Hello everyone! Thank you for the reviews that have come in. Please keep them coming! Anyway, my gratitude goes to: FierceDeity24, pyro159(awesome job catching up with the reviews!), shadowofdarkness11, AresTheUnderlander, TheGreatAthlon5, A happy reader, Lololol, Clytuis, Darklord, SlyIntellect, Angie.M.V(nice to meet you!), Alpha Death(it's been a while), Cubostar, MarbleSky and last but not least, phantom1299.
This chapter will feature a brutal and almost merciless Gregor. So be ready for some intense fighting and occasionally gruesome violence. I suspect I've written more brutal scenes before, but still I don't think this is for the faint-hearted. Nevertheless, please go ahead and share your opinion on it with me. I'll explain why Gregor is so brutal in my closing message, but you all should be able to figure that out anyway.
This chapter is written from Gregor's point of view.
Chapter 10: One Man Army
The guard, to his credit, swiftly recovered from the shock of seeing Gregor and his finger quickly tightened around the trigger of the crossbow. But Gregor had seen it coming from a mile away. He yanked out his sword and let the rager sensation flow throughout him, as his blood rushed through his veins and his vision splintered into a dozen little fragments, each detailing the guard's weaknesses. Gregor wasn't going to kill him, but he wasn't afraid to use any means possible to incapacitate him. If the Fount wanted to be aggressive with Regalia, he would enlighten them with the true meaning of aggressiveness.
The guard fired one arrow at him, but Gregor sliced it in mid-air without any problem. The two pieces landed at his feet with a light thud, invoking a rare smirk underneath the mask. He looked back up at the guard, who was now beginning to retreat slowly in fear. Gregor advanced forward slowly, taking longer strides each and every time he took a step. The guard fired another arrow at him, but even at point blank range it was no trouble for Gregor. He swung his blade and sliced the arrow head off, leaving the shaft to bounce harmlessly off his armour.
Gregor decided to stop toying around with the guard. He suddenly burst forward and swung his blade with blinding speed and ferocity, slashing through the entire crossbow and breaking it instantly. Splinters of wood and bone rained down on the ground as the guard stared down dumbly at what was remaining of his crossbow. He then recovered quickly again and drew out his sword. He rushed forward at Gregor, but Gregor parried his blade aside with little fuss and lashed out with a heavy kick at the guard's chest, sending the guard flying back. The guard landed with a sickening thump and began to groan in pain.
But Gregor had little sympathy for him. He strolled over to the guard and placed his blade at the guard's throat. "Make another noise," he threatened, "And I will make sure it is your last."
But the guard didn't seem to care. "BACKUP!" he yelled, "WE HAVE AN INTRUDER! HELP!"
Gregor angrily swung his fist and hit the guard in the face. He felt the small spikes on his gauntlet slice through the guard's cheek skin as his fist crunched into the right side of the guard's face, breaking the guard's cheekbone in the process. The guard tried to choke out another cry for help, but he succumbed to the pain and ended up hyperventilating as blood began to seep out of his cuts. Gregor then hit him between the eyes and knocked him out cold. He wasn't accustomed to using such brutality against another human for a long time, but he didn't have much of a choice here.
He looked up and to his dismay, he caught a glimpse of fires in the distance being lit up. The stealth plan was now well and truly out of the window.
They had heard the guard's cry for help and would be converging on him soon. He was going to have to figure out something else to substitute for his lack of stealth.
Brute force, maybe? Possible, but Gregor didn't really like to entertain the idea of taking on the whole army of the Fount.
He heard footsteps behind him, and he whirled around to find two more guards running at him as they brandished their weapons. He charged forward too, and in the last possible second he flipped over the both of them while slashing his blade in mid-leap. As expected, the tip of his blade found a chink in one of the guard's shoulder plates. He felt an unusual sense of satisfaction as the tip dug into the soldier's skin and left as soon as it had entered. Gregor landed on his two feet and spun around immediately to face the guards.
The guard on the right was about to charge forward at him again, but he stopped short in his tracks suddenly. The guard's left hand instantly went up to feel his right shoulder, and that was the distraction Gregor needed. He raced forward and slammed into the guard, sending the both of them sprawling, which was just what Gregor wanted. He raised the hilt of his blade and smashed it into the guard's helmet, knocking the guard out.
He instinctively raised the blade above his head and almost grinned when he heard the clanging of blades against each other as his sword blocked another blade from coming down on his head. He spun around and lashed out with a kick to the guard's knee, causing the knee to bend backwards with a cringe-inducing crack. The guard then teetered over and fell to the ground like a timber tree.
Gregor instantly stepped down on the guard's wrist, causing him to scream in pain and let go of the blade. Gregor kicked the blade and sent it spinning away, before kicking the guard in the face and knocking him unconscious.
Another soldier charged up the stairs and ran down the wall to fight him, hollering a battle cry as he did so. Gregor just sprang into the air and kicked him in the face, causing him to fly back several metres. He tried to get up, but Gregor sprinted forward and slammed a knee into his face to knock him out.
A whole flock of arrows came flying over, but Gregor's splintered vision had helped to ready him for that. He spun his blade with lightning speed, hacking down any arrow which was destined to hit him. Another set of arrows was sent in his direction, and this time Gregor was forced to retreat while slicing down any arrow which came close to him. He immediately sprinted for one of the stairs leading down the wall.
A soldier ran up the stairs to engage him in battle, but Gregor swung his blade wildly and batted the soldier's blade aside, before firing his left fist into the soldier's helmet and breaking it. The soldier sank to his knees right in front of Gregor, as blood trickled out of the helmet. Gregor estimated that he had broken about seventy percent of the soldier's teeth and had probably broken the soldier's nose as well, but he still landed a karate blow to the soldier's neck, causing the soldier to gasp desperately as he collapsed onto the floor.
As Gregor ran down the stairs, another young soldier came bounding up, screaming "FOR THE FOUNT!" as he charged headfirst at Gregor. Gregor casually stepped aside and stuck out a foot, tripping the soldier up and causing him to fall face first onto the stairs.
Another soldier ran up and swung his blade straight at Gregor, but it really was never going to trouble Gregor. He ducked underneath the swing, reached out with his left hand and grabbed the soldier's wrist. He then twisted as hard as he could, causing the soldier to drop the sword with a yelp of pain. Gregor pressed his blade against the soldier's throat and said softly, "Tell your fellow soldiers to stand down. Or I will slit your throat before you can say goodbye to anybody."
"I've never given in to anyone," the soldier choked out, "I won't give in to you."
Gregor stared into the guard's frightened eyes, and as he pressed the blade against the guard's throat even more he replied with a fierce whisper, "There's a first time for everything."
The guard began to whimper softly, but before he could comply with Gregor, a dozen guards came rushing up the stairs. Gregor grunted and headbutted the soldier in front of him, knocking him unconscious immediately. He then lifted the soldier up with ease and hurled him down the stairs. The soldier's body crashed into his fellow soldiers and the whole lot of them were sent tumbling down the stairs.
God, Gregor missed dominoes.
He heard some movement behind him and he automatically swung his elbow backwards, and he winced slightly as he felt it connect with someone's nose. He turned around to see the young soldier falling backwards with a cry of anguish. His face was completely ruined- his teeth were missing, blood gurgled out of his mouth, and his broken nose made him look like a deformity. It was painful for Gregor to witness, but he had a job to do.
He trotted down the stairs, almost slipping on some blood in the process, before reaching the courtyard of the Fount's palace. For a moment, he wondered why it seemed to peaceful and tranquil.
Then three dozen soldiers came rushing forward.
They mobbed him immediately as Gregor's emergency rager sense was triggered. He was no relying on pure instinct as his sword spontaneously moved through the air, almost as if it was a separate entity on its own. He made quite sure that his movements never became offensive, but apart from that he left his arms and instincts to do all the work. It was a combination of muscle memory and rager instincts- all Gregor needed to do in the end was to make sure it didn't become a Damien situation.
He felt his body twisting into all kinds of awkward positions in order to deflect the numerous attacks that came his way. His sword sliced down an arrow heading straight for his head, and he required an almost unbelievable reflex move to parry a blade destined to stab his throat. A spear, of all weapons, was thrown straight at him, but Gregor somehow found himself jumping into the air and catching it whilst simultaneously deflecting an attack at his right side.
He landed back down on both feet, using both the spear and the sword in order to defend himself. A whole flurry of attacks was mounted against his left side, but he was able to swat them aside with the spear, while using his sword to block an attack from someone behind him. He then spun around and slammed a foot against the soldier's chest, sending him flying back and crashing into his fellow soldiers.
Out of the corner of his eye, Gregor noticed a whole battalion of soldiers getting orders from a captain as they readied themselves for battle. Gregor was about to have much, much more company and this time he was going to be overwhelmed for sure. More soldiers kept pouring into the courtyard and joining the fight against him like water flowing out of a leaking barrel.
Wave after wave of soldiers just kept joining the battle and replacing those who were exhausted or injured. At this rate, Gregor would be dead within the next ten minutes or so. It appeared as if every single soldier of the Fount had been alerted and mobilised to fight him. There was no way Gregor would survive if he continued his defensive stance.
Gritting his teeth together in frustration, Gregor sliced off the head of the spear, leaving him with just a wooden stick. Gregor then began fighting back, blocking his sword and responding with a blow from his stick. He felt like a broken recorder- block with the sword, hit with the stick. There was little to no variation in his movements, as everything appeared to him as a mechanical and laboured process. He just had to be faster than them, and his rager abilities solved that problem.
One soldier was able to block the attack from the stick, but Gregor responded by slamming the hilt of his blade against the soldier's neck. He then swung the stick in a three hundred and sixty-degree swing, knocking down all the soldiers surrounding him. More closed in, but like their predecessors they were all beaten down by Gregor. Another soldier was able to dodge the stick, but Gregor followed up with a vicious jab into the soldier's side, causing the soldier to yell in pain.
The wooden stick might be missing its sharp, metal head, but the splinters in its place was a more than adequate replacement. Gregor then swung the stick wildly, hitting the soldier across the face and sending him into oblivion.
Suddenly, a soldier slammed into him from behind, sending the both of them skidding across the courtyard. The wooden stick slipped out of his grasp, and the soldiers instantly grabbed it and tore it to pieces gleefully as if they were in the midst of tearing him to pieces. Grunting in irritation, Gregor rushed forward aimlessly and crashed into them, firing punches and kicks instinctively at anyone who was within range. One sprawling soldier tried to slice his feet off, but Gregor leapt into the air to avoid it, and came crashing back down on the man's chest and breaking his ribs.
A female soldier came running forward, but Gregor wasn't going to pull his punches just because she was of the opposite sex. He blocked her attack with his sword, before flicking the tip of his blade at her wrist, pricking it and causing her to drop it with a sharp hiss. He then struck her across the face, knocking her out immediately.
Out of the blue, Gregor's gut suddenly tightened, as if he felt something bad was going to happen. He relied fully on his rager instincts, spinning around to hack down two dozen arrows fired at him…
… but one arrow somehow evaded his blade and embedded itself in a small chink in his leg armour. The tip of the arrow lodged itself in his knee, triggering ripples of pain throughout his body. Gregor felt his breathing intensify and then become more ragged s he felt warm blood trickling down his calf.
So this was how it felt like to bleed. Gregor had almost forgotten the sensation. It seemed like such a distant memory two years ago, when he actually felt physically vulnerable and almost… ordinary. Ripred's words suddenly began echoing in his head, taunting him, "I started to crack at four hundred to one." So this was Gregor's four hundred to one experience, except it felt more like a thousand to one.
But his pain was quickly replaced by anger. Unleashing a bloodcurdling battle cry, he yanked the arrow out of his knee and drove it into the shoulder of yet another soldier, before knocking him out with a left uppercut. Gregor wouldn't kill them, but he would make them suffer.
He drew out his dagger, and with deadly aim hurled it at one of the archers. It thudded against the archer's right arm, resulting in the archer inadvertently releasing an arrow from the sheer pain. The arrow hit one of their own soldiers in the groin, and Gregor found himself chuckling grimly at the sight. The archer who had been hit by his dagger then tumbled over his elevated position and fell down onto the courtyard. He lay there groaning as his hand instantly went to touch his back. Gregor wasn't surprised if the archer had damaged his spine. They were all going to suffer.
Gregor raced forward to meet an oncoming group of soldiers, parrying all the thrusts and swings which were directed at him. He now used his blade to attack, stabbing at their legs and hands but making very sure not to attack them anywhere else. All he was going to do was incapacitate them by going for their limbs. He made short quick stabs at their vital limb muscles- the calves, the ankles, the wrists, the elbows… It was calculated attack after calculated attack, all directed at immobilising each and every soldier that had the guts to attack him.
He blocked a downward swing from a large soldier, before ducking underneath another swing and stabbing his blade into the big soldier's right hamstring. With a bellow of pain the big soldier staggered forward and collapsed down.
Gregor grabbed the soldier's sword and threw it at one of the captains directing the attacks against him. This time, the sword impaled the captain's right shoulder, producing a howl of agony from him.
The soldiers now looked really riled up and nervous. To see one of their leaders suffering in so much pain was clearly demoralising, and many of the soldiers now looked uninspired and frightened.
That was it! Gregor needed to go for the captains and hurt them. That was the only way to stop this mob of soldiers from surrounding him and overwhelming him. Ignoring the throbbing pain in his left knee, Gregor jogged forward and spun his blade to deflect another series of attacks against him. He then used sheer brute force to barrel his way through the soldiers, shrugging them aside quite literally and even knocking one of them down in the process.
His bullish movement forward was quickly halted by an organised group of soldiers, who locked shields and stood their ground. But that wasn't too hard. Gregor grabbed hold of a soldier lying on the ground, before hoisting the soldier up onto his knees. Gregor then stepped on the man's shoulder and catapulted himself up and over the wall of shields.
For a split second, he could see his reflection through one of the swords a soldier was using.
And he looked terrifying.
His cape billowing through the air, his black armour fitting his muscular frame perfectly, the mask which did not reveal his face but made him appear sinister and mysterious… He looked like a devil from hell.
More than one hundred and seventy pounds of sheer muscle and sinew, with the added weight of his armour, came crashing down onto the soldiers. They instantly scattered about, swinging their blades wildly as confusion came crashing down as well. Disoriented soldiers began attacking each other while others just lay on the ground, dazed from Gregor's attack. Arrows rained down all over the place, severely injuring some of their own soldiers.
But Gregor remained largely unfazed and unscathed. He immediately waded through the swathes of groaning soldiers lying prone on the ground, kicking at some of the soldiers who attempted to mount a pathetic attack whilst still sprawling over the floor. The soldiers still standing immediately closed the distance by charging at him, but their amateur attacks were easily dealt with by him. Quick jabs to the arms and legs left them on the ground along with the other soldiers.
And then it was almost all back to square one. Yet another series of arrows were fired at him, and while Gregor was prepared this time, he wasn't prepared for what came next. Just as he sliced down the last arrow, a couple of soldiers barreled into him, knocking Sandwich's blade out of his grasp and sending it spinning across the courtyard. Gregor desperately tried to reach out and grab it as it spun away, but it was just way too far from his reach. He had literally no weapons left to fight the soldiers.
Groaning in pain, he turned his attention back to the soldiers who had crashed into him. One of them had clearly broken his arm and was lying on the ground, cradling it as he whimpered softly.
But the other soldier was still fine. He raised his blade up and brought it down on Gregor, but Gregor was just about able to bring up his gauntlets and block the attack.
Parts of the blade that came into contact with his gauntlets actually got chipped off and fell onto the ground with resounding clinks. Both the soldier and Gregor looked at the scene with surprise. Gregor rarely used his gauntlets to defend himself in battle, so he had no idea they could actually… block an attack? Were gauntlets ever that strong?
Gregor decided to leave the questions for later, and capitalised on the soldier's surprise by punching upwards, breaking the soldier's nose and sending the soldier stumbling backwards. Gregor's right swing then knocked him out cold as a renewed force of soldiers began to gather in the distance.
Gregor sighed at the sight of more soldiers preparing to join the battle. If Apollo was here… no, he wouldn't drag Apollo into this. As a member of Regalia, he could end up being in deep trouble if he was caught attacking the Fount. And if he died in a battle like this… which was entirely possible… then Gregor would never forgive himself. Ares' death already weighed so heavily on his heart… If Apollo also died because of Gregor, the sheer guilt would sink him. There was not a chance Gregor would whistle three times and pull a friend into this chaos.
And then Gregor remembered the reason he was here. He wasn't here to fight the entire Fount army and take them down! He was here to get answers from Stellovet and Susannah, which meant that if he could get to them first, then he wouldn't have to deal with an entire army. Gregor's stomach actually churned violently with anxiety when he saw more battalions being readied in the distance. Survival seemed like a pretty bleak outcome now, unless he could find Stellovet and Susannah. He was in the palace courtyard, which meant that they would be…
Gregor turned in the direction of the massive doors leading into the main building and started dashing towards them. About two dozen soldiers were stationed in front of the doors, and they instantly advanced forward to intercept him.
Gregor took a deep breath and bellowed out another battle cry, frightening some soldiers into taking a step or two back. Gregor then raised up his gauntlets and began to block all the attacks which came his way, before responding with a flurry of punches and kicks which even he couldn't make sense of.
One soldier was able to shrug them off and mount another attack, but Gregor easily blocked the slash with his left gauntlet and grabbed the soldier's neck. Spittle flew out of the soldier's mouth as Gregor's hand tightened around his throat. And then, with another roar of anger and adrenaline, Gregor lifted the soldier up at the throat and slammed him down onto the ground.
That was possibly his first successful chokeslam.
The other soldiers all subconsciously took a step back, leaving Gregor to advance forward menacingly. A brave soldier came rushing forward, but Gregor landed a kick to the soldier's knee, causing the soldier to buckle at the knee and land on the ground. Gregor savagely kicked him in the head and knocked him unconscious for good measure. Another soldier tried his luck and rushed forward, but Gregor blocked his downward swing of the blade with both gauntlets, before disengaging and grabbing the soldier's wrists. He then twisted as hard as he could, grimacing slightly as he heard a sickening crack from both wrists. He then headbutted the soldier in the face and left him lying stunned on the ground.
This time, three soldier rushed at him. Gregor used his gauntlets and blocked yet another whole host of attacks. He almost jerked back in surprise when he heard one of his gauntlets crack. He couldn't keep this fight up for long. He stunned one of them by firing a punch at his throat, before forcefully grabbing the hilt of one of the blades and slamming it into another soldier. He then slammed the hilt of the blade into the face of the soldier who was holding on to it.
The soldier he had punched was back on his feet, but Gregor was already prepared. He quickly body slammed the soldier and sent the soldier sprawling. The soldier was just about able to struggle back onto his feet, but Gregor wrapped his right arm around the soldier's throat and began to suffocate him.
One of the soldiers who had been knocked down earlier came running towards him, but Gregor knocked him back down with a solid kick.
Another soldier came rushing in behind Gregor, but he fired a ruthless left elbow into the soldier's face, before finishing the soldier off with another left elbow strike to the throat.
Gregor then let go of the man he was suffocating, and he instantly fell limp to the ground. Gregor was worried for a moment that he had killed the man, but he saw a shallow rise of the soldier's chest and he heaved a sigh of relief.
Most of the other soldiers had retreated and were beginning to reassemble at one spot of the courtyard, leaving the doors to the palace unguarded. That was either a moronic mistake or a fatal misjudgement. Did they really think Gregor had flown all the way over to the Fount just to fight off insipid attack after insipid attack in a courtyard? Was Gregor's presence in the Fount not a clear indication that he was looking for the royalty?
Gregor took advantage of the small break by walking over to his sword and picking it up, which had been criminally left unattended to at one side. He then casually strolled over to the injured archer lying on the floor, and pulled his dagger out of the archer's arm. The archer wheezed in pain as the dagger left his arm, and he slowly became overwhelmed by the pain and lapsed into unconsciousness.
"Warrior!" a voice yelled at Gregor.
Gregor slowly turned around and looked at a general of the Fount, who was standing on the wall which Gregor had landed on earlier. Easily half a thousand soldiers were facing him with their weapons all drawn out, while about a hundred archers stood in different positions, but with their aim trained on him the whole time. Simply put, Gregor was surrounded.
"Warrior, we are giving you this opportunity to surrender to us. We wish not to use violence against you, but your invasion of this city is a step too far and we will not tolerate it. We will kill you unless you surrender to us. Think this through carefully, Warrior," the general warned him.
Gregor smiled in amusement, but his expression could not be seen under the mask… Which meant that they were all staring at his grim, menacing mask in fear. His eyes darted around him as he observed how easy it would be for him to suddenly turn tail and race towards the doors leading into the palace.
It was about fifty metres, which meant that he needed about eight seconds to pirouette and race towards the doors in his armour. In that time, he would be entertaining the possibility of being shot at by the archers. But if he was able to slice the arrows in mid-air, then he could still make it to the doors without much fuss, but he would be much slower. He was going to need about fifteen to twenty seconds.
His eyes then shifted over to face the ground soldiers again. They were about seventy to eighty metres away from him. Taking into account reaction time, they would need about fifteen to twenty seconds as well to reach the door. Damn, he was either going to have to be lucky, or he was going to have to pray for some kind of mistake.
Then an idea sprouted in his mind. He glanced over at the injured archer on the ground. This was his opportunity to buy some time. He grabbed the archer by the collar and hauled him up before putting his blade at the archer's throat. "Tell the archers to lower their arrows and bows!" he demanded in the low, almost guttural voice that his mask helped to produce.
"We know you wouldn't kill him!" the general responded confidently, "Put the weapon down, Warrior. Can you not see we do not want this to end in bloodshed?"
"You don't know me," Gregor replied coldly, "None of you do. Tell your archers to lower their bows, and I will let him go. Then we can talk about what happens next."
He took a quick glance upwards at the archers, and it was clear that they were frightened for their fellow archer's life. Anxiety was brimming over in their eyes, and their hands were beginning to quiver slightly as Gregor noticed their foreheads glistening with sweat. He was like a brother to them, and that was exactly what Gregor needed.
A few bats began to hover in the air, with the riders brandishing their weapons and staring long and hard at Gregor. This was going to be the decisive moment. "Put down your bows!" the general ordered. The archers, albeit still tensed up, obeyed orders and lowered their bows.
Gregor brought the tip of his blade away from the archer's throat and pointed it at the bats. "Them too," Gregor requested, "Tell them to stand down."
"We agreed it was just the lowering of the bows," the general insisted adamantly, "We will not cede to any more demands."
"His life is in your hands, general," Gregor reminded him, "You have three seconds to make a call. And his life depends on it." Gregor began a mental countdown. He wasn't going to kill the soldier, but he was going to do something to the soldier if need be to show them he meant business. He hated being cruel, but that was the only person he could be in this cruel world.
One. The general continued to stare at Gregor as all eyes slowly swivelled around to watch the general.
Two. Gregor placed the sword back at the archer's throat.
Thre-
"FINE!" the general answered, "Fliers, stand down."
The bats reluctantly flew down and landed next to him. That was Gregor's cue.
He immediately spun around and sprinted for the doors to the palace.
One.
Two.
Three. He could hear the general beginning to bark out orders behind him.
Four. He was closing in on the door.
Five. He sheathed his sword and dagger to get both hands ready to push the doors open.
Six. Almost there.
Seven. Gregor reached the door a full second before he expected himself to. He could hear the soldiers behind him starting to break into a sprint, and he wasn't surprised if the fliers had just begun to take flight and if the archers had picked up their bows and were ready to fire at him. But he had already won. He placed his palms against the door, and pushed.
But the door didn't budge.
He pushed again, but the door still didn't budge. Was it locked? The general's shouting behind him began to intensify.
He exerted almost every ounce of strength he still had into pushing the door open.
But it wouldn't budge.
Hope y'all enjoyed this chapter. It's my first full chapter of solid action, and I'm sorry that the language used here might not be up to standard. Generally, when I'm writing intense fighting or action sequences, the language I use is very simplistic and not overly complicated. It's a bit more uncouth to reflect the uncouth and ugly nature of fighting and bloodshed.
Also, I hope you didn't mind Gregor's brutality. I spent a lot of time developing his character in the last story to show how he tries to avoid killing at all costs, but I'm trying to show that he hasn't truly let that murderous instinct go and that he's always trying to push the limits to what he can actually do without killing innocents. He's almost been driven mad by the anger of losing Luxa, so he resorts to violent means without killing. So yea, we'll get to see him develop more as a character as well as a fighter as this story goes on.
Favourites/Follows are GREATLY appreciated, and please do not forget to review this chapter!
Question: Do you think Gregor will surrender? Or do you think he'll try and fight his way out of being surrounded? Let me know your thoughts in the reviews section!
