Arthur walked down the high street looking in the windows of the stores, there were a surprisingly large number of very high quality stores in the street. Most of the town and cities he had visited after the Royalist Armies had been evicted were left with shattered stores and houses from the Royalist troops trying to employ a scorched earth policy. But this street was pristine and made Arthur consider the reasons for this, considering that the enemy troops had plenty of time to wreck anything they wanted to. He decided that the Mayor was still a source for the Intelligence Services of King Harold, there was no other reasons he could think of to explain it.
Arthur was so caught up in his thoughts that he didn't hear the men approaching him from behind. The jingle of a sword belt as the blade was drawn drew Arthur's attention, and in the blink of an eye, the Sword of Power was in his hand and blocking the swing of the thugs sword. Sparks flew as the two blades clashed, the thug screaming as the vibration tore up the blade and into his arm, shattering the bones in his hand and wrist. The clatter of the thugs blade hitting the side walk, and bouncing into the gutter. The man falling to his knees holding the shattered hand to his chest.
"Didn't you mother tell you that sneaking up on a person was the height of rudeness?" Arthur scoffed.
"You are a dead man. My mates will slice you up." The thug squealed through gritted teeth.
"No see, you are just being rude, and you don't even know me. I would suggest that your friends carefully consider their actions. I am not known to be overly tolerant of rudeness." Arthur explained to the thug. "If your friends are of the same intent as yourself, I would suggest that they might want to rethink their intent." Arthur approached the thug, considered him for a moment before stunning him with a strike to the head with the pommel of the Sword. The man was out cold and Arthur turned and walked away, he knew that he had made himself a target for the Mayor's bully boys. But, if he was going to deal with this man, he needed to deal with his security first.
The big question was, how was he going to set them up so he could deal with them without really exposing who he was and what his sword was capable of. The Sword of Power was a weapon without peer, and should something happen and the Sword fell into the hands of the unworthy dogs that held this town in such fear, well, it could destroy everything that the Loyalists had fought and died for. He sat on a bench in the small town centre and considered the coming fight. He decided that fast and fearless would be the best option, most thugs were no more than cowards when they lost the backing of all their cohorts. If he was able to take down the leaders, then the rest would most likely break and run, that would be the best outcome, once that happened, the Mayor would discover the error of his ways.
Arthur looked around him, the park was so lovely, gardens, trees and there was even a fountain in the centre. It was centred by Harold, but he could look past that and just enjoy the beauty of it all. It would be a wonderful place to sit in the summer sun and just let the world pass by, no pressure, no decisions just warm sun and all the birds and insects buzzing around on whatever life missions they were intent on. Now, at midnight on a cool winters night, it was still a pretty place to relax before the storm came and everything would get very ugly.
The sound of a truck pulling up across the street warned him of what was happening, the squeal of the brakes smashed the silence that he had been enjoying so much. As he let out the deep breath he was holding, he amazed himself as to how calm he was feeling considering the threats that were about to come at him. He felt almost at peace with the world, here he was actually doing something to help the people of his home country. Not just sitting back and approving the actions being taken by others to achieve the goals he had been committed to. Now if everything went to shit, well, he was the only one that would be hurt. He had lost the appetite for throwing men and women into the grinder day after day, not knowing how many would walk out the other side.
Now it was his turn to make the move that could lead to the bad guys being removed.
The whispering of the thugs as they tried to surround him, giving him no avenue of escape, cutting him off from survival. Arthur almost smiled as he listened to the men stumbling around the park like they were completely drunk. The more he thought about it, the more he thought that they were actually drunk. It would fit with the type that ended up doing the job these idiots were employed to do.
"So, what's ye name stranger?" A thick voice said from his left.
"You can call me Arthur, it the name my mother gave me." He answered lightly.
"Well, Arthur," The first man said with more than a little derision. "You been a very naughty boy." The crunch of boot on dirt sounded behind him. "You done gone and hurt me mate, Dodger."
"Well your friend was quite unfriendly and intent on rather nefarious actions." Arthur made sure he was as eloquent as possible. "I was not particularly interested in his attempt to make friends."
"Aint that just a shame, you have to come with us and answer for attacking a city official."
"Oh, I don't think I am overly inclined to accept that, perhaps you and your friends can just hop off on your way and we can all go home happy and healthy."
A chorus of laughter sounded all around Arthur, the last mistake that they would make. He now knew how many, nine, and where each one was in relation to him, they really were all brawn and absolutely no brains. In the time that the leader had been talking to Arthur, he had slipped his hand down to the pommel of the Sword and was lazily fingering the filigree that decorated the guard. Now all he needed was one of the thugs to make a move and the rest would, as they say, be history.
A sharp crunch sounded behind Arthur and he ducked down as the first attackers sword whistled over his head, the air rent as the sharp edge sliced through the place Arthur's head had been a moment before. A loud grunt sounded as the thug over extended and Arthur rose swinging calmly where he knew the idiot was standing. There was the slightest feeling of resistance as the blade cut through the man's chest, before the top half of his body slid off to the right and bounced on the dirt. Arthur immediately brought up his blade in a block that met the leaders blade, sparks flew, a loud clang issued forth from the blades as they clashed.
The leader screamed as the vibrations shattered his arm like it was fine crystal, dropping to the ground writhing in extreme pain. Then the rest of the thugs rushed in and swung hard at Arthur's head, and found themselves cutting nothing but air as he ducked and rolled out of the attackers range. Arthur popped up behind another thug, this time he took the man's sword arm and watched as it fell to the ground. The shock of the strike left the man looking at the bleeding stump in shock and amazement.
"Olly, I've lost me arm, can you see it, Olly?" He stammered repeatedly.
Arthur moved quickly to a new position and ran through a thug that thought he had the younger man dead to rights, but all he ended up with was three feet of highly polished steel protruding through his sternum. Arthur whipped the blade back out of the unfortunate fellow and swung a block against the next attacker. When the blades clashed the was an explosion of sparks and steel as the attackers blade shattered into thousands of glittering pieces. Arthur moved through his forms and brought the Sword of Power down across the man's shoulder, with it exiting through his hip with a splash of blood that hit another thug in the face. Momentarily blinded, the man suddenly realised he was not in a good place, but before the thought finished, his head shot into the air, the last sound he heard was the beautiful sound of the Sword singing it's song of death when it passed through his neck.
Five down, four to go, and here came the next customer, screaming like a banshee and wielding his sword like it was some sort of club. Arthur stepped inside the swing and hit the man in the diaphragm, the air rushing from the man's lungs more quickly than he had ever thought. As he curled up on the ground, Arthur cracked him over the back of his head with the flat of his blade, he would live, but he would never be the same. Number six tried a more stealthy approached, using his friends misfortune as a distraction to allow him to get into position for a killing stroke. But, alas he was too slow and too loud, Arthur flicked his blade out taking the thugs sword and the hand holding it on a long arc across the fountain. As the man stood there and watched his hand flying over the fountain, Arthur slashed down the mans chest slicing through his ribs and vitals with equal ease.
Seven, Eight and Nine looked at each other and slowly backed away from Arthur. Hands held out in placation, terror in their dull mindless eyes, each one finally understanding that they were dead unless they hoofed it away as fast as they could.
"Leave this city, do not ever return, or I shall be most displeased and will seek you out." Arthur said very calmly, not even slightly winded from the fight. The three remaining thugs looked at Arthur, then each other, then ran like the fires of hell were on their tails.
Now it was time to sort out the Mayor, a man that used his position and power to try and shadow his disgusting actions under the guise of being the benevolent politician. He was about to learn the folly of his plans, and it would be an extreme education.