[i][/i][i][/i][h2][center][b][color=ed1c24]Novak[/color][/b][/center][/h2]
The battle was over.  One of the hunters was dead, two were fatally injured, and aside from some bruises, it looked like Novak, Nobunaga, and Enli were unscathed.  Novak wrenched the spear from his sword and tossed it away, not wanting the hunter to be able to reach it.

"It's a good thing you were with us, Nobunaga," he said to his companion.  "Enli and I wouldn't have survived this without you."

Indeed, Nobunaga had felled every single one of their foes, showing considerable skill with both a sword and bow.  Novak couldn't help but wonder how Lady Mie's bodyguards would compare to the red-eyed swordswoman in terms of swordsmanship.  Either way, it was pretty clear she handily outmatched the hunters.

There was still the matter of the wounded hunters.  One had been literally disarmed and wouldn't last long before he bled out.  The other- the one whom Novak had been fighting- had taken an arrow to the lung and was probably going to die soon, too.  He needed to die- he tried to enrage the Kyrinth, tried to kill Enli, and tried to kill Novak and Nobunaga despite them having helped the hunters.  In fact, he very well may have been one of the people trying to kill Novak at the temple, too.

Novak stepped over the man, his blade to deliver a coup de grace, placing the sword over the approximate location of the man's heart.   His arms wouldn't drive the sword in, though.  The feeling of imminent danger was wearing off, and the willingness to kill was fading from him.  Try as he might, he didn't have the will to stab this incapacitated man anymore.  He had killed ornery birds and ungrateful slimes, but he had never killed another person- or if he did, he couldn't remember it.  Either way, he found himself hesitating to do it.

"Why did you try to kill us?  We helped you, we've put our lives on the line to help your village, and you stab us in the back!" he shouted at the man, not caring if the dying hunter could or would respond.  He may not yet have the stomach to kill a wounded man, even one so grievously wounded that it'd probably be an act of mercy, but between the throbbing pain in his face and the hurt from the hunters' betrayal, he nonetheless found himself angry to the point of tears.

[@Rune_Alchemist][@VitaVitaAR]