Chapter 312: Meting Out - Judgement
The first villager to approach wielded a hooked blade for gutting large fish. Amarena dodged his clumsy swing by twisting her body aside before thudding him in the back of the head with her tail.
She could have used war form, but to her sight no one here had the mana to challenge her.
A villager poked a pitchfork at her and she spun away, humming to herself in the way Telan taught her was done by dancing warriors. This dance was a cacophony of different tools and wildly low skill wielding them as weapons, and it was with relative ease that Amarena drew a sword into her spin, severing the head of the pitchfork at the wood before she landed in a pose with one blade high and the other low.
One of the villagers with a sword took the chance to rush her, and she dodged the sword by stepping into his reach as she spun around him, kicking back with one foot just below his knee and charlie horsing him.
On and on the villagers came in ones or in pairs, none of them managing to land a blow as she danced in sure-footed sequences that had some villagers gasping in awe at how a demon could be so graceful.
Especially once they started to realize she was doing her best not to kill or maim them.
"Have you had enough?" Amarena shouted once the rest of the fighters backed off. "You have not even heard my judgment, and yet you would defy me? The one who answered your call for justice?" In the back of her mind Amarena knew these words from one of Talen’s fantastical stories about the Grey Judges of Retha, who were not Valrians but did coordinate to exchange legal and political theories.
A flicker of movement drew her eyes as something shone from behind the villagers. Halie emerged from a portal and leaned against a shed that stood atop one of the roofs. She had both of their travel supplies ready to go, and a scroll in one hand.
"We know your judgment. The penalty for slaying a fief holder is death," the Mayor shouted. "But you don’t know what it was like!"
"Tell me then!" She held her swords at the ready, the villagers facing her pausing their assault as the Mayor spoke.
"We just needed a Knight to end this quickly..." The mayor paced around his spot as he ran his hands through his balding hair, trying to think of what to say. "You think we got these scars fishing? The Cliff Lord had us fishing day and night once the Heavenswar started. Whenever we had a bad catch, he’d cut us. Whenever we couldn’t pay rent, he’d... take what he wanted. From our homes, our wives... And if you had nothing, he would toss you out of your home in front of everyone. Just like Azalee’s parents." He pointed at the cliffs. The cliffs that held the homes of every villager gathered here.