With cries and screams of agony growing louder with each minute, it isn't long before it's masked out by heavy rains from a sudden storm.
As blood flows down the halls of Amartia's castle, the sounds of terror soon disappear..
Voices dim.
Cries now absent..
The many that had resided in the castle were reduced to just a few in a span of a couple minutes.
The Thirty Sanguine Blade troupe that Daein had worked so hard on creating, was decimated in the matter of one day, as if their existence was never intended in the first place.
Almost thirty warriors that had spent their entire lives training to rebuild the former glory of Rampiel, were dead before their first mission, due to just one.
.....
As the five remaining warriors from the sanguine blade are left panting, husking in breath after breath, flesh torn and bleeding, their minds begin to go numb from fear of death.
One of the warriors, with his only thought being his death, begins to laugh manically.
"Maybe... haha... maybe I was never cut out for this... haha..." The warrior says.
With Thern in the front, doing his best to focus on the woman, he completely blocks out what the other warriors are saying.
Esk, however, could never do such a thing.
He was baffled by his compatriot's behavior, his absolute lack of pride.
Glaring over at the warrior, Esk's eyes dig into his soul.
"You wretch... and you call yourself a warrior?" Esk scolds.
"You're supposed to be one of the best, there shan't be many that could beat the likes of you in the two continents combined."
Esk's body shifts over, facing the warrior.
"Yet, Adram, you talk as if you're not worthy to fight alongside us?"
Adram, the warrior, glances over at Esk, his eyes shaking, still in fear.
"I SAY NOT!" Esk yells out, breaking even the focus of Thern.
"Are you to tell me that your pride is meaningless? You're not cut out for this? I SAY NOT!"
"You're a warrior of the vampire race, your pride isn't just yours alone, it is a title that you must carry on your shoulders high with honor, because the pride you carry is also our people's pride." Esk says sternly, looking at Adram with esteem.
As Adram's eyes seem to phase back into reality, he sheds a tear for a moment.
"T-Thank yo-"
However, this isn't just any fantasy story.
Adram's head is cleaved cleanly from his body as the woman from before marches forward, laughing.
"N-NOOOOOO!... You... YOU BASTARD!" Esk screams out, his anger taking control as he charges the woman.
"Oh my, how eager." She smirks, dashing forward and kicking Esk back by a couple feet.
"Damnit, Esk control yourself. This woman is of royal lineage, she won't be defeated if you can't get your rage in line." Thern barks out, slashing at the woman as she darts back down the hall to her former position.
One of the warriors, Yuon, steps back, checking on Esk, while the other, Pam, steps forward.
"T-Thern... we need to attack her now, look at her wounds." Pam whispers.
Focusing on the woman, Thern sees what it is Pam is talking about.
The woman in front of them was from a royal family, the Exanimus family.
Her wounds would heal faster than others, being stronger along with being born as a royal.
"Pam, there isn't much hope, I will tell you now. I cannot give you a speech as Esk would, but I know you won't need it, you are strong."
"Fight as my shadow." Thern orders, stepping in front of Pam as he readies his longsword.
"For our king, I will follow you, Thern." Pam says, gripping onto her Kusarigama.
.....
As Esk tries his best to find his breath, Yuon props him up, trying his best to allow better air flow.
Panting with words not able to find their way past his lips, Esk looks at Yuon, coughing out blood which splatters onto his face.
"Ah, damnit Esk..." Yuon scolds, looking away for just moments to wipe his face, before looking back to see Esk struggling to stand.
"Esk? What are you doing?" Yuon questions, now worried.
Following the gaze of his eyes, Yuon figures out quickly what Esk stood up for, as he soon also falls entranced into the battle happening before them.
'W-Was Thern always... no... when... how are they so coordinated..?' Yuon thinks to himself, his eyes lighting up as the sparks from Thern's weapons colliding with the royal's blinds the area.
.....
Laughing like a maniac, the woman from the Exanimus family finds herself taking in more wounds than she is dealing.
With no words being exchanged, the room is only filled with the clashes of metal, and a maniacal laugh that bleeds ears.
But it isn't long until Pam switches the tides of the battle.
Wrapping the chain around the calf of the woman, Pam yanks her Kusarigama, causing the woman to lose her balance, falling to the group as Thern swings his sword down to cleave her head.
However, one being a royal does not only grant them the strength needed to carry their family's blessed blood, it grants them the power to strengthen it.
Moments before his blade separates her head from her body, the woman twists her body in a gruesome display, dodging the blade as it cracks the cold hard foundation of the castle hall.
"Tell me, why is it you fight so hard?" The woman laughs, her wounds no longer healing.
With a couple seconds of silence, Thern finally steps forward.
"Rampiel has one king, and one king only, Cassiel Aeternus."
"He is the only man deserving of our lives, he is the one that will bring true justice to our continent, along with Seraphim." Thern says sternly.
"Your king is a fool." The woman bites back.
"However, I suppose it matters not... since you've all made it this far, allow me the pleasure of announcing your killer's name." The woman smirks.
"My name is Jyon Exanimus, assistant to the true ruler, Nahka Aion."