Chapter 171 – Before the Banner Falls - The Morale Gambit [Part II]
The Gate of Bones
The three Orcish brothers sealed the broken gate like living siege towers.
Any beast that tried to pass—
Was crushed.
Snapped.
Pulverized.
“COME!”
“WE BREAK!”
“WE HOLD!”
Their laughter mixed with the screams of dying beasts.
Behind them—
Through the crack in the shattered gate—
Ivaline and Vaelis slipped inside.
Along with a handful of hardened adventurers.
Inside Westmarch
The smell hit first.
Iron.
Burnt wood.
And something worse.
Bodies lined the streets.
Not all intact.
Some half-devoured.
Some deliberately left untouched.
Placed where they would be seen.
A message.
One adventurer gagged and turned away.
Another vomited against a wall.
Silva didn’t just want to win.
He wanted fear to spread faster than his soldiers.
Kyaaaaa!!!
A scream cut through the air.
Ivaline was already moving.
She saw a girl being chased.
Too far—
Too late—
A beast opened its jaw over a woman—
Slash.
A shadow burst from the beast’s blind spot.
A dagger slit its throat in a clean horizontal line.
The rescuer carried the woman through the falling corpse’s momentum.
They crashed against stone.
The beast lay still.
“T… Thank you!”
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
“…..”
The woman ran.
The man dropped to one knee.
Blood soaked his back.
“Healer!”
An adventurer rushed forward.
The wounded man looked up.
It was the assassin leader who sealed the southern breach.
Behind him—
None of his men remained.
“They slipped through…” he breathed. “Not soldiers. Hunters.”
A chill spread.
“Beast man Assassins.”
He spoke faintly.
“Proficient. Coordinated. They avoided open conflict.”
Which meant—
They had a target.
“The inner keep…” he rasped. “Go.”
Another beast emerged from an alley behind them.
The assassin forced himself upright.
“I’ll hold.”
“…..”
Ivaline nod in silent and sprint into the town.
Many adventurers followed but some decided to stands with the man.
“You can’t even stand.”
“I don’t need to stand to kill.”
He smiled faintly.
“I’ve taken lives for darker reasons. By demon desire.”
An adventurer beside him adjusted his grip on his sword.
“You’ve paid enough.”
A few others chose to stay.
The assassin’s voice softened.
“…Much obliged.”
Steel rang.
Ivaline didn’t look back.
She ran.
Rooftop Advance
The streets were chaos.
Civilians running.
Soldiers overwhelmed.
Tight alleys slowed momentum.
One alley look less crowd but pack with beast demon
“… Vaelis.”
“Ok.”
Vaelis leap back towards Ivaline side before she raises her sword imbued with Seraphine power.
Wind gathered around Ivaline’s blade.
“[Gale Impact].”
BOOM!
Compressed air detonated down a narrow street.
Beasts were flung off their feet.
Before they could rise—
Two blades passed through.
They didn’t stop.
Other adventurer finished them off.
They’ve pass an alley just to met with another chaotic street.
“Slow.”
“Have Idea.”
“Show me.”
“Here.”
Vaelis leapt up toward roof.
Raw strength carried her two stories high.
This’s show that Vaelis is superior to her when it comes to raw strength alone.
“Lifting?”
“No.”
Ivaline’s bracelet flickered.
Wind spiraled around her feet—
Blast.
She launched upward, twisting midair, landing clean.
Vaelis blinked.
“…Graceful.”
“…Fluke.”
“…Like.”
“…Next time.”
“Hmm.”
No more words.
They ran roof to roof.
Below them—
Fighting continued.
Vaelis noticed them.
“Help?”
“Margrave first.”
“OK.”
No hesitation.
Ivaline starting to get used to using wind to support her mobility.
They leap while cutting down the beast that blocked their ways.
Some adventurer got rescue in time and say their thanks.
They kept moving.
The Keep
Closer to the inner keep—
The fighting changed.
Less chaotic.
More deliberate.
Many soldiers still lock their swords with some beast that still linger there.
She senses a stronger entity at the upper layer.
Dead guards lay in quiet corridors from upper floor.
Clean kills.
No struggle.
Ivaline slowed and frown.
Her perception flared.
“…Assassins.”
“Many?”
“A lot.”
“Us?”
“Not enough.”
Vaelis nodded once.
Then Ivaline pull out a gift from Roderic.
A grappling hook.
“Hold me.”
“…Un.”
She grabbed Ivaline’s waist with flush smile.
A hook fired upward.
The wire tightened—
Wind stabilized their ascent.
They entered through a third-floor balcony.
Silence.
Too silent.
But she could feel presence.
Vaelis also sense them.
Clang!
Two claws from opposite directions.
Both girls reacted in perfect sync.
Cover each other back.
Steel met claw.
Two black-furred beasts leap back and clung to ceiling beams.
Eyes sharp.
Grinning.
“Oh? They blocked.”
“Better than knights we ate.”
Their claws still dripped blood.
“Both women.”
“We capture one?”
“Breed one?”
Silence.
Ivaline and Vaelis met eyes.
Nod.
They ran.
“You won’t escape us!”
“Come back here!”
The assassins chased.
Corner turn—
They lunged—
Clang!
Swish!
“Whoa!? / UGH!!!”
Both of them held ground.
Vaelis leap in front and start her fury blow.
Both Assassin beast lifts their claw and parry it all.
The beasts’ attention locked on her.
And leap back to dodge her final wide swing.
They didn’t see—
Ivaline wo leap above.
Wind blades erupted from behind.
Slash!
Slash!
Slash!
The assassins twisted midair, instinct barely saving them.
“You little—!”
They advanced—
Following Ivaline who gather her wind and point at them.
“[Gale Impact].”
BOOM!
Both beast got blasted by the compress wind and still stood grounds.
they snarl.
“This little wind wouldn’t harm us!”
“But she will,” Ivaline whispered.
Vaelis hag gather her strength at their back.
A single silver arc flashed.
Sword aura expanded just once.
Clean.
Precise.
Both heads separated.
Silence returned.
Vaelis exhaled heavily.
“…Strong.”
“Only two,” Ivaline answered.
And that was the problem.
If two required full coordination—
What awaited deeper inside?
From somewhere above—
Faint steel echoed.
Multiple heartbeats.
Moving.
Surrounding something.
Ivaline’s chest tightened.
“…He’s close.”
And they were not the only ones closing in.
