The Void Wolf

“Aaaaaaaaaaaah!" A man had his legs pinned underneath a rock and could only scream in agony. The atmosphere immediately became tense, and as if to increase the stress, the cavern lit up. Lance and his party watched on in confusion.

"Hey! Someone help me!" A man attempted to lift the rock, a few others saw him and assisted him. They formed a small group and tried to lift the massive stone but could barely manage it.

"We need more help!" The man shouted angrily but as he turned around the rest of the group seemed to be in a daze. "What are you..." He trailed off as he peered down the passageway.

"PROTECT...THE...KING!" A metal construct was headed straight for the group; its arms functioned as a sword and shield. It was, of course, a newly adapted Polyphemus.

The Mercenaries showed their experience as they readied themselves. The Warriors and Archers drew their weapons while the Mages began preparing spells. A combined attack of magic flew through the narrow tunnel, the Polyphemus raised its shield and took the spells head on. It was pushed back under the combined assault, but it sustained no visible damage. The Archers shot arrows at the Polyphemus, but its shield continued to block.

"PROTECT...THE...KING!" It raised its sword arm and began attacking. Those who fought in close combat moved to defend while others moved to its flank. The Polyphemus thrust its arm and impaled a woman who was too slow to dodge.

"Nooooooo!" A man cried out, but the Polyphemus paid him no mind and flung the woman from its blade. The man charged ahead in anguish and prepared to attack, the Polyphemus raised its shield, but it was a feint. The man slid under the Polyphemus and emerged on his back side. "HA!" His sword began glowing with energy as he pierced the metal plating of the Polyphemus.

"Protect...the..." The Polyphemus fell onto the ground with a clang, putting everyone into silence except for a man who held the deceased woman and wept. Before anyone could speak, they heard the heavy metallic grating that emerged as, "PROTECT...THE...KING" Another Polyphemus appeared, but it looked different from the first one. It carried two swords, and its body seemed to be thicker than before. Those who saw it didn't notice it was an improvement to the last one, how could they? They were still tense and didn't have time to note the differences.

"Fuck you!" The man spat as he charged the Polyphemus. He correspondingly raised his sword as he went for a feint. The Polyphemus crossed its sword arms as if it were defending. The man went to slide, but suddenly the Polyphemus slashed downwards. Before he could react, he was sliced in half, instantly dying. The onlookers grew speechless.  

"I-It knew he was gonna feint...It...baited him." Some of the weaker mercenaries began to sweat lightly while the more confident ones looked slightly disturbed.

"Listen!" A man yelled to calm everyone. "We outnumber it, those with shields will defend while others will attempt to get around it. Got it?" Everyone nodded in response. The mercenaries who carried shields raised them and went forward. The Polyphemus didn't stand idle and had already moved to attack only to have its strikes meet with well-timed blocks. A man wielding a giant hammer slipped behind his and swung the hammer downwards. The Polyphemus legs bent at weird angles as it fell, it wasn't given a chance to recover as the rest of the Mercenaries swarmed it.

"PROTECT..." It couldn't even finish as all signs of life faded from its metal body

"Yeah, yeah. Protect the king." A woman said sarcastically before spitting on the metallic husk. The mercenaries grew confident at the apparent weakness of the constructs. It had to be said; The Mercenaries would be able to make short, work of them. The man who took the reins as the leader had nodded assuredly before he spoke, "If we work together we should be able to clear these things out. They are nothing more than a bunch of metal tin cans-" Before he could finish, he was interrupted by the metallic mantra of the Polyphemus.

"PROTECT...THE...KING." A Polyphemus who bore no similarities with the previous ones walked forward. A large sphere connected its torso and lower half, each of its limbs also held together with ball joints. Coiled springs on its calves made its legs take on a more feline shape. The once blank face was now more human like with the addition of eye sockets that emitted a red glow. A strange feeling crawled up the spines of everyone who laid eyes on it. A few of the more observant Mercenaries caught onto the changes immediately.

"...It gets stronger every time." A man said with a bit of fear. Everyone tensed up at the statement; sometimes intelligent enemies were far worse than ones that operated on instinct alone. It was unfortunate that the realization was only a shallow understanding of the enemy they face. The Polyphemus operated under a hivemind and consistently shared new information. What did that mean for the Mercenaries in the tunnel? It could be said that they no longer facing the same slow learning enemy from a few moments ago. The Polyphemus were learning rapidly, and the cause was three Mercenaries who were the strongest in the Kingdom. The dramatic shift in appearance meant the Polyphemus didn't waste a drop of knowledge. The strange feeling they felt when it appeared was because the Polyphemus showed no visible openings. Most of them were veteran fighters, but couldn't draw the connection due to the shape of the metallic body.

"We'll switch it up this time. Mages and Archers form a line behind and prepare to fire. Those of us with shields will apply the same defense tactic, while the others try to get around it, but this time we'll be attacking. Those who don't help will lose their share of whatever the Kingdom is willing to pay for that scrap." The impromptu leader ordered, instilling confidence in those facing the Polyphemus.  

"PROTECT...THE...KING." The Polyphemus had repeated its creed before it began running forward incredibly fast, way faster than the previous ones, sending the Mercenaries on high alert.

"Archers!" The leader shouted. The Archers fired arrows that were enhanced with their various skills, as the arrows flew through the air the Polyphemus raised its arms and rotated them at high speeds. The once threatening arrows were turned into dust. As the Polyphemus advanced its arm stopped spinning, and it began its assault. Those wielding shields thought they were prepared, but they could barely keep up with the attacks. A woman using a spear moved toward the back of the Polyphemus and went to attack its flank, but its torso rotated 180 degrees. The woman froze in shock, but the Polyphemus paid no heed and beheaded her with a quick slash.

"Mages!" The leader shouted as not only he, but the rest of the Mercenaries grew nervous. Meanwhile, in the back of the group, Lance and his party began to slowly back off.

"Lance. We have to find Ira." Sarah shook Lance who looked to be in a daze. "Lance." She repeated as she continued to shake him.

"...Yeah, let's go." Lance awoke from his stupor and nodded. At this point, it seemed like choosing safety over profit was a small sacrifice. Someone took notice of the group backing off and wanted to question them, but a scream was heard from the front.

"Mages!" The leader shouted again, a man had been cut down in front of him causing him to have some hesitations. The Mages were in the final stages of channeling and raised their wands and staves. It had to be said that the Polyphemus held the terrain advantage as the tunnel could accommodate seven people side by side at most.

"We're ready." The Mages and Archers were just about to fire when the Polyphemus shot a continuous red beam of light from its eyes, decimating the group of ranged attackers in short time. The sudden and fatal attack shocked everyone, except the Polyphemus which continued its assault. Cutting down half of those attacking with shields with its sword limbs. Its body and arms rotated as it continued relentlessly. Seeing the wasted efforts, the leader yelled. "Retreat! We'll backtrack and find Ira and Rhys they could help us-" His words were cut short as he was cleaved diagonally from shoulder to hip. The fighting spirit that simmered was immediately extinguished as everyone began to run away. The Polyphemus gave chase and easily cut down those who exposed their backs. A surviving mage was impaled due to his inability to match the physicality of Mercenaries who didn't use magic. He coughed blood and smiled before raising his wand high.

"...Combustion." He coughed as the spell fired to the ceiling above. The explosions covered the both him and the Polyphemus in flames, but it did no real damage as the Polyphemus was already flame resistant. But that didn't matter because his real target was the ceiling. The tunnel caved in as huge rocks fell onto the unsuspecting Polyphemus. Seeing the cave in the Mercenaries ran even faster to escape the falling rocks. Luckily, there were no additional casualties among the already small numbers. Some people wanted to follow the central tunnel and meet up with Ira and Rhys while others wanted to leave directly, but as they arrived at their starting point, it was blocked by a humongous boulder.

"T-Trapped." A man said as he fell to his knees. Some were close to tears while others grimaced. Now they were faced with two choices, wait at the entrance and hope another Polyphemus doesn't arrive or seek help from Ira, Rhys, and Carter. Of course, rationally it was only one choice. No one wanted to wait for death to arrive, it would be better to seek out the option that increased the odds of survival.

What they didn't know was that the Expedition Guide and the Kingdom Knights had already formed the same idea and were currently walking through the central tunnel. Each group that split off was either killed or forced to retreat, the only ones to persevere other than Ira, Rhys, and the Smallthorn Guild were large groups of Mercenaries rated A+.  

...

Meanwhile, Ira and Rhys had progressed more than halfway through the central tunnel and weren't too far from the exit. They had long since noticed the increasingly strong enemies, but Rhys pointed out they seemed to be improving.

"PROTECT...THE..." Before it finished speaking Ira threw a makeshift spear at it. The "spear" was obviously an arm that was torn off one of the previous Polyphemus. The "spear" managed to pierce the metal plating and shatter the internal core of the newly advanced Polyphemus. Ira had gotten used to the routine already, unique methods to destroy the Polyphemus only worked twice at best. They quickly became immune to the same tactics and also became stronger. Still, at this level, it was mostly an annoyance for him. What he didn't know was all the Polyphemus he faced so far attacked with the goal of dying. They were being used to perfect the Polyphemus that protected the ruined palace, but how would he know that.

He stored the body and continued down the well-lit cavern. Suddenly, he stopped and turned around, causing Rhys to do the same. She quickly learned that Ira's senses were accurate, so she knew to trust him when it came to detecting people, especially since her own detection abilities paled in comparison. Though since the enemies were metallic, it was easier to find them, even if one approached her from behind she would know. Soon she could see the Expedition Guide, A few researchers, soldiers, and some knights. They looked haggard and exhausted, the Guide approached Ira with a helpless expression. On the way he had noticed the central tunnel was clear, save traces of a battle.

He wanted to speak, but Ira held his hand up. Another group was approaching, as they inched closer it was clear that it was Lance and his party. They went around the Kingdom group and went straight to Ira and before they could speak Ira held his hand up again. The group that Lance and his party were with originally with approached Ira. A few who knew Lance's party slipped away before the retreat was even called shot them a dirty look, but didn't go any further since they had a relation to Ira.

Ira, hearing no one else approach, finally put his hand down and looked over the group, "Looks like this is it. So, you guys ran into those metal things too?" he said with a grin, a grin that everyone interpreted differently. Some saw it as ridiculing, others saw it as arrogant, and then there were those who saw it as friendly. A few people said "yes" while others solemnly nodded.

"Oh...Well, you're all welcome to follow. Just don't try to steal anything of mine." He shrugged as he began walking down the cavern. Some people were still reeling their heads over the fact that he was the strongest person there. His disposition wasn't as silent and brooding as Rhys, who caused intimidation with her silence and masked appearance. It also wasn't as dignified and respectable as Carter. To them, Ira seemed nonchalant and far too casual. Still if one were to look past his personality, he appeared to be highly capable.

"PROTECT...THE...KING." A Polyphemus ran along the cavern walls at a speed that made ranged attacks impossible. It jumped around as it approached Ira with two blade hands. Ira, on the contrary, continued walking forward as if he didn't even notice it. The Polyphemus lowered its body and pounced towards him, the springs in its legs propelled it forward as slashed downward. Ira's arms shot out explosively as he clenched the sword arms with his fingers. He pulled the Polyphemus in close and pressed his foot against its chest. Its metal limbs creaked before snapping, and it fell forward face first straight into Ira's knee. It fell on its back, and before it could get up, Ira placed a foot on its chest. He increased the gravity until as his weight was artificially multiplied. Along with its metal chassis crumpling, the glass-like orb inside of its abdomen shattered. Ira then stabbed the two sword arms into its head for good measure. Those present struggled against the same metallic monster that Ira quickly disposed of. It didn't help that he looked to be bored while doing it. He waved his left hand over it, and it faded into a black mist.

"Hey, how much are you gonna pay for the bodies?" Ira looked over his shoulder and asked the Expedition Guide.

"I...Uh...We...That is to say...I'd put it at upwards of ninety thousand Gre for a destroyed body and maybe twice that for an entire one." The man didn't expect Ira to be so forward and stumbled on his words but quickly drew up an accurate estimate. The Mercenaries present all felt the same envy, the price of one destroyed Polyphemus was more than ten times what the B-rated Mercs were paid for coming on this journey. The A-rated Mercs were paid a few thousand Gre more than the B-rated ones, even so, they still felt as if it was a fortune to be made. Ira himself just nodded, to be honest, he didn't particularly need the money but it sure as hell made things convenient.

"Ok, Rhys you try to keep up, these guys should be okay following. Oh yeah, you guys try not to fight these things head on." Ira ignored the group behind him and spoke to Rhys who nodded in response. His last line was aimed at Lance and his party, it would be best to not give them any false confidence as he was aware of the increasing strength of the Polyphemus. Ira lowered his body and planted his feet firmly on the ground. Without some much as a warning, he launched forward in a sprint. In reality, it could barely be called a sprint, he covered dozens of feet with each step. He was continuously alternating his gravity between nearly weightless and heavy with each step, it was an amazing feat, but no one noticed they were distracted by the speed he moved at.

"PROTECT...THE..." A Polyphemus charged toward Ira but could not match his momentum. While in mid-air Ira grabbed its face and slammed it into the ground, dragging it along the cavern floor and then slammed its head into the ground when he landed. In a quick motion, he stored it and continued his mad dash forward. Paying no attention to the shocked expressions of those around her, Rhys began to emit sparks of lightning, the air around crackled as she charged forward. Much like Ira she traveled in short bursts, and surprisingly she caught up to him, but his speed was considered restrained. Then again, who is to say Rhys didn't constrain her own pace.

Ira finally neared the end of the cavern and attempted to grip the face of a newly emerged Polyphemus, but it turned to liquid metal and began burning his hand. Ira drew his sword with the use of Quickdraw and separated its head from its body, after storing his body the flesh on his hand grew back rapidly. Quickdraw wasn't originally a skill that allowed one to cut through metal but due to Ira strength and gravity manipulation, the weight of the sword could be artificially increased allowing it to be possible. Ira could be considered the leading cause of increasing the enemy's power, but now he killed them too fast for any real weaknesses to be learned.

The Mercenaries who could neither match Ira's strength nor his speed moved along with hurried footsteps, lest they lose all chance at a fortune.

...

"Continue forward," Carter ordered as he pulled his greatsword out of the metallic carcass. His guildmates moved in an orderly fashion, showing no inexperience or sign of being overwhelmed. Although inwardly they grew concerned with the strengthening enemies. After a while no more Polyphemus approached, Carter and his guildmates stepped out of the tunnel to see a half-buried city. The light shined down on the empty and decrepit houses, it was strange that light was emitted despite there being no actual source, no obvious source that is. Not so far away was a palace in tremendous disrepair. Its walls still held onto a faint trace of their former majesty. Still, this power of the walls was overshadowed by the 20 metallic beings that stood guard in front of it. The appearance was vastly different from what came before, they looked like metal statues of humans, their strange attachments had all but disappeared, on the surface.

In reality, their metal forms were a perfected stage of what came before. The parts that had were compressed into a finer form, the sword arms became normal looking ones if one were to ignore the fact that their swords and shields were welded into their palms.

Carter immediately raised his hand and crouched, causing his guildmates to huddle. If it was one thing Carter could boast about it was his mind for strategy and tactics. While he may be the lowest of the top 3, he was confident no one could get the better of in him in planning, and he was right. Neither Ira nor Rhys could hold a candle to his ability to strategize.

"Listen well, you'll be split into three teams of three. Your objective is to lure and evade at least one those things. You'll be using the buildings to cover your escape, while you maintain a distraction, I'll mount a surprise attack. After I assist the first group, we'll move in teams of four to support the next, and so on and so forth. Once each group is cleared of the enemies it is responsible for, we'll reset the process, at that rate it may take us a while but we can remove them quickly." Carter explained.

"Guild leader..." A man raised his hand and called out, Carter nodded allowing him to speak his mind. "How do we get one to attack us?"

Carter was prepared for the question as if he intentionally left out the detail. "Of course that's where our Archers and Mages come in at. We'll hide in a building and attack from range to see if we can draw one of them away first. It's clear they are protecting the palace ahead, so if we don't charge them head on it is likely they'll stay put. Unless of course, they are in danger, if their lives are endangered then it'll be difficult to protect the palace. That is under the assumption they are operating with self-preservation as a secondary goal.

It's logical for them to want to keep themselves in the best condition otherwise the ability to 'Protect the King' would drop. Still, be prepared for a full retreat if things go wrong." Carter finished and went over the expression of his team. They had long since grown experienced and were prepared for all types of scenarios under Carter's lead. The plan he developed was in fact nearly flawless, it was fantastic something could be thought up in so little time. It was nothing short of genius, as the Polyphemus had simple yet complicated directives. Their minds worked strangely, not that anyone other than those who died long ago would be aware of that. While it seemed profound on the surface, it could be simplified to them noting specific things as good and bad. To figure out such things they had to sacrifice a large number if they were living beings such things would be idiotic. But seeing as they were automatons, it was groundbreaking, emotionless constructs able to adapt through experience. It was a crude but effective copy of intelligent life.

"Ready?" Carter asked his guildmates who all nodded with seriousness. And so, they prepared to enact the nearly perfect plan.

"Hey! Over here!" That is until a cheerful voice shattered all traces of the plan. Carter looked over to see Ira and Rhys standing on the other side of the small and desolate city.

"Shit." Carter couldn't help but curse.

...

As Ira and Rhys arrived at the end of the cavern, and with his eyesight, he immediately saw the enemies ahead. He saw Carter too but paid him no mind as they weren't close enough for him to care. Previously, Ira briefly thought of fighting Carter, but after various events, mainly the annihilation of a city, he dropped the thought. It would be strange if he saw Carter as a rival for Avery's limited affections, especially considering Avery's cold and distant nature towards others, and the fact she couldn't even remember him. Still, when he apologized to Ira a while ago, he had what appeared to be a trace of desire when he looked at Avery. It could be said that Ira had matured in that respect as if he chose to fight or kill everyone who wanted to court Avery, he would be busy almost every day. Carter wasn't hostile or open with his intentions so Ira wouldn't bother wasting the energy to confront a barely existent situation.

The distance between Ira and Carter was filled with dozens of half-buried and ruined buildings. If the expedition group weren't so large, it probably would've been better to just stick to the central tunnel. The tunnels all lead to different parts of the city, but the city was inaccessible seeing as it was buried by dirt. No one knew that the tunnels were formed by people attempting to escape the buried and the ones chasing them around 1000 years ago.

In spite of being in two different sections of the city, Ira could overhear Carter's planning and suddenly had a funny thought.

"Rhys, I'll leave one or two for you...probably," Ira said. Underneath her mask, there was an expression of confusion that was soon resolved by Ira's next action.

"Hey! Over here!" Ira shouted causing the Polyphemus to go on high alert. His appearance had been all but burned into their memories. They identified various things as threats and nonthreats but seeing his recent performance he had been bumped to the top of the list. In their mind, he was the biggest threat to their ability to protect. 10 of the Polyphemus immediately set off to eliminate him, their main counter for his speed and strength was evasion and counter-attacks, that is if they could manage to move fast enough.

Their bodies were small in comparison to their weight; As such it was a difficult task to move such a compressed mass at the speeds needed to defend against the threat ahead. Ira drew his sword and laughed. He vanished from sight only leaving wisps of black mist and shortly reappeared closer to the Polyphemus.

Ira spun his sword into an underhanded grip as he charged forward, he locked his elbow at 90 degrees, making it look as if he was going to use the sword like a javelin. Which was exactly what he did, He threw his sword at the closest Polyphemus, which blocked it with a large kite shield, causing it to be embedded in its arm. It approached with the sword still stuck in its arm and used its sword-wielding hand to strike at Ira. He ducked under the swing and kicked the sword, driving it deeper into the metal arm causing a loud scraping sound. The harshness of metal cutting through metal wasn't a common thing to hear.   

Meanwhile, the other Polyphemus didn't stay put, they swung mechanically and neat, if they were living beings such strikes would be highly efficient. Ira, of course, dodged the attacks, countering when he could. Each strike would send a Polyphemus crashing into a building. Finally, a few decided to use the destructive red beams to attack. It looked as if it was a limited attack since they didn't immediately start off with it. It was also possible that it drew from the red spheres that powered them, using their power would put them at a large disadvantage.

Sensing the danger and noticing the red eye sockets increasing in intensity, Ira grabbed the Polyphemus with his sword stuck in its body and lifted.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

The red beams crisply cut through the air, and each hit the metal chassis of the unfortunate Polyphemus. The concentrated energy effortlessly penetrated its metal plating and destroyed its core, causing it to die. Ira waved his left hand and deposited the body, continuing his assault as he moved closer to the palace.

"PROTECT...THE...KING." 5 more Polyphemus rushed out to meet him, they would fail if they could not stop him now. Suddenly lightning struck a Polyphemus, but only hindered it at most. Rhys stood atop a roof and began her ranged assault on the ones attempting to attack Ira while his back was turned, not that he was in any real danger.  

Ira began to cleave through the metal and destroy each new foe that approached, not that there was any lack of effort on their part. It's just after 1000 years of being idle and having no energy to rely on, the Polyphemus failed to bring out their former strength. Even so, Ira's strength was the biggest cause. As the battle continued, Carter made his way through the city and the remaining groups of Mercs who managed to survive the constant one man assaults of the Polyphemus emerged. Seeing Ira fight, most saw an opportunity for wealth and headed for the palace, trailing behind Carter in speed, but still going forward.

"PROTECT! THE! KING!" The metallic voice screamed in a shrill tone, the partially destroyed Polyphemus who had no real combative use when they all awakened began to appear from the ground. Metallic hands attached to half torsos grabbed unsuspecting Mercs. It was the perfect trap since the Polyphemus didn't need to breathe. 4 out of the 5 remaining guards charged forward to take on these ambitious Mercenaries while they were helped up. Soon a battle occurred on a larger scale, those who were the greediest were the first to die because even though Carter advanced he did so cautiously.  

More and more half broke popped out of the loose soil explosively, it was reminiscent of explosives traps except when the Polyphemus extended their cold metal hands, those captured could only struggle to escape, many failing to do so. The team of 4 Polyphemus made short work of the ones trapped and continued forward with crowd control. All the while the single Polyphemus left guarding the Palace opened its metal chest and exposed the larger of the two red cores. It glowed brightly and continued to do so as it stood still.  

Lance and his party weren't dumb or brave enough to rush out into the front lines, but Lance decided to still fight with the other expeditionary Mercenaries. The group of Mercenaries lacked an enormous amount of cooperation but were able to provide enough distraction for the ranged attackers to bombard it.  

Spells shot out as the close combatants fought to the best of their ability. With such a small target it was nearly impossible for the whole group to attack so only a few attacked at a time. As the Mages prepared a second volley of spells, the nearly destroyed Polyphemus began shooting bursts of red light at those same Mages. They traded attacks as several Mages were struck down. The Mercenaries started to wear the Polyphemus down, and it shot red beams in random and rapid bursts taking down as many as it could. Someone finally smashed it in the head, and all signs of activity faded from it. The dust from its wild attack began clearing and showed the casualties.   

"Everyone alright?"  Lance asked as he coughed out the dust.

"I'm all right," Sarah said exhaustively.

"Me too," Valerie added.

Two voices seemed to be absent from. Lance repeated himself.

"Gerald? Zella? You guys ok?" He asked with a dry chuckle.

Finally, the dust was completely cleared, and Lance was left was a pitiful sight.

"Ger...Gera...Gerald!" He screamed as he ran over to a lifeless body. Half of his head was burned away, but it was obviously Gerald. Sarah covered her mouth as she grew teary-eyed and Valerie was no different. They often teased him about being a "Silent Giant" but the joke disappeared when he became more outspoken, and he never shut up about his wife or his admiration for Ira. But now, he died miserably without a chance to cry out for help.

"Zella!" Valerie mournfully wailed, as she ran over. Lance clenched his teeth and followed, with Sarah keeping up too.

"Ah...ah..." Zella had a hole in the center of her chest, she tried to speak but it was impossible, her life rapidly faded. Valerie only knew low-tiered healing magic, but that didn't stop her from attempting to fix Zella. If she was close to anyone in the party is was most definitely Zella. They both were Mages, so they spent more time together than they did with anyone else.

"H-Hold on, it'll be fine." Valerie turned irrational as she healed a wound that was impossible to repair. Nevermind the power of the healing spell, but it was cauterized. Everyone knew burns were nigh impossible to fix and maybe only those incredible healers that were few and far in between could fix it.

"ah..." Zella gave her last breath as her eyes lost all traces of life. Valerie cried as she continued to heal, falling into denial.

"...Valerie." Lance grabbed her shoulder, but she acted as if she couldn't feel it. "Valerie." It was apparent he was choked up with emotion, but it was still dangerous. Seeing her still ignore him, he tried to lift her up, "Valerie-" she turned around and slapped him.

"This is your fault!" She hissed as tears streamed down her face.

"Valerie." Sarah stepped forward to calm her, but her attempt fell on deaf ears.

"This your fault, Lance!" She slapped him again as the tears continued to pour.

"Valerie, you know it's not true-" Sarah herself was in tears, she tried to calm Valerie, but it failed.

"It is," Lance said, his expression was painted with misery. "I thought it was a good idea to rush in behind these guys and I even thought we were ready to fight alongside them...It's my fault...I killed them..." Lance crumbled and began crying, he was so caught up in trying to reach Ira and Rhys that he put his friends in danger. He was nothing like Carter, who could accept the deaths of his guildmates even if he cared deeply for them. He lacked the resolve to do such a thing, but it wasn't a leader's burden that allowed his friends to die, but his own selfishness. Didn't Ira warn them not to do it? Why did he not heed the advice of someone much stronger than him?

"Shit!" Lance cried unrestrainedly, "Shit! Shit! Shit!" He banged his head on the ground until it became soaked with blood. "Shit! Fucking shit! Shit!" He couldn't be content enough with just being allowed ahead of the other Mercenaries, he wanted recognition and look where it got him.

Similar scenes were repeated, although there was a lack of self-blame. The more experienced Mercenaries were prepared for death but still wept upon seeing their friends killed. Maybe the reason while solo Mercenari