As MC, Horace, and Dillee were slowly wheeled away by a questionable individual. Not just his behaviour, but his choice of song lyrics too.

Our other trio are not faring well in their endeavours, however.

An alliance comprising the trio, two individuals like themselves, another slightly not so great but not dead yet individual, and a smattering of guards and the mechanical Automs totalled around forty strong.

Barely standing against an individual that rips through countless layers of protection with zero effort. Whether physical, made by Lùth or Kaha. A single strike that can reach any of the alliance present and at speeds so quick that just trying to prepare for them is taxing their mental strength by the second.

The clown, which had been aiding the man by throwing large handfuls of bricks and pelting them at the crowd, was destroyed unexpectedly in a swift decapitation and then absorbed by the man into a clay-like pot. Of those that saw it happen, it was met with morbidly curious thoughts, but there was no time. To process it, the fight wasn't over.

A small ray of hope occurs as more and more soldiers from patrols further away manage to reach the castle. Some of which have healing arts and ranged abilities.

The sight of more members in the fight invigorates Wardi, who tries to synergize and overwhelm the threat. Gasping for air while dodging life-ending blade strikes was not enough to break him quite so soon.

"Fuck." hngg, wheeze "We need to try something different; we're pushed back when we should try to go on the offense. Let's return the kindness." Coughing harshly, he just about managed to get the words out.

Rhua, in full defensive mode, was pummelled by the strikes repeatedly. She could have sworn that the man they faced was doing it deliberately. Perhaps he realised her equipment was the only thing not being torn apart by his endless onslaught and pinned her down with this observation. It paid off to have invested in worthwhile equipment.

Captain Edward, his armour was in pieces. Only a shoulder pad remains, and a shield that was once his pride and joy was hanging by a thread against his forearm. He was bleeding, but not heavily enough to be worried about quite so soon. Heaving heavily on his knees, he gasped the words, "The sooner the better, lad; I'm too old for a fight like this."

Rhua was feeling the burn of the fight hard. And followed up after taking a double strike that pushed her back, snapping out the words, "Whatever you're planning, Wardi, you better act fast. I don't think we can survive much longer!" Emotions were running high; her words were filled with it too. Not from anger, but from fear.

Memories of Von Manor bounced around in her mind; while the threat back then was dangerous, this man had outright killed at least fifteen of the kingdom's fine women and men. Totally void of any thought besides whatever they had for an agenda. Which seemed to be a flawless victory on his part.

Screams burst forth as quickly as they ended, from the odd brave individual trying to step forward in a feeble attempt at making some ground. They didn't stand a chance as the blades simply tore through the ranks. Wardi couldn't stand it any longer.

"Listen up! We're swarming him but spread out when you do it. The strength and speed of those attacks fall when it goes in wide arcs; it's our best shot at getting a strike up close. Get running NOW." The command echoed out across the grounds; Wardi's voice became raspy from the strain. It had been a long time since he did it last.

Lumra spoke to the two Art users beside him. "Our best shot now is to go for an aftermath. At this point, we either fight for a win at any cost, or we die from those blades." The words were hollow from the thought of killing so many innocents at the cost of a chance towards victory.

"I can't. I've already used my backup core. My Lùth will be run dry on a channelling art at best; more potions and I'll get sickness too." Lucy, sweating and starting to show signs of mild Lùth sickness, was still able to talk fine, but she was lucky that the two of them were hardly targeted for most of the battle.

"This is hopeless then; we may as well take our chances and run. I can't use the Shellnet either to try and call him for help; he's blocking the channels somehow." Wardi fiddled around with his system window, but it wasn't responding to his commands.

"We can't give up, come on!" Said Bagu, grabbing both their hands. "We must try; it's too early to give up just yet." Gorthen symbols floated around him. Lucy, spurred on by his valiant effort, began to form Ignis arts around herself and channelled her connection with Bagu.

Whilst Lumra initially shook his head. He too joined in, and symbols for Pitch began to be channelled towards the others. Their combined art formed a large axe in the air that rotated around in the colours of the elements they used. It was spotted by the foe, who sent his spare blade at them, carving a path along the way.

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Captain Edward rushed in despite his already weakened state to take the hit, his shield only surviving from overflowing kaha being poured into it. The blades returned, and he fell to the floor.

The axe was met again with the blade just inches from the man's face. Pushing him down, the Art users poured everything they had into their combined attack. Wardi spotted for a moment something as the two weapons collided. A familiar energy, one just like that he witnessed at Areya's manor. Forcing the thought into his head, Please, not now.

Wardi took the opportunity to take a backstab, and finally something paid off. The blade went clean into the back of the foe and straight through to the other side. Blood gushed out towards Rhua, and the axe took his arm clean off as well.

The man roared in pain, swinging Wardi around as he thrashed like an animal.

Holy shit, this guy is throwing me about like I'm nothing. Just how strong is he? Barely able to think as he clung on for dear life.

A quick dash that formed into a shield bash, Rhua pushed the man down to the floor.

The people gathered around, stabbing, punching, and slashing at every inch of him. Chunks of skin flung off from the blades that dug in with blind rage. Bones were shattered from punches, kicks, and blunt weapons. It lasted five minutes, and by the time it stopped, he was no longer recognisable.

Bone was clearly visible around his arms. A leg had been severed off completely, and his entire body, particularly his face, had become a bloody, pulpy mess.

Wardi staggered, his legs giving in, barely being caught by Rhua, who pulled him to the side.

"This is too much. ""I'm absolutely fucked lass; we were way over our heads with this." He sputtered through gasping breaths. Rhua fared no better.

"Tell me about it. This was way more dangerous than Et-Navn."

A bright white light shone down, lighting up the courtyard. All in awe and confusion. Was this some sort of divine intervention? Wardi pondered. Radiant glows felt pleasant and welcoming. Though it seemed these were of no benefit to him or anyone else, for that matter.

Lucy rushed through the bodies and dirt trying to reach her companions. Upon reaching them, she had to break the news.

"I think this is bad. I think it is a resurrection Art" Panic in her voice stirred Wardi and Rhua.

"Please tell me you're joking, Luce." Came the mumbled words from Rhua and her trembling mouth.

There was no time for any other responses because it appeared in the middle of the light shining down. The mark of the Serilia, a tree with all the elemental symbols. There is not a citizen who would dare to forget such a sacred icon.

As the light faded and the symbol drifted down to the body, it began to merge into it. An eerie silence for a split second, then it all began to happen in front of their eyes.

"Hyaw Hyaw HYAW!" Burst forth loudly from the man. A horrible, crunching laugh.

The body began to slowly rise from the floor. The single leg raised the man up alone. Creaking as it did so, wounds healed over, bones mended, and limbs regrew in horrible squelching noises that made some of the soldiers gag. They wanted to look away, but they couldn't.

As his original appearance was whole once again, he began to speak forth with that ancient tongue to the alliance once more.

[A good start, well done. However! I'm afraid it is not enough. None of you, even working together, can win against me.

Unfamiliar words once again rang out. The fear already set in deep for all the brave adventurers and soldiers here. An ancient tongue like that, however, sunk it even deeper. And a new feeling was felt. Felt in a grand union across all the attendees.

Fear became terror.

"Ugh, I wish I knew what those words meant. But this wanker is back looking like he just got here all over again. Look at us ... we had to push ourselves to the brink just finishing him once. There's nothing left within me or anyone else to fight on now. "FUCK, I CAN'T GO DOWN WITHOUT TRYING THOUGH!" Remnants of adrenaline surging through him once more, Wardi stood up.

Wardi attempted to run. His tired legs, however much they could be filled with adrenaline, were not responding how he hoped. His run staggered, and the man turned to face him summoning his blades. Quickly turning his head, however, before anyone else had quite heard it.

Violently loud rumbles in the distance. Those noises stopped Wardi dead in his tracks; he was frozen solid. "Fuck, fuck, fuck, what now?" he thought, trying anything to move.

The man that, up until his death, had a smirk across his face. Now he showed a different emotion. Nobody could tell what was going on through the realm shaking around them, but one thing was for sure: the man had become angry.

He looked directly westward toward the castle turret. Everyone was blown back as he summoned more of his blades. Only this time another five joined him. Now he had two blades behind him, at his side and above, and one rotating at a speed that was pushing the dirt and dust away where it spun.

What the hell has gotten him so riled up? Rhua looked around, trying to make sense of it all.

Wardi scanned to see if he could detect anything; it was about all he could do in the moment to feel useful.

"GET OUT OF THE WAY AND HIDE!" He shouted, causing a panic with everything he had left; his voice was so torn up he coughed blood.

Lucy and Rhua rushed over to him to try and carry his frozen body, but it was too late.

The trio held on to each other tight as they braced against the ground shaking. Heavy stomps that hit the ground lifted the bodies up and flailed their limbs around. The deathly dancing only increased more as a sickening view for all made an appearance.

Looming far, FAR above the tallest turret. A giant, silky green cone hat stood out like a sore thumb, while the thing that appeared wore an open waistcoat to match it. Revealing a bulging, bloated, stretch-marked gut that you could swear gargled as it moved. A gut that was almost as wide as the castle itself.

The black baggy trousers it wore were tucked into huge black combat boots that seemed to be laced with rope rather than string. The skin of the thing reminded Wardi of his parents' old sofa, a sun-bleached leather haggard piece covered in patches of thick dirt.

Everyone knew who just turned up.

Not to be confused with a Gobhead despite the similar spelling and behaviour.

No, this was a Goblin.

The only one of its kind.

And the angriest thing on Maliterr.

Colossi Bompeeyo

Bompeeyo growled explosively, echoing across the battleground and for miles around: "So, which one of you SHITSTAINS SEVERED THE POWER TO MY STOVE AGAIN?"

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