Payment
He started slow, unused to such fine control with his Divine Grasp. A stab here, a twirl there, a slice over there. Then, when he got the hang of it, he picked up his speed. His knives slit throats left and right, his Breach knife, in particular, doing wonders against the few that wore helmets. Dozens fell to their knees every minute, grasping at their throat in a futile attempt to stop their bleeding.
Fate moved slowly through the enemy army, a casual stroll as if it were a normal day at the beach. The clanging and screaming all around him didn't bother him. He'd been hearing those sounds since he was a child.
His knives continued to pick up speed as he learned more and more about precise control with his Divine Grasp. It was like learning how to use his own hand; it just came naturally to him.
Seven minutes later, Fate was barely an eighth of the way through the mass of enemy soldiers. He had cut down hundreds of them, and it felt like he hadn't even put a dent into their numbers.
He sighed. 'We really are outmatched here. I can't go too far, either, or my aura won't cover the Venlanz troops and their opponents. Guess I should turn back around…'
He turned on his heel and started back to the front, moving about twenty feet to the right so he could take out more soldiers on the way. He paid no mind to the blades passing through his body as the Fractured desperately tried to take him out. Anyone that tried was met with a knife to the neck anyway.
The Fractured quickly learned that their only chance to save themselves was to get away from Fate. He found it oddly comical when they turned on each other, pushing and shoving through the horde to put as much distance between themselves and Fate as possible. Many of their comrades were pushed to the ground, only to be stepped on and over as the survivors continued their mad charge, eliciting many broken necks and cracked bones.
Just like the Venlanz did at the start of the battle, the Fractured cut down their fleeing comrades with zeal, spitting on the corpses they produced with utter disgust on their faces. Many of these 'enforcers,' as Fate decided to call them, uttered the same word the Mockingbird man called Fate: Dracknu.
These enforcers, of which there were five, then met Fate head-on, one of them swearing loudly that they would end him and take back what was theirs. Fate decided not to let him finish his speech, flinging his two knives at him.
The man sneered and threw his hands forward, catching the weapons by their hilts. He slid their edges against each other, producing a *shiiing* noise, then he charged at Fate, arms raised and knives brandished.
The man hadn't been observing Fate's one-sided slaughter, so he was unaware of Fate's ability. And since Fate appeared solid even when he was intangible, his appearance gave no hints as to what he could do.
The man went right through Fate, stumbling as he tried to readjust himself. Fate turned corporeal and threw his Miao Dao out of its sheath, catching it and slicing the man's back in one swift motion. He stepped over and drove his blade's point through the man's neck to finish the job.
He turned to the dead man's four companions, flicking the blood off of his blade. When he turned, though, the four men were nowhere to be seen, replaced by his family: Autumn, Tom, Nikolas, and Maya, all outfitted in the same crimson armor as the Fractured that surrounded them.
He looked at the faces of the Fractured that were observing this battle, forming a ring around Fate and his friends. Behind them, the army continued to surge forward, stepping forward to replace their dead.
These men and women looked just as confused as he felt, their faces scrunched and their eyebrows furrowed as they looked at the members of Styx. He turned back to his friends.
"Well, Fate. How've you been?" asked Autumn, a cheeky grin on her face.
"Yeah, it's been years and you haven't even tried to visit us," Nikolas said with mock anger.
"What're you doing on the side of those Venlanz guys?" Tom asked. "You know they're the bad guys, right? Murdering and oppressing these guys, who just want their home back." He spread his arms, gesturing to the whole of the battlefield. "Even now they kill the Fractured for trying t take what they deserve."
"Do you really want to be on the losing side? Come join us, and we'll give these people what they've earned." Maya said.
The silence that followed seemed to stretch on for minutes, but in reality, only lasted a few seconds. Autumn always was impatient.
"Well?" she demanded.
Fate, who had been staring off in the distance, blinked and returned his gaze to his friends. "Hm? Oh, that. Whoever you are, you're a fool." He moved forward swiftly, slashing with his Miao Dao. 'Tom' caught it with his armored forearm.
"We don't fight for the 'winning side.' Whatever side we join is the winning side." He brought his Miao Dao back, slashing forward once more.
'Tom' tried the same trick, bringing his arm up, but Fate shifted into incorporeality, his blade doing the same, and it went through the imposter's arm like he was made of air. At the last second, Fate shifted back to a solid state, just as his sword was about to hit the doppelganger's neck.
"Besides," Fate continued as the headless body slumped to the floor. The other three backed away, their eyes flickering from the body to Fate and back again, fear coloring their features.
"You didn't even mention payment." He spared a glance for the imposter's body, which was once more in the appearance of one of the five enforcers, confirming his suspicions.
He strode forward, allowing his contacts to show his true eye color, just to mess with their minds a bit.