Baki stood still for a moment at the sight of such a large number of enemies, his eyes narrowed and his breathing slowed down to a measured rhythm, as he analysed the incoming wave
The raiders howled and surged again, once more, this time with greater coordination. They spread wide, circling the shinobi as though to choke them in from all sides.
Shira was the first to move.
He sprang forward, his fist slamming into a shield that cracked under the blow while the man holding it was driven back, colliding and shattering the enemy line surrounding him.
Spinning with the recoil, he drove his heel into another raider's gut, cutting his scream short, the force alone also sent this one flying while coughing whatever was still in his stomach with a pitch of blood. He crumpled into the sand, the wet splash of bile and crimson soaking into the sand beneath him.
Yet it seemed the surrounding enemies were growing stronger and more dangerous, as they began to resist his attacks and also started to land blows. One blade sliced across his arm, leaving a red line of pain. The sting burned, heat and blood mixing as Shira's snarl deepened, the scent of iron heavy in his nostrils.
Each strike he threw after that came sharper, heavier, snarling at the pain in the process.
Daiana continued firing to assist where it felt most urgent, her arrows cutting through the wind. She was constantly shifting position, firing from fresh angles, but she was experiencing the same as Shira. Gradually the enemies were no longer being struck by the deadly arrows, most raising shields to block them, even then she continued doing her best with her bowstring singing relentlessly.
Isan's chakra threads lashed out, pulling blades back into the air and sending them whipping at ankles and knees. The flying weapons spun unnaturally fast, guided with remarkable precision, carving arcs of steel that left trails of reflected sunlight like ribbons of fire in the air.
Even he was feeling a strange fatigue taking over his body, making his vision blur and the strength in his body seep away like water leaking slowly. The edges of the world wavered, outlines bending unnaturally, as though something unseen gnawed at his senses.
Two raiders closed on him faster than expected, swinging axes low and high. Narrowing his eyes at the incoming attacks, he jerked the chakra threads away, causing the projectiles he was controlling to speed up, before focusing on the two attacking him as he retrieved his sword.
The next moment he had gone past them, the two raiders staggering before falling to the sand while their heads rolled down the hill, their blood soaking into the sand like spilled red wine.
The clash grew harsher and fiercer.
The desert filled with shouts, metal clashing, and poisoned screams. Even then the raiders pressed without fear, no matter how high their casualties rose, they threw themselves forward with animal abandon, their eyes hollow, their throats raw with endless cries, as though fear had been scoured from them entirely.
The sand was already riddled with corpses, but the enemy tide did not stop or hesitate; instead they seemed even more eager to trample over their comrades and rush into the battle. The dunes themselves began to shift beneath the weight of the dead, bodies half-buried as the battlefield turned into a graveyard still writhing with motion.
Just as they were starting to feel overwhelmed by the sheer number of enemies, larger figures began to descend from the ridge. Each wore tattered but reinforced armor, their plates stitched with scraps of sun-bleached red cloth. Their faces were hidden behind hammered iron masks. In their hands were heavy weapons: war hammers, maces, halberds, battle-axes, great longswords, and more.
Every step they took shook the ground, their presence heavier, their silence more terrifying than the howls that followed them.
Even more raiders fanned out behind them, their formation tighter but their howls louder, shaking the sky itself.
Shira stepped forward, his fists trembling, not with fear or exhaustion but with a great fire burning within him. His chest rose and fell sharply, his earlier wounds stinging with every breath.
He was about to discard all caution, ready to unleash the Eight Gates of Death, when he felt a hand touch his shoulder. Turning, he found a bloodied Isan staring at him.
The sight hit harder than any blade could, his friend's face pale coupled with his eyes hollow drove a painful feeling into his chest.
Daiana's position had already been overrun with enemies, her well-being unknown to the two of them.
"Isan. What are you doing here?! Daiana needs our help!" Shira's voice cracked with fury, his fists trembling, veins pulsing beneath his skin. The sight of Daiana's position swallowed by enemies made his chest tighten, his entire body quivering with the desperate urge to release the Eight Gates of Death.
"Don't be stupid and think. Release."
Shira's eyes widened at what was happening before his eyes, as Isan collapsed limply into the blood-stained sand below them.
"Isan?!"
Before Shira could reach him, Isan's body began to dissolve, melting away into shifting grains of red and gold until nothing remained. His breath caught in his throat, disbelief halting his movements just as the enemy surged closer.
The sand itself whispered as it scattered, leaving only emptiness where his friend had been moments before.
Three spears rammed into his back. The impact tore through flesh and muscle, pain exploding white across his vision. Shira roared, the sound guttural and primal, his legs sweeping out beneath him in reflex. [The scream carried across the dunes, cutting through the raiders' howls, for a moment silencing even the desert wind.]
The raiders around him collapsed as he knocked their footing out, and with a burst of strength he hurled himself into the air, blood trailing like banners from his wounds.
"Isan…" His voice broke, thick with agony and gratitude. "Thank you. Release."
His vision blurred rapidly, edges of the world smearing into shadow as his body plummeted into the endless horde below. His scream mingled with the wind as the sea of steel and flesh rushed up to meet him.