31 Chapter 31 (1/2)

A cacophony of roars resounded through the arena as the seventy or so remaining enemies challenged them. ”Form ranks!” The blond man shouted, ”Attack together, Achieve victory together!”

Many of the warriors now fell under his command and acknowledged his leadership, two warriors were noticeably separated from the rest, they sat down and were waiting for the battle to reach its end, one of them a large man over two meters tall, he would have been huge in any group that did not include giants and red-skins. He had taken a seat, greatsword across his lap as he sat in a meditative pose watching the rest. A small distance away from the warrior stood a bald man in a robe of Yalisian origin, he had a simple staff, the wind swayed his robes as the young man watched over the battlefield.

Strem's attention was snapped back to the ranks of warriors now slowly approaching them. ”Giant.” The masked girl suddenly said. ”You break through their lines, Red-skins follow in after, clear the sides, push them away if possible, You and I take down anyone the giant knocked down.” She finished pointing to Strem and herself.

The giant chuckled, ”Lass, it would be my pleasure!”

”Yea sounds fun, no fancy tricks, rush into the middle and smash em to bits, just our type of fight!” The female of the twins said with a manic grin, smashing her sword against her shield.

Her brother had a similar grin, ”Smash n bash! Let's go!”

Strem simply smiled, watching the giant take slow lumbering steps towards the enemy ranks, slowly picking up speed. His steps shook the very earth, as his feet smashed into the ground, dust filling the air in his wake, the twins charged shortly behind him, screaming a wordless challenge. Strem and Mask had to try their utmost to keep up with their much larger teammates. Eventually Ritka reached top velocity and smashed into the enemy ranks with the force of a heavy cataphract charge. Men screamed as they were flung aside by the swipes from the giant ax. Shields were crushed, and explosions of light filled the arena. The twins followed shortly after, knocking down anyone of balance with their shield, a swift stab whenever they saw an opening. Strem followed closely behind, a quick pierce from his rapier, a pierce through the chest here an eye there. One of them lunged for him, he sidestepped and swept the opponents legs from under him and another stab vanquished an opponent.

To his left Mask was a flurry of blades, sometimes taking out multiple opponents at once. Two men charged at Strem, he performed a quick riposte on one, piercing the mans shoulder, the other charged at Strem with his scimitar raised, just as Strem was about to dodge another warrior smashed his shield into him from the side. The scimitar smashed into Strem's ribcage, the warrior grinned victoriously, until a swift cut along the throat made him explode in lights. Strem pulled on the warrior with the shield, the man stumbled and fell, another quick stab and more lights. He fell into the trance of battle, using every ounce of skill he possessed to fight off the many opponents. His Iron Skin skill saved him time and time again, warriors going in for a fatal attack suddenly realized the attack was not as fatal as expected, their surprise proving fatal instead. Dodge, stab, parry, counterattack, the rythm started coming back, he felt his skills shed some of their rust as he fought off the many skilled warriors attacking him.

An angry roar resounded through the arena, from the corner of his eyes he saw Ritka collapse to his knees, swarmed by opponents who were finally piercing the giants thick skin. The blond man leaped forward, jumping of the back of another man to thrust his sword through Ritka's eye, the giant exploded into a shower of lights. The rest of them fought on, slowly being pressed together, soon enough they were fighting back to back. He fought back to back with Mask while the twins were fighting off just as many opponents in the same manner, About twenty of the warriors remained. They had taken out more than three quarters of the opponents, Mask however was breathing heavily, she tried hard not to let it show but Strem noticed the slight tremor in her hands. The twins were covered in sweat, their clothes drenched, their eyes still had a determined glare and they still had the same manic smile. Strem himself felt slightly guilty, he was not tired, he was not even injured, his regeneration was kicking in. He was tough to injure and minor injuries he would quickly recovered from. Stamina was a non issue, his body recovering from the muscle strain and oxygen deprivation almost immediately.

The stalemate did not last much longer, ”Attack!” The blond man roared once more, ”Do not give them time to rest!”

The remaining warriors charged the group, Strem took a deep breath and waited for them to come, He lunged forward as soon as one of them was in range, his speed surprising his opponent, turning their last twenty enemies into nineteen. He saw some lights float past his head from behind, make that eighteen. The twins instead of waiting for the enemy to come to them, twisted to face the same side and both charged forward smashing out off the ranks of warriors surrounding them. The male twin managed to take one down in their escape attempt.

He once more lost himself to the cadence of battle, strike, dodge, slip past an attack, upset their balance, move in for the finish. The female twin screamed as her brother was stabbed in the stomach, the brother grabbed at the warrior holding the spear, it was the dark-skinned man who was first to join the blond man. The warrior quickly released his spear, jumped back, unsheathed his sword with lightning quickness and stabbed through the heart of the red-skin. His sister roared in rage and tackled the dark-skinned warrior, pounding him into oblivion with her shield. When she stood up, her chest heaving from exhaustion, Strem's gaze swept the area. All the warriors were dead, The blond man was still alive, as were the two warriors who had separated themselves.

Mask, the female twin and Strem regrouped, pulling back turning to face the last three opponents. ”These three are the most… dangerous.” Mask said softly, breathing heavily.

”It matters not.” The red-skin growled, ”They face us, and thus they shall fall.”

”Indeed they will.” Strem said smiling.

Mask took a deep breath, glancing at him. ”How are you uninjured and so full of energy.”

Strem's smile turned into a full fledged grin, he bowed with a flourish. ”Lets just say I'm tougher than my frame might make you think.”

Mask snorted, then seemed to freeze as she caught herself. Strem chuckled, ”We must still decide who fights who!” he said it loudly enough to include their opponents into the conversation.

The large warrior stood up, he swung his huge sword around like it was made of air. ”Once she is properly rested, I would like to cross blades with the red-skin.” He said with a small bow.