It was a crop seeding season, but this year was different. The citizen didn"t dare to plant the seeds, the field was dry and started to crack up. The little bit of nourishment, that was left here and there, were terrorized by the wild gra.s.ses. The morning coldness didn"t fade away, when…A group of the army was started to a.s.semble in the formation. Not more than two hundred, but their movement was peculiar. About a hundred people a.s.sembled themselves in a perfect square in the middle. Those were in a different uniform, from the one who was guarding. They were on their knees, with the hand tied behind the back, and mouth was gagged too.
The order to change the guard didn"t come, but new guards had started to come in, lining themselves along with the guards who were on the night duty. The curious formation of the enemies, outside the wall, piqued their interest.
"Those armors look similar." But with the distance between them, there was no way to confirm it.
The one in front of them was small, just about 5 feet. He wasn"t wearing any armor. Just a cloth robe with a talwar in back. There was nothing striking about him. He came towards the kneeled men and said with a bright smile, "Let"s play a game."
With the signal, one of the guards came forward, and grabbed one of the captives, forcing him to stand up. "I don"t like an unfair game, so I will give you 50 meters head start. And, if you are able to reach the city before I could hit you, then, you are free to go."
With the words, Kinoya took up the bow, that was specially created using his design. He took out the arrow and looked at the captive, "You are going to die anyway, I am just giving you a chance to survive, if you don"t take it, I could kill you right now."
The captive hesitated for a moment more, before started running toward the city. The moment he stepped outside the 50-meter mark, an arrow went straight through his neck. He fell, not to move again.
The whole wall was silent. Until now, they weren"t able to understand what was happening, but just the moment the arrow pa.s.sed through, it became clear. Their confusion about the armor faded with just one arrow, followed by a moment of silence, the whole wall erupted in an uproar.
The loud curses put a smile on his face, "Wow, that was too easy. Let, 2 of them go this time and lucky for you, I won"t shoot until you reach the 100-meter mark." Even before Kinoya could finish his words, one ran away, but the result was no different. No matter how fast they were with their legs, or how agile, their blood was only good enough to wet the ground. The same thing continued for quite a while, and as the drama progressed the wall got more vocal.
Kinoya threw down the bow and took out a short scimitar. "The one, who will able to beat me, will be free," Kinoya said with a smile and pointed at one.
Somehow the leftover forty felt relieved. "Such a good archer could never be good at close combat." They all had the same train of thought, but none wanted to test it.
One of the guards removed the hand shackle and gave him a sword. Being the first, he was surprised for a moment. He stared at Kinoya, with his bloodshot eyes. The fear of death had long faded from his heart, all that remained was hatred. The death of his brothers bore the seed of vengeance deep in his heart.
"Aghhhh…" He charged at Kinoya with the open sword in his grip, but alas… Kinoya vanished from his view. A shallow cut appeared on the back, then on the chest, belly, cheek, and the last thing he cut, was the Achilles tendon. Before he knew it, he was already sprawled on the ground, but Kinoya never gave him the killing blow.
He called for the next pair. He could see the crowd on the wall are getting more forceful. Even if he couldn"t see it clearly, he was sure the important one already starting to gather on the wall.
He got more violent, decapitating one, cutting the gut out, he was attacking the worst way possible.
The guards around them were shuddering in fear, with the deep blood stench it was hard for them to breath. The screams of the victims were sending chill ran through their spine, much less the one who was standing on the walls.
"You dog, if you want…" Curses were showered on him, but that had little to no effect on Kinoya. He called five of the next. Everything was similar to all those last encounters but…
A wound appeared on his chest, a part of his robe was cut open. Kinoya jumped back to create some distance, but the five weren"t inexperienced either. They charged at him without giving him the chance to catch his breath. Kinoya stood there, with a smile on his face, "You will wish that you haven"t had done It."
The blood that was coming out of his wound turned into black smoke. Not just the wound, he had started to ooze off black smoke from all the pores of the body. Soon his left eye hole turned dark but a blue flame flickered in his right eye hole.
It was first time for the empire"s army to see his form, they were surprised, much less the five, he was fighting. They had known the terror of the blind devil, but they had no choice but to attack. Kinoya put his claw through the chest of the captive. The blood-ridden heart, beat in his claw for once, before he crushed it.
Kinoya"s loose robe was blood wet, he moved without a single flutter. The whole thing turned into a slaughter. The head of the last one was crushed under his feet.
"Uggghhh" One of the guards couldn"t hold it in any longer, and sprayed out the last night ration. The face of the other wasn"t any good either.
A gleeful smile was decorating his face, but to the captives, the smile couldn"t be more frightening. A foul stench filled the air.
"Let"s not make it lengthy. Release them. I will give you a 100-meter head start. The rule will be the same, but instead of my arrows I will be coming after you."
The quick-witted broke into dash even before Kinoya completed his sentence, and the weak-willed wasn"t much behind them.
"You can leave now, get ready. The enemy will be coming out at any moment." The guards left leaving Kinoya and Chanakya behind.
"Red band on the right." Chanakya left.
Kinoya started with the top of the herd, and the ma.s.sacre continued. He was jumping from the shoulders to shoulders, removing heads, and spraying blood in the air.
*sharp* *sharp*
The cloud of arrows rained down on him, putting a stop to his progression. In the hand of the archers on the wall, the bows were at full taunt. They were ready to release the next volley of arrows with a moment"s notice.
Kinoya didn"t get the chance to look at the wall before he was sent flying with a blunt force at his chest. It wasn"t blunt, the robe was cut in half along his chest, but the thin blood-line soon lost under the black smoke.
Kinoya had taken out the talwar from the back, before landing on the ground. In his hand, the talwar glowed in brown aura while a complex marks appeared on his face. The blue claymore confirmed the ident.i.ty of the attacker.
Behind the attacker, the gate of the city closed again, taking in the last bit of survivors. With a breath of relief he greeted the one with the blue claymore, with a smile "Captain Fret, it is nice to meet you again."