The call for a bounty on a mythical creature rang out in an echo from the mysterious stranger.
His sharp black beard and toned body distinguished himself as a veteran with a single glace. Wearing an odd greatsword sheathed and strapped to his back.
The man was above average height and just a few inches short of Enda.
Enda knew exactly who and what this stranger meant, and exactly how poor the timing of this news was.
"What happened?"
She spoke up while lowering the illusion around us, startling the receptionist in the process.
"Two trinities and who knows what else, we need to leave, now!"
Swearing under her breath, she quickly grabbed her sword, threw on her hat and picked up Arisu to carry her in her arms.
"What's happening?!"
"Grab him, you have an escape plan?"
"Ru's waiting upriver. Sorry kid, they might be after you, Soooo either-way-you're-coming-with-us"
"Irmin, give us cover"
The man clad in black and red picked me up on his back as we dashed out the Guild Halls door with a loud *thump* thanks to the lack of vision and heels, raising her height just enough to hit the frame as we ran out. She gritted her teeth in pain, but didn't flinch.
"We better go fast!"
"Figures, hold on kid!"
"I'm trying!"
I didn't even have time to think or get comfortable as I clung onto the stranger who wore a flame-blade claymore on his back, albeit in a sheath. I could feel just as much power emanating from it like Enda's sword.
A familiar sensation I could never forget after receiving deep cuts while repairing a mace holder with Rider. Relics tend to punish people who try to wield them whilst unworthy and I learnt my lesson the hard way.
Rider taught me many things from my time in her workshop, including how to distinguish between normal weapons, strange artifacts and powerful relics. This man's weapon was powerful.
As we exited through a gate heading upriver, much to the stationed guards surprise, I could see Enda's legs start to glow with mana and she picked up speed. It was as if the magical energy within her veins had been lit ablaze, forcing her into overdrive with a blue glow.
Clouds gathered overhead as we ran, followed quickly by a sudden wave of heavy rain.
"Who are you people!"
"You have a name?"
"No?"
"Then just call me Red for now"
"You're just like Rider"
"Tell me your name, and I'll tell you mine. That's just manners kid haha!"
I couldn't tell if he was a maniac, or just happy to run in the rain, whatever the case, it was unsettling.
I'm by no means small, just average height with only muscle and bone to my non-existent name. If I had to guess, I probably weighed less than half a normal adult, making me easy to carry it seemed.
"Hey! How come you didn't have scouts out?!"
The speed they ran through the heavy rain forced them to shout at each other just to hear themselves.
"I did! They had to hunt a wild Ursa nearby!"
"Shit! That could mean they planned it!"
"A pest?!"
"Probably! I think we're still being followed!"
"Maybe a fly-"
Enda was hit through her heart by a glowing yellow javelin, barely missing the sleeping kitsune she carried in her arms.
Blood spewed from her chest and out her mouth as she tripped and fell, passing Arisu forward and Red knew exactly what to do as a clung tight for my life.
He launched himself and caught the best-kin before she hit the ground and he slid around to face our attackers who cut a hole in the clouds as they descended in front of us without a care in the world.
Three heavily armored glowing knights with the sun behind them riding Pegasi, slowing down to land, each with a longsword drawn and at the ready.
As they hit the ground, a chill ran down my spine as I heard a maniacal laughter slowly grow louder and louder.
"*tsk* Looks like we're fighting, kid. Here, feed her this, quickly!"
His words came off annoyed, but that slime creeping off his face showed nothing but pleasure as the blood curdling laughter only continued to get louder.
He passed me a strange white pepper, I instantly knew its name and its effects.
A berserker fruit, normally used as a core part of any healing potion, just a quarter was often enough to achieve its desired effect.
"The whole thing?!"
"Yes, do it! I can't protect both of you!"
His caution was born from experience, and he knew his strength was fighting on the offense.
...
The harsh rain poured down but a metal clack of the armored warriors footsteps rang though as they surrounded Enda, creepily laughing as the spear made of faith energy slowly dispersed into nothing.
"Devil!"
"Witch!"
"Heretic!"
"Aaaaah, I love irony"
She slowly stood up, bending her back and staring at the water as it pelted her face.
"What kind of monster are you!"
"Let's kill her!"
"She isn't human!"
"So you don't know who I am? Fufufu. Oh, you stupid little Paladins"
She faced her attackers, and threw her sword behind her, a sign of utter disrespect.
As red approached them, they changed formation. Two against him, one against Enda.
None of them wore helmets, instead, glowing metal halos of differing design. The young blonde man facing Enda had an elaborate wreath brimming with holy energy, whilst the other two, a fairly young female and male, wore simple chain circles.
I didn't have time to stop and think about their appearances, so I quickly fed Arisu the fruit and watched as she chewed it despite being out cold, as if her body knew exactly what to do.
Red gripped the sword sheathed to his back and called out.
"Enda!"
"Don't! They are fledgelings! She'll handle them!"
This only served to infuriate two of the armored warriors, while the man facing Enda did a double take, realizing just exactly who he was about to fight.
"...Fledgelings? I see"
Arisu stood up then reached into her cuff, the next thing I saw was a glowing red line followed by a loud crack that made my ears ring as she reappeared in front the pair of paladins, throwing up at their feet while propping herself up on a strange sword.
"Filth!"
"Disgusting! Why do you have that blade! Die!"
The laughing started up again from Enda and her veins began to glow blue with mana across her body.
"You have no idea what you're doing, do you?!"
A piercing whistle came from Tyrants Rest, so far off in the distance I couldn't see anything through the rain except something approaching at high speed fast with a harrowing sound, parting the water as it flew at incredible speed towards Enda.
"Morons!"
She twisted her body, catching the staff and span in a full full circle, using the momentum to hit the senior paladin ring in his chest with a booming *gong* as he was sent tumbling against the ground towards the nearby river.
I barely caught what happened as I saw for a millisecond his armor cave in on him, not crack or break, meaning it was high quality and Enda sent that man verging on the brink of death, so much so that red chased after his body aware of exactly how powerful the attack was.
"What?!"
"Bitch!"
"Are you forgetting someone?"
Arisu had stood up and whispered into the ear of the black haired female Paladin in the short time they saw their senior get hit and lost their composure.
She freaked out and swung wildly at the tailless kitsune who launched herself backwards in a summersault off her armor while throwing her single edged long curved blade upwards. Landing a few meters away on all fours, immediately taking a stance as if she was about to sprint forward.
"You remind me of a friend I once had back in Japan, so, try not to die, ok?"
"W-what...?"
"You filth!"
"Don't forget about me young man, that's no way to treat a lady!"
Enda took the same stance as Arisu, and the veins on her legs glowed blue with magical power, tightening the straps on her legs with magic as she got ready to conclude the fight with her adopted daughter.
It was easy to understand that these two fought enough together to understand and plan on the fly, with hardly anything said between them.
The Guardsmen of Tyrants Rest alongside Sister Naji often told me that fights, more often then not, ended in a single decisive attack with the point of armor was to prevent that instant loss taking place.
And yet what I saw next threw that all out the window.
Arisu launched forward leaving an afterimage as she caught her sword then reappeared behind the Paladin girl leaving two red intertwined threads of energy following her path.
The moment she reappeared I heard a deafening amount of cracks and bangs that my ears started ringing again.
At the same time Enda rushed and tackled the last Paladin with such immense force to knock him down a far distance as she held him down, sliding along the grass.
Arisu quickly made her way over leaving the paladin girl behind whose armor slowly fell apart bit by bit as her eyes rolled behind her head and she lost consciousness while still in her sword stance.
Each chunk of her thick armor hit the ground with a thud, as it sizzled in the raid from the heat created by the sheer friction of each cut.
"Surrender or die, not a hard choice"
"Get off me!"
"Are they all this stupid?"
"Can you cut it?"
"I said get off! Argh!"
"No"
"Well, I guess I could kill him"
"You evil witch!"
"*sigh* Please shut up, you've lost. Enda, what would be the point"
"One less enemy I'd have to kill later"
"I'll kill you- *hmmfp* *herm*"
Arisu shoved the bottom of her weapon's grip in his mouth to forcefully shut him up.
"And can you talk to the dead? Is it worth it killing someone you could learn something from?"
"Fine. He gets to live, although it's clear he isn't going to surrender, just lets just his hand off. He isn't going to stop trying to kill us"
"No, Ru can't heal a lost limb with her water magic. Crush his arm, it might knock him out too"
"Your wish is my command"
"Just bite down mister Paladin, it'll help with the pain"
The veins in Enda's left hand glowed as she crushed his armored gauntlet and the bone underneath as he screamed, dropping his the longsword he clutched dearly to with his life, as his consciousness faded from the immense pain.
I rushed over as the battle swiftly ended while Enda stood up, staff in hand, then tapped the ground twice, sending out a near invisible pulse.
"We good? Ok cool *yawn* I'm out of juice"
"Go for it. Irmin, fog will be enough now"
As if commanding the weather itself, the raid stopped slowly and a dense fog creeped in yet again.
Arisu stretched, then curled up in a ball and fell asleep.
"Who are they?"
"Paladins, these two are recruits, and the one I set flying... he might of been a vice captain"
"But why attack us?"
"If I had to guess, it might of been a blanket order to kill anyone escaping the town as they arrived, or, they could of been after you and her"
"..."
"Here, help me get his armor off, we'll question them later"
"...Ok"
As we talked, I could see Red and a strange woman headed towards us from the nearby river. She wore strange dark green skin tight armor with various metal fins complementing hers, she was a water-born, through and through.
"I'm sorry I have to put you in this position, that strap there as well, if they're willing to break the non-aggression pact and risk open war, then they must be confident in their military strength or had prepared disguises, I know, boring topic"
"No I just, uh, I don't really know what's going on..."
"-Right! Wait, are we taking these two with us? Just kill them"
"She said no"
"Figures. Oh to be young and naive"
"I'd describe her as many things, but not naive"
"*sigh* Yeah Ari has her moments I guess. Fine, Ru, can you carry her? I'll- Oh, right this one needs to be healed first"
Ru is a Water-born, also known as a freshwater amphibious merman, with dark spotty skin, fins, thick dark green hair and bright yellow eyes. She didn't speak a word while casting elemental water magic over paladin's broken arm, enveloping and slowly repairing his body.
"We should have already left, hey, can Irmin hide this fight?"
"Good idea, Irmin, return what we leave to the soil. The less proof we fought the better, I'll carry that girl"
"Right, you heard her kid, the boat's that-a-way"