Village Protection!

Job Info: Free Form (S-rank)
Job Approval: Link

Shane stopped on one of the cliffs, catching a bird’s eye view of the village he had been tasked to protecting. River Village, aptly named for the river that surrounded the entire town, was a quaint little haven among the wilderness. The village was well-known for their abundant and fresh seafood, with a majority of their villagers being fishermen. On a more strategic level, River Village was well-protected by the river on all sides, with only one route in and out of the village. Under siege, with the appropriate defensive force, River Village would be able to hold their own without any logistical worries.

He scanned the surroundings of the village, his red eye seemingly gleaming as he did so, but couldn’t find any traces of the mountain bandits. The bandits had send a small scouting team and raided the village once in the past week. The village leader had immediately followed up by putting up job requests for mages to help defend their village, knowing well that with the arrival of the scouting team, the main force of the bandits would undoubtedly follow.

Once satisfied with his view and getting a general understanding of the village’s layout, Shane righted the strap that kept Breaker’s sheath to his back and resumed making his way to the village.

It was one hour later when he finally arrived at the doorsteps of the town. Ten guards were on duty, all of them antsy and anxious with each approaching person, doing full checks on everyone entering and leaving including their goods. Shane was subject to the same amount of scrutiny as well when it was his turn, especially with his obvious display of his weapon on his back.

“May I know what business you have in River Village?” the guard that was frisking him asked, eyeing his weapon as his gaze switched between Shane and the weapon.

“I’m here for the village leader’s request,” Shane replied, holding out the job details written on a piece of paper to the guard. He had no hard feelings for the guy, despite being slightly annoyed. He was just doing his job after all.

The guard took the piece of paper gently and read it quickly. Once done, he returned it to Shane. A sudden change of personality took place right there and then as the man loosened up and grabbed Shane’s right hand, shaking it heartily.

“Thank you so much, mister. The people of River Village appreciate what you are doing for us,” the guard gushed, surprising the other guards before they realized what was happening. A few word of thanks was spoken by the guards, which Shane accepted with a nod and a smile. With a few more words exchanged between them, Shane got directions on how to get to the village leader’s place and headed there immediately.

[473 words]
[Total WC: 473/14000]

Shane once again procured the letter that would serve as his introduction to the guard standing out the village leader’s office, the tallest building in River Village standing at three stories tall. The guard read through the letter, his originally cold demeanor turned welcoming once he got to the end of the letter, a smile creasing his rough features. Shane returned the smile with his own.

“Mister Stern, please follow me, I will lead you to the Village Leader’s office,” the guard gestured before taking the lead and entering the building. As he stepped on the polished wooden floorboards and followed the guard as he navigated through the building, Shane would find the many occupants of the building crossing between him and the guard leading the way, all of them hurrying from one room to another while the less busy ones would fix him with a questioning look before diving back into their work.

“This building houses all of the administrative departments in River Village. It’s normally quite quiet around here, but with the threat we are facing now, all of the administrative staff are trying to get all their documents and files in order in case we need to evacuate. You can say they are an odd bunch to be busying themselves with such trivial stuff, but in case you didn’t notice, everyone’s also trying to keep themselves busy, to distract themselves from the fear and anxiousness,” the guard said, noticing the flurry of activity that kept crossing into Shane’s path.

The stairs to the first floor was the complete end of the building down the hallway and when they got up to the first floor, the two of them had to move to the front end of the building to reach the stairs to the second floor. The same level of activity permeated the first floor and when they arrived at the top of the stairs leading to the second floor, it was relatively calmer. There were two room on the second floor, their doors adjacent, facing the stairs. In front of the door on the left was a large table, stacked with papers and files. A pair of sharp emerald eyes was fixed on the two of them as they entered, as if a predator laying eyes on prey walking into a trap.

“Esmeralda, how many times have I said to smile when you see guests coming to meet the Leader? This is Mister Stern, who’s here to help us with the bandits threat,” the guard said with a short laugh before turning around to talk to Shane. “Mister Stern, this is Esmeralda, she’s the secretary to our Village Head. I leave you in her hands.”

With a nod, the guard walked back down the stairs while Shane stood where he was, looking at Esmeralda who was still looking him up and down. A second later the young lady stood up, her shoulder-level green curls bouncing with the movement and went over to the left door, knocking three times on it gently.

“Leader, you have a guest,” the young lady said before opening the door and stepping back to let Shane in.

“Thanks,” Shane said and nodded, then moving into the room to see the village leader sitting on the fabric sofa opposite his desk, sipping from a mug of coffee. A pile of papers was on the coffee table in front of him, no doubt he was looking at them until Shane arrived. Righting his spectacles, the village leader rose up from his sofa, reaching his full height and standing at the same height as Shane, and held his hand out.

“Well met, I’m Joltrin Teak,” the brown-haired man spoke in a clear voice as the two men shook hands. It was a firm one, a confident one but not overbearing. At first glance, with his round specs, brown pants held up by suspenders of the same color and his white checkered shirt, Joltrin Teak looked every part a scholar. But upon closer inspection, one would see the firmly toned forearms revealed by sleeves folded back, his broad shoulders and a firm stance, indicating that he was no stranger to the other rougher jobs of the village.

“I’m Shane Stern, Rune Knight,” he replied, taking out a metal pendant that was worn as a necklace. It was the standard means of identification of a Rune Knight if they were out of uniform, especially since Shane was really not in his uniform. He would only wear that in Era or Crocus, but whenever he was out of HQ for jobs, he would be in his combat attire which comprised of black combat boots, khaki pants and a black, short-sleeved T-shirt with a loose, round collar. He looked like a mercenary, and would have been given a scolding if Serilda or Mythal saw him right now. Which was why he preferred taking jobs out of Era and Crocus.

“First of all, you have my gratitude for accepting this job, Shane,” Joltrin began but was cut off when Shane held up his right hand.

“You might wanna wait for your other guest before you start,” Shane suggested, as he could sense a tremendous amount of magical energy closing in on them. If he wasn’t wrong, he would have a partner for the job and judging by the amount of magic he could feel in the air, it was someone far more powerful than he was.

[906 words]
[Total WC: 1990 / 14000]

The arrival of the newcomer was direct and straight to the point, all pleasantries cut out. As is the culture of the new legal group called Dies Irae, Shane seemed to thought as he glanced at the lady who had just entered, the practical no-nonsense military type that was surprisingly rather scarce in the Rune Knights, save for the Marshall and one of the General. The first thing Shane had noticed was the vibrant red and white uniform that she wore, further confirming her identity and her guild affiliation in her introduction to Joltrin. He looked down at his own attire, a wry smile appearing on his face. How he dressed and carried herself was a stark contrast to the newcomer who had named herself Amalie.

If it had been any other person, they would have been flabbergasted by the laconic arrival of the mage but Joltrin wasn’t. The man held himself straight and proper, with all the authoritative air of a born leader, showing no weaknesses as he took it all in his stride. He sat down as well in his one seater, leaving Shane the last one to be seated. It seemed like he was currently invisible, as the two other person in the room silently squared off. Shane had never felt so invisible in his life.

Shane cleared his throat once, trying to ease the tension and then proceeded to prompt Joltrin into starting the briefing. When the village head met his eyes, he merely smiled and then started talking with his elbows on his thighs.

“A week ago, we were attacked by a bandit group calling themselves Skourge, with a ‘K’. We have some farms outside of our village, small fields of rice good enough to sustain this village, and they were hit. The farms were destroyed, houses destroyed and the silo which we stock the grain completely robbed. They left a calling card, painting the name of their group on the walls of the farmhouses in red paint before leaving. A message had been left, that this was purely an expeditionary force, and the full brunt of it would be arriving soon.”

“We don’t know they are going to do it, whether they would sneak in and then unlock the doors for the bandits to come or just come knocking on our front door, but they have promised that they will be returning in full force. We need your help to help us organize our defense in preparation for their arrival,” Joltrin explained, his tone serious as he looked at the two mages in front of him. Shane was nodded in response and then looked at Amalie, deferring the authority to her in this job. There were many in the Rune Knight that had felt dissatisfaction at the establishment of this military-like legal guild, feeling that they were trying to take over their position as the upholders of law.

But the higher ranked members of the Knights had a different opinion. They welcomed the arrival of this group of mages, appreciating their assistance in making sure that Fiore wouldn’t devolve into a lawless stinkhole, especially with the increasing advent of dark guilds. And Shane shared this opinion. Especially when it was obvious as day that the female mage was way more powerful than he was.

“Amelia.. Sorry. Amalie. What are your thoughts?” Shane prompted. “The Rune Knights got some intel on this group of bandits before. Their numbers go up into the high hundreds, arguably a militia in the making. We could just make a stand, the two of us, at the front of the village to keep them busy or like Joltrin suggested, arrange the villagers to aid in the defense.”

He was supposed to have spoken his piece, but then the Rune Knight realized he had forgotten one thing. “Oh, Shane Stern, Rune Knights.”

[641 words]
[Total WC: 3550 / 14000]

[978 words]
[Total WC: 5276 / 14000]

His comment about her power level was taken, and the female Dies Irae member would then stand up after agreeing with the plan. It seemed that letting her run loose in the center of the invading bandits agreed with her style but it would also be another thing to see how it would pan out. But that was the least of his worries. With the plan ready to be put into action, Shane looked back at Joltrin after the femme fatale had left the room. The village leader turned to look at Shane as well and nodded. The two of them stood up and walked out of the room together, to begin the preparations.

Shane watched as Amalie floated through the air, soaring above the village like a divine protector. It had been a few days since the meeting and the two mages had been equally busy with their preparations. There had already been sightings of the bandit army approaching the village, and based on their speed, it seemed like today was going to be day of reckoning for River Village. Shane looked over at the archers standing before him. They were gathered in front of the large gates, preparing to move up the stairs at the side of the gate columns into their firing positions. And like Shane, they were looking at Amalie’s flight, a feat incomprehensible to them.

“Archers, eyes down here,” the Rune Knight called out to them, four rows of ten archers, with the ten hunters standing at the front. The ten hunters along with their sons, five of them, made up fifteen experienced archers whose skills allowed to them shoot down deers and rabbits in motion without fail. The remaining twenty-five men, fit for combat but new to the bow and arrow, fidgeted with anxiety as they stood in place. Some were eager to show off their skills but most were nervous at the prospect of the upcoming battle. Who wouldn’t be? They were the last line of defense for the village and it was their family members at stake. Failure was not an option, and not all men had wills of steel to overcome that pressure.

“As we practiced, you will be split into two squad of twenty. Every three archer reporting to one hunter. Hunters, you will need to supervise your men on top of defending the wall. You guys will be the last line of defense, so make every shot count. Let’s move up.”

The hunters had been training the unexperienced young men with a lot of effort, and at the end of the few days of practice, they had sent one representative to speak to Joltrin and Shane about their progress. It hadn’t been great, with an accuracy rating of two out of five. A forty percent hit rate. Less than even half. But they had no choice. It was better than nothing.
Shane followed them up the stairs, leaving the twenty guards experienced in combat by the gate. Joltrin was already up there, overseeing the preparations of the siege weapons, his expression serious. When the forty archers appeared above the gates near the siege weapons, Joltrin spared Shane a glance and nodded. Everything was alright had been his meaning. During the past few days the Rune Knight had also watched how the village leader led his people in these trying times. They abided to everything he said, making all the work easier.

Shane could see Amalie approaching Joltrin from the air. Leaving the two to their own conversation, the male mage went back down and smiled at his twenty guards. Before he could say anything, a gong was repeatedly hit, causing the horrible clang of the gong to reverberate throughout the village. Villagers unrelated to the upcoming fight retreated into their homes, pulling their windows and doors tightly closed. The smile on Shane’s face vanished as the doors began to open. The twenty men followed Shane out in two lines behind him, their hands gripping their swords and spears with white-knuckled grips. When the last of them finally walked out of the gates, the large wooden doors were swung back shut.

“Archers! Siege weapons! Prepare to fire at my command,” Shane could hear Joltrin’s call to his men.

“Weapons out, guys,” Shane own command came to the twenty men behind him, turning around to look at them. When he turned his head back, his outfit had completely changed, by virtue of his Requip magic. He was now wearing his EX-22 full black combat suit and a worn shield with fading paint appearing on his back, secured in place by a magnetic holster. A pair of large guns appeared along with their holster on his thighs, and Shane pulled them out of the leather holsters. The incoming horde of bandits was getting nearer now, a tidal wave of movements and dust kicked up by their charge.

[815 words]
[Total WC: 6894/14000]

Garbed in his black combat suit, an experimental armor provided by the Engineering Corps, Shane turned his neck to the left and to the right, eliciting a crack from each motion. The bandits were beginning to appear from the tree line, which was probably where they had been hiding out before this siege. Even the ground had begun to rumble from the footfalls of the charging men, their lines getting wider and wider as they came into view, their numbers extremely high. Shane did the quick math and smiled wryly. The village only had less than a hundred man fighting this invasion, while the opponent was bringing as many as seven hundred or more into the battlefield. It was like bringing a hammer down on an egg. Overkill.

As the bandits neared them, Shane suddenly felt a glow around his entire body. Without further scrutiny, Shane understood that it was a barrier cast upon him by his airborne partner. He tilted his head upwards to look at the flying mage, and gave a salute as thanks, unsure if she would notice it. As the rumbling on the ground increased in frequency, so did the war cries of the approaching bandits. Shane could hear the metallic clinks of the weapons prepped by the guards behind him, as they assumed whatever pose their fighting style would require.

Shane, on the other hand, raised his arms straight out, a pistol in each hand. The moment they were within range, the silver-haired Rune Knight began to let loose, his fingers rapidly pressing down on the triggers. Every shot caused the target to burn into flames, as Shane had activated his Incendiary Ammo spell, allowing his magic bullets to erupt into flames after making contact. Brows furrowed and eyes locked on to his targets, Shane’s arms occasionally shifted to the left and right, sometimes in concert, sometimes independently. The initial assault of his incendiary ammo created a barrier of flames, as the targets fell to his bullets, the flames catching on to the other bandits and the grass.

Add that to the barricades that had been erected along with the trenches dug into the ground, the bandit army was finding it difficult to approach. Any one of them who managed to avoid the obstacles were rewarded with a bullet to their chest or head, dropping them where they stood. From the top of the wall, rocks were arcing over the air, two at a time. It wasn’t enough to overpower the army and tear them apart, but did enough to also them down. And for those who managed to avoid the dropping rocks, they had to content with flying death as large arrows cut through the air.

The smell of burning flesh quickly got caught in the wind, thankfully in the direction of the incoming bandits. To those who hadn’t experienced it, the smell was enough to induce nausea, adding another layer to his attacks as a portion of the bandits within the ranks succumbed to the smell and retched where they stood. There had been a few that had managed to run past his assault, but the guards were warming up to the battle as well.

Before the bandits could reach Shane, they were already there, skillfully hacking them down. It was moving quite smoothly for them but Shane knew they had barely touched the tip of the iceberg. As the number of bandits that managed to avoid all of the obstacles created began to increase in number but still manageable, Shane holstered the gun in his right hand and then brought it to his back, where he pulled out Breaker. The weapon was actually a broken spearhead, but a magical one. The broken shaft was capped at the end, and upon his command, the weapon could alternate between spear form with the capped shaft elongated, sword form with the spearhead extending or dagger form with the spearhead and capped shaft at its default. Currently, Shane was using it in its sword form.

Shane joined the guards as they cut down the bandits that had made it through, his attacks alternating between using the gun in his left hand and the sword in his right hand. It was a newly learned trick, but Shane was slowly getting the hang of it as he weaved through the bandits with swiftness, each attack ending the life of another.

[732 words]
[Total WC: 8469 / 14000]

Spells used (50% MP reduction from item)
- Requip: EX-22 -25MP (6 more posts)
- Requip: Huntsman & Knight -25MP (6 more posts)
- Spell: Incendiary Ammo -25MP (5 more posts)

MP: 425 / 500

A loud boom amongst a cacophony of war cries and clashing weapons sounded out as Shane shot one of the enraged bandits in the forehead at point-blank range. The bandit collapsed to the ground in a heap, while the Rune Knight, unfazed by the kill, holstered his gun by the side of his thigh. The Rune Knight threw himself into the next bandit, skillfully carving his across the chest with his sword before turning around to smash his fist into the face of another bandit with a backhanded blow. They were doing well so far, keeping the bandits at bay.

The strategy, while success still undetermined, was working well so far. At least that was what he hoped. On his side, the guards were still alive and more than capable of holding their own while the archers and siege weapons at the top of the gates continued to pummel into the enemy ranks. Joltrin was doing his part extremely well, as arcs after arcs of water sent flying over from the river into the air before bombarding the bandits. It created holes in their horde formation, the fallen ones subjected to the trampling of their frenzied comrades.

However, he had no visual of Amalie any more. She had been in the air a while ago but Shane could no longer see anything he scanned the skies, smoke from the fires he had caused blurring his sight. But he knew she would be okay. It was more of a question, how quickly she could wipe out all the bandits while Shane keep the gates closed.

As the sounds of battle continued on in the background, two thunderous roars drew Shane’s attention as he turned to look at the horde of bandits. The roars continued, and the source of the noise was finally made apparent when two large gaps opened among the bandits. Two gigantic men, each wielding a large double-bladed battle axe, leapt into the air and came down with similarly executed downward slashes. The ground rumbled as they landed back on the ground, the blade of their axes on one side sinking halfway into the ground.

“They have berserkers in their ranks?” Shane asked aloud to no one in particular, his initial expression of surprise morphing into a grin as a shield appeared in his left hand. His hand closed tight around the shield’s handles, firmly affixed to his forearm. It was a circular shield and while the color appeared faded, the designs were still clear enough. Three thin grooves were carved into the shield in a circle, creating three rings and the shape of a star in the center. Looking like a gladiator in a coliseum, with his shield and sword in hand, Shane charged at his opponents.

He lunged at B-One, the berserker on the left as the latter tried to wrench his weapon out of the ground but before he could pull it out, Shane leapt onto the weapon’s shaft and forward into the man’s face, smashing his face with the shield. B-One appeared to be unfazed by the blow when Shane pulled the shield back, revealing a bloodied nose, receiving another roar to his face, spit flying at his face. The angered berserker flexed his muscles and lifted up his weapon while Shane was still balanced precariously on it, the Rune Knight’s added weight barely even affecting the monster of a man.

Shane was flipped into the air by the berserker’s swing, and before he could turn himself in the air, another battle axe swung through the air towards his midsection. The collision of axe against shield, resulting in a dull clunk, sent Shane plummeting to the ground, having barely defended against the brutal attack. It was unfortunate that the shield was capable of absorbing vibrations or he would have been out of the fight even if he hadn’t been sliced apart.

A downwards swing from B-Two, the other berserker, came down on where he had landed, with the Rune Knight evading it by rolling back and then quickly going back into a crouch. The two berserkers currently had the upper hand in the fight, forcing Shane to run around as he avoided their brutal blows. But Shane wasn’t as mindless as the two berserkers. The benefits of having Requip magic was the arsenal of weapons he had in his possession. And as a soldier, there was no such thing as fighting fair. Only winning and surviving, or losing and dying.

Breaker was immediately resheathed behind his back and his right hand pulled out his handgun holstered to his thigh. He still had incendiary ammo loaded, but Shane decided to cancel the spell. Once more charging towards the two berserkers as they did the same with their axes raised, Shane fell to the ground to slide forward, feet first when the first berserker’s axe swung through nothing but air. The Rune Knight could feel the breeze generated from the swing, but his attention was undivided.

The second berserker who was a few feet behind the first one, was now right in front of Shane and was about to carry out his swing. The moment he stopped, Shane kicked off the ground and leapt over B-Two, lining up his gun and fired off two consecutive shots, aimed at the berserker’s right shoulder. A growl of pain was issued as he lost strength in his right arm, put off balance by his swing gone wrong. With only his left hand holding the heavy battle axe, the berserker pitched forward. Shane landed on the ground behind him and without hesitation, let loose another two shots aimed at the man’s right knee, from the back.

The magic bullets blasted through his knee, shattering the kneecap in the process. B-Two’s huge stature immediately collapsed to the ground as the right leg went soft. Another two shots were fired at his left thigh, immobilizing him. All of this had happened while B-One’s was recovering from his missed slash and had to make an effort to turn around, only to see berserker buddy on the ground. A roar of rage later, B-One pulled off a move Shane didn’t think the berserker would have the intelligence to.

B-One did it as how he would execute a downwards slash, but this time he let go of the shaft, allowing the huge weapon to spin vertically in the air as it flew towards Shane. No way left, Shane activated the energy shield on Patriot. At the activation of the spell, color flooded the shield immediately, the outermost and innermost ring taking on a metallic red hue, the second ring and star taking on white color while the space around the star was blue. Bracing himself, Shane held the shield out in front of him as the thrown axe smashed into the shield, bounced off it and carved a flight back through the air to its owner like a boomerang.

But Shane would have none of it. It was his turn now. With perfect aim, the Rune Knight effortlessly let off six shots in rapid succession. Two bullets hit B-One’s right shoulder, one each through his kneecaps, and two more to his left forearm. Blood erupted into the air from all six bullet holes simultaneously, dropping the berserker to his knees.

[1214 words]
[Total WC: 10,854 / 14,000]

The Rune Knight Captain wiped the sweat from his brow with the back of his right hand, the left hand still holding onto the shield that he had been using in excess. The battle for the village had barely passed the one-hour mark, and Shane could see that the end wasn’t going to arrive so soon. The numbers of the bandits, an army in itself was still continuously pouring in through the bottleneck that they had managed to create through a combination of trenches and pits dug into the ground, wooden spiked barricades, the continuous shooting of the archers, trebuchets and ballistae, Joltrin’s water elemental magic that slowed down the approaching men, and Shane and his squad of twenty armed guards fighting to keep the village gates closed.

Amalie, the only one within this entire village that could be called a powerhouse had planted herself in the middle of the bandit army, sowing chaos and wreaking havoc from within the beast of an army. Shane took a quick count of his squad, his count ending at seventeen, which he frowned and sighed. He had asked them to take a rest while he personally kept the bottleneck covered, fighting at the narrowest point with just his shield in his left hand.

White steam was repeatedly flowing off his body, Shane having activated two spells that allowed him restrained use of the energy granted by his magic, using them to boost his physical strength and speed. With a swing of his left hand and dull clunk, Shane had smashed the shield into a bandit’s face, blindly lunging at him with a raised spear. The force from the punch alone sent the man flying back a few feet, and he stayed down. His nose has been broken, the bone pressed into his brain instantly killing him before he even hit the ground.

Another attacked from the right, holding a large shield with large tusks protruding from the front. The Rune Knight eyed this attacker calmly before aiming with his gun. The first press of the trigger, along with the second and third only issued a click-click-click out of the weapon. Without any time to change the magazine, Shane holstered the weapon and stood his ground as he raised his own shield in response. The three large tusks collided with the front of his shield, barely even leaving a scratch on the oddly impenetrable material that the shield was constructed of. With a growl, Shane stood his ground while the attacker tried to push forward without any progress.

Knowing the attacker was continuing to push, the blonde mage sidestepped to the left, the bandit with the tusked shield giving in to his momentum and sudden lack of obstacle, causing him to pitch forward. The Rune Knight waited for him to hit the ground before slamming his booted foot into the man’s ribs, intent on breaking some with his kick so that the man would stay down.

The influx of armed bandits ceased for a few minutes as Shane stood at the chokepoint, the bandits at the very front watching the Rune Knight with apprehension. Every few seconds, one of the bandits would be pushed forward but then he would quickly retract his steps, eyes on the inhumanly strong mage in front of them. Shane welcomed the pause in the battle, taking in deep breaths as he stood guard. It was an odd moment but he was grateful for it. It afforded him some rest as well as for the rest of his men.

It wasn’t until screams of agony drifted from the center of the army to the edges, that they were once more spurred into action. Shane held up his shield in front of his face as something bounced off his shield, creating a few clinks. He watched the things that had flown into him fall to the ground, brows furrowed as he tried to comprehend the existence of flying glass shards.
Amalie, the Rune Knight thought to himself, as he figured that it was probably a result of a spell that she had used although what exactly Shane had no idea. With a deep breath, Shane threw himself back into the fray, only to suddenly be completely lifted up into the air and sent flying backwards to the gate. It had been a kick, a kick from a golem made out of rocks and earth, created so swiftly that Shane had been lucky he raised up his shield in time or the direct blow would have sent him out of the fight.

The earth rumbled with each step the golem took, it’s height almost half of the village gates and twice of Shane’s. Its arms, ended like hammers instead of a hand and fingers, was sweeping to the left and right, tearing away the wooden barricades that they had erected, effectively breaking apart the bottleneck that had worked against the bandits so effectively.

“They just get bigger and bigger,” Shane grumbled as he spat on the ground, a wad of blood in the saliva. With another deep breath, the Rune Knight broke into a sprint as he ran towards the golem, the equipment on his body changing during the run. His holstered handguns disappeared from view, returning to the storage dimension, while his outfit was entirely changed, now donning a dark blue combat suit with a silver star and three stripes emblazoned across his chest. There was actually a helmet to go with it, but Shane had opted out, keeping his head unprotected and also unhindered. A larger firearm appeared on his back, strapped down as well but Shane hadn’t make any move to pull it out yet.

Instead, the soldier leapt up into the air when he reached maximum speed, thrusting his knee forward to collide into the golem’s chest. The resulting impact knocked the golem back a few feet, toppling the animated statue into the bandits, crushing them. His squad was also back on their feet after the rest, now hacking and slashing into the bandits with renewed but slightly diminished vigor. Shane scanned the bandits while he rushed into their midst, punching and kicking his way through. The golem was getting back up and Shane could take it down as many times as possible, but it wouldn’t change a single thing if he didn’t take out the caster.

[1059 words]
[Total WC: 12,942 / 16,000]

Shane ran atop the fallen golem, the height of the thing was massive, reaching the same height as the village gates. The size of the body could be likened to a small hill, also the reason why he was scaling the animated statue. This naturally drew the attention of the bandits and without fail, they began to scale up after him, weapons brandished and ready to chop him down now that he was cut off from his guardsmen. Shane merely shook his head as the first bandit charged him, the Rune Knight merely sidestepping and slamming his shield into the man’s shoulder to throw him off the sleeping giant.

He could have pulled out the grenade launcher, Bloody Mary, on his back to blast multiple bandits to oblivion with each shot, but the relentless slaughter from the beginning of the invasion was slowly weighing down on him. If his conscience was an entire field of stones, then each life he took was like stacking up the stones on top of one another. It was a precarious balance, and he knew that if he continued to push it, by taking more lives, stacking more stones on top of one another, it was bound to come crashing down on him.

It had already happen to him once, sending him down a dark road, a road he would never want to travel again. And he had only been able to find a way out through the Rune Knights. No doubt he was part of the Special Operations division, and killing was a given, Shane believed those were absolutely necessary. Unlike what he was currently doing right now. Another bandit tried to stab him from the back, but the Rune Knight parried the blade with his shield, pushing the man’s hand away from his body and sending a strong kick right into his chest and throwing him off the fallen golem.

And then the ground beneath his feet began to rumble. As he struggled to find his footing, Shane failed to react in time as a large hand closed down around him, pinning his arms to his side. His eyes widened as the golem began to raise itself from the ground, four columns of earth pushing him off the ground until the animated rock in humanoid form stood tall once more. Shane gritted down on his teeth, blood pumping to his head as the grip around him tightened while he tried his best to push outwards.

Steam began to be emitted from Shane’s body as he activated two spells that would allow him to tap into the excess energy that All Might would provide. With a frighteningly loud roar that seemed inhuman, Shane began to push his arms apart with a strength that was unlikely for him to possess physically. The rocks and earth that made up the golem’s right hand began to crack and loosen as Shane slowly created room to flex his arms. He strained against the magic that held the earth together, and when he finally managed to fully extend his arms, the golem tossed him into the air instead.

What followed was a giant fist of rock pummelling straight into him, sending him rocketing through the air and straight into the stone bricks above the gate. It would have been funny if not for the broken ribs that had almost perforated his lungs, Shane gasping for breath as he pulled himself out of the hole in his shape. He had been pushed almost one feet into stone from the impact of the punch alone. He let out a cough, drops of red blood exiting his mouth, and slowly settled into a trickle by the side of his mouth.

Something pricked at his back and Shane turned around to take a look. He gave a sigh at the ruined grenade launcher, completely bent out of shape and no longer useable. He was going to have to bring it back to the Engineering Corps to either repair it or get a new one. Meanwhile the shield strapped to his left forearm was completely unscathed, causing him to wonder what had actually managed to inflict the numerous fine scratches on the surface of the concave shield. But that was a matter for another day. When he didn’t have a titanic golem facing him down, threatening to dismantle everything they had been fighting for. However as he prepared to launch himself at the approaching golem, the ground rumbling with each step, Shane’s attention was distracted by another event within the bandits’ ranks.

For the first time he saw Amalie after the start of the battle, and it seemed like she wasn’t in a very advantageous position herself. Shane watched with wide eyes as she struggled against a barrier of sorts. A sudden barrage of explosions followed, contained within the barrier but the magnitude of the blasts caused Shane to despair. All of his being told him to head towards where Amalie was, irregardless if there was anything he could do to alleviate the situation.
He never got to see what happened to Amalie, to know if she survived the explosions or not as another fist flew at him. Barely reacting in time, Shane leapt into the air before the fist could even reach the gate. The Rune Knight made a flip in the air, curling his body into a ball and extending his right leg outwards as he dropped with an axe kick right on the back of the incoming fist.

“Clover Smash!!” Shane roared, the stone forming the fist instantly pulverized as his ankle connected. Cracks spread out like a web across the entire hand, before crumbling to the ground, huge rocks and chunks of earth raining down upon the bandits below. Shane could only wish that the guardsmen had been out of the way. The Rune Knight continued running along the golem’s outstretched arm, which was now missing a fist. The mage controlling the golem wasn’t entirely dumb. He commanded for the golem to swing his entire arm upwards, throwing Shane off.

The right fist was finally put into good use when it struck towards Shane. Another mind-jerking blow struck Shane who had the sense to angle his body so that the first point of contact was against his shield, allowing it to absorb the impact. But he was still thrown up higher into the air by the gigantic uppercut. As he rocketed upwards, Shane regained his bearing and swore.

“Damn it, I’m ending this golem right here and now,” the enraged Rune Knight roared, as he activated another two enhancement spells that would further contribute to his overall strength. When he finally reached the peak of his heavenward flight, Shane angled his body so that he was now diving down head first. His right hand was leading while his left hand was tucked to the side, a new weapon gripped within his right.

It was THE hammer, Mjolnir it was named, a divine weapon said to have been forged from the heart of a dying star. The circumstances as to how Shane had managed to acquire it was outlandish but not completely impossible, giving him another way to further exceed his capabilities.

“Shooting Star!” Shane roared as the hammer gripped within his fist suddenly filled the air with electricity, even coating Shane as both weapon and soldier crashed into the very top of the golem’s crown. The impact caused by Shane and Mjolnir could be likened to the strike of a lightning bolt, with enough power to split the massive golem right down the middle. Shane had actually managed to drill a hole right through the golem’s body, and broke out of the animated being of stone at the bottom, landing on the ground heavily, while the latter began cracking and breaking off.

With his shield raised above his head to defend against the falling rocks, Shane scanned the entire field of bandits and finally found the mage he was looking for. Or rather, five of them. It made sense, seeing as how the golem would require a massive amount of mana to hold together. Shane loosened his grip on the hammer slightly, letting it slide out of his grip before he tightened his fist once more at the strap at the end of the hammer’s hilt. As though a sling, the Rune Knight began swinging Mjolnir around at furious speed, fuelled by his inhuman strength and finally let it loose in the direction of the five mages.

Upon striking the first mage, completely crushing his skull in from the collision with Mjolnir, the hammer bounced from one mage to another, never losing momentum until all five were slain. The hammer flew back in Shane’s direction, to which the latter snatched it out of the air with ease.

“This invasion is over!” Shane roared as loudly as he could. “Get. The. Hell. Out. Of. Here!”


[1484 words]
[Total WC: 15886 / 16000]