[WARNING: This chapter contains violence which may be disturbing for some viewers. Viewer discretion is advised.]
[A Village within Sky's Territory]
In a small quiet village, a woodcutter and his daughter were collecting firewood.
"I think that's enough wood, Jane," said the father.
"Okay, father," said Jane as she carried a bundle of firewood.
"Ha, this should be enough to last us another week," said the father. "Let's head back, I'm sure your mother is ready with supper by now."
The woodcutter and his daughter began to walk back to their peaceful village as they carried the bundle of firewood.
"I can't wait for supper," said Jane. "I never get tired of mother's soup."
"Haha, I can't argue with that," said the father. "Just wait a little longer. We're almost..."
Jane's father suddenly stopped talking and paused in the middle of the trail.
"Father? What's wrong?" Jane asked.
Jane's father began to carefully observe the woods.
"Jane, run back to the village," said the father as he tightly grabbed his axe. "Now."
"What?" (Jane)
Just then, Jane heard the sounds of leaves crunching from behind. When she looked back, she saw three men armed with a shortsword, a hatchet, and a mace.
"*Whistle* She's a pretty one," said one of the bandits as he made an ominous smile.
Jane noticed that their weapons and clothes were covered in blood.
"Jane, run NOW!" the father shouted.
"Please, don't die," said Jane before running as fast she could.
As Jane ran, the bandits readied their weapons.
"Heh, what a touching moment," a bandit snickered.
"Kill the man and get that girl," said another bandit. "I'm going to enjoy her tonight," he added as he licked his blade.
"..." (Woodcutter)
The woodcutter did not respond to the bandits' comments and simply glared at them before catching them off guard by unexpectedly charging at them with his axe.
🔸🔸🔸
Jane was running straight for the village as fast as she could to warn the villagers.
"*Panting* I have to warn the others about the bandits!" she thought.
As Jane ran, she tripped over something and fell.
"Kya!" she shouted. "Ow... What did I just trip... *Gasp*."
Jane looked behind and realized she tripped over the body of one of the village elders. The elder was presumably killed by the arrow that was stuck in the back of his neck.
"That's Dan's grandfather!" Jane thought as she covered her mouth in shock.
Jane then heard the sound of screaming from the distance. When she looked up, she was horrified to see the skies filled with black smoke.
"No... It can't be..." she muttered.
Jane continued to run as fast as she could and finally reached the village.
"No..." she murmured.
To her horror, she found the village under attack by a large group of bandits. Houses were being set ablaze while the villagers desperately attempted to either fight or flee from the bandits. Bodies were scattered across the burning village, making the entire scene look like a chaotic warzone.
"W-Why is this happening?" Jane wondered.
As Jane looked on in horror, she did not notice a bandit running towards her. Before the bandit could grab Jane, an arrow flew by her head and hit the bandit in the eye.
"AHHHH!" the bandit shouted in pain.
The bandit's scream caused Jane to snap back into reality. She then looked around to see where the arrow came from.
"Jane!" a woman shouted.
Jane turned to her left and saw a woman with a bow. The woman readied another arrow and released it on the bandit who was still screaming. The arrow managed to hit the side of the bandit's head, instantly killing him.
"!" (Jane)
When Jane looked around to see where the arrow came from, she began to smile when she saw a woman with a bow in her hands.
"Mother!" Jane shouted.
"Jane! Come over here, quickly!" Jane's mother shouted.
She immediately ran towards her mother, however, as she ran, a bandit tackled her to the ground.
"Jane!" the mother shouted as she readied her bow.
Before Jane's mother could release another arrow, a burning carriage was rolling down towards her which caused her to jump out of its way. As she tried to get back up, a bandit with a bloodied mace came out of a house and was standing in front of her.
"Ahh! Let go!" Jane shouted.
She was currently struggling with the bandit that tackled her.
"Quit struggling! This won't last long," the bandit laughed.
Jane knew what was about to happen, so she continued to struggle as hard as she could. Just then, another bandit appeared from behind.
"Glad you're here, grab her arms," said the bandit.
"No! Stop!" Jane shouted as the second bandit grabbed her arms.
Panicking, she struggled even harder.
"Hahaha, just give up and accept it," said the bandit.
The bandit that tackled her began to forcibly tear off the top of her shirt.
"Noooo!" Jane screamed.
She began to cry as the bandits' smiles grew wider.
"Why?" she wondered. "Everything was normal this morning... Why is this happening to us?"
The bandit began to pull down her skirt with a menacing smile. Several villagers saw what was happening to Jane and attempted to rescue her, however, they were unable to as more bandits appeared to fight them.
"This is probably going to hurt," said the bandit as he began to remove his pants. "But not for long," he laughed.
"Somebody... Please help!" she shouted.
The fire continued to spread as the villagers were beginning to get overwhelmed by the bandits. The village's fate was looking grim until...
*Swoosh*
A single horse ran past the bandit who was attempting to remove Jane's clothes and shortly after, his head fell off his shoulders.
"Huh?" (Jane)
"What was th- ARG!" (Bandit)
Before the second bandit could fully realize what just happened, a sword suddenly pierced through his chest, killing him almost instantly. As soon as the dead bandit let go of Jane's arm, she quickly got up tried to cover herself. She then looked behind her to see a man in full plate armor holding a sword with his steed standing behind him.
"Y-You are..." Jane mumbled.
Jane's eyes began to sparkle when she saw the knight wearing a golden cloak. It was Blue Sky, one of the 7 Great Generals of the Star Kingdom.
"Young lady, are you alright?" Blue asked.
Jane was briefly speechless as she stared at Blue with astonishment.
"Ah... Y-Yes, I am," Jane answered.
"That's good to hear," said Blue. "Hm?"
Blue then noticed the girl covering herself after her clothes were torn by the bandits.
"T-Thank you for..." (Jane)
Before she could thank Blue, he removed his cloak and covered her body with it. Jane was shocked to see the Great General causally remove the cloak that was given by the king himself, just to cover her.
"Ah, no! My lord, you don't have to--" (Jane)
"Do not worry about it," said Blue. "Just find a place to hide until we deal with these knaves."
"We?" Jane asked.
Blue pulled his sword out of the bandit's body and chuckled.
"I never said I came here alone," said Blue.
Suddenly, dozens of Blue's cavalrymen charged out of the forest and began to kill any bandit that was within their range. The sudden appearance of the cavalrymen caught the bandits off guard.
"What is this?!" a bandit shouted. "Why are the soldiers here in this isolated village?!"
As many bandits were being picked off by the cavalrymen one by one, the remaining bandits began to panic.
"W-We can't beat them!" a bandit shouted.
"Just drop the loot and let's get out of here!" another bandit shouted.
When the two bandits attempted to flee into the forest, an axe flew past them, and shortly after, their heads were rolling on the ground.
"Don't run away like cowards!" someone shouted.
A heavily built man with a large scar across the side of his face approached the two corpses to pick up the axe. He was the leader of the large bandit group.
"I see less than 3 dozen pony riders here. There's no need to run, we still have over a hundred men here," shouted the bandit leader. "We outnumber them!"
As the bandit leader shouted, one of the cavalrymen approached the leader at a fast pace and attempted to hit him with his mace.
"He must be the leader," the cavalryman thought. "If he dies, his men will probably scatter!"
Just as the cavalryman was in front of him, the bandit leader calmly swung his axe as he whispered something.
"Huh?" (Cavalryman)
The bandit leader managed to decapitate the horse which caused it to collapse and throw the rider off its saddle.
"Grr... What just happened?" the cavalryman wondered as he grunted in pain.
The bandit leader then approached the soldier and stepped on his back.
"Gak!" (Cavalryman)
"Hahaha! Did you all see that?! I told you there's no reason to run! These puny pony riders are no threat to me!" the bandit leader laughed. "As long as I'm alive with this axe, not even those so-called Great Generals can stop me!"
"Ohhhhhh!!!" the bandits shouted.
The bandits began to cheer as their morale was restored by their leader's words.
"Your skull will be a nice trophy!" the bandit leader laughed.
The bandit leader then attempted to finish off the rider he was stepping on, until...
"Oh, is that so?" said Blue.
Before the axe reached the rider's neck, he suddenly vanished which caught the bandit leader off guard. Just a few steps away from the bandit leader was Blue Sky who was carrying the wounded rider in his arms.
"When did he take him away?!" the bandit leader wondered.
Another cavalryman approached Blue.
"General," said the cavalryman.
"Take this man to a healer," said Blue.
"Understood," said the cavalryman.
"Gr... Thank you, Great General..." the wounded rider spoke. "I owe you my life..."
"Get your wounds treated first," Blue chucked. "You can treat me with a pint later. For now, get out of here!"
After sending the cavalryman away with the wounded man, Blue turned around to confront the bandit leader and his men.
"Who's first?" Blue asked as he readied his sword.
None of the bandits approached Blue as they were intimidated by his sword which was much larger than the average sword. One of the bandits managed to gather the courage to attack Blue and charged at him with his mace.
"Ahhh!" the bandit shouted.
"Ha... Is this a jest?" Blue asked as he let out a sigh of disappointment. "Pathetic."
With one swing, Blue managed to slice the bandit in half.
"?!" (The bandits and their leader)
The bandit leader was briefly taken aback by how Blue swiftly killed the man as if it was nothing, however, he quickly regained his composure and began to laugh once more. He then grabbed one of his men and pushed him towards Blue.
"Boss? What are you do- Ah!" (Bandit)
Before the bandit could finish his sentence, Blue's sword reached his body and sliced him in half as well. After using the bandit as a distraction, the bandit leader immediately charged at Blue with his axe.
"You fool!" the bandit leader smirked.
"Hmph, it seems like I overestimated you," said Blue.
The bandit leader whispered something once more before swinging his axe towards Blue's neck. The bandit leader would then decapitate the man which would cause the soldiers to flee in fear. He would then kill the rest of the soldiers before claiming the man's large sword for himself. His men would then cheer for him and regain their morales. His group would then easily take over the village, kill all the men and elderly while keeping the women for their amusement before killing them as well after getting bored of them. After obtaining better quality armor and weapons from the soldiers, he would then gather more men and aim for bigger villages or perhaps even entire towns. If he was lucky, perhaps he would be able to attack the Starian capital, overthrow the royal family, and became the new king. However, all of that was just his delusional dreams. The reality was very different and was about to strike him hard.
"?!" (Bandit leader)
The bandit leader's smug face quickly vanished when Blue casually blocked the swing with his hand. Blue then looked at the bandit leader with an unimpressed face.
"Is that all?" Blue asked.
"W-What?!" the bandit leader shouted.
The bandit leader was speechless.
"He blocked my attack with his bare hands?!" the bandit leader thought. "How is that possible?!"
The bandit leader attempted to swing his axe once more but Blue was still grabbing onto the axe head.
"Tch," (Bandit leader)
The bandit leader let go of the axe and attempted to punch Blue instead. However, just like the axe, Blue casually blocked it with his hands again and headbutted the bandit leader, breaking his nose.
"Arg!" (Bandit leader)
The bandit leader fell to the ground as he touched his broken nose. When he looked up, he turned pale as he saw Blue ready his sword.
"No, wait! Wait!" the bandit leader shouted.
Before the leader could say anything, Blue swung his sword and sent the bandit leader's head toward the bandits. This caused their already low morale to drop to the floor and shatter.
"The... The boss is dead!" a bandit shouted.
"L-Let's get out of here!" another bandit shouted. "Run!"
When the bandits witnessed their boss die without landing a single hit on Blue, they began to panic and scattered towards the forest. However, just as they reached the forest, several spears sprang out of the bushes and stabbed several of them.
"Advance!" someone shouted.
Suddenly, dozens of Blue's infantrymen came rushing out of the bushes with their spears and charged at the bandits. With the cavalrymen cutting down the bandits who were fleeing towards the road and the infantrymen coming out of the forest, the remaining bandits had nowhere to run.
"W-We're surrounded!" said one of the bandits. "This... This wasn't supposed to happen!"
With no hope of escape and their leader dead, the remaining bandits lost hope dropped their weapons and surrendered. Thanks to the arrival of the Great General, Blue Sky, and his soldiers, the village was able to survive to see another day.
🔸🔸🔸
After the battle against the bandits ended, the soldiers began to help the villagers deal with the aftermath.
Blue and one of his lieutenants were currently standing in front of a burnt-down building that was once someone's home.
"What's the damage, lieutenant?" Blue asked.
"A quarter of the village was burnt down," the lieutenant answered. "If we bring some builders over here, we could have the village rebuilt in less than a week."
"I see... Fortunately, we arrived here before the fire could spread any further," said Blue. "Then how about the casualties?"
"18 villagers were killed and another 31 were wounded," said the lieutenant. "For us, only 3 soldiers were wounded during the subjugation. However, we did lose one of the horses which is a costly loss."
Blue sighed at the number of people that were killed during the attack.
"With 18 deaths, a total of 87 of my people were killed during my absence..." Blue sighed.
"This is no one's fault, general... Who could've possibly predicted this many bandits to suddenly appear in the middle of winter?" said the lieutenant. "At least, we arrived and subjugated them before they were able to harm even more of our people."
"Indeed..." said Blue. "There's something odd about this... Why would this many bandits just decided to attack in the middle of winter?"
"We inspected the bandit leader's weapon and learned that it was an enchanted axe that could cut down anything like paper," said the lieutenant. "He most likely found this in the Harl-Mani ruins and believed he was unstoppable. That would explain why they decided to attack right now."
Blue was not convinced.
"I feel like we're missing something..." Blue murmured. "Perhaps I should've captured the leader instead..."
As Blue and his lieutenant talked, Jane approached the two men.
"Um... Pardon me, my lord..." said Jane in a shy tone.
"Hm? Oh, you're the young lady from earlier," said Blue.
He then noticed her holding the cloak that he used to cover her body after her clothes were torn off by the bandits.
"I came here to return this to you, my lord... And thank you for saving me and our village," said Jane.
Blue began to grin.
"Of course, it is a lord's duty to protect his people from danger," said Blue as he picked up his cloak.
He then patted Jane on the head before walking away.
"Ah..." Jane mumbled.
It appeared that Jane wanted to say something else, however, she decided not to as she saw Blue walk away with his lieutenant to help the villagers carry the wounded people.
"..." (Jane)
Jane began to blush as she looked at Blue. Just then, she heard a man's voice from behind.
"Jane! You're okay!" Jane's father shouted, happily.
Jane's father appeared behind Jane as he used his axe as a cane. He received some bruises from his fight against the bandits but was mostly unharmed.
"Father!" Jane shouted as she ran towards him.
Jane then hugged him.
"Are you hurt? What happened to the bandits in the woods?" Jane asked.
"Of course not! You know that I wouldn't lose to a couple of scoundrels like them?" Jane's father laughed. "I easily defeated all of them! Your old man is stronger than he looks!"
"Haha... It seems like you took care of yourself nicely," a woman chuckled.
Jane's mother approached the father and Jane. There was a bandage wrapped around her left arm.
"Mother! You're alive too!" Jane shouted.
"Of course, I am. Other than a small scratch on my arm, I'm fine," said Jane's mother. "But are you okay? I saw that bastard tackle you to the ground!"
"What?" Jane's father asked with a surprised face.
"I'm okay... Lord Blue himself rescued me before anything happened..." said Jane.
She then looked in Blue's direction and made eye contact with him. When Blue noticed her, she bowed at them with her parents doing the same as well. They were all grateful for what he and his soldiers did for the village.
"Haha... It's good to see a caring family like them..." he thought. "They are truly a rare sight."
Blue then reattached his cloak to his armor before walking to his horse.
"We should deal with this problem as soon as possible," said Blue. "Dunha is probably waiting for me and it would be bad manners if I keep her waiting for too long."
(To be continued)
2020/01/24