Laz’s sword swung and he jumped, cutting deep into the lead horned beastman. He then jumped to the side and swung at another, catching it in the face with a vicious punch that sent the beast reeling backwards into those behind it. Another quick slash cut deep into the abdomen of yet another, sending it reeling as well, stopping the charge as the ones in front were knocked back into the ones behind.

Laz stood up as he eyed these large goat men, as though a beast looking at prey. They seemed to look into his eyes and shifted back slightly, unsure for the first time. They had been ordered to charge in, creating a hole in the defense, but had been stopped by one small human and now that human was giving off a vibe that made them shiver.

This was unacceptable.

The lead goatman roared in a way sounding more like a lion that a goat and smashed his feet hooves on the ground as the dozen others around it did the same thing. While Laz might have previously been in the mood to reciprocate the gesture, right now he just wanted a fight.

As such, he didn’t bother waiting and jumped forward, plowing right into them as his sword swung, causing them to jump out of the way. Unfortunately, his reach with his unarmed hand was much shorter and not being taken as a concern, or it wasn’t until a spear instantly appeared in his hand and he stab out hard, piercing the head of one of the ones who had just backed away to safety.

"How convenient," Laz laughed and tossed the now broken spear shaft away. Against creatures like these, these weapons wouldn’t be able to stand up to the constant barrage and abuse they would take as they were just trash weapons in the first place. Letting another appear in his hand, Laz threw it out quickly, taking out another of the goatmen as they attempted to flank him. While they were strong and fast in a charge, their agility left something to be desired.

Laz worked his way through then, moving and weaving like he was dancing as he sliced up these creatures. While this wasn’t Laz’s first time on a battle field, it was the first time he had felt so alive.

Unfortunately, Laz was getting so into it he stopped paying attention to what was happening around him while lost in his bloodlust and failed to noticed two of the goatmen getting behind him. They grabbed both his arms and pulled, restricting him as the only other remaining goatman charged forward, ready to plunge a massive cleaver into his heart. While not fast, they were surprisingly strong and Laz knew that he had messed up.

"One of the first rules of the Asura is to never lose your mind on the battle field. While your blood sings in the song of violence and bloodshed, it dampens your mind and your vision. You need to work to overcome this and make the best use out of both," Kat said, advising him.

Just when the blade was going to hit him, spikes erupted out of the back of the armor and impaled the two attackers restraining Laz. Feeling the shift, Laz twisted his body to avoid the attack and struck forward, impaling the charging goatman on a massive spike that had grown from the arm guard of his armor.

Pulling back, Laz felt his body lose the tension as he realized that they were all dead. Standing there, dripping in their blood, Laz could only say thanks to Kat for her help and her reminder. Just as he turned to make his way back to the legion, a whistling sound entered his ear from behind and turning to look, he barely caught sight of a huge, rat like creature with three twisted horns protruding from it’s head charging straight for him.

Drawing a shield from his ring, he braced as the surrounded bodies gave him no room to dodge and he took the hit, head on sending his body shooting out like a cannon ball and crashing into the edge of the legion, his body knocking several of the defenders back and opening a hole in their line. Number Two ordered for it to be filled as Laz was dragged to the center, the shield broken and blood dripping from his lips.

Number Two dragging him up.

"Are you alright First?" 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

"I’ll live. That thing is way to big to be that quiet."

"I don’t know how much longer we can hold," Number Two said, looking around at the dead and injured surrounding them. Since they needed to keep the line filled, the dead and injured had to be quickly moved out of the way. Since the center was the only safe place, that’s where they were moved, also giving Number Two a good idea as to the state of their forces. They were barely hanging on. Laz took a moment to look around as well. He didn’t think they would just let everyone outside the wall fall like this while the ones looking on barely made a move at all, but it seemed like that was exactly what was happening. Those on the wall only took to taking care of the ones trying to climb the wall and didn’t even provide support for those outside.

Not that it mattered much since Laz was pretty sure his legion was the only ones left alive.

Still, he had no clue what to do from this point on, other than fighting.

Taking another two spears from his ring, Laz lobbed them as hard as he could at the giant rat, sending it wheeling backwards. Once it was knocking backed, the ones closest took to hacking at it until it was dead.

And so the battle went on.

More and more casualties piled up as they decreased the size of the line, shrinking the square again and again until the line met the bodies piled in the middle and unless they wanted to let the beasts get to their fallen and hurt comrades, there was no place else to go.

As for Laz, despite his strength and stamina, even his vision was starting to get blurry from all the blood splashed across his face. He had been fighting the hardest, always running to the areas in danger of collapse and lending his support.

Just when he felt like his legs would buckle from underneath him, a loud howl echoed over the battlefield as all the beasts backed off then slowly retreated, making their way into the tree line and disappearing from view.

The trash legion didn’t react at first, standing firm in case it was another coordinated charge. After about ten minutes though silence still dominated the battlefield and with Number Two looking over to him, Laz raised his broken, blood covered sword above his head and let out the loudest, wordless cry he could muster. The other survivors joined in, echoing his call as their ragged voices filled the silence.

Their were few injured, but the ones living helped pick them up as they returned to the gate, but once they arrived there, the massive wooden and metal doors stood shut tight. Seeing this, Laz took one look up at the man in the center of the gate, turned and began walking away. He didn’t know what game they were playing, but he wasn’t interested in finding out.

The ones who had followed him continued to do so as he stopped by the massive pile of dead bodies that once use to be there own comrades. Laz bowed his head and kept it there as a sign of thanks. Following along, the others did the same,

They stood there for a whole minute before Laz moved close to the blood soaked pile and bringing his finger close, he whispered a few words as though calling for something. Black sparks shot out of his finger as the pile began to catch fire.

He and the rest of the trash legion stood there, heads lowered as the pile of bodies began to burn up like a funeral pyre until the flames reached the sky.

"I only knew you for a short time, but today, I celebrate your passing as your brother. Go now and enter the cycle upon your way to rebirth. And may your next life leave you in good fortune and good health, all until your dying breath once again. I don’t know if we will ever meet again, but when we do... First drinks one me!" Laz yelled the last bit.

"First drinks on me!" The rest of the legion responded, their fists in the air.

"Hold, for now you drink in the eternal embrace of the mother and the father. Hold, for now you rest upon the wings of the great eagles, the sky and the light. Hold, for now you behold the halls of your families, your ancestors, to welcome you come home. Hold, for you have died upon this field of battle and all of Valhalla awaits your coming. Rest well brave brothers and sisters, until the time of our reunion!" Laz then stabbed his broken sword into the ground and began to walk away from the gate and away from the fortress.

He was done with this.