Blood began to soak the floor before the steps as the others fought valiantly to break the line of guardsmen. Jashad let his anger take over, using his knowledge of their tactics to cut down as many as possible, while the others in his group did the same.
Seeing someone their size, the titanic guards began to move down the steps towards Thorsen and his group. Pushing the smaller guards aside, the first titan swung a heavy scimitar aimed at Thorsen's head. He deflected the blow off to his side as his eyes leaked golden tendrils of mana.
"They're strong. Very strong," he grunted to the others. "No shit," Unni shouted, her own eyes flaring with mana as she deflected a series of blows from another. Being much shorter than his two comrades, Neko slid beneath the legs of Unni's opponent, slashing behind him at the gaps in the armor just behind the titan's knees.
Dropping her blade down with as much force as she could muster, she cracked the armor plating near the titan's clavicle, puncturing his lungs and heart from above.
Neko moved in to help Thorsen, but was immediately pulled out of the way of a heavy club-like weapon that aimed to crush him. "Fight the others, not these," Thorsen chided between deflected strikes. "Alright," he grunted, barely avoiding another loose blow aimed at his head.
Marte's and Gwili's swords sang a beautiful tune of broken bones and severed heads. They stood back to back as a number of the guardsmen thought they could surround them. Gwili pushed against the mana in the stone beneath him, creating a partitioning wall to help coax the soldiers where he wanted them.
One by one, the soldiers fell to his and Marte's blades as the severed limbs and screaming men fell to the blood-soaked ground beneath their feet. "How many are left?" Marte grunted, deflecting a spear aimed at her gut, then severing the arms that carried it.
"Not enough," Gwili grinned wolfishly. He, like Bernar, enjoyed a good battle even if he was loath to admit it. His sword glistened with the blood of his enemies as he prepared for the next wave.
Unni knocked down the final guard, which Thorsen finished off by tearing his head cleanly from his shoulders with his bare hands. Dropping the severed head at Unni's feet, he glared at her before turning to face the one who brought them there in the first place.
"The path is clear, Your Majesty," Thorsen bowed, fresh blood dripping from the tip of his sharp yet stubby nose. "Thank you, Thorsen," Leona patted his shoulder as Jashad and Neko finished off the remainder of the guardsmen beside them.
"Clear, you say?" Zari scoffed, visibly shaken by the carnage those few had unleashed. With a shaky arm and a furrowed brow, she lifted her hands as Leona had, summoning hundreds of her Hashishin to line the stairs from the gaps beneath them. "Why hasn't the white-haired one attacked yet? Did they know of this before they came?" Berut, her head Hashishin, glared at Bernar as he stepped forward.
"It's impossible. They were hiding somewhere, but there's no way they could have known about the entrance beneath the stairs," Zari replied hushedly, feeling her stomach begin to sink.
Wyrran's information was good, after all, Bernar sent Gwili. It was, indeed. Have fun, but if you need help, we'll be occupied holding off the incoming reinforcements, Gwili replied, noting the small dust cloud rising from behind the crowd of citizens. Noted, Bernar nodded, never once taking his eyes off Zari and Berut.
"You've lost, Leona. No matter how good he is, no one can defeat that many Hashishin. My army is also close at hand, so feel free to give up now. You're surrounded with nowhere to run. Your dog can't reach me, anyway, so spare yourself the embarrassment!" Zari spread her arms and tilted her chin imperiously, watching them halt just before their feet touched the first step.
Stay close. No matter what happens, just keep walking, Bernar sent Leona. What are you going to do? Even you can't possibly take them all, she hid the worry on her face. Watch me, he gripped his sword a little more tightly.
"Run? Even if you gave me a good enough reason to, I still wouldn't," Bernar chuckled as the mana in his body could hardly be contained. "There are two hundred good reasons standing in your way," Zari scoffed. "No, Zari. Only two hundred dead men," Bernar replied with pure, unadulterated malice.
Leona lifted her foot to take the first step as Bernar vanished from sight. As the ball of her foot touched the ground, a splatter of blood landed on it from her right. The hashishin who once stood there was now nothing but a bloodied mist of entrails, bones, and muscles.
Before the others could even realize what happened, a sound like thunder striking a nearby tree cut through the air, striking fear into the hearts of their enemies and allies alike.
Her gaze remained steadfast as she took the next step, drawing a pair of daggers concealed behind her back as she walked. Another arc of blood flew in front of and around her, soaking the ground beneath her feet as another thunderous blast resounded across the courtyard.
Blood spatters flecked her cheek as she walked forward, but her gaze on Zari never broke. As charred entrails soared through the air, Zari could only see Leona's unwavering resolve in the glare that pierced through a curtain of blood. Step by step, strike by strike, Bernar dashed from one target to the next, eviscerating and obliterating each hashishin that even remotely posed a threat.
Impossible, Zari thought, staring at Leona's unhindered movement behind a thin sheen of blood that soared through the air, revealed a menacing glare.
Time seemed to slow for the others, as one by one the members of Zari's Hashishin fell to Bernar's blade. "Fy faen i helvete," Unni muttered, rubbing her eyes to make sure she wasn't dreaming. "That's the power of a fifth stage?" she gasped for air, feeling the pressure Bernar exuded even from where she stood.
It's a wonder Leona is able to walk at all, Jashad thought, gazing up at the carnage that reminded him of a predator stalking its prey up the stairs.
Zari stepped back in astonishment, but her eyes widened when she saw Leona's deathly glare, accented by the blood flecks on her face, cresting the top of the stairs. "N-No, it's impossible," she stammered, nearly stumbling backwards as the final hashishin turned into a pink and red mist. Leona came to a halt at the top of the stairs, gripping her daggers tightly as a blood-soaked Bernar reappeared beside her.
"Remember these?" she asked, brandishing them in front of her with a twirl. "You sent some of your best to kill me, but here I stand before you, holding the very weapons you employed to end my life. I want to know if you have the guts to finish the job yourself. Now, stand up, Your Majesty," Leona growled.
"B-Berut!" Zari commanded with widened, fearful eyes, prompting her best man to disappear from sight. However, his attack was blocked by Bernar, his eyes a maelstrom of mana. "That was rude. You should know better than to disrespect a duel," he grinned before pushing the hashishin back into the depths of the Main Hall.
Leona, taking her cue from Bernar, dashed in and swung a dagger aimed at Zari's throat. She barely managed to dodge the attack, but quickly got to her feet and readied her own blade defensively.
"I never would have thought you knew how to fight," Zari grinned nervously. "An able lion hides her claws," Leona quoted from an old manuscript she'd read as a child. "Fair point," Zari dashed in with a flurry of strikes. Leona dodged and deflected as best she could, trading strikes and deflects as she rotated around her opponent to push her towards the edges of the steps for all to see.