Captain Rorick stood at the center of the scorched courtyard, sword drawn and glinting with unnatural light. Smoke curled around his feet, and the Fourth Talon fanned out behind him—silent, motionless, eyes glowing with the faint sigils of bondage.
Shin stepped forward, his cloak flickering with foxfire. His eyes glowed crimson beneath his hood, voice was calm but resolute.
"Your choices have led you here, as have mine," he said. "But unlike the chains you've put on your men, I will give you a new choice. Release your squad from your curse, leave now and live, or stay and face your destiny."
Captain Rorick laughed, a dry, bitter sound. "And walk away? From this? No, no, no. I'm going to return to the King, tell him what I've done here. Maybe he'll make me a general. Then it's more prestige, more booze, more women."
He took a step forward, arms wide, voice swelling with deluded grandeur. "This is my destiny! Don't you see it? I was born to bask in the spotlight, to have the people chant my name. The adoration, the rewards—they're like ambrosia. And I will drink deeply. I deserve it. I earned it."
Shin's eyes narrowed in disappointment. He shook his head slowly, the firelight flickering across his face. "You were meant to be a protector, a guardian of the people. But here you are, groveling for titles, for scraps of luxury thrown your way like bones to a dog."
His voice grew heavier. "The decisions you make and the actions that follow are a reflection of who you are. And all I see is a man who'd rather be a greedy bastard with a crown than a true leader with honor."
The courtyard fell quiet, and only the crackling of the distant fire remained. Laverna stepped up beside Shin, her expression unreadable, though her stance was poised for war.
Shin glanced at her briefly, then said, "Don't kill the Fourth Talon. They're not our enemies—just victims. Our target is Captain Rorick."
Rorick snapped his fingers. "Talon, ready yourselves!"
As Rorick's voice echoed in the courtyard, the members of the Fourth Talon began to draw their weapons with reluctant precision. The air shimmered around Olga as her ki erupted in a golden flare, her hair rising and turning brilliant gold like a thunderstorm incarnate. Her muscles expanded, and a guttural roar tore from her throat, shaking the very ground beneath her.
Rynn and Dalen drew their swords in sync. Their blades glowed—one bathed in brilliant blue, the other in deep crimson—each sword pulsating with elemental magic like the Fire and Wind god from legend.
Mira and Tove, eyes focused and unwavering, raised their bows. Wind spiraled around their arrows, charging them with air magic that turned each shot into a homing projectile.
Father Grent calmly shrugged off his coat, revealing a chiseled frame beneath. He cracked his knuckles, then opened a thick healing tome, his fingers already glowing with restorative light.
Lyssa stood a step behind, her voice a whisper. Her incantation shimmered around her as she cast a radiant Energy Coat over her body—protective magic that glowed like a second skin of starlight.
The rest of the Talon, still bound by Rorick's spell, moved as one, seven blades raised under the weight of the curse. Their bodies trembled as they stepped forward, caught between their will and his command. But Rorick's control kept them in motion.
On the other side of the battlefield, Shin and Laverna assumed their stances—foxfire and shadow dancing in tandem, prepared to face the storm head-on.
And then the courtyard exploded into chaos.
Rynn and Dalen struck first, blades flashing like twin comets. The blue sword unleashed sweeping frost trails that froze the very air, while the red one cleaved through stone with trails of searing flame.
But Shin was already moving—his stance calm, deliberate, like a predator awaiting its moment. He vanished in a blink, reappearing between them with a flash of light.
With one precise iai draw, he deflected Dalen's fiery arc, the clash singing with high-pitched vibrations as Yoshimatsu shimmered in High Frequency mode. Shin twisted effortlessly, parried Rynn's blade with the back of his katana, and with a flicker step, reappeared behind them.
A flurry of lightning-fast slashes followed, each movement refined, clean, surgical, aiming to shatter their weapons. In one breath, he sheathed Yoshimatsu with a metallic ring, and both swordsmen collapsed in unison, unconscious before they hit the ground.
Mira and Tove leapt to opposite towers, their bows thrumming with wind-charged arrows. Each shot howled through the air like a guided missile, curving mid-flight to strike. Laverna weaved through the deadly rain, her shadow clone absorbing two arrows as she dashed up the wall, kicking Mira's bow out of her hand and flipping away before Tove could react.
Lyssa's fingers glowed as she cast a dome of crackling energy around her allies. Lightning burst from her hands in jagged lines. Shin took one head-on, sliding across the ground on one knee before slashing through the bolt and sending the energy scattering behind him. He pushed forward, breaking Lyssa's stance with a swift palm strike to her center mass.
Father Grent barked a word of power, golden light spilling from his tome. Wounds were sealed on the Talon soldiers as fast as Shin and Laverna could deliver them. Laverna blurred past Grent's reach, landing a precise strike on his pressure points. The healer stumbled, still conscious but unable to move.
Olga roared into the fray, her golden hair flaring like a wild beast's mane. She barreled toward Shin, each punch creating shockwaves. He barely sidestepped, using her momentum to redirect her into a stone pillar, which cracked from the impact. She recovered with a growl and charged again.
Shin shouted to Laverna, "Now!"
They converged, one above, one below. Laverna struck Olga's legs, knocking her off balance, while Shin landed a blow to her chest that knocked the wind from her lungs. Still, she refused to yield.
Rorick snarled and leapt into the fray, his blade pulsing with corrupted magic. "Enough! Fight me, coward!"
Shin met him mid-stride, their blades clashing in a burst of red sparks. Every strike from Rorick was filled with brute force, but Shin countered with precision and intent, his awakened crest on his left hand glowing.
Their duel danced through the wreckage between shattered pillars and pools of light. Each movement carved wind, each clash shook the stone beneath their feet.
Laverna, still graceful amid the chaos, kept the Fourth Talon subdued with non-lethal force. She disarmed Tove and Mira, trapping their arrows in a cyclone of wind she redirected with her own shadowy magic. Rynn and Dalen lay unconscious nearby, and Lyssa's barrier cracked under pressure.
As the final blow neared, Shin locked blades with Rorick and forced him back, katana pressed to his throat.
"You could've walked away," Shin whispered, foxfire flickering in his eyes. "But now you've made your final choice."
Rorick growled, trying to conjure another spell—only for Laverna to appear behind him and slash the bindings that fed mana to his cursed tattoos.
The magic faltered.
Rorick's body seized as the flow of energy reversed, and the sigils on his neck exploded in a burst of corrupted light.
He collapsed, unconscious.
The Fourth Talon dropped to their feet as the markings on their neck disappeared, freed from the curse at last.
Silence returned.
Shin sheathed Yoshimatsu slowly, glancing toward Laverna.
"It's done."
She nodded. "Let's make sure it stays that way."
Together, they turned toward the stunned but safe family huddled nearby, unaware that this was only the beginning of the storm to come.