Marching armies, dying soldiers. The streets of Malencia run red with the blood of people so desperate to protect what''s precious to them. The innocent bystander lies dead in his home, knife in hand to protect his wife. The wife dies shortly afterward, prioritizing stuffing her kids in a closet to keep them safe from an inquisition hellbent on razing this heretical city to the ground. The inquisitor follows his victims, all he wanted was to protect the world as a whole at the cost of some comparably minor sacrifices, now a dagger is stuck in his neck as a child seeking vengeance had snuck up on him. That would at least be the experience The Grand Army has had with Malencia so far, but the upper district is a new hell brought upon them. The purge had left many mansions empty, large buildings with thick walls. The Malencia guard has seen fit to use the remains of potential traitors to good use, nearly every mansion has been turned into small forts wreaking havoc on passing enemies. Malencian surveillance and devastators have also rejoined the field of combat more actively here, this is the perfect stomping ground for both of them after all.
Asahi''s Hero Party cleaves a way through one of the walls surrounding such a fort, while certainly strong when magically enhanced as they are, the walls are no match for the strongest adventurer group in Faerune. The break-in is not quiet, and the alarm is heard over the sounds of combat. Liquidators raise their guns at the intruders, bullets hitting ineffectively on the barrier created by Nalia. Tolbert rushes out of the barrier, his armor proving sufficient against the hail of attacks. Seeing the dwarf charge at them like an unstoppable force has the Malencians for a short moment, fear proving to be an ample distraction as Larielle pins a few of them in their necks. Standing troops that managed to get this far flood the breach, eager to engage the dreaded liquidators in close combat. Soon enough, the sounds of gunfire is replaced with the clattering of metal, and the groans of the dying.
Looking to capture a way towards the keep, Asahi tries to move towards the mansion itself, but an odd sight catches his eye. The brave men of The Grand Army are dragged into shadows when no one looks at their melee, a quick and quiet takedown usually favored by rogues.
"Xyrashi! Enemy rogues are upon the soldiers! Can you dispel their cloaks?" The wolfgirl comes out of her own invisibility from her position next to the gate, numerous corpses of the masked gunmen lay scattered nearby. She throws a bead in the middle of the courtyard, and in a flash everyone previously camouflaged becomes visible. Instead of having the effect of revealing the enemy to be able to defend against them, there are screams of horrors instead.
Amorphous goo-like black creatures, eyes and mouths at places where they should not be, grotesque forms left and right. The Malencian surveillance are masters at stealth, here in the shades of the courtyard of a mansion they make for fine assassins. Terror isn''t the only thing to strike the hearts of men that second, as the liquidators were wholly unaffected by their allies physical appearance, the brief respite bought by direct intervention from the surveillance teams was enough for them to retake some distance. The creatures from surveillance aren''t so tactically inclined, their exposure proving fatal as the mages present throw everything they have at them in panic. Explosions of black goo dot the field, and the situation is looking worse for the Malencians by the second.The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
"Throw grenades! Yellow!" The sergeant of the garrison is eager to prove that theory false, having managed to skillfully evade headhunters thus far. The soldiers of Malencia are quick to respond while they still can, crudely made canisters with yellow stripes over fly through the air. Nalia quickly provides a barrier for the people close by, the majority of troops were herded into a killzone, resulting in them all being tightly packed. Something the Malencians are now mildly regretting. The grenades go off, and instead of the thunder and metal their weapons are usually accompanied by, the grenades instead unleash a sickly yellow gas smelling faintly of... mustard.
The troops inside the barrier conjured by Nalia are fine, but Nalia herself feels something scrape against the barrier as the yellow fog is identified to be harmful by her protective magic. Sure enough, the people outside the barrier quickly start making wet coughing noises. They desperately try to grab at their armor in an attempt to get it off as the gas easily seeps through the gaps in their plating. The hero''s party is snapped out of their stupor as lightning strikes the barrier, on the roof of the mansion a Malencian mage arrived, his more unique outfit denoting him as a Malencia devastator. In the time it takes to identify him, lightning strikes the barrier five more times, Nalia is holding out, but she can''t both retaliate and maintain the barrier. Asahi quickly tries to think of a plan, but nine more lightning strikes later, the lightning mage is silenced by a dagger. Xyrashi was never within the barrier, and had decided to stalk the battlefield for something worth killing. She initially thought of the sergeant, but decided to hang back instead. Something that''s now paying itself off tenfold, as the trump card in this area was quickly eliminated without much of a fuss.
The corpse of the devastator unceremoniously falling off the roof is the cherry on top for the liquidators, their sergeant sounds the horn of retreat, and all liquidators quickly jump off the low wall surrounding the fortified estate. No one is able to chase them in this position, but a few of them that were too close did get a few arrows in their backs as they retreated. The noxious fog disperses as well with the aid of wind magic. Fadunia goes to the soldiers affected by the gas, all of them still alive, even if they are currently wishing they weren''t. Some managed to take off their helmets, showing off burnt skin, and bits of lung sticking to the inside of their helmets. Another round of coughing, and now those bits are on Fadunia''s dress. To her horror, healing magic isn''t doing much, the gas is already stuck inside their lungs.
"Fadunia, I know what you are thinking, it would take too much time to stay here and treat them. The best we can do for these men is make sure this doesn''t happen to their family members." Fadunia looks at Asahi with tears in her eyes, she has never failed to save someone from death within arm''s reach. Even if her magic has gotten weaker after the dimensional merge, she''s certain that no matter how strong healing magic gets, these people are beyond saving. She stands back up with determination behind her teary eyes, and the dying man who was holding on to her nun''s habit loses his grip as he descends into another painful coughing fit.
Now that this fort is cleared out, Asahi sees a path to the castle. The sooner they get there, the sooner they can end this.
Before turning to the castle, Asahi narrows his eyes at the corpses that litter the floor one last time. Guns, and gas. Either his enemy is quite the innovator, or has done this before.