The foursome made their steady way south, towards the edge of the empire; and slowed down to a stop as they approached the border.


    For Kylie and Derek, this was a moment of excitement. They''d never left the Empire before, and had grown up with stories about how chaotic and poorly managed the kingdom was; a band of eleven barons under a single king, with villages that didn''t see anything but a tax collector for years, rampant problems with cults, rebels, curses; if not for the wandering bands of adventurers the whole thing would''ve fallen apart over a century ago. They looked out of the cart at the bridge, as if they expected  a group of bandits to be waiting to charge at them the moment they crossed.


    To their disappointment, they instead saw one last bastion of law and order; a stone tower, overlooking the bridge, with a guardsman watching them; the heavy plate breastplate with the imperial sigil hidden from this angle, but obviously there. Another guardsman emerged from the tower, and slowly approached, using a pike almost like a walking stick, and nodded up at the group.


    "Sir Praxius. No signs of bandits since you last came through. We checked it out after you left; they never came across the border, so there was no bounty on our side. Might be one on the other side, if you care to check."


    The others seemed a touch confused, as the massive armored figure of Terra''s grandfather stepped forward, and removed his helmet, settling it under his arm. "The survivor say anything interesting? I didn''t really have time to interrogate him properly, I had pressing business in the capital."


    The guardsman glanced at the cart; he recognized Imperial Academy robes at a glance, and the other robes looked expensive, even if he didn''t know what houses might wear red and bronze. "His friends were based out of an old goblin warren, from before the war. The ones you killed were about half of them; they rob quietly at night, stealing livestock and anything not nailed down, and only ambush small bands of stragglers or messengers. You already got their leader. No way to know what they''ll do now, and while they supposedly had some prisoners at the time, its likely they''re dead by now."


    The devil gave a slow nod. "Don''t suppose you''ve got a map? I''ve been saddled with watching over a few fledglings, and butchering a band of inept raiders seems like a decent starting point. And seeing the remains of what such garbage does may help them get past any illusions of what this sort of work entails."


    He chuckled. "Inside the Empire, I''ve got good, clean maps. On the other side... I''ve got a garbage merchant map I made the bandit mark where his warren is. I''ve got decent maps, but we''re not officially supposed to be scouting out the kingdom, so I can''t give you one of ours. I can only imagine the faces of those raiders when they see one of your kind breaking down their door."


    "They won''t be making any sort of face at all for long. Don''t suppose you know of anything else interesting, across the border?"


    The guardsman frowned. "Well. We did have one desperate idiot come beg us for help, seems people were disappearing in the night and their baron couldn''t be bothered. But really... we don''t cross the border, and they know it. You know how the whole bounty board nonsense works?"


    "Ugh. Yes. I... ''adventured'' in this light-cursed place decades ago with a friend and a couple of idiots I tolerated. hundreds of temples, mostly to those stupid goddesses of light and darkness, not nearly so many to their husband, and every single village seems to have some weird quirk that springs up if left alone for a few years. I''m surprised the Empire hasn''t conquered them and cleaned the place up yet."


    "Well. Honestly, if it weren''t for all the demons up north, we probably would have. Don''t suppose any more of your sort are going to be coming down to help? Or any of the other side?"


    "....... If I can manage it, I''ll help myself." After a few more pleasantries; and a small pouch containing a map, and what little of value the surviving bandit had carried; he rejoined his younger companions.


    Terra tilted her head as he stepped closer. "So. Praxius. You used your real name."


    He turned to her. "You can call be grandfather, child, and speak with respect. Didn''t your mother teach you better than that?"


    "Grandfather is a bit long to shout out when we''re fighting some monster or something."


    "Then Sir works just fine. Now. When we cross the bridge, we''re going to be heading southeast. I butchered a handful of bandits on my way north from her mother''s house, and we''re going to go finish the job. Obviously I could do it on my own, but these people will be pushovers, a good place for you to get your first real combat experience."


    Terra coughed. Praxius glared at her. "What."


    "Mom wouldn''t let me head north until I''d notched a hundred kills. Mostly gloom spiders."


    "...Why were there a hundred gloom spiders near there? I thought Shira kept the area cleaned out?"


    A low chuckle. "When I was around twelve, she deliberately started cultivating some for use in training me. I''ve been bitten dozens of times, but the little bastards burn really well."


    "Hmm. So at least you won''t panic when you get hurt. You two. Am I fortunate enough to have all of my little fledglings have some actual fighting in their past?"


    The two glanced at each other. Derek spoke up. "Not really. The academy actually bars strenuous physical activity. They don''t want people building up muscle and bone density instead of magical power."


    Kylie grimaced. "The temple isn''t that much better. We have training intended to work both body and soul, weapons training, we learn so many things, but... they don''t really expect us to use any of it."


    Praxius sighed. "Well then. Come along. Terra, you try to help me keep these two alive. We''ll go handle ourselves some bandits, let you two get some real experience under your belts."


    ***


    The roads through the kingdom were miserable; instead of a steady, smooth ride, constant bumps, rocks, and crossing of ruts left the cart shaking its occupants constantly; to the point that by the time they reached the edge of the forest, the foursome were all walking voluntarily.


    As Praxius directed the group off the trail and into the brush, he glanced around at the trio of youngsters he''d be dragging along. "Now. These are going to be men and women we''ll be killing. There will be blood, screaming, and dying. These people are thieves, murderers, rapists, and butchers, and their friends tried to kill me just a few days ago, so there''s no need to feel even a hint of remorse about this; but if you do anyway, try to hold back the weeping until the last one falls. I can''t be everywhere at once, and if you''re too stupid about things, a stray arrow or dagger might end your careers here and now."


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    He glanced at the three of them. "You. Mage. You''re the most fragile out of the lot of us. You might think you want to protect your girlfriend, but as woefully inexperienced as you both are, she''s at least got armor; and that flail I gave her will help her a bit up close."


    He turned to Kylie. "And you, priestess. The flail is enchanted, something I did myself before I made my current pair. The chain has a mind of its own, and if you swing it properly, it''ll help guide it the rest of the way. Just think of what you want it to do, and get to work. You''re going to get cut. Possibly beaten over the head. You know some healing magic?"


    "...Yes. Every temple teaches its disciples that, devil."


    "Good. You''ll probably be mostly using it on yourself. Don''t waste your magic on me; I heal on my own from most ordinary weapons. And lastly... granddaughter."


    Terra smiled. "Yessir?"


    "You filled the Eastwatch house with smoke to drive out everyone but your target. I''m assuming you can do that to a cave?"


    "Of course. It''s not generally fatal, but it causes painful coughing and blindness in enclosed spaces. If someone were tough and strong-willed enough they might be able to just hold off and bear it, but.... well. I doubt that includes bandits."


    "Good. Anyone have anything else to add?"


    Derek raised a hand. "I can summon up a few monsters to help. There''s one called a Magma Sprite that would be good for this; heat and smoke don''t bother them at all, and it can just splatter them with bits of fire and molten rock as they run out."


    Praxius gave a slow nod. "Well. There will be a guard, probably. We''ll need to kill a few outside. Then we smoke them out, and butcher them as they try to escape. Once the smoke clears... I''ll let you inspect what''s left. I''m not likely to fit inside a goblin warren. We go at sundown. Rest as best you can; the bandits should be just a few minutes walk away, when the time comes."


    ***


    What followed was a brutal slaughter. There was a bit of yelling, at first; there were three guards, sitting near the entrance to the warren, playing a card game; and one of Terra''s firey attacks slammed into the winner before they were aware anyone was coming, as they were counting out winnings. The table and chairs they were using were surprisingly nice; likely looted from some rich man''s home; while their armor was... pitiful.


    Two of them weren''t really wearing armor at all, and the man whose leather armor was currently on fire was rolling on the dirt, screaming in agony... even as a hesitant Kylie struggled for just a moment... before lashing out with the flail, and hearing the solid ''crunch'' as the spiked metal ball impacted the head of one of the bandits... and he dropped, limp; either dead or unconscious at that single solid blow.


    Praxius calmly crushed the third man between his own pair of flails; one coming in from each side to send him dropping to the ground.. and unlike Kylie, seemed to relish the blood that splattered across his form.


    The burning man laying on the ground stared up at them as he finally got the fire out; and when he looked up to see a massive flail-wielding knight, he raised his hands flat; for a moment, Praxius almost crushed his head with a blow... but he paused for a moment... and dropped one of his flails to the dirt, extending an arm towards the man.


    A length of chain lashed out; wrapping around the man, painfully bending him into a pretzel, hot-tying him in place; before Praxius stepped up to the entrance, and glanced at the others. The goblin warren was very simple; a literal hole in the ground, likely just the entrance to a cave-system with carved and natural paths, uncomfortably small for normal people but perfect for smaller races.


    He looked to Terra; who had already started chanting some sort of focus; and a sudden billow of smoke formed; at first, just an orb in her hands... and then started pouring into the hole as if it were a river. He gave a nod; she seemed to need to focus on channeling the smoke, but it was the most important thing for her to do at present, so all was well.


    Derek... and his strange little Magma Sprite, a creature roughly three feet tall made of tendrils of boiling rock emerging from a tiny central orb... hadn''t contributed at all to the battle; but now the tiny sprite dived into the smoke... and simply lurked there, waiting for something to emerge, even as the mage prepared some magical attack of his own; ready to blast the first person to emerge.


    The bound captive was too close to the entrance, and was forced to breathe the smoke as well; until Praxius sent him away with a swift kick. He glanced at Kylie. "Stand over there, just out of the smoke... and be ready to swing at whoever comes out. You get the first, I get the second."


    The girl inhaled deeply; let out a small, controlled, cough; perhaps she was too close to the smoke, or might have accidentally inhaled a bit of the blood dripping down her face; either way, she readied herself, gripping the flail in both hands.. as screams could be heard. Coughing, choking.


    A loud hiss and splatter, as the magma sprite lashed out; the first man to emerge was covering his mouth with his hands, coughing, stumbling... and Kylie gave an overhand swing, slamming the flail down at him with all her might... and leaving a corpse right by the entrance.


    The next man to emerge started to stumble and trip over the corpse of the first; only for Praxius''s own flails to dispatch him just as swiftly.


    There was a loud pop, and more screaming; and a new Magma Sprite popped up, charging forward into the smoke. Praxius glanced at the wizard; he''d thought most wizards could only keep a single summon spell of the same type active at a time. "The first one died. They explode when you kill them." and gave a nod, before turning back to the entrance.


    The battle that followed lasted for another couple of minutes; but while Kylie picked up a single wound in her thigh from a thrown javelin, and a few blades uselessly rebounded from Praxius''s armor... it went absolutely terrible for the bandits. At least a dozen had emerged from the warren, and their bodies were now piled around the entrance.


    Praxius walked over to the bound captive, after a solid minute had passed without any more leaving; Terra was starting to visibly sweat from the strain of keeping up the smoke; and kicked him again. "You. How many bandits were in this den?"


    "fff... Ffifteen! Sixteen including me!"


    The devil glanced around... and gave a slow nod. Including the captive, fifteen were outside. If one of them had succumbed to the magma sprite on the inside; at least a couple had died from being set on fire as they ran out; that would be about right. Possibly one more inside, trapped, or waiting to ambush them.


    "If you''re lying, I''m going to bind your limbs to a tree, shred your flesh into uselessness, and leave whats left of you for the wolves. Understand?"


    "I swear, there''s a few captives down there, but only sixteen of us are here! The rest are all out with the boss still!"


    Praxius gave a slow chuckle. He''d handled the boss already. "How many captives?"


    "Four. Three women and a boy. The boy is the son of some local mayor or something, we were trying to figure out if we could get a ransom for him. The women we kept... well. We usually kept a few women."


    Praxius gave a slow nod. Unsurprising. Just because the punishment for rape was death didn''t mean it wasn''t a popular hobby among the worthless dregs of humanity. A popular pastime among Kytons as well, now that he thought of it; though it wasn''t one he was fond of himself.  He glanced back at Terra, and gave a cut-off gesture, finger across his throat; and the girl finally relaxed; the billowing smoke stopped, and started to slowly dissipate.


    "Alright then. Congratulations, the dangerous part is mostly done. There is, at most, one more of these scum still in the warren, hopefully already dead.. and possibly some surviving hostages. Some of the tunnels down there will be too big for myself, which means... send the sprite in first to check for any surviving enemies, haul out anything you find, and watch for the last one. So. You three. Head on down. I''ll stay up here and start making a pyre for the bodies, check them for anything useful."


    He made a gesture. A set of chains lifted one of the bodies into the air, and started casually removing the dirty chainmail that was wrapped around it; the devil clearly not wanting to touch the corpses anymore than necessary. The three were all watching with a mix of horror, shell-shock, and amusement.


    He glanced at the trio. "Stop gawking. There might just be a bit more fighting left, and prisoners to free, or decide what to do with. Get to it."