"Formation Lima."
The words landed like a hammer strike.
The Vixens moved instantly.
Bunny surged forward first without hesitation, planting herself between Jax and the enemy line like a living fortress. World Breaker rested across her shoulders for only a heartbeat before slamming into both hands.
The massive hammer glowed faintly beneath etched dragon-runes.
Heat shimmered around the weapon.
Llandra slipped backward and to the right, movement impossibly smooth as Starpiercer appeared in her grip. Her boots barely touched the ground as she repositioned instinctively toward higher terrain near the edge of the road.
Already claiming angles.
Already denying flanks.
Zee drifted left beside the carriage.
Sanctaris ignited with radiant gold-red light as layered barriers unfolded outward around the group. Magic flowed from her naturally now—cleaner, faster, stronger than it ever had before.
Her Legendary healing class pulsed silently into motion.
Nyxian wandered right.
Barefoot.
Smiling.
Lilith's Kiss coiled lazily around her arm like a living serpent while Echo perched atop her shoulder hissing at the mercenaries ahead like he could already taste blood in the air.
At the center—
Jax stood relaxed.
Barefoot.
Bright floral shirt.
Ridiculously comfortable shorts.
Completely calm.
"My System confirms these men are murderers and rapists," Jax announced evenly, his voice carrying clearly across the clearing.
Silence answered him.
"Beasts hiding in man-sized bodies."
His eyes hardened.
"We wipe them out. All of them."
The bandits reacted first.
Archers fired in a disorganized volley.
Arrows darkened the sky.
Zee's barriers flared brilliantly.
Aegis of the Flame Dragon intercepted most of the attack instantly, translucent walls of mana shattering shafts midair before they could strike.
But a handful slipped through the gaps—
headed straight toward the Draft Behemoths.
Jax disappeared.
The world blurred.
One moment he stood beside the carriage.
The next—
he was everywhere.
His floral shirt flickered through the battlefield like a ridiculous mirage as he moved between the incoming arrows faster than mortal eyes could properly follow.
Catch.
Catch.
Catch.
Catch.
He snatched every arrow from the air barehanded.
Then reappeared exactly where he had started.
The arrows rested calmly between his fingers.
The battlefield went silent for half a heartbeat.
Jax glanced at the arrows thoughtfully.
"…Rude."
He casually tossed them aside.
Nyxian blinked slowly.
"That," she said softly, "was unnecessarily sexy."
Bunny nodded immediately.
"I know, right?"
The bandits looked significantly less confident now.
Bunny exploded forward.
Windstep activated beneath her feet.
She kicked off empty air as though invisible platforms existed only for her.
One step.
Two.
Three.
She climbed into the sky while arrows whistled harmlessly past her.
Then she spun.
Inferno Cyclone ignited.
World Breaker rotated with terrifying force as flames erupted outward into a roaring vortex beneath her.
The fire tornado crashed directly into the clustered mercenaries near the bridge entrance.
Men screamed.
Armor ignited.
Mounts panicked violently.
Bunny descended like judgment itself.
WORLD BREAKER slammed into the stone bridge.
SEISMIC SLAM.
The entire structure shuddered violently.
Stone cracked beneath the impact.
Bandits were launched sideways like dolls—some screaming as they plunged over the edge into the rushing river below.
Jax winced.
"Careful, Bunny. We still need the bridge."
"Oops!" Bunny called back cheerfully.
The mercenary leader barely managed to keep his footing.
Llandra didn't allow him recovery time.
Limitless Quiver activated.
Multi-Shot.
Flame Volley.
Starpiercer sang.
Blazing mana arrows erupted across the battlefield in perfect controlled arcs, detonating among bandits attempting to flank the carriage.
Fire consumed armor and flesh alike.
Several men died before they even understood they'd been targeted.
On the right flank—
Nyxian danced.
Lilith's Kiss snapped outward with impossible speed, the enchanted whip slicing through steel armor like cloth.
One mercenary charged her while the whip remained extended.
The handle split instantly.
Twin Lash Mode.
The second whip wrapped around the man's torso before he could react.
He screamed.
Venombrand activated.
Flame and poison surged together through his body simultaneously.
Burning.
Paralyzing.
Preventing healing.
His screams became wet choking noises moments later.
Nyxian laughed openly.
"Ohhhh, I LOVE new toys."
Echo hissed approvingly.
At the center of the battlefield—
Zee remained calm.
Focused.
Sanctaris pulsed rhythmically as she layered healing magic over her allies while simultaneously unleashing Dragonflame Surge into approaching attackers.
Three mercenaries attempted to rush her position.
They never reached her.
Dragonfire consumed them entirely.
The smell of burning armor filled the clearing.
Then—
the leader saw opportunity.
The bunny girl was mid-swing.
The healer was casting.
The succubus was distracted playing with prey.
The elf was focused elsewhere.
And the clown—
Unarmed.
Barefoot.
Close.
The mercenary roared and charged.
Sword raised high.
Rage filled every thought in his mind.
I'll kill him.
I'll break him in front of the others.
The women will kneel after they watch him die.
Jax watched him approach calmly.
Forty yards.
Thirty.
The glowing words above the man's head burned into Jax's vision.
MERCENARY / MURDERER / RAPIST
Level 55
Jax exhaled slowly.
Then moved.
Burst Acceleration.
The distance between them ceased to matter.
One moment Jax stood motionless.
The next—
he was simply there.
The mercenary's eyes widened in terror.
Jax's hand closed around the man's face.
CRUSHING GRASP.
Bone shattered instantly.
Nose collapsed inward.
Jaw snapped sideways.
Temples cracked beneath impossible pressure.
The world inverted violently.
The mercenary's body launched backward over the bridge with catastrophic force, sword and one boot flying free separately as momentum ripped them away.
Jax followed him.
Then slammed him into the earth on the far side of the bridge.
The impact cratered the ground.
"Ant," Jax said calmly while pinning the broken man into the dirt.
Then he drove him down harder.
"Meet boot."
The mercenary's armor imploded.
His head—
ceased to exist.
Jax released the ruined corpse casually.
Then immediately stepped backward.
Silence lasted exactly one heartbeat.
Then panic erupted.
The remaining bandits broke instantly.
Men fled in every direction.
Several abandoned weapons entirely.
Others mounted beasts desperately and attempted escape down the road.
Llandra raised Starpiercer immediately.
Jax appeared beside her.
Inspect activated rapidly across the fleeing figures.
"Only these," he said quietly while pointing.
"Second from the right."
"Fifth from the right."
"Far left."
Llandra nodded once.
"Confirmed."
She drew.
Flame Volley.
Three arrows screamed across the battlefield like divine punishment.
All three struck perfectly.
Flames consumed the marked men instantly.
They died screaming.
Llandra calmly reached for another arrow.
Jax gently placed one hand on her arm.
"It's enough."
She looked toward him.
"The rest are only bandits," he said quietly. "They didn't cross that line."
Llandra studied the fleeing survivors for another moment.
Then slowly lowered Starpiercer.
Silence settled across the clearing.
Nineteen bodies littered the battlefield.
Burned.
Broken.
Crushed.
The Vixens stood among the destruction—
still dressed in oversized shirts and shorts.
Bare legs.
Messy hair.
Legendary weapons glowing faintly in their hands.
Not one of them looked shaken.
Jax finally looked down at himself.
Bright floral shirt.
Vacation shorts.
Bare feet.
He sighed.
"…Still worth it," he muttered quietly.
"These clothes are ridiculously comfortable."
Nyxian snorted loudly.
"You just killed a level fifty-five mercenary dressed like a retired beach dad."
Bunny grinned proudly.
"That somehow makes it scarier."
Zee slowly lowered Sanctaris.
"I think we traumatized them."
Llandra glanced toward the burning bridge entrance.
"…Good."
The road to Crystalshire lay open once more.
And nothing stood in their way.