Shi's men charged towards the gates, making the men there form up to defend against their assault. Expecting this, the men came to a stop as Shi's archers fired a volley into the men, their formation only making it easier for the archers to hit their targets.
Around 20 men fell, and as they were recovering Shi's men charged into them and killed 10 more before the men came back to their senses and easily pushed Shi's men back with their numbers. Shi's men retreated and as the castle garrison rushed out they were met with a burst of flame from Shi which burned 5 men to a crisp and injured 15 more, taking them out of the battle.
The garrison quickly retreated back towards the wall, but not before another 10 were shot down by Shi's archers. The men quickly spread out and slowly moved out towards Shi's men. Even with the heavy losses the men had suffered, they still outnumbered Shi's men by over 4 to 1 so they kept pressing forward.
Shi formed an earth bear, activated war cry, and shot 10 men before charging in with his karambit. The earth bear charged a group and tore into it, slamming a paw into the side of a man's head, ripping the top half of it off before biting another man's leg off.
Shi charged a different group and glided between the men there, slitting throats as he slid along. Any man who tried to attack him only received a slash on the wrist before dying. When Shi and the earth bear had finished with their groups, another 20 men were dead and Shi and the earth bear were covered in blood.
The garrison gawked at Shi and the earth bear, for they looked like demons who had freshly arisen from hell. Shi took advantage of this lapse and summoned a lightning wolf and a fire dragon. The wolf took on a group while the dragon darted from place to place, taking out whatever it could.
The wolf darted towards a group, feinting a pounce on one man, making him fall backward in terror as the wolf ripped the throat out of another man. The wolf then turned to one of the other men and bit into his side, the wolf then clamped down with its jaws and yanked out the man's ribcage through his side. One of the men attacked the wolf from behind, only for his sword to meet empty air as the wolf ducked down and turned to leap at his throat, tearing it out.
The man who had fallen down was only just getting to his feet as the wolf slashed out a paw at the man's stomach, cutting through as the man's guts spilled out. The man tried to shovel his guts back in as the wolf moved on to the next group.
The dragon darted in between different groups of men, breathing fire at them and biting those who's attention lapsed. Shi charged through several more men, slitting throats and shooting lightning bolts through people. The earth bear was ripping through people, leaving pieces of people all over the place as it tore limbs off and knocked heads off in its rampage.
All of a sudden, Shi felt something wrong and launched himself to the side, barely dodging a dagger that would've gone into his brain had he not moved. Shi did a handspring away on his landing, dodging another dagger but bringing him close enough to the first man to receive a kick to the face.
Shi stumbled back, keeping a close eye on the two men. They came at him in unison and it was all Shi could do to hold them off. The men fought extremely well together, coming in at awkward angles at the right times to where Shi couldn't use their own attacks against them.
Shi's mind cleared after a few seconds and he feinted a roll towards the men only to jump over them. The men quickly recovered and turned to block Shi's attack. Shi raised a small earth pillar, tripping one of the men. The other one was left in a one on one duel with Shi for only a couple of seconds but it was enough.
Shi started a strike towards the man's neck, only to redirect the blade into the man's wrist. The man screamed and dropped his dagger, the screams ended suddenly as the man's vocal cords, along with his jugular, were slashed.
Shi turned to the other man, who started to fade into the shadows but he was caught by a lightning bolt from Shi and fell out of the darkness. Shi darted over and slashed the man's throat.
Shi's summons had cleaned up all but 30 of the garrison so Shi commanded his men to go against the garrison now that the numbers were even. After a little bit, Shi's men came out on top, losing 10 men in the process. Shi walked towards the broken gates, his men behind him.
In the courtyard stood Shiryoku, arms crossed. "Shiryoku, I would rather not have to kill you, you could be useful to me," Shi called out to her. "A mage as accomplished as you would be hard to come by." Shiryoku crossed her arms and started summoning a wind blade, only for her shoulder to be pierced by a lightning bolt.
"I'm going to give you one more chance, you can either join me in victory or die here in defeat." Shi yelled. "I would lose my honor if I gave in here," Shiryoku called, "Besides, I will gain glory from this battle whether I win or lose." Shi sighed and charged in.
Shi dodged the wind blades that flew at him from different angles easily and closed the distance quickly. He thrust his karambit into Shiryoku's chest swiftly, catching her as she started to fall. "At least I died with honor." She croaked. "Honor is a fool's prize," Shi said, shaking his head and snarling "glory is of no use to the dead." With that, he dropped Shiryoku's body unceremoniously and walked towards the castle.