Chapter One Hundred and Sixteen: Blood Splits Bone Valley
Section One: Ember Infiltrates Valley
Night smothered Iron Valley, sinking it into blood-sand silence. At the ruins' edge, black shadows crept along broken walls, sand stirred by boots flattened by night wind, vanishing amid cracked tiles and charred steel frames. Under Iron Valley's dying sun, the Scarmark Brigade's emblem hung on a dilapidated mercenary tower—a rusted, broken blade piercing a blackened steel plate, like a gutted heart.
Jason crouched behind ruins, gazing ahead. Ashen sand swirled over broken rooftops, firelight glinting off shattered railings. Scarmark Brigade's outer sentries stood in modified heavy armor, gripping old upgraded fireguns, barrels tied with tattered cloth ropes. Patrol routes wove a net, casting thin shadows on sand.
Maria, pressed against a wall, reported low: "Two outer patrol groups, five inner sentries. Heavy firepower at posts, command tower in center, mercenary camp in western waste mines."
Wei, crouching, pressed a rope knot into sand, dust sliding silently. "Clear weapon spread—outer posts have fireguns, camp holds heavy armor, command tower likely houses mercenary leaders and black-market smugglers."
Jason didn't stir, eyes cold, measuring scrap iron for cutting. His fingers traced code tag edges, pulsing faintly in shadow, embers buried in rotted bone.
Converts arrayed behind, blades hidden in armor, guns silently loaded, boots wrapped in gray cloth, dodging glass and metal shards.
Jason spoke low: "Scarmark Brigade—no gamblers, no brutes. Mercenaries, smugglers, bones forged from blood and coin. They don't trust fire, only who pays more, whose bones are harder."
Maria's blade slid half an inch: "Fire believers burn their coin purses first."
Wei's soft laugh, rope knot tightening: "Burn coin, burn bone."
Jason's gaze swept ruins, sand spinning in firelight.
Infiltration, penetration—not a charge, but slow fire, bone-searing, Fire Trust burning into Scarmark's flesh, bone, heart.
Jason tapped ground. "Infiltrate. Dig bones."
Converts nodded, crouching, snakes slithering into sand. Maria led three, climbing western collapsed beams. Wei took three, lurking behind dune walls. Jason with two, pierced central waste streets, cloaked by night and dust.
Deep in ruins, Scarmark's base flickered with firelight. Sand grazed sentry armor, firegun barrels draped with white cloth strips, torn skin. Mercenaries patrolled methodically, armor clinking on sand.
Maria's team neared western mines. A broken iron shed loomed, stacked with modified fireguns, damaged armor, snapped mercenary blades, ration sacks, and a small command desk. A black-market smuggler sat behind, in tattered official garb, leg armor draped. Two heavy-armored mercenaries lounged, fireguns across thighs, faces caked in sand and blood.
Maria crouched, blade hidden at waist, eyes ice-sharp. Converts fanned behind shed, sand reeking of ancient corpse rot.
Wei's team closed on camp outskirts. Tattered tents stood, iron-barrel fires glowing, mercenaries sprawled—some in bloodied cloaks, others in armor, blades under feet. Wei licked lips, rope slithering, snake's tongue. Converts hid behind dunes.
Jason's team infiltrated center. Command tower rose, half-collapsed, stairs broken, torn mercenary flags on walls—broken blade through steel, blood-crusted. Sentries guarded corners, fireguns shouldered, armor cracked, sweat and sand seeping. Jason's fingers grazed code tag, exhaling: "This tower—their bone. Burn."
Maria's blade gleamed, Wei's rope tightened, converts' pulses flickered in armor.
Night wind swept, fluttering flags, steel frames clinking, broken bones.
Jason's gaze pierced dust, locking on bloodied flag: "Bones don't crack, don't trust fire. Crack bones, birth fire."
Maria's blade pierced sand, scraping. Wei's rope whitened knuckles. Converts held breath, eyes glinting.
Firelight lit sand, blood, Scarmark's soon-cracked bones.
Infiltration complete. Fire Trust planted. Bones—ready to shatter.
---
Section Two: Blood Seeps, First Clash
Sand hardened, stones grinding boots, clinking. Maria crouched, blade in mud, eyes on shed's command desk. Wind slapped iron shed, metal wailing.
Under shed, smuggler sparked firegun flint, light cracking his blood-mud face. Two heavy mercenaries squatted, blades on knees, fireguns in palms. Outer patrols vibrated sand, tracing death-line routes.
Maria's blade tapped ground. Converts fanned, hiding behind barrel fires, sand cloaking like corpse shadows.
Three seconds. Maria rose, blade skimming ground. First sentry sensed, throat slit, blood arcing. Second raised firegun, Maria lunged, blade piercing jaw to skull. Firelight danced on corpses, shadows thrashing, then still.
Wei's rope looped wrist, end slithering dune. Rope grazed mercenary captain's shoulder, tightening, bone cracking, blood coughing. Wei flipped, rope snaring gunner's leg, yanking—leg tore, bone piercing flesh, sand-stained.
Jason's team breached tower outskirts, fireguns raised. He signaled, converts' blades flashed, slicing night.
Outer sentries unaware, Maria slashed smuggler's blade, hilt crushing throat. Smuggler clutched neck, silent, falling. Blade pierced chin, skull snapping. Nearby mercenary raised firegun, blade swept throat, blood spraying shed, dark red splatter.
Wei's ropes danced, snaring spear-thrower, spine snapping, ribs piercing flesh, foaming collapse.
Jason's blade slit two sentries' hamstrings, throats cut, blood arcing, boiling tar in firelight.
Assault—under a minute. Half outer sentries fell, command desk silenced.
Firegun shots shattered night. Patrols found corpses, flints sparked, guns roared, sand exploding blood-mud.
Maria signaled, converts arrayed, blades reflecting fire, sandstorm knives.
Jason's code tag pulsed—not heartbeat, bone-crack signal.
He eyed tower: "Burn their bones open."
Maria led, blade sweeping, first mercenaries charging, fireguns raised. Blade severed knee, bullet veered, sparking shed. Maria slashed throat, head dangling, sand-bound.
Wei flanked, rope tripping, strangling, corpses piling.
Jason's blade sank, piercing second rank—elbow, armpit, throat—bone cracking.
Converts pressed, blades slicing dust, blood fog, carving blood path.
Fires dimmed, smoke rose. Firegun smugglers fell, guts spilling, blood foam muddying sand.
Maria's blade felled last smuggler officer, signal whistle bitten. Wei coiled rope, thumb in blood-mud, rope tipped with finger bone.
Assault ended. Outer sentries mostly cleared, command desk ruined. Firelight lit corpses, sand like charred mud, blood seams.
Jason crouched, drew code tag, stabbed blood-mud, cracks spreading.
Maria stood on corpses, blade dripping. Wei coiled rope, blood pearls falling. Converts lined, blades needle-sharp.
Fire danced on corpse mounds, dead mouths biting air.
"Crack bone, birth bone-fire," Jason said.
Maria, cold: "Crack bone, birth fire."
Wei laughed: "Bone shatters, fire enters."
Converts, hoarse: "Bone-breakers birth fire."
Blood roiled, sand swirled, Fire Trust pulsed, searing sand, Iron Valley's bones.
First clash, breakthrough—Scarmark's outer line cracked.
---
Section Three: Blood Surge Counterstrike
Night crushed Iron Valley. Fires died, iron barrels smoked, charcoal ash heaping like burnt marrow. Corpses mounded, blood flooding sand, reeking of scorched rot and iron.
Jason stood on command desk rubble, shadow long, heavy. Maria crouched behind corpses, blade in sand, glinting. Wei loosened rope, knot circling wrist, ready to snap. Converts stood, silent, steel in ash.
Metal scraped from tower, heavy, slow—sand quaking.
Dust rose, firelight swayed. Elite heavy armor emerged—silent shadows, black iron joints, armor seeping blood. Short swords, chain-saw guns, masks low, gray-dead eyes. Boots crushed sand, bone-snapping.
Maria's blade carved sand line. Wei's rope grazed palm, blood-crusted. Jason watched, fire on armor, iron statue.
Heavy squad fanned, three-man groups, steps synced, armor shielding. No orders, silent accord.
Chain-saws ignited, blades humming, bone-sawing buzz.
Jason raised palm-down signal. Converts scattered, blades in blood and sand. Maria edged forward, blade on knee. Wei's rope.
Chain-sawers charged, blades tearing night, marching skulls.
Maria's blade flashed, sand stirring. Converts leapt—guns roared, chain-saws screamed.
Maria ducked, blade skimming, chain-saw slashing. She slid, blade slicing knee gap, throat exposed, neck severed, head rolling, blood foaming.
Wei's rope swept two waists, yanking, toppling. Rope snared throat, crushing bone.
Converts struck, blades into armor gaps, severing muscle, bone—blood spraying, split sacks.
Jason advanced, steady, stone sinking sand. Chain-sawer lunged, blade grazing ear, heat wave. Jason sidestepped, blade piercing ribs, throat, stomach, bone cracking.
Blood poured, armor leaking crimson.
Maria wove, slashed wrist, leapt, blade through collarbone, rivets shattering. Wei's rope tore throat, flesh ripping.
Converts slaughtered, blades bone-deep—not fight, but butchery.
Blood swelled, corpses stacked, sand muddied, rust and rot thick.
Elites rallied, chain-saws turning, sealing paths. Maria pressed, blade slicing armor, cracking. Wei felled gunmen, strangled. Jason carved center, blade meteor-swift.
Converts bloodied path, firelight reddening blood, limbs, armor rolling, chain-saw wails piercing.
Jason stood on corpse, blood snaking, hell's fissure.
Maria halted, blade raised. Wei yanked rope, neck guard rivets flying. Converts arrayed, blades dripping, night rain.
Fire lit faces, Scarmark's bones cracking.
Jason's code tag pulsed, blood in cracks, ember in rot.
"Crack bone. Bone-fire," he said.
Maria: "Shatter bone, birth fire."
Wei: "Burn bone, light faith."
Converts, hoarse: "Bone-breakers birth fire."
Blood roiled, dust surged, fire lit corpses, bone—hell's blood river.
Scarmark's bones broke in firelight.
---
Section Four: Shattered Bone Traps City
Firelight spun with sand, sand splitting webs, blood snaking darkness.
Maria knelt at corpse edge, blade down, breath blood-scorched. Wei coiled rope, knuckles blood-mud marked. Jason stood in wall shadow, cloak torn, armor charred, boots on bone. Converts flanked, blades low, fire-glinted fangs.
Behind wall, Scarmark's final line emerged. Smuggler boss stood before collapsed tower, heavy armor, chain-saw gun at back, broken blade and signal detonator at waist. Elite mercenaries flanked—non-standard rifles, chain-axes, steel knee guards, old war armor riveted, cracks welded with iron and blood-mud. Expressionless, they stared at advancing converts, firelight frosting armor.
Boss raised hand, yellowed nails, oil-stained glove. Palm up, sand exploded, dust mushrooming, stone and flesh flying.
Converts pressed. Explosion center, chain-sawers leapt from pits, lunging.
Maria's blade swept, chain-sawer's armor glinting, gun slashing. She sidestepped, blade piercing throat, armor cracking, blood arcing.
Wei's rope snared neck, yanking, knee crashing, throat snapping, blood dripping rope.
Jason's blade flashed, chain-saw blocked, arm guard cracking. He seized gun, blade piercing armpit, ribs tearing, blood gushing.
Converts held, blades slicing armor, chain-saws air, sand rolling limbs, blood blooms. Collisions cracked bone, knife-flashes sprayed mist.
Dust lingered, tower rear erupted, heavy troops charging, chain-saws roaring, grindstones on rock. Front fired, flints bursting, bullets piercing dust.
Maria slid, blade splitting bullet, sparking, piercing shoulder seam, blood flooding.
Wei's rope tripped leg, flinging gunner, bones dislocating, neck snapped.
Jason's blade carved, arms severed, blood arcing.
Converts wove, blades tearing night, blood swelling, corpses piling, Scarmark's line crushed.
Boss at tower wall, eyes narrowed, pressed detonator. Wall exploded, sand screaming, assassin squad emerged—lean, fast blades, black-wrapped faces, gray-fish eyes, poison-coated knives glinting.
Maria dodged stab, blade piercing thigh, twisting, blood gushing.
Wei's rope snapped neck, bone bursting.
Jason parried stabs, caught blade, palm bleeding, seized knife, piercing armpit, blood flooding.
Converts clashed assassins, blades weaving, armor splitting, flesh flying, dust blood-soaked.
Firelight danced tower, bone and blade. Maria slashed shoulder, Wei crushed skull, Jason closed on boss.
Boss drew blade, air splitting. Jason lunged, first slash wrist, second gut, third throat. Boss fell, neck gushing.
Converts cleared, corpses walling sand, blood cursing red.
Jason atop corpses, blade dripping, spine iron-rusted spear. Maria knelt, blade in ground. Wei coiled rope, bone shards clinging. Converts arrayed, blades dripping.
Jason's code tag pierced blood-mud, pulse ember-dark.
"Bone cracks, fire born," he said.
Maria: "Shatter bone, birth faith."
Wei: "Burn bone, faith ignites."
Converts: "Bone-breakers birth fire."
Firelight flared, sand swirled, Scarmark's tower burned, bones shattered, Fire Trust lit on corpse-blood sea.
---
Section Five: Bone Blood Scorches Valley
Night inked, sand muddied. Fire danced corpse mounds, blood pools beast-skin torn, black-red, oil-glossed.
Maria at wall, blade wet, tip dripping into mud. Wei coiled rope, knuckles bone-blood crusted. Jason crouched at tower, boots in corpse sludge, palm on code tag in blood. Converts lined, blades low, shadows fire-stretched, iron spikes nailed in night.
Tower rubble trembled, scorched corpses warm, blood and flesh muddied sand.
Flames climbed walls, steel creaking, ribs snapping. Flags curled, wolf emblems twisting, beast faces in fire.
Jason scanned rubble—Scarmark's outer line shattered. Chain-saws, axes, blades, shields blood-mud buried. Remnants couldn't lift rusted armor.
Maria, hoarse: "Outer broken."
Wei flicked rope, blood pearls scattering: "Not done."
Jason nodded, pressing code tag, pulse ember-rolling: "Scarmark's bones not broken—just skinned."
Maria sheathed, blade sliding armor. Wei coiled rope, bloodied end at knee. Converts arrayed, blades fire-fanged.
Tower collapsed, fire soaring, black smoke.
Maria stared wall, low: "Something's inside."
Sand quaked, gray shadow stirred—underground passage.
Jason's eyes narrowed, Scarmark's true remnants crawling.
Wei laughed, hoarse: "Burn skin, break bone. Rip their frame, done."
Maria, fire in eyes: "Break bone?"
Jason, ice on sand: "Break bone, no ash left."
Converts rearrayed, cleaning blades, tightening armor, fire and blood reflecting, bone shards floating mud.
Jason stood, drew code tag, blood-crusted, cracks mud-filled.
He stabbed it blood-center, pulse marrow-fire.
"Bone cracks, fire burns," he said.
Maria: "Shatter bone, birth fire."
Wei: "Crack bone, faith ignites."
Converts, wind through corpses: "Bone-breakers birth fire!"
Code tag flared, sand quaked, fire soared, lighting walls, corpses, Scarmark's bone-burning night.
Iron Valley's night tore, sand swirled, blood roiled. Scarmark—bones awaiting incineration.