A brown-skinned man carrying a pike laughed, "Hahaha, you think you can take us all on?! You were just lucky enough to survive the first barrage of our attacks! Now, it's time to crush your hopes!"
Him and his three other companions lunged their attacks.
The brown skinned man had a group of cultivators with mid-range weapons as their primary weapons like spears, halberds and staves.
With similarities to their weapon of choice, they were able to synergize their attacks to a certain extent that amplified their powers!
All four of them thrust forwards their attacks.
Their attacks were all covered with their Innate Energies as different sorts of spirit-like entities appeared above them.
The brown skinned man had another pike on him other than his previous weapon. He dual-wielded the two and roared, "Twin Serpent Fang!"
The others had unique animals support their attacks.
A man with a stave had a monkey to attack with him, the man with a spear had water flowing like a river around him and the man with a halberd rode a horse as he charged!
"Monkey Riot! (Flowing Water Spear!) (Bloody Charge!)" Each of the three cried out their battle roars as they attacked Koma.
"Heh, bring it on, you losers! I'll cut you all into pieces! Torch Falcon!" Koma said as a falcon with blazing feathers shot out from his body and covered him with red hot flames.
"Burning Spirit!" The man uttered as the Torch Falcon landed on his back and melded with his aura. Then, a large pair of burning wings appeared on his back.
Koma charged forth into the group attack like a brave falcon flew.
He held his twin sword in his hands and spread his arms like the wings on his back, "Soaring Flame Sword!"
A giant flaming cross slash collided with the four evil cultivators. The two sides clashed and destroyed each other but eventually, the Soaring Flame Sword, Koma did win.
"I will not let anyone get past me!" Koma yelled this phrase like a battle cry.
Koma followed the trail of his attack and infiltrated to the center of the group where he fought the four cultivators to a standstill with him having the upper hand.
Similar scenes enfolded in Victoria's eyes.
Her guards were fighting valiantly against multiple opponents at once with them gaining the upper hand.
Revealing one sword technique after the other as they gain advantage.
They brandished their swords like true masters as they stood toe to toe with these evil cultivators who are stronger than most in the same realm of cultivation.
But, Victoria knew that with this awesome power they currently wielded, a terrible price was needed to be offered.
Tears continued to flow from her delicate eyes, 'They are burning their bodies in exchange for that power...'
'Yet, here I am, trembling to the point I can't stand just because I killed two people. Just... just how pathetic and useless I am as a person...?' Victoria continued to blame herself as she gnashed her teeth.
"You have to stand!" Victoria scolded herself but the sight of blood around her caused her to recall the state that Jaken and that assassin had in her hands.
Her psychological trauma was affecting both her mental state and physical state. This made her legs tremble uncontrollably and made her fall on her behind.
"Damn it!" She grabbed her two swords and stabbed it on the wet ground and lifted herself up.
Then, she heard an explosion!
*Boom!*
"Oh, no, Big Sis Erca is in trouble!" Victoria paled when she saw Erca's perilous situation.
Erca was forced back as she was fighting six opponents at the same time. The Sword Knight that was fighting a previous group had died after killing two of the four people from his group.
But this man did not die because of the group's terrifying strength. It was due to the long-haired man's intervention.
When that Sword Knight cut down his second foe, the long-haired man stabbed a long sword through his subordinates corpse and straight into the knight's heart.
Injecting his dark Innate Energy in bulk caused the knight's chest to explode and died gruesomely.
The remnants of the group went to the nearest opponent which was Erca. Erca became more pressured and strained. She started losing ground the longer the fight went on.
"Move... your my legs aren't you?! Move, damn it!" Victoria cried even more as she hit her legs time after time.
"I won't let any of them die anymore!" With her determination, she stabbed her thigh.
*Puchi*
She used the pain from that stab to overcome the trembling her trauma caused and focused on a singular thought which was to save all of them!
"I will save them!" Victoria resolutely assumed her stance that she used in her Heavenly Cross, First Sword: Nightsever.
But someone suddenly appeared in front of her and blocked her way.
She shouted, "Get out of my way!"
When she saw the face of that person, she recognized him right away.
It was Kaiden who rushed to her as soon as he could upon Hawks' orders.
The man did not speak a word of warning as he grabbed Victoria's arm and pulled her with him. Kaiden went full speed right after he picked a general direction.
Victoria did not know what Kaiden was trying to do at first. "Big bro Kai, you...?"
The man just randomly grabbed her wrist and dragged her along.
But when she saw that they were getting further and further away from the battlefield, Victoria realized what was happening. "No!!"
She immediately circulated her Innate Energy and pulled her hand away from Kaiden.
She looked at him with confusion as she questioned, "Big bro Kai, what are you doing?! Uncle Hawks and the others are still there! We can't escape like this!"
"The captain ordered me to escape with you." Kaiden flatly replied as he grabbed her by the waist and forcibly carried her.
"What? N-no way! I-I won't go! I... I will save them by myself!" The fourteen year old girl struggled and attempted to go back.
Surprisingly, the cool and silent Kaiden suddenly shouted, "Stop! If you go back there, what can you do? You are only at the peak of the Origin Palace Realm! You are fighting people at the middle stage of Mortal Severing! They are not like the small fries that you killed earlier."
Victoria was shocked. Kaiden would always remain cool whenever he was around her. She retorted, "Then, I will do what I can! I will save them even if I die doing so!"
"Then, you're making their sacrifices meaningless! They willingly laid down their lives and activated Bloodline Ignition! They used their lives to give you an opportunity to flee!" Kaiden replied angrily.
"But they... they should not die because of me!" This made Victoria hesitate even more but she still refused to back down.
"Then, how about your family who is waiting for you?! The Clan Head and your mother! You maternal and paternal grandparents! What about them?" Kaiden argued.
"But... wa-what about their families?! Is it okay for me to return to my family while they die and their families mourn because of their deaths?! My conscience can't take that..." Victoria said as she tried to hold back her tears.
"That's because you are of the main bloodline. You carry the future of our clan. If you die here, the main bloodline will get cut. If there is someone that they can't allow to die, it's you." Kaiden's voice softened as he answered.
But, they weren't given much of a chance as the long-haired man appeared in front of them, "Ahhh, how sweet. But unfortunately, you two will still have to die like your companions!"
Kaiden halted as his face became more grim, "You bastard!!"
Victoria, who was being held, had a blank face. She did not believe what she just heard.
She tried to verify with a question, still feeling a little lost, "What did you say...?"
The man talked as though he was chatting with friends, " I killed all of them. Hm, except for that old guy who is still fighting Yumi. That old guy was really scary. He could actually go against Yumi who is a Mystical Duke. Those two are monsters, I tell you."
"Those knights were quite troublesome. They killed nearly all of my men. Especially these two." The long-haired man said as a three-eyed crow appeared and hovered behind the man while carrying two bloodied corpses.
Then, they were dropped on the ground near him.
"Big bro... Big sis..." Victoria immediately recognized who the two were.
They were the siblings that she saved previously, Koma and Erca. She trembled seeing the sight of their bodies which no longer had arms.
She was remembering the faces of Erca and Koma and the words that they said to her as they defended her.
...
"Lady Victoria, if it wasn't for you earlier, we would have already been dead. You saved our lives so we will repay it with our lives and make sure that you live."
"Lady Victoria, we are very sorry for being incompetent guards because we can't follow such orders. We want to apologize for making you stain your hands with blood at such a young age. We are really failures as adults and guards."
...
The man shook his head as he spoke, "They really gave me a troublesome time. This woman actually killed all six of his foes, then attacked me, and the big lunk actually landed a hit on me. My men who survived only numbered five and they were all riddled with scars..."
"So, I took the arms they used to wield the swords that they loved." The long-haired man complained about what happened but the man actually smiled when he mentioned him cutting their arms.
"You... you..." Victoria was looking at the long-haired man with grudge-filled eyes.
'Hehe, it looks like my plan to agitate these two are working.' The man inwardly laughed victoriously.
He could already taste the sweet feeling of victory in his lips.
Suddenly, the bodies of Koma and Erca who were near the man moved and they each bit one foot of the long-haired man.
The long haired man was startled that he fell on the ground as he screamed, "Arrrgghhh!!! You fucking bastards!!"
Then, Koma said as he bit the man's foot harder until he reached the bone, "Kaiden, quick! Take milady away."
Erca also added, "We'll hold him off! Go!"
"Nooo!" Victoria cried.
She wanted to stay and save the both of them but Kaiden decisively left and dashed to another direction!
"Kaiden Triggs, I order you to release me!" Victoria was in so much rage right now that she actually ordered Kaiden.
"I'm sorry, milady!" But, Kaiden, the ever so strict knight, had actually disobeyed her orders and took out a stone. It was the Void Flicker Stone that Hawks gave him.
"Is that... No, you can't! We can't abandon them!" Victoria quickly recognized the stone when she saw the runes and the energy that it emitted. She looked at Koma and Erca with reluctance and sorrow.
"You cripples, really think that you could restrain me?! I'll kill both of you!" The long-haired man cursed.
"But, you are already too late." Erca sneered.
"We created a self-destruction array on our Spirit Cores while you were rambling!" Koma said as his body glowed brightly. The same went for Erca.
"Nooo!!" The man never expected that the two corpses he brought to aggravate Kaiden and Victoria backfired at him.
The siblings gave one final look at Victoria. At that moment their eyes met, then Victoria heard their voices in her head.
The two gave her one last message before they departed from this world.
Erca's message was, 'Milady, I'm glad to have been able to serve you. Please don't feel down. I hope you can always keep that sweet and gentle smile of yours always.``
Koma's last words were, 'Lady Victoria, sorry about what I did earlier. I want to thank you for saving me earlier. I also want to thank you for sharing your dessert with me that night. I want you to remember me but... it'll make you feel sad. So, do your best to forget me, okay?'
"Nooooo!!!" Victoria screamed, however, the Void Flicker Stone was already in effect as it covered her and Kaiden with a globe of spatial energy.
Her last memory of them was exploding into one big globe of Innate Energy!