Hi.
Hello.
It's been a bit. Sorry about that. Hopefully this makes up for the wait. Unless it doesn't, them I guess that's fine too.
Enjoy, or not, I don't care you all have your opinions.
Everything belongs to their respective owners.
Chapter Six: The Crusader
The sun shined bright onto the world below, including on an opened grass field. The sky was as blue as ever. There were a few clouds in the sky, but other than that, the sky was clear as water.
Currently in the middle of the field, an armored being was seen lying on the ground resting. His eyes were closed, though one wouldn't have known regardless due to his ever present helmet he always wears.
The man began to stir from his slumber as the sunlight hit his face. Slowly but surely, the armored being awoken from his slumber, as he sat up and stretched his arms over his head. The man also let out a loud yawn as he tried to get the sleepiness to go away from his system.
"How long did I sleep?" The man questioned as he stood up. He also noticed the bright sun overlooking the area, "Hmm… judging by the sun's position, I must have slept to noon." He guessed, as he went over to pick up his stuff that was next to him, which included a long sword, a sharp circular shield, and even a polearm. Not to mention the small bags he also carries with him.
With him fully stood up and his things on him once more, one could have a better look on the male. His whole body was covered in metal armor, not allowing a since trace of skin to be seen. He wore a tabard that went down near his feet, and had an unusual symbol that was not from anywhere in the whole continent of Ishgar, showing that he came from another land. He wore gauntlets, armored boots, armored shoulder pads, armored/clothed leggings, and a great helm, all which were colored black. Underneath the fully armored parts of the armor; he wore something akin to chain mail, which could be seen on his upper arms and a bit on his leggings. He also wore a grey colored cape on his back, though it was a bit short as it only stopped a bit below his waist. On his armor, which included his helmet, shoulder pads, and cloth leggings, had a symbol that looked like that of a golden cross plastered on them, the same symbol that looked similar on his tabard, however the one there has a few extra details.
This man was named Asce, a knight from a kingdom far from both Isghar and Alakitasia. However the knight was currently in the country Seven of Ishgar. Why an outsider from the continent is here is due to him traveling, as well as on a mission.
"Well, better get going." Asce spoke to himself as he put his sword on his side and putting his shield and polearm on his back.
The soldier proceeded to walked on once more into a nearby forest that was near the open field that he camped at, hoping to find a town to get more supplies soon.
'LATER, NOT FAR FROM ASCE'S LOCATION'
Brown eyes slowly opened as Laki awoken with a small headache. The violet haired woman groaned as the pain slowly faded away.
"Ugh… what happened?" She questioned as the Wood-Maker mage tried to collect her thoughts.
However she then noticed herself tied up with what looked like anti-magic rope. Looking around, she found herself in what looked like a tent. Naturally, she immediately got worried.
"W-What happened?" Laki wondered, as she tried to remember what happened. She and Kinana were merely on the road when…
The thought of the purple haired woman got her eyes to widen once more. Where was Kinana?
She looked around, hoping that her friend was still around. Luckily or unluckily depending on the situation, the violet haired Wood-Maker mage saw Kinana in the tent tied up as well near her. However it didn't look like she had woken up yet. Laki was relieved to see the purple haired woman alright. Though that didn't answer the question as to where they were or how they ended up here.
"Where are we?" Laki questioned, as she tried to struggle her way out of the binds to no valid. She remembered her and Kinana were traveling through this forest, but everything else was blank.
"Well-well-well, looks like one of the beauties woke up." A voice got her attention as she saw what looked like a bandit entering the tent. Laki got more worried and frightened now; this wasn't looking good for her or for Kinana.
"Who are you?!" Laki shouted at the bandit, who only laughed at her shouting.
"That don't matter, what matters is that you're awake. This means we can have fun now." The bandit then went to her before grabbing her by the hair, causing her to yell out in pain as she was dragged out of the tent, leaving the still knocked out Kinana inside.
Laki tried to get out of the grip of the bandit; however it did no good as she was then thrown onto the ground roughly. Looking up, Laki found herself surrounded by a dozen more bandits. She also noticed a few more tents around the area, which proved that this was a bandit camp.
"Hey boss! One of them woke up!" The same bandit that dragged her out called out.
The violet haired woman then saw another person walking through the circle of bandits before standing in front of her. Unlike the other bandits, this one didn't have any kind of mask to cover his somewhat darker skin and long black beard. The boss merely grinned as he looked over at the woman, getting Laki to feel a shiver down her spine from his stare.
"What a pretty face you have darling," The boss told her, as his voice got her to be cared by how creepy he sounded, "And a nice body to boot. Heh, heh, heh, I can't wait to have fun with you."
The boss then turned to two of the bandits around him.
"You two, hold her down so she can't move as much. I get first dibs." He told them with a rather perverted smile, which got Laki's eyes to widen as she now realized what they were about to do to her.
"NO! STAY BACK!" Laki shouted as she tried to get away, however this proved to be hopeless due to her being tied up, as well as the two bandits managed to get a hold of her as she could barely struggle now.
"Yes…," The boss spoke once more as went to proceed to unbuckle his pants, "This will be fun!"
Tears began to fall from Laki's face, as the revelation of what was about to happen hit her. To her, this was a fate worse than death. And Kinana, were they going to do this to Kinana as well?
However, before the boss could finish…
*Cue "Christ and Combat" By Powerwolf*
Without warning, a circular shield came out of the nearby trees and struck one of the bandits holding Laki directly into the head, both knocking him down and killing him.
"What?!" The boss shouted in shock only to see an armored being rushing out of the woods, catching the shield that came back to him before swinging his word at another nearby bandit, cleaving his head off, "Don't just stand there you fool! Kill him!"
This got the other bandits to snap out of their shock, as they, including the one holding Laki, charged at Asce. Laki looked up to see the crusader about to engage with the rest of the bandits.
Asce dodged an attack from a bandit before shoving his sword right into the bandit's chest, killing him before taking it out from the corpse as it fell. Asce's sword then glowed before he swung it once more at two other bandits as a wave of light came from the blade, effectively cutting the two bandit's in two.
Laki's eyes widened at the sight of the action that just happened.
'Light magic?' Laki wondered as she saw the knight effortlessly taking out her would-be rapists.
Another bandit ran in for the kill; however without turning around Asce shove his sword right behind him, stabbing right through the bandit's stomach, killing him. Asce then ran at another bandit who tried to block the knight's attack, only to fail as his sword broke the bandit's weapon and slicing right through his head. Two other bandits ran at the crusader, however this time Asce merely his hand out toward them, before two bursts of light came out of his hand, striking the two bandits dead. One more bandit ran up and tried to strike him from behind, however Asce quickly turned around with his shield in hand, blocking the attack before slamming the shield into the bandit with such force that it crushed his chest and ribs, which dug into his organs, thus killing him.
A scream got Asce's attention as he turned around to see Laki being hold by the boss, with a blade in his hand near the violet haired woman's neck.
"Don't come closer unless you want this woman's blood to spill!" The boss shouted with a grin. Laki could only stay still or else she would be meeting death sooner than she would like.
Asce didn't move, however his hand glowed for a second before fading away. This got the boss to be confused, not noticing what had just formed behind him.
Then without warning, something grabbed and picked up the boss, dropping Laki as she fell back onto the floor. The Wood-Maker mage turned around to see the bandit boss being hold by some sort of Light elemental.
'By the Light be purge!' The elemental roared as the boss yelled in pain for only a moment before the light being ripped the bandit boss apart, allowing blood and his insides to be splattered onto the ground.
And then just like that, the Light elemental vanished.
Laki slowly turned back around to see Asce walking up to her. Bending down on his knees, the knight used his sword to cut the anti-magic rope binding Laki, setting her free.
"Are you alright?" Asce asked her in concern. Laki could only nod her head to answer him, as the whole thing that just happened made her rather speechless at the moment.
The knight stood back up before looking around at the now empty bandit camp, aside from the corpses of the bandits themselves of course. He then turned back to look at Laki, who managed to get back on her own two feet as well.
"Are there others here?" The crusader questioned the Wood-Maker mage. This got Laki to remember Kinana, who was in the tent near them.
"Kinana!" She then ran into the tent, to which Asce followed her in.
The knight saw the violet haired woman next to a tied up purple haired woman. To Asce's guess, this must be a friend of hers.
"Allow me." He told her, getting her to look back at the armored male.
Laki simply nodded, knowing that he can help get Kinana out of her bonds, being the one with the weapons and all. Asce grabbed his sword once more before cutting off the rope that binded Kinana. He also put his hand onto her pulse; luckily she seemed to be alright, just knocked out.
"She will be alright. It didn't look those bandit's manage to do anything to her." Asce informed the violet haired woman as he stood back up, who looked back at the knight once more.
"Uh… who are you exactly?" Laki questioned. Since he did save her and Kinana from a terrible fate, she might as well get to know the guy's name.
Asce looked back before he put his fist onto his chest in some sort of salute.
"My name is Asce, Knight of the Kingdom of Kalavar."
Ta-da! A new character appears! So what do you all think?
See you all next time, whenever that will be.