The flames began rising slowly in the knights' camp.
Fire climbed along the sides of the canvas tents, while black smoke drifted upward into the sky. The knights' shouts rang through the camp as they rushed toward the commander's tent.
"Commander's tent!"
"Hurry!"
They burst inside all at once… then suddenly stopped.
A stranger stood in the middle of the tent, wearing a dark travel cloak.
He was standing calmly over the commander's body lying on the ground.
One of the knights stepped forward, his hand on the hilt of his sword.
"Who are you?!"
The sword slid out of its sheath with a sharp metallic sound.
The stranger didn't move.
Then slowly… he raised a hand and removed the cloak.
A young man appeared, with messy blond hair falling over his half-hidden eyes.
It was Hairi.
He drew two short daggers from his sides, one in each hand.
A faint smile crossed his lips as he said calmly:
"No need to shout…"
He lifted one of the daggers slightly.
"Aren't I already close enough to you?"
And in the next moment—he moved.
He darted past the knight with sudden speed, slipping like a shadow between two of them and rushing out of the tent.
But the moment he stepped outside, he found himself surrounded.
Six knights formed a circle around him, their swords raised.
Hairi paused for a moment in the center.
Then… instead of stepping forward, he suddenly spun in place.
It wasn't a defensive turn.
It was a sharp rotation meant to generate lateral momentum.
The knights had expected a direct attack, but the movement completely confused them.
His right dagger rose at a strange upward angle, tilted toward the sky…
While the left dagger dropped low, almost brushing the ground, as if it were about to slip from his hand.
An asymmetrical stance… unsettling to the eye.
He raised the right dagger slightly in front of them, stealing their attention.
At that exact moment, the left dagger struck.
A swift diagonal slash toward the knee of the nearest knight.
Hairi's entire body rotated around its axis during the strike.
It wasn't a killing blow… it was meant to break balance.
The knight cried out and collapsed onto one knee.
Before the others could react, Hairi had already rushed toward the nearest two opponents.
The right dagger thrust upward in a diagonal stab, completely deviating from the straight thrust line.
It forced the knight to raise his shield awkwardly.
At the same moment, the left dagger spun in a reversed circular strike toward the flank of the second knight, using the full weight of his arm.
The blow came from an unexpectedly low angle.
Both knights stepped back.
But Hairi didn't stop.
His body kept spinning, and the daggers turned into something like twin combat fans.
One deflected blows while the other stabbed at the same moment.
His true shield wasn't metal…
It was his own body, constantly shifting its angle.
Three knights charged at him at once.
Hairi stepped forward… then made a wrong side step as if he were staggering.
One of them raised his sword and struck.
But Hairi's left dagger angled upward diagonally—not to stop the blade directly, but to make it slide aside.
The sword veered away unexpectedly.
At the same instant, the right dagger flashed forward in a quick thrust.
The knight had no time to react.
The enemies stepped back, their confusion growing.
Hairi's footsteps became crooked and irregular.
Right… left… a half-turn… then a short dash.
None of the six knights could lock their swords onto him.
He seemed to appear in more than one place at once.
One dagger blocked…
The other stabbed…
His body turned…
A step slipped just outside the arc of an attack.
And with every movement… one more knight took another step backward.
In another part of Ghrebia, a man was running along a stone road.
He passed several guards on his way; some shouted behind him, others tried to chase him. Within moments, more knights gathered from nearby alleys.
They surrounded him from all sides.
Swords rose, and one of them shouted:
"Stop! Surrender immediately!"
Another stepped forward, raising his spear.
"Drop your weapon!"
The man finally stopped in the middle of the road.
Then calmly… he raised his hands and removed the travel cloak covering him.
His body was revealed.
It was Asgard.
A massive, broad build—his shoulders like walls of stone.His dark red hair was tied back, and he had a light beard.
His gaze was calm… but it carried a weight and power that was impossible to ignore.
He reached behind his back.
Then pulled out a massive, heavy greatsword.
He didn't rest it on his shoulder like most warriors.
Instead, he let it hang behind his back at an angled position, hiding much of its length from the knights' sight.
The knights advanced toward him.
The first wave charged.
Asgard didn't step back.
Instead, he said quietly:
"Come closer."
Then he moved.
He took one heavy step forward, and at that exact moment his enormous sword swept out in a low horizontal arc.
It didn't target their chests.
It aimed for their legs.
The strike sliced through the air near the ground, smashing into the legs of both horses and riders in the front row.
At the moment of impact, Asgard planted his ankles into the ground to absorb the recoil.
But the sword didn't stop.
It continued its violent path, splitting through the front armor.
Four knights fell at once.
Shouts, horses screaming, and the tearing sound of metal.
Asgard didn't straighten afterward.
Instead, he kept his torso leaning left, the weight of the sword behind his back.
A knight rushed from the exposed side, attempting to stab him.
But Asgard rotated around his tilted axis.
The sword shot upward from below at a sharp diagonal angle.
The strike didn't hit the chest armor.
It slipped through the gap beneath the armpit.
The blade pierced his body and lifted him from the saddle before he collapsed to the ground.
The others stepped back for a moment… then three attacked together.
Asgard raised the hilt of his sword upward, positioning the blade diagonally before his body.
All three of their swords struck it at the same time.
But instead of pushing them back…
Asgard suddenly leaned to the right.
Their swords slid across the smooth surface of the blade and lost their direction.
They slammed into the ground.
At that same instant, Asgard dropped his full body weight downward.
He grabbed the nearest knight's helmet.
Then smashed it with the heavy pommel of his sword.
The cracking sound was sharp.
The knight collapsed without moving.
After that, Asgard began moving with uneven side steps.
His giant sword started tracing continuous slanted circles through the air, a motion resembling a never-ending figure eight.
Every knight who tried to approach…
Found the blade coming from a different angle.
Sometimes it descended from the right shoulder toward the left flank.
Other times it lunged in a diagonal thrust using the unsharpened side of the blade—a strike designed to break armor balance rather than pierce it.
The knights grew disoriented.
They couldn't predict the path of the attacks.
After several moments of fighting, Asgard suddenly grabbed the blade of his sword with his left hand near its midpoint.
Half-sword technique.
He shortened the distance… and increased precision.
He stepped forward.
A short thrust… but powerful.
The blade pierced the last knight's helmet at an angled trajectory.
Then Asgard pulled the sword free in a wide circular motion.
The strike knocked down the last man still standing around him.
When everything ended…
The road was filled with shattered armor and knights unable to rise.
Asgard stood among them.
His greatsword slowly dripping beneath the moonlight.
Amid the chaos spreading through the narrow alleys, a girl was running through the shadows.
Her body was slender and agile, moving lightly as if the ground barely held her.
She jumped over a stone staircase, turned between two alleys… then the hood of her cloak slipped and fell behind her.
Her short hair was revealed—light violet, gleaming beneath the glow of distant flames.
Her eyes were wide and bright… and a suspicious smile rested on her lips.
She kept running left and right, as if searching for something.
Then she suddenly stopped.
She looked around and said in a slightly annoyed tone:
"Where are the oil barrels we placed at noon?"
Then she spotted them.
A row of wooden barrels placed beside an old wall.
Her smile widened as she approached them lightly.
From her pocket, she pulled small cloth balls wrapped tightly.
She tossed the first into one barrel.
Then the second.
Then the third.
Barrel after barrel…
Ball after ball.
She stepped back two paces… and waited.
One second…
Two seconds…
Then—
BOOOF!
The first barrel exploded.
Bof! Bof!
Explosions followed one after another.
Burning oil sprayed into the air like rain, and flames fell onto nearby walls and rooftops. Within moments, red tongues of fire began climbing wood and cloth.
The girl with violet hair watched the scene… then frowned slightly.
"This isn't fun…"
She pulled out more cloth balls.
But this time she threw them into different barrels.
Only moments later…
Bof… bof…
But this time the explosions weren't fire.
They were thick clouds of smoke pouring into the alleys.
The smoke mixed with the burning materials, and black ash began drifting through the air.
Within minutes, the alley turned into a suffocating cloud.
Then the sounds began.
Doors slammed open.
Panicked footsteps.
Civilians rushed out of their homes.
"Fire!"
"Bring water!"
Men ran to extinguish the flames… but they stopped.
The smoke was far too thick.
The air itself had become poisonous, choking their breath.
They began coughing and retreating.
They quickly realized extinguishing the fire was impossible.
"Get everyone out!"
"Get the children!"
They began evacuating houses instead, pulling their families away from the burning alleys.
The violet-haired girl watched the scene… smiling.
Suddenly, a voice appeared behind her:
"Miri… didn't you go a bit overboard?"
She turned.
Another girl stood beside her as if she had appeared out of nowhere.
Miri sighed lightly and said:
"Miha… where's the fun if I don't go a little overboard?"
The other girl raised her hand and pulled back the cloth covering her face.
Miha.
Her features were calm, but her eyes were sharp.Her long brown hair was tied in a practical braid behind her back.
She looked at the smoke and flames spreading through the alleys.
Then she said quietly:
"I'll go watch the situation."
Before Miri could respond, she had already moved.
She ran two steps toward the wall… then jumped.
Her feet touched the stone briefly before she pushed herself upward lightly.
Second jump… third…
Within seconds she stood on a rooftop, moving between walls and houses as easily as if she had been born there.
Time passed.
The fires spread further.
From one alley to another… from one roof to the next.
The entire city began sinking into chaos.
In every corner of the city… one member of the group was fighting or destroying something.
Except for one.
At the highest point of the city's outer wall…
A man sat quietly.
His legs dangled over the edge as his eyes watched the burning city.
It was Zano.
Tall… and extremely thin.
His features were vague, his skin pale as if it had never seen sunlight.
His soft black hair fell around his face.
His eyes were narrow, with dark circles beneath them.
His gaze followed the explosions Miri had ignited below.
The sound of another explosion reached him.
He frowned slightly.
Then said in a cold, low voice:
"How I hate noise…"
He continued watching the lights and flames filling the city.
As the fires and smoke spread across the city, the garrison knights began regaining their order.
Trumpets sounded above the walls.
Orders passed from alley to alley.
They no longer rushed alone like before.
They began grouping together… formations gathering, units advancing as one, knights spreading through the streets surrounding every suspect.
One… after another.
From the highest point of the wall, Zano watched everything.
His narrow eyes followed the knights as they gathered.
He sighed coldly and said:
"Damn… the numbers are starting to show."
He stayed silent for a moment, staring at the human sea of armor and swords.
"Five… against nearly a thousand knights."
He tilted his head slightly.
"That's not even a comparison."
In the square near the gate…
The Mercenary King stood in the middle of a ring of armor.
Behind him, the bodies of knights who had fallen moments earlier were piled up.
In front of him, a new wave lined up—a full row of knights preparing to attack.
His chest rose and fell violently.
Sweat slid from his forehead, and his heavy breathing echoed in the air.
"Heeah… heeah…"
He wiped his brow with his massive forearm.
"I'm tired…"
Then he looked at the new ranks in front of him.
He laughed tiredly while shaking his head.
"Do you people never end?"
He looked right.
Then left.
Then forward again.
A wide grin spread across his face as he shouted:
"IT'S TIIIIME TO RETREEEEAT!"
Amid the flames and thick smoke…
Miri stood on top of a burned barrel, watching the fire rising around her.
She heard the shout.
She raised an eyebrow slightly and said in disappointment:
"Heeey…"
Then she sighed while looking at the fires she had started.
"I thought the excitement would last longer."
She jumped lightly from her spot and dashed through the alleys like a swift shadow.
In the knights' camp…
Hairi stood inside a circle of knights.
Their number had doubled since the battle began.
Swords pointed at him from every direction.
But when the leader's shout reached him…
He smiled.
"Finally…"
He bent slightly… then suddenly dashed forward.
He didn't break through the circle ahead.
Instead, he jumped toward the nearest knight.
His foot landed on the man's shield.
A second jump onto another knight's shoulder.
Then he pushed his body upward, using them like stepping stones.
In only moments he had leapt over the entire circle, landing behind them outside the ring.
Without even looking back… he started running away.
In another street…
Asgard was still facing the remaining knights.
When the shout reached him… his eyes paused.
Then he exhaled slowly.
He turned his body.
And unleashed a massive sweeping strike with his greatsword.
The blade carved a heavy arc through the air, smashing into the front line of knights and pushing them backward.
Armor shattered… and a gap opened in the formation.
He didn't waste a second.
He slid the sword behind his back… and rushed through the opening.
His heavy steps turned into a fast run away from the square.
Above the rooftops…
Miha leapt from one roof to another.
She moved quickly between the dark walls.
Jump right…
Then left…
Then she slid along the edge of a roof before jumping again.
Until she finally reached the roof overlooking the main gate.
She stopped there.
She pulled her bow from behind her back and planted her foot on the edge.
She looked down at the road leading to the gate.
Then said clearly:
"Commander…"
She drew the string.
"I'll support you from here!"
As for Zano…
He hadn't moved.
He was still sitting on the wall, watching everything.
The fire illuminated the city beneath his feet.
Smoke rose into the sky.
And screams filled the streets.
He stared at the noise for a moment… then said with boredom:
"How I hate noise…"
He finally stood.
He stepped to the edge… then lightly jumped to the other side of the wall.
At that moment…
The entire squad had reached the main gate.
They rushed through it quickly, running out of the city.
Their footsteps struck the dirt road in the night.
But behind them…
The knights shouted.
"Stop them!"
"Don't let them escape!"
Entire units of the garrison poured out of the gate.
And the chase began.
The five mercenaries ran into the darkness…
And the knights followed them like a flood.