Banda darted through the chaotic fray, under the cover of a turbulent storm of killing intent. The human defenses of the town had broken down, forcing many to jump from the walls to fight out in the open. That served him better.

  It did not take long to find one of the Rank 2 humans. Banda did not recognize the face nor the tricks they used, but the emanations of their aura was unmistakable. He clawed out their throat with ease and left the man to be devoured by the horde.

  One down, three more to go. He needed to finish this task quickly and return to Eres’ side. This chaos posed too great a risk to her otherwise. Which was too great a risk to himself.

  He lunged at another Rank 2, but a dark red force enveloped the target and their body was crushed and mangled without cause before Banda’s eyes. A strange gong sounded in this distance but he had no time to wonder what it was.

  The remaining two had become aware of him because of the strange death, and they had become vigilant. Something caught his notice out of the side of his eye, and he lunged at the nearest.

  Banda swatted away the woman’s hammer with an iron hand and as he smashed her head with his other. A large stone raised from the dirt before the second human, whose punch blasted it into shattered pieces at him.

  Banda flung the headless body in front to shield him from the stone shards and pierced his iron claws through the man’s throat because the human could act again.

  As he pulled out his bloodied hand, he cancelled his Iron Fist art and held out an open palm at his side to take a direct hit from the charging horned ram.

  The impact of the horns compounded, like the enchantment of a Rune of Power, sending him soaring through a demolished gap in the town wall. Banda twirled through the air and landed his feet on the wall of a house.

  He burst forward to meet the ram’s continued charge which had not slowed in the slightest from the hit. He grabbed hold of its horns as he sailed past and twisted sharp with his whole body to snap its neck clean.

  The ram crashed through the wall and collapsed. Banda readied himself to leave, but noticed something in the shadows of the now open house. A familiar body slumped against the corner.

  A thin man with dark skin and short blond hair. His entrails were torn out and half devoured. His one remaining arm laid limply at the side, the hand still clutching his treasured runebook.

  Banda glanced at Cedal’s corpse for only a moment, before racing away with his priority in focus. The hit he took from the ram had given him an opportunity. One he would make use of.

  He darted through the winding alleys and lept silently onto a roof, his eyes aimed sharp at the beastwoman’s back. The two aura beasts still guarded her, but there were openings. He could kill her.

  Banda glanced at the other two and found them strange. Scar had a desperation about him. He was not good at reading the complicated expressions of humans, but he sensitive to emotions.

  There was killing intent, or to be more precise, the desire of it. It was focused on Eres, but it did not target her. Scar wanted her to kill Shamura, Banda assumed. That made the most sense to him.

  But Eres’ response to that urge displeased him. She ignored Scar and the rest of the world as she fought the stray monsters with cold, absent eyes. She was scheming still.

  Banda’s scowl deepened. Scar had spoken of a new moon and forced sleep and other things that did not matter. They could kill Otto now. They had to kill him now. Waiting until this battle ended was foolish.

  Shamura was his eyes, and she was strong. They would tear out his eyes, and then they would kill him. All else was pointless noise. The hunter held the advantage over the hunted.

  Banda smothered his intent and suppressed his aura as he shot off silently through the streets of the town. He drew as close as he could, avoiding her eyes and Scar’s, and burst forward with the swelling of Harness.

  Banda readied his claws for the kill, but Otto landed beside Shamura with a mocking smile, and stole her away. The enraged ogre crashed through the house in pursuit and raised his club high.

  It chose Eres as its target and swung down. Her Avatar fully manifested in response and moved to protect her. Its shield cracked slightly under the sheer weight of the blow, but it withstood it. The shield would hold long enough.

  Banda whipped a runestone straight for Otto’s head as he lunged after, but one of Shamura’s aura beasts jumped in front to take the hit. As though it knew where he would aim before he had even moved.

  Banda’s eyes widened. Many beasts had been fast enough to dodge him before. None had ever read him. Banda’s killing intent grew so subtle and traceless it seemed to still the very world around him as he reached for another runestone.

  But danger blared in his mind. Without thinking, he flung the metal to the side. It smacked into the ogre’s chest, knocking it back enough for its giant club to swipe only the wind in front of Eres.

  Banda pounced in front of her, as Scar joined them at the side.

  A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  “Head to wall!” Eres yelled at Scar. “We’ll die if the town is overrun. Otto can’t risk the forest. Not with the horde and night soon to fall. He’ll remain in the town and leave us to do the work.”

  Scar hesitated but he took over for the western wall without argument, as the ogre lumbered its giant body steady before the duo.

  Banda charged forward, and quickly regretted the decision. The log tree club barreled down on him like a falling star. Even with the warning of his instincts, he barely escaped the blow with his life.

  He turned to the ogre with monstrous feral features and darted around it, but no mattered how he tried, the threat of the club forced him back. He could not draw near without facing certain death.

  Even with Harness and Monstrous Feral Form, the ogre was over 5 times stronger than him. Banda was utterly and completely outmatched. And he had no more limits to tap into it.

  Fortunately, its speed was little greater than the wights and its attacks were simple. But that only allowed him to just barely survive. And even that promise would not last for long.

  A flaming red cloth snaked out from the side and wrapped around the ogre’s club, setting it ablaze. The ogre recoiled in shock and pain, but it did not release the club. Instead it battered the fire with its free hand, and when that did not douse the flames, started to smash the buildings around it.

  “I’ll take the vanguard.” Eres told him as she stepped in front. “You find a way to kill it.”

  Banda did not like the plan, but the other way had not worked. And they had no time to think of something better.

  The ogre turned back towards them. The last embers of the fire had died out, leaving behind a blackened surface of singed wood and skin.

  It barreled towards them again, and Eres blocked the club. Banda darted underneath its arm and clawed towards its stomach. The ogre flailed its weapon, forcing him away just before his hand reached.

  The avatar thrust its spear and found no better success, though it served the purpose of luring back the monster’s focus. As Eres did her best to hold up against the horde leader, Banda darted and dashed around, clawing at any opening he could find.

  The second attempt failed as well. And the third. And the fourth. But he did not relent. Each time he grew sharper. More familiar with its movements. And on the fifth, he clawed deep into its neck.

  Banda’s strike was true, but the ogre’s fleshy neck was so thick his claws did not strike deep enough to kill. He kicked off the ogre’s shoulder it time to dodge its swiping hand, but the sight of another danger caught his eye.

  A swarm of monsters charged towards Eres. A fair chunk of the horde had broken through. Eres grit her teeth as she was forced to divert her attention to kill the monsters rampaging towards her.

  The wall was struggling without the Rank 2s that Banda killed. Yet another layer of Otto and Shamura’s strategy. Further confirmation that she was right not to act. They had planned far too much.

  She cleaved through a mass of beasts with her Avatar’s spear, and battered away a lunging Dire Bear with her shield. But her focus on the ants had given the elephant too much room.

  The ogre hurled its club down on her with brutish might, and her Avatar was not fast enough to react.

  A runestone smacked into the club with enough force from the impact to knock it off course, causing it to destroy a stone house in place of Eres. Another slump of metal smashed into its face, cracking its jaw and breaking teeth.

  The ogre roared its hatred at them but it did not attack. It shovelled the corpses of monsters and men into its mouth, gluttonously devouring as much as it could. As it swallowed the last bite, the few wounds the duo had managed to make healed within moments.

  Banda darted to Eres’ side. “This does not work. I will take the front.”

  “We tried that-” Eres objected.

  “I will take the front.” Banda asserted again as he lowered into his crouch. “Be ready with your spear.”

  Banda forced his form monstrous again, and shot forward. He spun away from the crashing club as he whipped a runestone at the side of its knee. The ogre staggered, which was enough for another to smash into its face.

  The ogre roared back and nearly crushed Banda will another blow. Even with the spiritual strain of his limits, it took all of his instincts to stay close enough to the towering monster to keep its attention.

  Banda could not draw near enough for the kill, but he could land his metal stones. And he landed them on its face at every opening without failure. They could not threaten the ogre’s life, but they hurt. And it was becoming more and more wary of them. More and more frustrated.

  Banda spun sprawled twice away from its rampage and threw another stone. The ogre raised its meaty palm in front of its face, but the runestone struck it in the gut.

  It lurched forward from the impact to see another another stone soaring towards it. But this one ricocheted almost harmlessly off its face. In its confusion, Banda threw another mundane stone for the exact same result.

  The act of thinking seemed only a passing impulse for the ogre. It gripped it club as it glowered at Banda but Eres’ charge caught its eye. The ogre was wary of her. Or rather, wary of the biggest opponent of the three. The Avatar.

  It turned to the approaching foe, ready to crush it to paste. And Banda threw another runestone, overtly. The ogre ignored it. Such a petty stone did not matter. It raised its club to the peak, and a tremendous impact struck its face.

  Before it could regain its thoughts, another struck its eye. The ogre’s focus shifted to Banda once more, only to realize the large foe had drawn near. But it was too late.

  Eres’ Golden Spear pierced its stomach. Deep enough for a lethal wound, not deep enough to kill at once. But the spear set ablaze. Golden flames burned it from within and the writhing cloth set the outside ablaze.

  The ogre flailed in wailing agony. It dropped its club for the first time as it thrashed all around, pummeling itself as it had did its club before. But the flames only grew and soon the ogre slowed. Its body staggered and collapsed, the parts of its flesh blackened like charcoal crumbled from the impact.

  A change happened the very moment it died. The rampaging mana that held the horde in its grasp dispersed at once. And things fell into chaos.

  Most of the monsters, having regained their senses, fled. But many remained, attacking both humans and their kin. The town was slow to respond at first, but quickly standouts among the humans rallied the others, and the they reorganized their defense along the walls.

  However, the duo did not stop to rest. Without the need for words, they raced towards the other side of the wall, and regrouped with Scar part way, who was now accompanied by Ubin.

  Neither Banda nor Eres needed to ask. Ubin was certainly a collaborator, and someone also invested in Otto’s death.

  The four headed to the north manor without delay. With the horde gone, all they had left to do was kill Otto. The duo landed at the base of the manor’s estate ready for a fight. But all they found was a transparent yellow ward that surrounded the entire estate.