Ren stood in the aftermath of the battle, the ruins of the forest steaming around him.
Smoke drifted lazily from burning branches, and blood soaked the bark beneath his feet.
The bodies of the Rosefield Knights lay in mangled heaps, strewn across splintered wood and shattered vines.
He exhaled, slowly rotating his shoulder with a groan.
"Three knights, three sets of problems, and not a damn clue which one of you was carrying the ruby."
He sighed to himself.
"Maybe I should've verified that before killing them all."
Thankfully, the first corpse was right in front of him.
With an exhale, he stepped over the corpse of the guy with the fire sword.
He knelt beside the body, cutting off the straps and pulling off the destroyed armor. He couldn't help but chuckle at seeing the hole his punch had left in the breastplate.
But that wasn't why he was doing this. He focused back on his task.