*Blurp!*
Rainer's vision was tinged red like the blood of his enemies, but the taste in his mouth was as sweet as wine.
'Oh wait! It's wine.'
He slowly emerged from the wine jar as the din of battle erupted. The clang of blades, the battle cries, curses and taunts. It was chaotic melody, a symphony of clashing wills.
Yet, he was apart from it all.
The hall around him was narrow with open doorways on both sides across its width. Before him on the wall were two arched windows and below them lay dead archers, pelted with arrows.
However, one archer remained, this one dressed differently. A fine green scale armor, a cape and boots. He aimed his bow down at the battlefield, hatred in his eyes as he searched for his victim.
Rainer smirked and like a psychotic monkey, quietly climbed out of the jar, sneaking forth with a dagger in hand.
This was his prey and he sought to claim it.
However, just as he was about to pounce on his unsuspecting victim, he heard a loud warning cry.
"Chieftain! Watch out!"
Startled, Rainer whipped his head to the side just in time to see an enraged, rebel soldier toss a javelin at him.
He ducked and the javelin grazed behind his stolen, white-crested gallic helmet in a burst of sparks.
*Pak!*
It sank into the wooden floor.
'Shit!'
Rainer's expression turned ugly, not because of his brush with death, but because the Chieftain was now aware of his presence.
Alarmed, the Chieftain quickly shifted his feet and turned, drawing his curved blade at him in a swift arc. Caught in a compromising position from his dodge, Rainer was ruthlessly hit on the forehead with the pommel, sending him stumbling back to the floor as his helmet flew out into the air.
He hit the floor, disoriented, face bloodied and pained. Desperate, he fumbled as he pushed himself up on all fours, but his assailants wouldn't give him rest.
The Chieftain charged at him, eager for blood but Rainer glanced back and spotted him in time. He kicked out and the Chieftain stumbled forth into the wine jar, his sheer weight bursting it apart and flooding the hallway with wine.
"Chieftain!"
The rebel soldier desperately charged at him with a spear, the hard thumping from his heavyset build rapidly approaching.
Panting, Rainer got on one knee and picked up his helmet, putting it on. Seeing that he was being attacked with a spear, a look of scorn filtered into his gaze.
'Heh! Using a polearm against me? Master of all polearms? Laughable!'
Just as the spear was about skewering him, he spun and the spear nicked his brown tunic, pushing past. However, Rainer didn't stop with the dodge, no, he was just beginning an attack sequence.
Using his torque momentum, he drew his dagger reverse grip and pushed forth, stabbing through the scale armor, deep into the rebel's shoulder.
The soldier let out a strangled groan and viciously punched out at Rainer, but he was already executing his next move.
He pulled out the dagger and fell into a spinning attack to the floor, dodging his punch and slicing across his thigh.
"Y-you dog!"
The soldier let out an enraged cry and thrust his spear down.
Despite Rainer's preemptive decision to leap back, the spear still grazed his thigh, drawing blood.
Rainer staggered back panting, excited eyes gleaming in satisfaction at the brief exchange.
'This is it! Battle! Oh! How much have I missed it!!!'
He shifted his foot to go back on the offence, when suddenly, he remembered something important.
'Wait! What about the Chiefta—'
He glanced back, but before he could finish his thought—he saw a flash, a glint of sunlight against metal which was immediately followed by a burning, biting sensation across his back.
The Chieftain had swung his curved blade in a lethal arch that sliced across Rainer's mercenary leather armor.
"Guh!"
Rainer staggered forward with a pained grimace.
Seeing this, the rebel soldier quickly abandoned his spear, drawing out a short sword. He then lunged forth and thrust out—However, Rainer's eyes were mainly focused on the Chieftain, who planned to attack again.
The Chieftain slashed at Rainer's neck, and the rebel soldier adeptly thrust at his heart.
Their movements, simultaneous and clearly telegraphed, set off a spark in Rainer's brain that traced down his spine to his feet. Then he moved—falling into a spin toward the chieftain and slashing through the cloth armor of his thigh, at the same time dodging both attacks by mere inches.
"Argh!" The Chieftain cried out.
Utilizing the delay caused by the shock and pain on his face, Rainer went for the killing blow and thrust up at his liver, but a sudden fatigue weighed him down, weakening his thrust.
The Chieftain's scale armor had completely stopped his feeble attack.
Rainer began panting heavily, face glistening with sweat as his eyes widened, alarmed with realization.
'Oh no. I can't gas out here!'
The Chieftain ruthlessly slashed down and Rainer barely dodged, jerking back into the rebel soldier's thrust.
"Ugh!"
The blade went into Rainer's flesh, his leather armor doing little to stop it. Rather, it was Rainer's desperate backward grab at the soldier's arm that prevented his guts from being kebabed.
The Chieftain lunged toward him with his blade and Rainer kicked him in the groin, buying him some time. He then pushed out of the blade, turned and dodged a punch which skimmed across his cheek-guard.
With all his strength, Rainer kicked the rebel soldier in the groin.
Buying some space and time, he turned and desperately stumbled toward the window, trying to flee by any means possible. But the Chieftain was quick to recover from his squirming. He dashed at Rainer and slashed down at his neck, a vicious attack Rainer barely evaded by ducking. However, the slash still grazed his back.
Rainer grimaced, slowing down, and this allowed the Chieftain to grab him.
Bloodied and battered, Rainer briefly wrestled with the chieftain, but he quickly got caught, arms locked behind his back.
Held like a prisoner to be executed, the Chieftain dragged him toward the rebel soldier who approached, gazing at Rainer's neck with vengeful delight.
Rainer panted with exhaustion, and the rebel soldier grinned, pleased at the desperation in Rainer's eyes.
"Kill the snake already!" The Chieftain yelled in frustration, panting.
Looking into the merciless eyes of his would-be executioner, his vision blurred as the world fell into a vat of transparent goo.
Face bloodied, expression dull, Rainer's eyes became clouded.
'How did it come to this...? Behind enemy lines, contending solo against two trained warriors with a skinny untrained build unfit for battle.
'Ah... Yes. I was transmigrated here. I promised—promised to raise Rome to the level of a Celestial Empire—An Eternal Empire. How...foolish.
'She would clearly laugh at me now.
'Funny how my mind pulls me back to where it all began.
'Back to the grave.'