Settlements are meant to be safe havens. A place where people socialise and contribute to their hometown. However, some are susceptible to bandit raids, targeting those often far from cities.
One of the settlements is in the current disarray somewhere deep within a forested area. Buildings and houses were stripped of their value and completely engulfed in flames. Many lay dead on the ground with blood having spilt out of their wounds. Some even had their heads cleanly cut off from their body.
Those fortunate enough to avoid the first wave of onslaught have a fate worse than death. Some of the women have their clothes ripped and have signs of being sexually violated. At the same time, the men were being immediately slaughtered for the sake of entertainment. It was being perpetrated by those distinguished in worn brown and grey attire.
Ironically, women were also included in this bandit group. They took part in such cruelty towards the innocent. They viciously killed anyone who attempted to flee by shooting them with a crossbow or homemade spears. They even went as far as to mutilate some while the civilians were still alive.
Amid the carnage, a child in a simple light green dress was running away from a woman who was chasing her with a short sword in hand. She proceeded to take a right turn until she faced a wall. It only took the youngling a few seconds to realise she was facing a dead-end.
"What's wrong? Isn't mommy or daddy just right around the corner?" She shakily turned around to see a female bandit behind her. She glances to the woman's left, to only see her parents lying motionlessly on the ground, making her widen her eyes in horror. This got the bandit's reaction. "Oh, don't you worry, little one. You'll be joining them eventually."
A sadistic smirk curled onto her lips, making the child quiver in fear. She raises her axe to ready herself to strike the unarmed child. The young girl could only cower as he put her hands on both sides of her head to comfort her for what seemed to be her very last moment. The sound of a stab could be heard despite covering her ears…But she didn't feel anything impacting her.
Instead, she lifts her head to see the bandit getting pierced through the chest with a dumbfounded expression on her face. What happened next was the sword being pulled out before deeply slashing across the nape. Some of the bandit's blood spattered on her face while watching her hit the ground, and more spilt out from the cuts. This causes her to stumble back until her back hits the wall, fearing for what's to come. She failed to realise footsteps approaching her. She looked up to see who had saved her.
An individual stood right in front of her. Their appearance is shrouded in a tattered, brown cloak in which only the head's lower part is seen. They seemed to be holding a unique-looking katana with a white and black handle and an elegant, dark steel blade covered in blood dripping from the tip. The girl uncovered her ears and looked at them for a couple of seconds.
It continued to be like this until the silence was eventually broken. "Are you alright?" The individual asked, the voice revealing that to be a girl. Her tone was cold and calculating, but held a minuscule worry for her well-being.
The little girl suddenly felt numb at hearing an empathetic voice amid the chaos. Only a second passed, and she realised the cloaked woman was still awaiting a response. She proceeded to lock eyes with her while stuttering. "I… I'm alright, Miss. Th-th-thank you for saving me." She replied after swallowing her gulp, which eased her fears.
The cloaked woman gazed at her before turning away. Before she walked away, she turned her hooded head, revealing the light-skinned bottom part to the young girl. "Go find somewhere to hide. I'll handle this threat."
The girl felt everything go still. Then, she shouted. "Y-Yo-You-You're going to fight all of them on your own!?" She saw her nodding her head.
"Yes. Some need to be saved," She stoically replied.
"I-I k-know-now, Miss. But fighting against an entire bandit group!?" The young girl thought her saviour was suicidal. There is no way a single woman could fight against an entire group of at least a hundred. "You should be retreating! Y-y-you know what they will do with you!?"
"I'm aware of the dangers. But I won't retreat." The cloaked woman replied, still retaining that unemotional tone. "It is not honourable to retreat, let alone allow the innocent to be captured. I will do my best to rescue them while fighting those who ruined your village." She gazed back at the little girl. "Go. They are alerted by the sound, and I want to ensure your safety first." The other girl silently nodded without uttering a word before passing by her and retreating inside a house opposite the alleyway.
The little girl is safe inside that building. Because of its destroyed yet intact structure, these bandits would likely ignore it. As much as the cloaked woman had traumatised her, albeit unintentionally, she needed to save the others. However, she expected to be spotted right away after killing that bandit. "Now, what do we have here?" She turned her hooded head the other way and saw two more bandits standing on each side of the alleyway's entrance. One of the left had a Morningstar in both hands, while the other had a Broadsword. The two men look at their recently deceased bandit and must've recognised who killed her. "So, you're the one who did that? You must have had the guts to do such a thing." They didn't hear her speak, enraging them in the process. "Hey, are you listening to us or-" The cloaked woman quickly slashed her bloodied katana at the one on the left across the throat before doing the same to the other.
Both bandits dropped dead onto the ground, and their weapons dropped onto the ground. More blood spilt out of their wounds, with some spattered onto her tattered cloak, but she paid little attention. Her mind reminded her that more settlers are held captive, and she was only wasting time delving into these scenarios playing in her head.
Shaking these bothersome thoughts, she flicked her katana to get rid of any blood that was still on the blade and ran to the site where others were being held hostage. She was fortunate to settle at the centre just in time, where all the remaining survivors were. It was unfortunate that all the remaining bandits were also there. Some were beginning to cut the dresses of the female hostages, bit by bit, while the rest gleefully watched.
The cloaked woman scanned the scene within the centre. By the looks of it, there are around twenty-one settlers, mostly women or little girls. The bandits, around thirty-four. She couldn't hide there and risk the innocent being unwilling to be ravaged and slaughtered. Thanks to her training, it is a good thing she was so good at quick thinking.
After carefully analysing how she would approach it, she ran towards the nearest bandit, who was on watch behind the group while on a smoke break. His eyes immediately spotted an individual running towards him with a katana. Dropping the pipe from his mouth, he turned around to warn the others of the lone armed individual, but it was too late. A sword slashed through his back, another blade blunged into his chest. He screamed and fell forward, getting stuck in her katana.
The bandits heard this and stopped what they were doing. This intensely annoyed the ones who forcefully ripped the clothes off the females from this sudden interruption. All turned to the back and saw their comrade-in-arms' corpse falling forward by a cloaked individual, whose katana was now soaked in fresh blood and staring silently at the large group. There was no hint of fear in her body language as the sound of fire crackling was heard during the standoff.
The cloaked woman only stood still, waiting for them to strike first. Her reminiscing about her childhood training told her always to remain vigilant. Who knows what kind of tricks these bandits have up their sleeves? As expected, one of the bandits charged in with a mace without thinking twice. Waiting for the right moment to strike, she tightly gripped her katana's hilt without revealing she was readying to attack. The time came right as the bandit came near her and was about to bash her head on the left cheek. She made a diagonal slash in just a millisecond before pointing her blade towards the ground.
The bandit stopped momentarily and checked to see if he was okay. That seemed the case as he felt nothing and chuckled at the cloaked woman's failed attempt. "Ha! Did you think I would succumb to your attacks!? You're really just a simpleton who—" He suddenly stopped talking when blood began to gush out of his throat. The very next thing that happens is his head falling towards the ground before his body, followed soon after with a 'thud'.
Upon witnessing one of their own swiftly taken down, the remaining bandits rushed towards her. "GET HIM!" One of them shouted while charging in with three others.
She expected they would make a rash decision. In the blink of an eye, the cloaked woman slashed them across the throats, de-thatching their heads from their bodies in the process.
Twenty-eight remaining.
Quickly holding her blade in a reverse grip, she stabbed another one who attempted to attack behind her back and pulled her sword up, slicing the bandit's chest and head in half. Another came running towards, but made a quick end as he got stabbed in the chest, which pierced his heart. She ducked to avoid a hail of arrows aimed at her head. Quickly thinking, she ran to where the three archers were and swiftly disposed of them, thus preventing the need to dodge arrows every time her back was turned.
Twenty-three remaining.
Killing another bandit who was foolish to run up to her by cutting her from stomach to chest, the cloaked woman quickstepped to the side to avoid a swing from a bandit wearing medium armour and wielding a great axe. Despite having most of the body covered in thick leather and steel, she put the armoured foe to sleep by stabbing the left heel and striking deeply on the left side of the neck. Blood spewed from the cut, creating a puddle of blood down his feet, before falling face-first onto it. Once he was down, she turned around and slashed three more bandits across the neck, decapitating them in the process while their blood splattered all over the direction.
Eighteen remaining.
Seeing their numbers dwindle rapidly, they knew they were dealing with something. A monster. A monster who wielded a katana very effectively and effortlessly slays them in one move. They needed to change tactics if they wanted to kill her.
Without a thought of their consideration, half of the remaining bandits rushed on with their weapons gripped firmly. The cloaked woman noticed they seemed to be sloping by how they charged at her. Efficient, yet sloppy. A quiet sigh escaped her lips. These people were willing to toy with the innocent, but having difficulties against people like her? This made her point her blade at the oncoming enemies while firmly gripping the hilt with both hands.
Putting her left foot forward, she waited for the perfect moment to strike. One would be good enough, but she knew another would strike when she was momentarily distracted. Having a little time to think about what to do next, a plan came to her, and she enacted it. She held the blade with its edge pointed towards the ground momentarily. Her heart calmly thumped in her ears. As the tension grew, and grew, and—
"Eat this, bastard!"
The cloaked woman snapped and swung her katana in an upward motion, cutting a bandit who was about to strike her. Sensing that four more were rushing at her from all sides, she quickly slashed them across the throat, killing three instantly while leaving one in critical condition. Once that was done, she approached the downed man to end his suffering. Right before doing so, the remaining thugs all rushed towards her with their weapons drawn. She could only silently watch in disappointment before she easily disposed of them. She slashed across the chest, then stabbed the next one on the head from bottom to top before stabbing the last two on the chest in one strike.
Pulling the sword out from their bodies, which immediately dropped to the ground, she flicked her sword to get rid of any flesh or blood. She turned her hooded head to look at the remaining bandits, who only stepped back in fear of sharing the same fate as their compatriots. "W-who is this person!?"
"I don't know, but I don't want to deal with him!"
"Yeah, you're right!" We should get out of here!"
"What a beast!"
"Fuck that! He's a beast!"
"How could we deal with him!"
"We need to—"
"What's going on here?" The remaining bandits shakily turned their heads at a heavily armoured man the size of a horse approaching them from behind while carrying his helmet on his right side. Walking past them, he noted the number of dead bodies all over the place, and also the hooded figure covered in dried-up blood. He hummed in interest and had his gaze fixed on her. "Oh. Seems we got a fighter here. Too bad that all of them had greatly underestimated your capabilities," He said off-handedly before letting his gaze fall, letting out a sadistic smirk. "And all done by that person, I presume?" His underlings all gaped at this sudden revelation. So, all of us were easily killed by this woman covered in that tattered, worn brown cloak. Seeing their reactions only caused me to let out a light chuckle. "Pathetic. To think you were all beaten by one person. Oh well, looks like the leader has to sort this out. As usual."
Grabbing the helmet on the side, the giant placed it onto his head and fixed it before grabbing a Silver Halberd from his back to be ready to fight this person. The cloaked woman noticed its size, standing a foot taller than him, and how it had seen better days. She had to be cautious. This bandit leader was unlike his underlings, who stood behind him, since he had one capability they lacked: experience.
The armoured man chuckled lightly, seeing the size difference with this cloaked bastard. "You'd have some balls thinking you can fight against our group. However, you are about to regret what you have done when I stick my halberd deep in your throat! Either way, it'll teach you the consequences of killing many from our group! Why don't we start our fight now?!" He didn't hear her say a word. Good, his questions had caused this individual to stand still. Not wanting to waste this opportunity, the bandit leader ran to the enemy, pointing his weapon. As he got closer, he smiled under his helmet and finally got the kill. Or so he thought.
In a sudden upset, when the blade was about an inch away from her, she could deflect it with her just in time. This caused the leader to slightly stumble to the left before he stopped, using his halberd as assistance to prevent falling towards the ground. This caught him off guard before turning his head back at her, before letting out a light growl. "You bitch!" He held his weapon up in the air and swung it down. Like before, his attack was easily deflected by the blade of her katana, making him angrier and swing more aggressively, making her rebound each hit quickly.
On the side where the settlement's fountain was located, the remaining bandits watched the fight between their leader and this mysterious, cloaked individual, seeing how fast and intense it had become. "Whoa! I've never seen him like this before!" One of them told his brothers and sisters-in-arms.
"What?! Our boss is called the 'Ironed Beast' for that reason?!" Another reminded her comrades. "I heard he could take on twenty well-trained guards alone!"
"Yeah! And by the looks of it, he's really giving this bastard a hard time!" The fifth pointed out, analysing the fight.
This only made the group cheer their leader. "Let's go, Boss! Teach this bastard a lesson!"
Cheering on their leader, he felt his morale boosted to new heights. His attacks were getting quicker, and he only saw the cloaked individual begin struggling to deflect them. Seeing his chance, he used the bottom end of his weapon to bash his opponent on the cheek. This seemed to do the trick, making him go down towards the ground. He let out a light chuckle at the downed individual. "Farewell!" He raised his halberd above his head before slamming the blade down to stab them through the head. His smile widened as he had finally taken care of this mysterious yet formidable foe. Or so he thought.
Instead of stabbing it on the head, the halberd blade hit the hood of the cloak, and the person underneath it revealed its appearance. Turns out, it was a girl much younger than him, perhaps in her mid-to-late teens. Her clean black and red armour with cobalt highlights shone through the night, along with light pale skin, displaying its elegance. The material of the metal or leather plates is laced with a silk cord, making it flexible for her to dodge attacks easily.
It took the bandit leader seconds to recollect what had just occurred before he hysterically laughed. "Ha, ha, ha, ha, HA! Oh, by the Two Gods of Krëvizla, who would have known that a woman dared to slaughter my men like animals!?" He glared directly into her pale, blue eyes while her katana pointed its blade directly in between his eyes. He stopped and gazed deathly at her. "Very well, you are such a fool. Especially for a girl like you. Now, you are gonna end up like everyone in this settlement!"
The woman never uttered a word. Instead, her mind focused on finishing this duel. She wanted to end it fast if she were to save the remaining settlers and not let the other bandits have their hands on them. Without further warning, the bandit leader swung his weapon from left to right, which was easily deflected by her katana before doing the same move from top to bottom.
Blocking the attack with her katana, her right hand pushed into the weapon's guard to move him to the ground. Since he is heavily armoured, she had to find a way to hinder his movement, and she luckily found one at the bottom of the torso. Pushing her weapon that moved him backwards a bit, she quickly slashed on the left side where the abdomen was, which put him down on one foot before running towards his back, where she buried her katana deep into his throat and pulled it out instantly. Blood spewed from the wound as he fell on his knees, falling face-first towards the concrete.
Having a moment to breathe normally, the woman flicked her wrist to remove any fresh blood from her blade and stared at the leader. With him now dead, it was more likely that the remaining bandits would retreat, which was confirmed by overhearing their comments. "N-no way…She killed him?!"
"There's no way she did!? He's the toughest person we've ever got to know!"
"Oh yeah, just look at how she outmatched him with that kind of
"Forget this, we need to get out of there!"
She saw the remaining bandits beginning to run away, not grasp her wrath frantically. She knew there was no point in killing them anyway, though she knew they would reencounter her one day.
Walking where her tattered cloak was, she put it back on before heading to where the villagers were still bound. As she did so, all huddled together while they quivered in fear. She put her hands in the air and said, "Easy. I am not here to hurt you."
All looked at her in suspicion. She felt no one would trust a single word, considering that her cloak was bloodied. "A-Are you part of those bandits?" One of the surviving settlers asked with hostility.
The woman only shook her head underneath the hood. Without a word spoken, she freed them from their binds. Naturally, this kind gesture caught them off guard. Nonetheless, the resentment toward her had diminished, and they were relieved that this nightmare was finally over.
With the chaos coming to an abrupt stop, the cloaked woman thought it would be better to stay put to give some time to gather the dead and give them a proper burial.
It is never honourable for her to have the survivors do it instead after going through that life-threatening experience.