Layla marched with the column heading toward the fort near the exit point. Cassandra and Peter would be leading the soldiers and mercenaries in an attempt to retake the base that controlled the portal.

  They stopped to make camp near the edge of the forest. The group was huge, tents and fires scattered across the clearing like temporary stars in the dark.

  Sitting on a fallen log, Layla stared at a healing potion in her hands. She had used up the last of the vials Eleanor had given her long ago. This one was different. This one had been given to her by that jerk. There was even a scrap of paper glued to the glass.

  “Layla, don’t die. If you die, Eleanor might get in trouble, so if someone makes you choose between torture or death, pick the first option - Luke.”

  Even from a distance, the idiot still found ways to get under her skin.

  She moved from fire to fire. People were eating, talking in low voices, but no one was relaxed. She wasn’t good at socializing, never had been. Still, she kept walking until she noticed a smaller fire with only three soldiers sitting around it. Unlike the other groups, no one else seemed willing to sit near them.

  Layla approached and took a breath.

  “Mind if I sit by the fire too? It’s cold.”

  “Sure…” one of them answered, sounding a little surprised.

  She sat down. Three soldiers, all tired faces and worn armor. “I have military identification as well.”

  “Don’t worry about that, girl. We don’t turn anyone away,” one of them said.

  “Honestly, it’s nice someone came over. No one’s wanted to sit with us lately.”

  “Why not?” Layla asked.

  They exchanged uneasy looks. “You’re not making fun of us, are you?”

  “What? No,” she replied, completely serious.

  “Hm…” one scratched his head.

  “A few days ago, the three of us… went through a bit of a humiliation.”

  “Humiliation?”

  “Yeah… some jerk attacked us and made us walk back to camp wearing nothing but our underwear.”

  Layla had to fight hard not to laugh. “Wow… sounds like a really awful person.”

  “He’s the worst,” one muttered.

  “A truly evil man,” another added.

  Silence settled between them.

  “I understand exactly how you feel,” Layla said.

  “You do?” they asked together.

  “Yes. I know someone like that too. The worst person alive. Because of him, I always end up in trouble.” She could feel irritation rising again just thinking about it.

  “Because of that idiot, we got punished and were locked down for days.”

  “Really? Because of the person I mentioned, I’ve been arrested too. More than once,” Layla said.

  “Damn,” one of them murmured. “Sounds pretty bad.”

  “And that’s not even half of the horrible things he’s done to me. Once, when I got arrested with a plant, he only bothered to save me because of the plant.”

  “That’s exactly the kind of thing a psychopath would do.”

  “Yes, he’s a psychopath. A manipulative, lying womanizer.”

  “What’s your name, girl?”

  “Layla. And yours?”

  “I’m Roland.”

  “Hugo.”

  “And I’m Ulric.”

  They raised their mugs and handed one to her.

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  “Layla, I hope someday we can get revenge on the people we hate,” Roland said.

  The four of them toasted together beneath the cold night sky.

  ***

  “At least you saved me the trouble of climbing those stairs to kill you,” Luke said.

  [Temple Guardian Oni – Lvl 93]

  The samurai oni snorted like an enraged bull, breath spilling out as steam before he roared. Moments later, other roars echoed across the area in response.

  “Calling friends, huh?”

  “You will pay for every one of my soldiers you slaughtered. You will die in the worst way, and all of us will take part,” the creature growled.

  It took a single step, then lunged forward with frightening speed, its flaming katana carving streaks of fire through the air. Luke dodged aside, leaping away and landing on the roof of a nearby house. Throwing knives materialized around him, floating in the air.

  The samurai oni roared again and jumped after him, crashing through the roof as it charged.

  Luke snatched the knives and hurled them at high speed, triggering Telekinetic Boost.

  The oni sprinted forward, batting the blades aside with its katana while Luke vaulted from rooftop to rooftop, sending more knives in a relentless barrage. For a while, the attacks forced the creature back, until the blades stopped glancing off the sword and instead clattered uselessly against its armor.

  Luke slipped past another blazing strike.

  “An assassin,” the oni said. “You have lost your element of surprise.”

  “He’s not much of a stealth guy anyway. More like a berserker maniac,” Artemis muttered.

  “Yeah, well, I tried.”

  The oni spun with a wide strike, and the house behind Luke collapsed under the impact.

  Somehow, the bastard had realized his soldiers were being killed. Some kind of skill? It would have been perfect if the plan had worked.

  More oni appeared along the rooftops, loosing arrows and bolts as Luke sprinted across the tiles, weaving through the barrage. He snapped his wrist and threw more knives.

  [You have slain an Oni Archer – Lvl 35]

  [You have slain an Oni Archer – Lvl 35]

  A pack of roaring oni dropped in behind him as the temple guardian closed in. Luke slipped two kukris from his sleeves and cut into them, dodging their clubs.

  [You have slain an Oni Soldier – Lvl 48]

  Their throats opened beneath the blades, blood spraying as he spun through them.

  [You have slain an Oni Soldier – Lvl 48]

  [You have slain an Oni Soldier – Lvl 48]

  The guardian lunged, but Luke vaulted to another rooftop and bolted down the street. More oni flooded in ahead, and he met them with flying knives, cutting them down as he ran.

  A trail of fire chased him across the rooftops. The samurai kept pace on the ridge beside him, then leapt, twisting midair into a second jump before landing in front of Luke. Its boots scraped across the stone as it dashed forward with the blade aimed straight at his chest.

  Luke dropped low, sliding across the ground, his kukris digging in to halt his momentum. He flicked both blades toward the oni’s back, then unleashed a volley of shadow orbs that burst against its armor. The creature roared, slashing through the explosions and charging again, the flaming edge flashing dangerously close to Luke’s throat.

  [Demonic Predator Hands activated]

  Luke crouched and recalled his kukris with magnetic pull, the blades snapping back into his hands as he faced the oni.

  “You know nothing, human filth. You came for the treasure, but you don’t understand the true worth of this land,” the samurai growled.

  “So you can think. You’re not just some mindless beast,” Luke replied.

  “I’ll cut off your head and add it to the others on the stakes.”

  Luke smiled. “Then come on. I’m waiting.”

  The samurai lunged. Luke tightened his grip and rushed forward to meet him. Steel clashed in rapid rhythm, the oni’s katana carving arcs through the air while Luke matched every strike with his twin blades. A glancing blow scraped the ground, and a thin crescent of wind burst from the katana’s edge, ripping through a pile of debris and blasting it apart.

  Luke shifted his stance, reversing his grip and attacking with motions sharp and precise, like the mantis style he’d practiced. In a brief opening, he flicked one kukri toward a nearby oni.

  [You have slain an Oni Guard – Lvl 78]

  The samurai closed in again. Luke hurled the second blade straight into the creature’s chest. The oni barely reacted, pushing through the pain as it raised its katana to strike.

  In that instant, a fist burst outward from Luke’s body. Princess Charlie emerged from his soul, slamming her armored gauntlet into the samurai’s chest and sending him crashing backward into a house. She stepped in front of Luke, full armor gleaming, sword steady in her hands.

  [Mark of Doom activated]

  “My heroine has arrived,” Artemis muttered.

  Luke stood atop the rooftop, scanning the village as more onis surged toward them from every direction. “Charlie, they’re closing in from all sides.”

  The samurai rose again, blood dripping from his mouth. “There are only two of you.”

  “Three,” Luke corrected.

  Angie emerged beside him.

  [Soul Infiltration activated]

  His rank skill flowed into Angie. The winged woman shot upward, weaving between arrows and spear throws as she climbed into the dark sky. Through her eyes, the entire village unfolded in Luke’s vision.

  Without looking back, he flicked a throwing knife over his shoulder.

  [You have slain an Oni Soldier – Lvl 48]

  An oni dropped dead behind him.

  Luke smiled. Now I’ve got eyes everywhere.

  The samurai exhaled, smoke rolling from his body. “You may be three… but I have an army.”

  From every street and alley, onis poured in, surrounding them, roaring and pounding weapons against the ground until the air trembled. A wall of muscle and fury closed around them.

  “We’re already an army,” Luke answered.

  Charlie’s body was engulfed in a storm of flame and ash.

  [Berserker Ashen Flames I activated]

  The oni raised its blazing sword. Charlie and Luke charged. And the horde charged with them.

  https://discord.gg/znGSjCxhkR