It didn't take long for the two of them to reach the guard tower in the corner. Ignoring the two unconscious (and not so unconscious) bodies by the side wall, Viole tried the handle. Tried because it barely even twisted. He turned around to ask Hwa Ryun what they should do next, but the redhead just mouthed the words 'Reinforcement' at him.
Of course, I knew that.
Viole reached for the handle again, but this time he sent shinsoo flowing through his hands and fingertips, then squeezed, the metal deforming and denting at his touch. Once he pried the handle off of the door Viole pushed it aside.
Just in time to fling himself out of the way as a Spear darted through the space his head had been in.
Three men stood in the midst of the room, a table with a game of cards in the midst of them. The one in the far back, short and squat and muscular, had just thrown the spear, and, with a flip of his wrist, it rematerialized in his hands though it must have gone over the wall before.
"A Wand!" Hwa Ryun said, "I have this!"
With that, she jumped at the man. The two before her, also sharkmen stabbed at her with Needles slicing through the gong, the shinsoo rippling as it was parted.
Viole formed a baang, filled it with shinsoo, then felt a ball coalesce in the palm of his hand. He flung it. It exploded out in a stream of light, throwing one of the bandits into the wall. The other stabbed through the space Hwa Ryun had been in but she dodged it by jumping into the air and springing off of Mjollnar to strike at the bandit with the Wand. He held up his Spear at the last moment, where they hit sparks flew, landed on the table, and set it on fire.
It really does cause a lot of collateral damage, Viole had time to think before raising his arms in a guard. The Needle hit his arms then bounced off – like striking metal. Viole saw the bandit's eyes widen before he closed in. A strike to the jaw and then a toss over the shoulder sent the sharkman flying into the burning table.
For her part, Hwa Ryun still wailed on the last short bandit, Mjollnar spinning about her as she attacked. The bandit blocked each strike but they still caused yet more sparks and carved up the floors and walls. Viole charged then slammed his shoulder into the man – the man never saw him coming.
After he had been slammed against the wall, Viole stood back up and looked at Hwa Ryun. For her part, she let her staff fall back to her side, "I had that under control."
"Sure."
Just like that she moved, Mjollnar swinging at his head. Viole ducked. The Wand soared overhead. Then smacked against something, the sound loud to his ears, followed by a scream of pain. Viole straightened and looked behind him just in time to see the sharkman fall back into the flames.
"Like I said. I could have handled it."
"And I believe you."
She smirked then waved a hand. The fire extinguished, puffed out with a gust of wind. With that, she nodded and headed towards the open doorway. Viole took one spare moment to glance about the room, to the bandit smacked against the wall, blasted into the corner and laying on top of the rubble of the table. He glanced over the mayhem and curled his hands into fists.
Then he stepped outside.
For a moment he thought the redheaded Guide had vanished. The stretch of stone-cut wall lay empty and bare all the way up to the next guard tower in the corner, but then he spotted her. There, off to the side, a staircase wound its way down to a courtyard below. She was already making her way down it.
"Aren't we going to check out the last two walls?" Viole asked when he caught up.
"No, that won't be necessary."
He almost said more, but then fell silent, glancing back to the guard tower.
"They don't deserve pity."
"What?" He asked as Hwa Ryun stepped off the stairs and onto the grassy lawn of the courtyard. She could have passed in deeper, past the trees and shrubbery, but instead she stopped and looked back at him.
"Do you know how we found this place? In the Middle Area there are several cities. There's vast distances between each city so there's a caravan service to ferry people from city to city. But for those who can't afford it they go themselves – these are the people that these bandits targeted. The poor, the destitute. They steal everything, slaughter everyone, save the women and children – them they sell to slave markets that have been built around the cities."
Viole froze at that, the words washing over him, his mouth opening then closing.
"Those are the people you fought."
…..
The two crossed the courtyard. The courtyard itself was not all that big, besides benches in the corner, it was bare save for the greenery all around. They stood in front of a large iron door, about a head taller than they, and, with a single push, it swung open.
A long, narrow throne room stretched out before him, and it would have looked impressive to Viole with its velvet curtains over stained glass windows, elaborate chairs lined in rows, and it's golden, gleaming throne, if it were not for the bodies. Hacked apart bodies littered the throne room and blood splattered against the tiled floor, but there, at the front of the room by the throne, stood Ha Jinsung and a man on his knees. His seonsaeng had a vice grip on the man's neck.
Viole jumped forward, "Wait!"
Jinsung paused, "What's going on?"
"This is Ren Tetsuga, ranked 3231, Bandit King, rather grandiose isn't it? Especially since he's not even a High Ranker."
"And them?" Viole asked, though he didn't look at the dead bodies.
"Those were his Ten Generals. Anyway, this is gonna get a tad messy 'Ole, how about you step outside?"
Ren reacted, trying to pull away, but Ha Jinsung just squeezed, causing bloody grooves to appear on the man's neck. "You see, I told you not to move."
"No," Viole cut in with a certain amount of certainty, "Leave him be."
"I can't do that. He knows where our new base is located – I can't let him live."
"Then let's just make him forget! Shinsoo can do anything right? Then what about a memory wipe technique?"
"Maybe Zahard or the Ten Warriors have such a convenient technique but we are not so lucky."
"Then just let him walk, make him promise to never speak!"
A beat of silence came over them then, it washed over the throne room, it lapsed in the moment it took for Ha Jinsung's eyes to hone in on him.
"No."
And then Jinsung squeezed.
He cut a slice of flesh out of the man's neck, just like Viole had to the door handle on the door to the guard tower, the bone pliable to Reinforced fingers. A snap, a crunch, sounded and then the body thumped to the ground, blood already pooling all around it.
Only Ha Jinsung, Viole and Hwa Ryun stood in this hall of the dead.