The two halves of the guard hit the ground. I activated my armor and looked at all this human trash in front of me. “Let’s. Fucking. Go!”

  Any semblance of mercy and calm were long gone from me. A bow twang sounded out in the night. I slashed out, feeling the arrows incoming at me, more than seeing it.

  I was too slow and my strike missed the incoming projectile. The arrow deflected off my chest, sparks skittering as my armor took the blow. I didn’t give them another shot. I Flash Stepped to the clumped-up archers. They were just on the outside of the other guards’ that had circled the man named Grant, and I let Ashbourne fly. It came in on the closest one that was trying knock another arrow cutting him in half.

  “Kill him!” Jordan’s voice cracked, the smugness gone, replaced by something sharp and fearful.

  The other archer seeing his buddy cut in half, panicked and was scrambling to aim at me. Limit slash cut through his bow and his torso like a hot knife through butter. His eyes were wide and filled with fear as my blade cut.

  The merchant’s wand flared, threads of binding magic lashing out toward me, but they were too slow. I anticipated the move and Flash Stepped behind the merchant, swinging as hard as I could, trying to cut the head of the snake. Barriers flared up around the slimeball.

  My sword bounced off the barriers and I retreated, not waiting to see if there was more to the barriers than defense.

  I threw a Mana Ball in the middle of the closest bunch of guards causing them to scatter as I backed out. It exploded but no notifications meant no one had been killed from the ball unfortunately.

  One guard braver than the others stepped up trying to stab me with his spear. I removed his hands with Ashbourne and he screamed out into the night before I spun and stabbed him in the chest ending him.

  I turned back ready to reengage Jordan. The merchant assisted by two men in robes threw up their hands, joining their power together and pushed me back with a barrier.

  I righted myself quickly, keeping myself between the slavers and the townspeople that had come to help the women and children.

  No one was coming at me at the moment, so I set my stance and held the line. I flipped the guards off. "What's wrong?! All of you to chicken shit to fight anyone but women and children!"

  My taunt had the desired effect, and they came at me in a wave then. The first lunged with a short sword. I caught the blade on my armor gauntlet, twisted, and drove my knee into his gut hard enough to lift him off the ground. Before he hit the dirt, Ashbourne came down in a vertical arc, splitting him from collarbone to hip.

  Two more tried to flank me. I Flash-Stepped between them, the world blurring into streaks of shadow and firelight. Limit Slash triggered mid-step, my blade tore through both in a single, fluid motion, sparks and blood spraying in the same swing.

  Five left.

  A spear jabbed at my ribs. I caught the shaft under my arm, yanked the wielder forward, and head-butted him through his helmet. Bone crunched. He dropped, and I spun the spear in my grip, hurling it into the chest of another guard who’d been lining up a strike on the town’s folk. It clipped the guy, but the townsfolk attacked him with fury, overwhelming the single guard quickly.

  This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

  Four.

  The man I had taken the spear from was still at my feet, and I stabbed down through the back of his head, killing him. Notifications were flaring up left and right, but I dismissed them all.

  Three.

  The robed caster on my left started chanting, glyphs spinning in the air around his hands. I hurled a Mana Ball at his feet, it detonated in a flash of white-blue, hurling him backward into the wagon wheel hard enough to snap wood. Several of Balts force Jolts hit the downed man, finishing the job.

  Two.

  Balt positioned himself in front of the townspeople. “It’s done. Now let’s finish this,” he called out.

  An axe whistled past my head. I pivoted, caught the haft, and ripped it from the guard’s hands. My gauntlet closed around his throat, lifting him off the ground. I slammed him into the dirt so hard the impact rattled even my teeth. “Mercy.” I heard him call out as I stood up. I stomped my foot down on his throat.

  The last two kept hesitating, keeping up their barrier with the merchant, looking at the man for what to do. I didn’t need anyone to tell me what I was about to do.

  Balt unleashed a barrage of attacks, making the barrier flicker. The merchant was using his wand and throwing everything he could reach at us. I ducked and dodged, always moving, Balt keeping up his own barrier to protect the townspeople from the debris.

  I Flash Stepped again, reappearing behind them. The barrier they had constructed rebuffed Ashbourne’s edge. I was feeling lightheaded by now, a sign I was running low on mana. My tree was dimmer, to be sure. So, I dismissed my armor and backed up, waiting for Flash Step to come off its brief cooldown.

  Jordan pointed his wand at the wagon that held the kids. “Stop this now or I will crush them to pieces.”

  Grant yelled out "noooooo" in fear and tried to move toward the wagon, but Balt’s barrier flared and moved him back. “Stay still, lad, and let Riven handle this.”

  I gave a silent thanks to Balt; my eyes never leaving the three in front of me. I put Ashbourne on my shoulder and stared.

  “I’ll do it. I will kill them all if you don’t surrender right now!” shrieked the slaver.

  “Oh, I believe you would if you could, but they’re not in there anymore.”

  The merchant looked at me in disbelief, then he looked at Balt, and realization came onto his face. Jordan face looked pained before seeming to come to a decision. He threw his wand to the ground and produced a thick leather sack that clinked with the sounds of coins. "Let us go. Give us the road, and you can have all of this." He let the bag drop to the ground. "Let’s make a deal that can benefit both parties."

  “Pass.”

  More bags appeared, and the other two mage guards started to throw their belongings to the ground.

  “Strong Pass.”

  "That’s not how negotiation works!" he screamed. "That’s all I have; you haven't even made a counteroffer!"

  The merchant paused thinking a little longer before he continued. "I'll bet you could use a powerful friend in this region. I can provide more credits when we sell all these slaves. You want a woman, a girl? What do you want, just tell me what you want?!"

  I just shook my head in disgust.

  “Not enough?! What would you have from me then?!”

  “I want nothing. This isn’t a negotiation; this is a reckoning.”

  I triggered Limit Break, my anchor flared silver, stats spiking so hard my vision blurred. Power bled from me in torrents. I Flash Stepped, the world snapping into white-hot focus, and roared, “Limit Breaker Slash!”

  The world went silver. I felt the merchant’s barrier fall apart immediately, and the silver fire barrel into them. The ground shook with the strike, and three notifications came into my vision.

  “Go negotiate with the devil, you piece of shit.”