Blood sprinkled on the grass when Yvonne yanked the dying thug and used his body as a meat shield. An effective show of brutality, but fortunately (or unfortunately) Athena's fire magic was a better deterrence, a purplish fire conjured itself on the thug's crossbow and started eating its wooden frame as it slipped away from his grip.  

Yvonne took advantage of the enemy's surprise to close the distance and swung her ice polearm. 

The thug futilely tried to grasp his secondary weapon, but it was too late now. The bardiche cleaved his arm off like a twig and bit deep into his ribcage. With his only one good hand, the dying thug grabbed the polearm by the hilt before going limp and falling to the ground. 

The last thug, who for the entire ordeal was watching from afar, had already made a run toward the gate, understandably freaked out by the quick decimation of his group. 

[b]"Dude! What the hell! Open the gate! Let meeee innn!!" [/b]

From the other side of the courtyard, Jazdia repositioned herself and imbued her arrow with magic. Aimed at a higher degree to compensate for the distance, her black bow tensed for a while before sending the illuminated arrow to soar until it arched downward and the hit the brick construction right next to the inner gate. 


The last thug was lost in the explosion. Meanwhile, the brick post and the metal bars that stood between the courtyard and the manor shattered and fell apart. The other half of that gate managed to hold for a while before it too had its hinges given up and fell. 

[center]*****[/center] 

Before Solomon could observe much, a blasting sound of crushed stone and clanging iron alarmed the entire manor, including the twitching guard. With a quick motion, he gripped his polearm and walked forward, though slow, his pace was steady, and no verbal expression could be observed from him. 

Meanwhile, the entrance to the basement lacked any sort of door or physical barrier. If one wandered inside, one might find that the entire basement was a sturdy bunker made of concrete and brick as wide as the house itself. On the north side of that bunker, there was a door, guarded by two of Delving's unsavory characters, who were now fully roused by the explosion's thundering blast but seemed undecided if they should check it out. 

"What the hell was that? Did you hear that?"

"Fuck me! I was this close from kissing the dirt! Some nutjob from Rascade is attacking us, or Mechean bastards must be one of 'em!" 

"Shit, I'm starting to think this ain't worth it. Four months ago it was that bakery incident, and now this. It ain't right man, I ain't signed up for this crap!"

"The boss said he knew they were coming. That's why he is here. And you stay where you are! Unless you want to join Marty and the others in the dungeon." 

"Might not be the worst idea. That redhead is hot!" 

"Don't push your luck. Our job is to guard the place so keep your eyes peeled!"