Sanryu's group advances through the streets of the city, fending off hordes of skaven who throw themselves at them. Besides Sanryu, there are five other adventurers; a warrior, a priest, two hunters and a wizard, together with thirty guards, with Captain Ros in command, who leads his subordinates.
"After that alley, we will reach the noble quarter, we will continue forward there, until we reach the Marquis's mansion, come on men, resist!" The captain gives directions to the entire group to follow, also influencing his men. "The archers are the magician, they will give us ranged support against the rats that are on the roofs, we will break through, we will be the spearhead of this human phalage, COURAGE!" The captain gives great inspiration to his men.
"""YES, SIR!""" The guards respond in unison, full of hope indoctrinated by their captain.
'Zaria, I'm coming.' Sanryu is not very interested in the captain's encouraging speech, and truth be told, he is not going to the mansion, worried about the safety of the marquis, but of his daughter.
The party kills many skaven, but every time one is killed, two appear, and so on. But the group does not give up, and in the end, they manage to overcome the alley, emerging into the main street of the noble district. Sanryu already notices the difference between these buildings: those of the civilians, the houses of the nobles are much larger, it is much more sumptuous, but all this no longer matters, since most of them are on fire or destroyed, the skaven they've already come this far.
"Towards the mansion!" Ros does not allow herself to be discouraged and continues to lead the group to the Marquis's mansion. "And those?" But to his surprise, a group of people are heading towards their group.
'Zaria!' Sanryu can see the figure of Zaria, among this group, flanked by a butler. Zaria's group seems to be made up of about twenty knights, wearing complete armor of evident high quality manufacturing, clean white in colour, they are armed with swords, with their horses under them, even the animals have armor on them, always white in colour. Pieces of red fabric are scattered between various belts on the knights' armor. Their helmet covers the entire face, with only a horizontal slit on the side of the eyes, to allow them to see, and finally, a red crest is mounted on the back of the helmet.
In addition to these knights, there are also about thirty soldiers, they too have complete white armour, but theirs is less decorated and more basic, and it is clear that the material used to forge these armor is less valuable unlike those of the knights. They don't have the red crest on the helmet, nor the horses, but in addition to the sword, they also have a shield.
And then there are about forty guards, led by their respective captain. Following these armed men are a handful of maids, with a few nobles also being escorted.
"Captain Ros!" The other captain calls for Ros's attention. "Goddess bless you, I'm glad to see you, with some reinforcements too." The other captain seems to rejoice in seeing the presence of Captain Ros, along with a good number following him.
"Captain Endryu, I'm glad to see you're alive, but what are you doing out here? I thought you would stay in the mansion and barricade yourself to await reinforcements." Ros gives Captain Endryu a firm handshake, asking what was going on.
"It was the Marquis himself who ordered us to go out and reach the guild square, with the highest priority being to defend Miss Zaria." Endryu looks towards the girl, the latter is looking towards a specific person. Endryu follows Zaria's gaze, until he spots Sanryu's figure.
"Captain Endryu? What happened to the Marquis?" Captain Ros calls Endryu's attention, asking him the fate of their marquis.
"He is currently fighting these rats alone...he is seriously intent on dying in his mansion, there was no way he would change his mind." Endryu seems disappointed in himself for failing to defend his marquis. "But now I have the mission to escort the young lady to the square, I cannot disappoint her last order." Endryu is determined to bring Zaria to safety.
"Then there is nothing else to do, it pains me to say it but then we will join you, to return to the square... there is no point in going to the Marquis if he has made his own decision." Ros makes the decision for him.
"Zaria, are you okay?" As the captains are about to finish their discussion, Sanryu approaches Zaria and asks him if he is okay.
"Yes, Sanryu, I'm not hurt anywhere, but... my father wanted to stay behind." Zaria is not physically hurt, but her heart is almost broken, she still can't accept her father's decision.
"Zaria, this is not the time to cry, your father has made a choice, and you have to respect it, I'm not saying you don't feel sad, but there will be time for that, now you have to get to safety, it's quick." Sanryu tells Zaria to get up from his emotional state, and to gain strength, later there will be plenty of time to cry.
"You're right, for now I have to be strong, I have to do it to honor my father's decision." Zaria grips the wand tightly in his hand, and draws strength from it.
"Well done Zaria, that's how it's done. So the skaven attacked your mansion." Sanryu is seriously starting to think the city is lost.
"Yes, but before them I also saw two tabaxi." Suddenly Zaria says something that attracts the boy's attention.
"Two tabaxi? Was one of these tabaxi a black-haired female with yellow bangs?" Sanryu wants to see if Fenrya was in the Marquis' mansion.
"Um yes, but how do you know a tabaxi?" Zaria is curious about Sanryu's knowledge.
"Let's say I know her, more or less, but that's not the important thing now, Zaria, what is the direction for your mansion?" Sanryu asks the girl the direction of the Floga house.
"On that side, as you continue forward you will recognize it, but why do you need to know? We are about to go towards the square." Ziara doesn't know Sanryu's motivation for asking for such information, but soon after she thinks better of it and hypothesizes one thing. "You don't want to go there! It's dangerous, Sanryu! You can't go there, you'll die." Zaria grabs Sanryu's arm, not wanting her to go in that direction.
"I have to, Zaria, I can't stay with this thought in my mind, I have to check if he's okay." Sanryu is about to break away from Zaria's grip. "I promise you that I will not die, if things get dangerous, I will flee immediately. You will be safe with all these supplies, they will definitely be able to get you to safety." Sanryu frees himself from Zaria's grip and runs towards the mansion.
"Sanryu!" Zaria shouts his name, but the boy doesn't turn around, he disappears among the debris of the houses, it's the smoke that is spreading through the streets due to the fire that is spreading. 'You are stupid.' These are Zaria's thoughts as she sees the boy's figure disappear.
"Come on, come on miss, you can't stop an adventurer from not doing something, they are not soldiers under your command." The butler advises his young lady to start walking towards the square.
"Good luck, kid." These are Ros' words, even though she didn't know Sanryu well, she fought with him for a short period of time, and that's enough to earn the captain's respect.
Zaria's large group makes its way through the skaven and manages to reach the square safely.
"Captain Ros! I see that he has brought other men with him, but I don't see the Marquis, what happened?" The commander asks the captain for explanations.
"Commander, the Marquis chose to stay in his mansion, he died there fighting, we only managed to bring back his daughter, she is a couple of nobles, I apologize for my incompetence." Ros apologizes for not being able to bring the Marquis back.
"No, that's fine, if the Marquis chose to die, we are no one to stop him from doing so, at least we have Miss Zaria safe, glad to see her healthy." The commander does not punish the captain for failing to escort the marquis, but at least he is happy to see Zaria safe and sound.
"Thank you Commander, glad to see you're okay too." Zaria responds to the commander's greeting.
"Well, now that we're here, let's recap the situation." The commander speaks to his captains who are present there. "Of the ten captains who are under my command, only you four have arrived here, the fate of the remainder is unknown, except for one who we have been told is dead. We currently have the field here in the square; one hundred guards, thirty soldiers is twenty knights, to these we add twenty adventurers, therefore a total of one hundred and seventy men." The commander looks at the faces of his captains. "They seem like a lot, but there are few of us compared to the enemy... too few. If you want my very modest opinion, Deria is lost, thanks to the skills of some adventurers we managed to have a general report on the situation of the city. These rats have opened a great chasm in the center of the city, coming out of it like an unstoppable tide, no matter how many we kill, they keep coming. And what's more, there are various groups that come out of all the sewer exits, sneak into houses, and kill civilians." The commander turns his gaze in one direction, in one part of the square there are various groups of citizens, brought to safety by the guards who were heading towards the square.
"So what's the plan, Commander?" Captain Ros asks the commander for directions.
"My plan is to escape this city, we will make our way through the streets of the city, as a phalanx, until we arrive at the gates of Deria, once outside, we will head towards the nearest city, Strath, once we will warn them the reign of the invasion of these strange creatures." The commander speaks from the heart. "Believe me, I don't say these phrases lightly, I have served in Deria for twenty years, it is also a blow to the heart to leave this city. But if we want any hope of being able to get rid of these creatures, we must leave Deria and warn other cities, so they can prepare for possible invasions."
"I understand, when do you intend to leave?" Captain Endryu asks.
"Immediately! I was just waiting for your return, also to see if the Marquis would be with you, but now that things have gone like this, there is no reason to stay a minute longer here in Deria." The commander has no intention of prolonging his stay in this city.
'No, by doing this Sanryu will remain isolated in this city...but what can I do to prevent this from happening?' Zaria has a whirlwind of emotions inside her, worrying about Sanryu's fate.
"Miss, are you okay? I see your face pale." The old butler asks Zaria about his condition, worrying about his condition.
"I...yeah, I'm fine, I'm just worried about Sanryu." Zaria reveals his sincere concerns.
"That adventurer? Singorina, I can say that I haven't known that boy for very long, but I can tell you that he made a good first impression on me. If he made you a promise that he won't die here, then I think you should have faith in him. " The old butler tries to reassure his young lady.
"Dickard, thank you for your words, they comforted me a lot, my father also trusted you, and you have served my family for many years, so I know for sure that your words are not empty." Zaria thanks her servant, but she cannot put those emotions aside completely. 'Sanryu...make sure you keep your promise.' And with these thoughts, the girl prepares to leave Deria, together with the rest of the survivors.
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Outside the city walls, a woman is about to return to Deria, she disappeared for a few hours, wanting to be alone.
'Stupid boy, how can he talk like that, without thinking about the consequences of his words.' Lurue thinks about that night with Sanryu, while hearing the phrases the boy says in her mind. 'Now I'll reveal something to him, let's see if he has the courage to repeat those phrases.' Lurue has something to say to Sanryu, while he touches his belly with one hand.
But while she is absorbed in her thoughts, the city of Deria is on fire, a large cloud of smoke is rising up into the sky, making itself spotted by the goddess.
"What the hell is going on?!" Lurue can't believe that a city went up in flames within hours of her absence. 'I have to go and see if that idiot is alive, if he isn't, I'll go get him back from the dead, words of a goddess.' Lurue sprints towards the city, intent on discovering Sanryu's status.
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Returning to the city, a boy finds himself lying on the ground, buried under large wooden beams that have caught fire, the boy appears to be in serious condition, with fractures all over his body, and a lot of his blood is spread on the ground. Currently he seems to be unconscious, he is a skaven assassin who approaches Sanryu's body, wanting to give him the final blow with his dagger.
"Die, monkey!" These are the only words spoken by the rat, as he brings his dagger towards the boy's head.