Headed by a Snake

Tycondrius of Charm made his way through a gaggle of some 30 armed men and women. He had stealthily picked up a cloak from a fallen Staghorn and draped it over his armor, relying on the spectacle that was Korr's fight to go unnoticed.

The Heavy Armor Knight was wearing a makeshift sling, supporting his sword arm. He silently assessed the mustachioed man's clumsy size and slack-jawed look as traits belonging to an idiot. The Wizard was the only other person in the group that looked threatening.

For a reason Tycon could not fathom, Korr had abandoned her post in Nice and was fighting a winged Holy Country warrior who could literally vomit lightning bolts. And by fighting, she was throwing improvised projectiles at the winged man while he returned fire with accurate lightning-based spells. However, with all her bruises and charred, torn clothing was, Seldin Korr hadn't sustained any obvious injuries nor appeared to be running out of stamina.

Tycon placed a friendly hand on the Wizard's shoulder. He seemed like an intelligent, respectable gentleman-- an excellent enemy to defeat early on.

"Speak your mind, Scout." The wizard's eyes met Tycon's, "I pray your suggestion can change the status quo."

[Vexing Gaze conditions met. Activate? Y/N?]

« How unfortunate. I suppose my suggestion will. Activate. Geek the mage. »

[Activating. Geeking the mage.]

Before the effects could process, Tycon grabbed the wizard by the collar and belt and threw him out of the crowd.

The Knight began to yell, "What?! What are you DOING, Scout?!?"

Paying the metal man no need, Tycon drew his razor whip lashed out, precisely bleeding the downed wizard's calves. The thin man shrieked in pain, like he was dying. How uncouth.

« Activate Razor Spin. »

[Activating. Razor Spin: Razor Whip ability. Target takes additional damage from charge attacks.]

Tycon firmly raised his voice, "Geek the mage!"

He ran forward, and delivered a running kick to the Wizard's stomach. That and the illusory poisoning from Vexing Gaze made the robed figure spit out a glob of blood.

[Lamb to the Slaughter conditions met. Activate? Y/N?]

« Activate. Death to the enemies of Invictus. »

[Activating. Death to the enemies of Invictus.]

Dragan fell out of the trees first, a red blur with his elbow pointed downward for an unnecessarily reckless elbow drop.

"Geek the maaaage!" He smashed into the wizard's chest before clumsily rolling away, laughing maniacally.

Pale leapt off a nearby tree branch and dove with his crimson spear-haft downward.

"Geek the mage!" He smashed the spear's blunt end into the wizard's abdomen. Hopping off, he spun his spear to hold it like a club and began brutally bludgeoning the downed wizard.

Wroe appeared out of a magical shadowy sphere, flying downward at a peculiar 200 degree angle, eventually stomping onto the wizard's face with both heels.

"I honestly had no idea what you guys meant until just now," the blue-haired angel admitted.

Barza ran up, having missed his moment, and began stomping on the wizard, "Yeah, take this!!"

Tycondrius was mildly disappointed, but Barza he inwardly applauded the man's fighting spirit.

...

The process had taken some 15 seconds.

Knight Leserre stared dumbfounded, his jaw near unhinged. "Wh-what?"

Clemont was being brutally beaten by 5 random, screaming adventurers. "P-please! Stop! Oh! Why?!" he begged.

Tycon, having already done his part in the savage takedown of the wizard, walked over to Korr and the hovering winged warrior. He handed Korr a waterskin.

She took it, her face red, assumedly from physical exertion, "L-leader's personal waterskin."

Tycon squinted his eyes in confusion. Was there a significance to his waterskin he wasn't aware of?

She drank from the skin thirstily, before wordlessly dashing off... not towards Maximus, but to the wizard. She too began to kick and stomp the rolling man.

Tycon turned to the flying man awkwardly, "Hello."

"Hi," He landed on the ground and lifted his spear as an acknowledgment.

The man wore a silvery muscle cuirass, a popular armor style in the Holy Country. He folded his blue scaly wings behind him and rolled his shoulders, emphasizing the blue scales on his muscled upper arms. He radiated an aura of confidence, strength, and free-flowing mana. He would have been an intimidating enemy...

Tycon stared above the man's head with confusion. The system had already identified him, even though he, himself, didn't know who he was.

His name was Maximus.

And the color of his name was blue, the color of trust.

« System, inquiry: Basic information on Maximus, specifically rank, class, and race/species. »

[Gian Vanzano. Alias: Maximus of Ezyria. Dovahkiin Iron-Rank Warmage.]

« How powerful. System, save settings as default for basic information search. »

[Setting change complete.]

He had no reason to doubt his System. Tycon put away his whip and offered an arm, "Have we met?"

Maximus grasped Tycon by the forearm, the customary greeting in the Holy Country. "We have, Lord Tycondrius."

"Tycon is fine, Mister Vanzano."

"Then Maximus will be fine, as well. I heard a rumor that Sol Invictus has become a Dark Guild since we've last met. I would like to hear of circumstances from you or guild leader Quay."

Tycon nodded, crossing his arms and placing a finger to his lips, "To begin with, Guild Invictus' actions here are purely benign. However, I was not aware that we had become a Dark Guild."

Maximus nodded, "Guild leader Quay was always noble and just, so the news had come to me as a surprise. The rumors must be untrue."

"Hold, Mister Maximus. I do not wish to lead you astray."

"Mister Dragan!" Tycon called.

Dragan halted his kicking of the wizard to jog over, "Hey, Boss! Ohhh, heyyy! Maximus!! How ya been, man?"

The two clasped forearms, "Good, you?"

Tycon interrupted-- "Mister Dragan, I was wondering what atrocities we've committed since we've last met with Maximus."

"Eh, what? BOSS!! Why the f*ck do you always blame me?!" Dragan looked hurt.

Tycon was nonplussed, "Because it's usually you."

"Okay, fair." Dragan placed his hands on his hips, "But to answer your question, Boss, we haven't done anything grossly illegal since."

"What? Are you sure? Murders? Arson?" Tycon was having a difficult time believing the giant.

"Nope."

"Are we... suspected of anything?"

"Nope!"

"Call Bucket over," Tycon ordered.

"C'mon, Boss! Can't you believe me?!"

Tycon glared in response. It would be problematic if Guild Invictus had the reputation of being a Dark Guild, a guild reputed for carrying out illegal or immoral missions. And there would be more problems if crusaders from the Holy Country like Warmage Maximus were seeking to collect their bounty.

"Okay, fair." Dragan shrugged in defeat.

Dragan tagged out with Pale, who hurried over.

"Oh, hello, Sir! It's nice to see you again." Pale exchanged greetings with the much taller Maximus.

"You are... Quay's son?"

"Yes, Sir! Oh, um-- Dad is missing, so Sir Tycon is Sol Invictus' leader for now!"

Tycon crossed his arms, "Pale, is the guild wanted for any crimes?"

"N-no, Sir! Not in the Kingdom! Oh, and not in the Holy Country, either."

Tycon nodded with furrowed brows, turning to Maximus, "Well, this is a surprise to me, as well."

Maximus looked confused, "I... don't know why it should be. The uh... Girl is with you, right?"

Tycon glanced over to Korr. She was on her hands and knees, beating the wizard with a sharp rock she found, "Y-yeah. She's uh... She's alright."

Maximus nodded hesitantly, "She said some kinda... treasonous things."

Pale ran back to the wizard-kicking group and tagged out with Seldin Korr.

Korr jogged over. Tycon used his sheathed sword to block her from landing a fist on Maximus. She puffed up her cheeks and aggrievedly looked to Tycon.

Tycon stared for a moment, "Why are you here, anyway?"

Korr ran away.

The two stared at her departing form. Tycon turned to the Warmage, "I'll vouch for her. She's... not a bad person."

Maximus raised his eyebrows, "I... see."