Quantum Rip: Welcome to Ethos

Knights' arrival (Part 2 - Blood)

Jumping out of his cover he looked at the knights in rage, seeing Olga lying on the ground unconscious fired his rage even more.

His abrupt appearance and death stare shocked the knights, but only for a moment. Near instantly the knights became infuriated at his glare, "How dare you!?" One of them shouted and moved closer atop his horse, stopping for a moment as he saw the lianac not far from Edvard.

While it was not a magical beast, it was most certainly a fierce beast to hunt. Few hunters would dare, which meant the person who had just come out of the trees had to have some skill.

"Would you look at that Sir Josip, he would make a fine archer." The knight said, still angry at Edvard's lack of respect but not just about to go out of his way to teach him a lesson.

Someone who could kill a lianac with such a crapy bow was not someone he wanted to start a fight with without a good reason.

Edvard was currently in the hunting clothing Ilvisar had given him, his coat hiding his sword and his hand at the ready to draw the blade. He was just waiting for an excuse to start a fight.

Looking up at the knight sitting on his horse just a few meters from him, Edvard estimated his odds. The full plate would make landing a killing blow harder, yet the horse would make the job far easier. Killing it or having it throw the knight down would lead to a quick kill.

'What now?' Edvard thought, truly not wishing to go along with this recruitment. There was no way he would join through forced conscription and kill for a kingdom that cared so little for their people.

"What's your name?" Sir Josip asked, turning towards Edvard in surprise. As far as their intel told them, the village did not have any great hunters.

"Edvard," Edvard replied, his gaze moving between all the knights and determining the best approach to killing them. He stopped after realizing starting something like that acting would make the entire village a target.

'Shit, I'll need to desert later.' This was the only way he could see to not drag the village into trouble.

"Good." Turning back to the villagers who were still frozen in shock after what happened to Olga, Sir Josep shouted, "Why haven't you all started packing!? We move in an hour."

Hearing this many of the women fell onto their knees and cried for mercy. Many were not ready for their children to be taken into war, others not wishing to lose their husbands or lovers. The fathers of their children.

"Stop your whining! You must serve your kingdom! You think you are exempt from helping in a holy war!?" One of the knights shouted, causing everyone to shrink back in fear.

Edvard looked at the despair on all those he had come to know over the past weeks. Their sadness impacted him as he felt what was being done was something against basic human decency.

More than anything, he knew that the village would not survive through the winter if nearly all the men were taken for a foolish war. Out of the 26 men in the village, only 6 were not within the ages of 12 and 30. Two of whom were still toddlers.

'This is wrong. These knights… I understand your hatred Davor.' Edvard looked at the knights who showed no human emotion to the plight of the village.

'Can they even be called humans?' He questioned, these kind and cautious villagers were being treated as slaves with no rights. Their caution to strangers made far more sense now.

Edvard's anger grew as he watched the knights' mismanagement of the situation.

They continued to rush the men; kids, really. Forcing them to take what little they had, often not much more than two or three sets of clothing. The more Edvard looked on the more anger filled him.

For the village, this was the lowest point ever. The children had at first been excited upon seeing the knights. Hoping for more tales of grandeur and a show. Instead, many now found their parents beaten for trying to protect them.

'Fucking savages.' Edvard cursed, his plans of deserting starting to be forgotten as he looked at this and a flame to fight started burning in him.

This took over as one of the knights stopped using just his fists, and instead pulled out a dagger.

Chills rushed through Edvard as he saw this.

"Noooo!!" He shouted and rushed forward, yet he was not fast enough. The blade went in with ease, the knight was not kind at all. Without mercy, he ripped the blade through her.

"Anja!" Edvard shouted, rushing to her side and trying to stem the flow of blood. The knight laughed at his actions before kicking him away.

"Let the dog die!"

Grunting through the pain, Edvard recovered quickly and ripped a piece of his clothes to try and stem the blood flow. His refusal to follow orders angered the knight all the more, yet what truly caught the knight's eye was the gray blade Edvard had hidden under his coat.

"Isn't that a fancy thing for a commoner?" The knight remarked snarkily, moving forward to snatch it from Edvard.

In reply, Edvard looked at him as he had looked at the orcs in the illusion, "Make one more move and you will die." Edvard said, his voice carrying an absolute promise as he felt Anja's life leaving her.

Her son, Alan, was frozen in fear at the door. Turning her head, Anja tried to say goodbye. Alas, her death arrived before she could.

"The fuck did you say to me!?" The knight shouted after recovering from the fear that had filled him. Filled with anger and embarrassment, the knight charged at Edvard, who had no more sympathy for him.

Edvard no longer cared for the consequences.

Jumping back, he pulled out his sword. Blocking the knight's attack with ease as he moved past the strike, his blade slamming into the armor and sending the knight three steps back.

"How dare you!" The knight shouted in anger, yet his voice was filled with fear. The attack had not only nearly sent him onto his ass, it had also dented his armor.

Ignoring the question Edvard rushed forward, the man had taken off his helmet while tormenting the villagers.

Killing him was not hard. Feinting an attack, Edvard easily moved past the man's longsword and slit his neck. Letting him fall to the ground again and bleed out as Anja had. His gurgling mumbles were the only sound as everyone stood in shock.

No one had expected this.

No one had expected it to end this way either, and especially not as quickly as it did. The knights would never have expected the commoner to prevail. Yet, they hadn't even had enough time to realize a fight was happening.

Eyes moved between Edvard and the knight. Everyone trying to come to a grasp with what had happened.

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