Chapter 6: Plague.
Shinobi
—
"Good Gods…" Prince Marius V. Rakia uttered from his perch upon his horse.
He along with his most trusted generals and a few dozen of the Raki-in royal guard, rode towards a small scouting encampment that failed to deliver their daily report a few days ago.
Marius believed that the camp was indulging themselves in wine and women, something typical of newbie soldiers, so he had prepared for some strict disciplinary actions to be brought down on the camp upon arrival.
However, all the thoughts he had; disappeared upon reaching the camp.
All that remained of once large cloth tents, had been turned into half-burnt blood-stained rags that littered the ground. Headless corpses had been crudely crucified to the surrounding trees, each one differed in their stages of decay and bodily-damage, a few of the corpses had the skin and muscle 'melted' off of their upper body's; leaving only partially shown ghastly-white skeletons that faded into the visage of a once armored man.
Blood stained sections of armor and broken weapons littered the muddy ground around the camp, While the knights once Great War-horses all lay slumped on the ground beside their blood-filled water troughs.
Partially clothed women frozen in screams of pain and agony littered the ground in-and-around the camp. None of them shown even an ounce of mercy, all of their deaths were as grizzly as the knights. Some had various body parts 'melted' away, others had their throats ruthlessly torn open by blades, and lastly, a few only remained as partial skeletons.
Dropping off of his horse, Marius immediately vomited the contents of his stomach, his brigade of men closely mimicking his actions.
—
"W-What the hell happened here….?" Marius weakly asked his advisors as he set in a large tent prepared by his men.
"I-I….We don't know your majesty." His general slightly bowed his head, his mind was just as impacted as Marius.
"We believe that this act….was in retaliation towards recent attacks on villages….. your grace." The elderly Knight, Marx, interjected slowly, allowing Marius to take in the situation.
Marius's mind raced, and with the help of his skill 'Skilled Decision Maker'; he valiantly tried to piece together a reasonable story.
After a few minutes Marius finally spoke, "So the survivors of our previous raids most likely banded together and attacked this camp in the dead of night. Killing everyone within and fleeing after."
A quick and vague conclusion, but it held some weight in the minds of everyone present within the tent. The Raki-in' army often allowed people to flee from their attacks, simply to spread the word of their next potential targets. Over the years, these survivors could've banded together with Adventures and planned a cowardly strike.
—
"So this is what you guys meant by 'taking care of a local nuisance.' - what exactly did they do to y'all?" Hoashi whistled as he looked over the remains of the Raki-in' scouting encampment.
"Those knights belonged to Rakia, a nation that does nothing but wage war and plunder their surroundings." Torune summed up.
"Is there a reason? Like they need resources, or maybe for more man-power?" Hoashi questioned
"From what we have gathered, it's simply for personal and economical gain. They often kill most of the civilians on their frequent raids, taking only the women and whatever Valis/Valuables they could find." Fū answered
"What type of civilizations do they target?"
"Mostly small and desolate villages."
"I see, so they benefit little to none from these attacks. Well I guess it's understandable that both of you decided to display their body's in such a manor."
"It was to throw them off, it seems like it did the trick - I mean look at them." Fū mumbled while pointing towards two knight as they constantly gagged and coughed at the scene around them.
"Well, what are you planning on?" Hoashi questioned.
"It should be obvious, they brought a boy they call 'your majesty', I think we should give him a taste of his own medicine; it would hinder any Raki-in' movement for awhile."
"What are you? Some sort of avenger?"
"No, I just like the amount of peace this world has to offer; it's better then waiting to be sent on a Suicide mission." Fū retorted
"...true, So you want to kill the boy?"
"No. I say we kill those around him sparing only his General and that Old Man; so he doesn't die on his way home."
"How do y'all want to execute this then?"
"Stick to Kenjutsu and basic Ninjutsu, to draw little attention towards our skills." Fū stated
—
"Your majesty, I believe that we should send a group of men to search for this cowardly band of criminals!" The elderly knight demanded. "My nephew was in this group, I pray that the knights find his body intact; or there will be hell to pay for whoever did this." He finished his rant with a grunt.
"Sir Marx, I understand you are a former general, however; that doesn't mean you can go around spouting nonsensical and idiotic bullshit in MY FUCKING EARS WHENEVER A SITUATION HAS A SLIGHT CONNECTION WITH YOU!" Marius hollered, anger boiling up within due to the rampant spread of unknown circumstances and situations.
"your majesty." Marx growled while bowing his head, he left his seat at the Princes' table intent on leaving to clear his head. Just as he made it to the entrance of the tent though, the two men who had been tasked with guarding the entrance came flying violently inside.
"Gah!"
"The hell?!" Marx muttered dazedly from the ground as he struggled to get the two fully plated knights off of him.
"Oh? That was one for the price of three! How lucky of me~" A sultry voice came from the entrance of the tent; causing all eyes to turn to the man.
A cloaked man stood amidst the billowing cloth flaps of the tents entrance, soaked in blood. His white mask covered in splotches of the red viscous liquid painting it in a gruesomely beautiful fashion. The sleeves of his black cloak had also been darkened to the blood staining them; showing off the many lives he had recently taken with his own hands.
—
With each billow of wind, the faces in the tent grew paler; because as the entrance flaps moved with the wind, Marius' group could see the bodies of there Raki-in' knights strewn throughout the newly setup camp.
By now, Marx and the two knights had risen to their feet, and Marx waisted no time in assuming command and ordering them to attack.
"fools." Hoashi muttered from under his mask while dodging the poorly executed spear thrusts from the knights.
'Fū did say put a show on for them.. so why not have a little fun and play a few mind games with them~'
"ha…hah...Haha…HAHAHAHAHA~" maniacal laughs echoed throughout the tent as Hoashi continuously evaded his attackers.
Just as one of the younger knights was at his wits end and about to call out to the fleeing Hoashi, The mask wearing man quickly wiped around with his Tantō reeled back…. And threw it with all of his might.
With a few sickening sounds, all of the Raki-in' natives looked on in horror as the small blade went through the man's mouth and barely exited the back of his head.
The last remaining knight -who was behind the recently impaled knight- brought a gauntlet covered hand to his face, glancing at his friends blood that stained his hand once he brought in back into view.
"Awwww, I didn't get them both~" the man's voice resounded in their ears once again with playfulness that didn't correspond with the situation.
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