that would make me the weakest guard ever. Don"t worry, the blade isn"t too big and it"s not deep." He gave a thumbs up to the left.
"I"m at your right."
"Heh, detection wasn"t my strong suit." Roland"s eyes widened, he raised his great sword to shield his right side. Knives bounced off his sword. Without a word Helmlock began his pursuit, disappearing from Roland"s side. Roland continued to block the blades, moving forward slowly. When he was in the middle of the north garden the dead bodies of the maids and servants suddenly sprang up and attacked Roland. Without much time to dodge two knives found their way into his left leg. Kicking away the bodies Roland stopped defending and began attacking the servant"s bodies. As they pummeled Roland with attacks from knives to swords and fists he saw that they weren"t their servants but the enemy in disguise. He gritted his teeth and swung his blade. The sight of killing people he once worked with was unsettling, even though he knew that they were not who they looked like. Helmlock was finishing off the longer ranged attackers. The enemy weren"t prepared for an attack from behind so once he killed four their formation failed and caused them to become unorganized. Panicking and disorganized it was easy for Helmlock to finish them off.
Fighting in the open Roland was having difficulty dodging and attacking as he was at a disadvantage. He had the advantage over melee fighters as his great sword had a longer reach and length but he was still to slow to dodge all the projectiles. A new rain of blades headed for his right. Dashing away from them he kept his guard up and continued to counter attack. Another three enemies appeared where he was headed and lashed out with their swords in unison. Straining his body Roland turned in mid-air, using his sword as a weight, he brought it back around in a circle slash and managed to cut through their weapons and sever their arms in one swing. Panting heavily Roland was attacked once again from all sides.
"Geez, should"ve taken that brats advice about stretching and agility." Grunting he pushed off his attackers and brought his sword down in front of him. Shattering the stone path and creating a dust smokescreen. The nearby attackers began coughing and trying to wave away the dust. Roland crouched low to the floor, his sword barely off the ground. Inhaling sharply he stretched his arm out and swung it in a circle around him, keeping the blade low to the floor. Pained cries sounded off in the dust. Impatient a conduit in a maid"s outfit spread her arms out and the dust blew away, along with two other people. The screen under the dust was horrid. Enemies dressed as maids or servants were curled up and rolling on the floor. Each gripping their legs. Scattered on the floor were severed feet. Some standing while others were on their side. Blood pooled around the feet. Spraying Roland with blood one of the enemies tried to crawl away but had his chest pierced by Roland"s great sword. Their body twitching like a bug.
"S**T! What happened?!" Gnawing on her finger the maid lifted her other hand and flicked her wrist. "Second wave, go in. Zu, attack any time there"s an opening but don"t reveal yourself." A soft static voice replied.
"Roger." Which was followed by a series of gruffer "okays" and "rogers". More enemies flooded Roland. They came out and attacked him in an organized way, not giving him time to rest or fight back. He was stuck on the defensive. A man in silver broke the pattern and attacked Roland with a fury of quick strikes. Unbeknownst to Roland multiple thin hair like needles were piercing his skin and letting poison enter his body. Roland kept defending with the occasional counter. Two melee attackers battered down on his great sword, another melee combatant joined in and in a single palm strike the three of them unleashed a wave and torrent of strength towards Roland. Blood gushed in his mouth but Roland gritted his teeth, letting a slight amount fall out. Flexing his arm he pushed off his attackers, getting a brief moment of pause. Wary of Roland the attackers didn"t go in recklessly. Noticing movement in the corner of his eyes he saw his lord envelope himself in slyphir and rush towards the maid chewing on her finger. Roland looked at the maid and an evil grin covered her face. A whip-like crack hit his left shoulder and he fell backwards. The deep gash oozed blood. Losing feeling in his remaining arm Roland looked down at his body and saw hundreds of tiny needles embedded into his skin.
"Fu-" Before he could finish speaking his eyes closed and he fell over, landing in his own blood. The remaining enemies looked at him warily. The man in silver went over to Roland and stabbed his neck through with a dagger. Twisting the blade the man in silver worked his blade in between Roland"s vertebrae, using jagged movements to remove Roland"s head. Satisfied the man in silver tore Roland"s head off and held it up. Looking over to the maid gnawing on her finger the man in silver froze. Before a warning could reach the maid her head was already sent flying. Showing no mercy Helmlock didn"t" stop there. Taking the long black blade from his back he minced the flying head into chunks.
"You b.a.s.t.a.r.d!" The man in silver dropped Roland"s head and rushed to Helmlock. Disappearing once again Helmlock enveloped himself in slyphir. The man in silver tried to stop Helmlock, throwing swords and knives but none worked. Helmlock disappeared. Frustrated the man in silver screamed in anguish. He picked up the headless body of the enemy dressed as a maid. A new rain of blood poured from the severed neck, covering the man"s arms and drenching his knees. Tears rolled down his cheeks, teeth clenched, he took a small red token from her chest and placed it on his chest.
"Recognizing old leader as dead, new leader shall be a.s.signed. Recognizing current holder as Zuru Moon. Leadership transferred. New leader is Zuru Moon." A robotic voice emitted from the red token. It hummed to life and embedded itself into the silver man"s chest.
"Don"t worry Val, revenge will come." The man in silver rose up and, showing the red token in his chest, faced the crowd. "Comrades! By this red token I hereby announce that I"m now the new acting leader of the 17th attack squad. Any rejections will lead to a duel but, that would not be the wisest decision in enemy territory." No one uttered a word. Nodding his head the man in silver pressed the side of his helmet. "All scout squads come in." There was nothing except the slight sound of white noise. "Scout squads! Come in!" More white noise. Just as he was about to cut the connection with the scout squads one of the comms buzzed.
"This is Green. We are good to go."
"W-wait. There are no "green" in our scouts. Who are you?"
"Don"t even recognize whose land you"re on? Hilarious." Helmlock"s voice was steady and flat. This made the man in silver nervous.
"Helmlock Huwen?"
"Of course, who else could I be?" The com was cut. Helmlock destroyed the head gear and continued to surround the area with traps.
"All troops defensive positions!" The comms were silent. "I repeate, all troops defensive positions!" Nothing. Creeping into his view was a mist of green smoke. Thick and heavy, it would be easy to get lost in it. Screams echoed from the mist as bodies dropped like flies. There would be occasional sparks and flashes of light but they would pa.s.s quickly. The sound of weapons against weapons clashed in multiple areas, mistaking each other for the enemy. A figure dashed out from the mist. It was a man in grey, his short sword raised to parry against nothing. Suddenly the short sword shattered in the middle and a red line cut straight through the man. Shivering the man in silver turned around to leave but something stopped him. Sweat trickled down his forehead. Trembling the man in silver couldn"t move his body. He willed it to move but it wouldn"t budge. "Move! Move! Move!" the man in silver tried hard to resist whatever it was holding him there but it was like moving the ocean. The pressure doubled and the man in silver fell to his knees. Gasping for air the man in silver clawed at his throat. Reaching one hand out in front of him. His hands fell onto a pair of black boots. Looking up he thought he saw death itself. Shrouded in black, glowing green eyes, and the stench of countless dead bodies he couldn"t help but believe that the man before him was death.
"K-kil...ee." the man in silver gasped for air, his wispy voice hoa.r.s.e and dry. Helmlock raised his foot and stepped on the silver man"s hand.
"Trash." In a flash Helmlock used his swords on his leg to sever the silver man"s head. Turning to the group dying in the green mist. "Low tiered Banes and Ghosts won"t be able to break through my slyphir but, just to make sure." Disappearing in slyphir again Helmlock made his way towards the green mist. Silently killing one enemy at a time he finished quickly. "How did these trash get here? There"s no way they could"ve killed my elites. Someone else is controlling them but, what"s their motive?" As he was pondering who could"ve done this he spotted two suspicious men dashing in the shadows. One dressed in white and the other dressed in black. Dashing off towards them Helmlock covered himself in slyphir. As he neared the two men showing himself for a brief moment Helmlock appeared in the middle of the two men a blade in each hand aimed at their throats. Releasing a surprised scream they reacted but the man in black was a bit to slow and got his head severed off, splattering the gra.s.s with blood, and ending his scream midway. The man in white managed to avoid a death blow but the blade still managed to slice at his throat. Blood dribbled down from the wound, staining his white armor. Gasping and gurgling slightly the man in white reached for his throat. Slight wheezing sounds came from his mouth as he tried to speak. Without another wasted moment Helmlock brought the knife back and finished the man off, relieving him of a painful death.
"S**t. Are these little bugs everywhere? Seems they were running from the East garden." Letting the green mist envelope him again Helmlock disappeared again, leaves stirring lightly as he pa.s.sed.
Rounding the corner Helmlock came upon a shocking scene.
The east garden had been destroyed, patches of bright flowers and gra.s.s were now dull and dead. The water fountain spilled water onto the path. Next to the fountain was Derick, a long sword was pierced into his chest, his lance hung limply next to him. Legs severed, his blood pooled and mixed in with the water. His eyes hung open, staring at the ground. Crouched next to Derick was a man in white, he had his left arm gone and a wound on his face. His white armor stained with blood and dirt. Chuckling to himself the old man looked over at Derick.
"The young will surpa.s.s the old. Had you matured for another two years the outcome today would"ve been different. Maybe you were already stronger than me but, since you didn"t have both arms I guess this is the outcome." Sighing to himself the old man stood up. "And yet again I"ve ruined another bright future." Reaching out towards Derick the old man gripped his sword"s handle and pulled if from Derick"s chest. No longer having a support to hold it up Derick"s body fell to the floor, his silver hair became wet with his own blood. Leaning against the long sword the man in white looked at where Helmlock had been standing. Sighing deeply, he raised his sword to shield his left side. A flash of sparks appeared on the edge of the sword. Weapon grinding against weapon an invisible force seemed to push against the old man. Grunting the old man managed to push off the invisible force. Landing gently without a sound Helmlock dispersed his slyphir cloaking revealing himself. Unfazed the old man looked at Helmlock.
"What does the almighty lord want with this old pile of bones?" With a mask covering his face no one could see the anger burning in Helmlock"s eyes as he glared at the man in white in front of him. Seeing as his opponent remained silent the man in white got up and swung his sword, removing the blood from it. "Treat me well." Without another moment the man in white dashed towards Helmlock. Sheathing his daggers Helmlock calmly reached for his sword on his back. As if moving in slow motion when the man in white neared him he grabbed the hilt and swung it down in front of him. The eyes of the man in white followed the blade and shifting his body dodged the blade by a millimeter. The wind pressure from Helmlock"s blade caused the man in white"s armor to tear.
"Whoa there! Pretty angry huh?" The man in white leaped away and landed next to his severed arm. Bowing slightly the man in white smirked. "This is where I make my exit." Reaching for his severed arm he dashed away towards the trees.
"As if I"ll let you!" Helmlock tried to move towards the man in white but he felt a chill on his neck. Sensing killing intent he stopped his charge and quickly dashed to the right. Something shot down from the sky. Where he had been standing now stood a small boy, denting the ground around him, shattering it. His eyes a glowing purple, tangled messy black hair, and blood smeared across his face. Dragging a long thin blade behind him. From the edge of the trees the man in white yelled out.
"Jeru, he"s the man who killed your older brother. Avenge him and quickly finish the mission." As he turned around to leave the man in white stopped. With a sneer on his face he yelled out one more thing. "Helmlock, your family will be the stepping stone on our conquest of Lativa." And without waiting for a response the man in white disappeared.