Author's note: Warning, this chapter will contain graphic scenes of wanton violence and is completely optional to read.

Jonathan’s fingers grasped the tip of his hood, pulling the leather cloth hybrid over his head to hide his tufts of white hair. Over the past few days it had grown considerably, almost to the point of falling to his lower jaw. He was no barber by any means, but delicate twirls of the blade at least kept his bangs from blocking his line of sight. To say his pearly mane was a dead give away was an understatement, hence the hood and wooden mask he had recently carved.

Standing tall he would slowly raise his arms over his head before gradually lowering them, poised as if grasping an invisible bow. Purple energy manifested between his fingers, gradually drawing out his crafted weapon from seemingly nowhere. The Kyudo bow became a solid object, with the string delicately grasped between his perfectly positioned limbs. With one foot out, and the other planted behind him, Jonathan readied himself.

The last of the bow formed, with the purple energy accumulating in a vibrant vortex as it conjured the arrow, from the fletchings to the broadhead. The arrows were delicately crafted with the fusion of Living Woodand the surprisingly durable Parasprite Wings, tipped off with the epic ranked fang of The Birch Hound Prince. These arrows in particular were a bitch to craft, with the arrowheads alone draining Jonathan with each one fused to the uncommon grade shafts.

“Wolfpack Arrows”, a special ammunition that measured approximately 110 cm in length (or 43 inches). With the sturdy shaft firmly grasped with his fingers gently pressing against the insectoid fletchings, he readied his aim. The archer calmed his breathing, and prepared to launch his premeditated strike. The pupils of his eyes dilated, zooming in on his targets with a sniper’s accuracy, all while his prepared skill came into play.

Weapon Skill Activation: “Sniper’s Aim”

Weapon Skill Activation: “Sniper Shot”

The weight of his draw was intense, even with his enhanced strength he felt every inch he pulled back tense up his muscles. The more weight a bow could handle, the more powerful the shot, and the further it would go. Mana poured through his entire being, expelling in the form of a green mist that rapidly coiled and soaked into the arrow, imbuing it with newfound power.

With a sharp exhale, Jonathan released the arrow, watching as it soared in a beautiful arch through the air like a rocket. With aid from “Sniper’s Aim” he could see the full trajectory of his shot as a predetermined line with various rings around it, almost as if using a ghostly arching laser to aim. ”Sniper Shot” used mana to forcefully increase the velocity of the shot, further increasing the range the projectile would travel mid-flight.

Item Activation: “Wolfpack Munitions”

The arrow glistened in the night sky like a shooting star, rippling with faint arcane power as the shaft split its mass into many smaller bolts. The separated projectiles that broke off from the primary shaft soared, twirling and dancing through the sky like leaping lupins. They were all guided by the master bolt they detached from, leader of the wolf pack.

The shots inevitably met their marks atop the many guard towers with a soft THUNK each target struck. The west side’s towers were all hit with a seemingly insignificant blow, no major damage done if any at all. There were 18 towers, the targets were between 960 to 8,600 meters away, effortlessly smashing the human record of any archery target.

Jonathan stored his long bow within his inventory once more, the sturdy frame of the
Kyudo bow was replaced with a new toy. It was a much smaller yet equally sturdy warrior bow that mirrored the designs of a Roman foot soldier. With it the arrow selection was changed to befitting munitions for the smaller weapon. The manifested quiver rested angular to the small of Jonathan’s back, with another crossing over to make the shape of an X across his leather belt.

Nocking an arrow into the shortbow, the man leapt from his high ground advantage, landing in the soft comfort of a large bush past the outer spike barricade. The first wave of patrols would be coming in soon, right on schedule. Two stallions, one wore a brass centurion helmet with black feathers protruding in a vertical mohawk.

His armor consisted mainly of a simple iron breastplate and what looked to be a studded leather battle kilt right beneath. The second was wearing an equally tar black hood that barely concealed the curved spiral of bone sticking from the center of his forehead. Everything else worn was nothing more than loose hanging cloth perfect for his kind…

…A Unicorn caster…

("Did you hear? Sounds like the boss is getting close to cracking the pest. Soon enough that loot will be good as ours eh…? I wonder if the boss will let us have a go at her before he finishes it…gotta admit, those Pegasus mares have a nice juicy ass~") The centurion-esk Earth pony chuckled. His little speech appeared over his helm like a cartoonish text bubble. The leathers were a bright gold in a rectangular cloud of blue to make his vile words pop out. The unicorn wandering by his side let out a throaty snort, like a grotesque gremlin trying its best to stifle a laugh.

(“Doubtful, that psychotic cat was never one to let others play with his prey…pretty gnarly stuff. After seeing what happened to that royal snoop that came sniffing around earlier, I doub’t she’ll be in any shape to buck around with unless you're into buckin corpses…”) The unicorn adjusted his serrated iron spear within his sickly green magic. The shaft of his weapon came to rest upon the padded brown shoulder strap while his cohort joined him in malicious laughter.

Jonathan felt his blood boil, his breath catching in his throat as a tidal wave of disdain began to race through his body. Just as he thought he’d rush the pair and tear them limb from bloody limb, the familiar aura of purple farie lights swam in the corners of his vision. In an instant his hatred was crushed beneath a wave of calm, with all his pent up anger being directed to his focus on the plan.

His purple eyes zeroed in on the pair while they walked past the tower, all while its occupants swept the landscape behind them with the green spot light. ‘5 paces…4…3…2…1…’ Each step was a mental countdown echoing in Jonathan’s mind, almost like the beat of a drum. When Earth pony took his final steps into the shadows between both watchtower’s blind spots…it was all over.

Jonathan kicked off the dirt, his feet leaving a small indent in the earth as he propulsed himself forward like a gunshot. His blurred movements gave neither guard time to notice him. With silent fury the man drew his first arrow that had been prepared within the war bow drawstring. Releasing caused a soft twang of the string, and a meaty SHUNK as the arrow embedded in the Earth pony’s thinly exposed neck. The stallion’s eyes widened from the surprise attack, his lips parting as if to let out a scream of alarm to his partner who hadn’t even noticed.

The guard’s fruitless attempts at communication only lead to soft gurgles masked by a mix of the noisy roughhousing of the camp, and the chirping of wildlife in the woods. The arrow had pierced flesh, muscle, and accurately punctured the larynx and slashed the vocal cords completely. The lethal blow further wreaked havoc on his target’s internals where the carotid artery would be. Jonathan’s arrow would finally come to a stop when the stone head of his projectile embedded in the barricade beside the stallion, pinning him to it..

It was only when the unicorn noticed less hoofsteps that he finally turned to check on his partner. His brain looked like it did a complete 180 the moment he laid eyes on Jonathan, his already big eyes growing larger in his skull. Before he could alert anypony, Jonathan kicked off the Earth pony’s side like a springboard.

This allowed the man to perform a cartwheel through the air with his fast hands drawing two more arrows, firing both simultaneously. The first met its mark, like the first stallion who got it in the throat. The second however plunged deep into his eye and out the back of his head. The soft gurgles of fresh blood were the last utterances that would ever leave this scum’s mouth before he would unceremoniously crumple to the earth. Jonathan landed in front of the dead unicorn and rolled to lessen the impact of his acrobatic feat.

Time was not on his side, because the second patrol of external guards was coming to his position quickly on schedule. Jonathan grasped the arrow ridden corpses, and with the strength of a herculean chucked them both past the furthermost wall beneath his starting point. He made sure to twist his body wide in order to utilize the momentum within the spin to send the corpses a great distance one at a time.

The thrill and shock at his own strength had lost its grip on Jonathan long, long ago by this point. While most people would froth at the mouth at how cool they were, in that moment he only saw his enhanced strength and agility as means to an end. Without it he wouldn’t have had any chance of hiding the bodies in time.

He made sure to cover the splotches of fresh blood with dirt kicked by his thick boots to hide the traces. Quickly after he crouched down low to make himself as small as possible in the darkness of the lunar shadows. His back pressed firmly into the splintered wood of angular spikes used as the second layer of this camp’s defenses, waiting quietly for his time to strike. When the second round of the external patrol came around, they too entered the blindspot between towers, therefore sealing their fate.

(“Oi Chip…you smell that? Smells like-”) The second patrol’s Unicorn guard started to speak, this one a mare with locks of sanguine red mane messily drooping past her emerald green eyes. Her sharp horn flexed its cherry red magic around a pair of rusty sickle blades. Her Earth pony partner sported a hefty looking sword fixed to his saddle that looked akin to an oversized cleaver. This was something Jonathan admittedly was curious about, trying to fit together how he would even use such a weapon.

(Bloo-?) The Earth Pony was about to finish her sentence when his words were promptly cut short…literally. The serrated blade of a chiseled stone knife was embedded into his throat, followed by another into his side beneath the breastplate. With the flick of his wrist Jonathan’s gnarled blades damn near took his head clean off, while also slitting his stomach open. The Unicorn mare was splashed in the face by a fountain of her partner’s blood, blinding her to their assultant .

Jonathan, who had been holding the stallion in place during the dastardly deed, dropped the deceased guard. This only prompted him to slip a third concealed knife from his inventory, to his clenching hand in a reverse grip. She could only let out a soft squeak before the blade pierced the right side of her frontal lobe. This effectively lobotomized the unicorn where she stood.

Her aura holding the blades faltered, as did the one around her spiked horn which had been pulsing with magic. Like the flickering remnants of a dying lightbulb it gradually dimmed to nothing. Then, with a soft thud, both her and her dual wielded sickles fell to the moist dirt. The swiftness and lethality of his stealthy ambush was beyond comprehension, taking less than two seconds to dispatch them both.

Both of their corpses were dragged up into the shadows while their rusty weapons were tossed into his inventory. At first he paid no mind to the cleaver sword and sickle, rusty weapons held no purpose other than to be broken down for scrap metal. This mentality gave way when his fingers caressed one of the unicorn’s discarded weapons. It was as if electricity had bounced from the weapon to his fingers, sending a charge through his entire body.

“Unique Item Discovered: Sanguine Conductors” [Broken]

The notification popped up in Jonathan’s eyes, causing him to halt while holding both small blades in opposing hands. ‘Unique Item…?’ The text shimmered a sickly red, far different than the white, green, blue, or even the purple rarities he had grown accustomed to. His excitement died in his throat when he read the weapon status beside its eerie title. ‘Shit…it's broken…?’

He rolled the blades around in his hands to look over its seemingly mundane designs despite being unique. On closer observations he could vaguely see serrations etched along the inside of the blade making it look like canine teeth. The vague outlines of patterns graced the curved and dull backside of the weapon, obscured by a sea of green and brown oxidized metal.

‘Maybe I can repair this at a later date…until then you're coming with me.’ Jonathan pocketed his score while making his way over between the slumped corpses pressed into the barricade. There was no need to be particularly stealthy hiding these corpses, at least…not for what would happen next.

The second phase of the humanoid ninja’s plan was…less than simple, it was a purely maddening scheme. Unfortunately it was also the most important task of all before things really kicked up a notch. Jonathan closed his eyes, taking in deep breaths through his nose, and out his mouth while slipping into a zen like state. Similar to when he had been practicing the cultivation of mana with Dezmond, he looked through the mental darkness for the sparks of mana. Rather than searching for his own spark, he felt around in the dark for the sparks emanating from the Wolfpack Munitions.

Each arrow was within sight and all it took was a little coaxing to grab ahold, dominating the familiar aura like pulling a dog by the leash. The final visual product was a glowing purple spiderweb connecting the magical arrows to his own mana spark. This formed a beautiful constellation within the black of his mind. With all of his shots synchronized at once he drew in another intake of air before unleashing it with his newly improved weapon skill.

Weapon Skill Activation: “Delayed Thermal Implosion Shot”

Deep from within Jonathan’s spark he felt a gentle heat, it coiled and danced along the purple strands binding him to the sparks of his arrows. The heat coiled and rocketed ahead, meeting their marks throughout the network of sparks, and causing the enchanted arrows to detonate on his command. The result was what could only be described as the biggest fireworks display EVER. Orbs of red and orange engulfed the towers that had been pricked by the arrows that seemed inconsequential from the start.

Matter sucked itself inward, supercharging the electrons in the air around the dilation of space, and causing a violent jolt of power to occur. Space around the arrows warped, distorted, and ripped apart in order to hypercharge the atoms around its spark, sending forth a controlled, concentrated explosion. It ripped apart any organic or inorganic matter within its 10 foot radius. The small explosions expanded, mana electrifying the air to the point Jonathan smelled copper until finally…

“VRRRRR-”

*KTHOOOOOOM*

Each arrow imploded, magnifying the overall blast yield each projectile made from its crescendo. This consequently created a crescent path of volatile destruction around the inner and outer perimeter of the camp. The guards and many of the carts behind the towers were either atomized on the spot or flung back, sending debris and chunks of pony spraying everywhere. The brilliant and jaw dropping display of power came at a cost, dropping the Overlord onto one knee. The simultaneous use of multiple rare skills at once had sapped a majority of his mana, leaving him cold and hollow to his core.

Before the mana deprivation could kick in Jonathan clasped at the air, retrieving his medicinal aid from the bottom of his inventory. Clutched between two fingers was a clay flask sealed by a stone cap. Using his thumb he removed the barrier between him and his prize, downing the neon pink liquid preserved within.

Item Consumed: Tonfa Fruit Extract

Tonfa Fruit on its own was a moderate means of regaining mana over time, as Pwinx so helpfully pointed out after Jonathan’s stomach churning reaction to the Mana Shrooms. However the effects could further be amplified if the fruit itself was pulverized, and its juices were finely extracted without pulp. The end product was a miracle tonic that took Jonathan over 3 hours to make. He was only able to craft a small batch of 5 clay vials of this juicy extract, successfully anyways.

His mana replenishing felt like cool water running down his neck and throughout his stiffened body. This refresher allowed Jonathan to regain his bearings, because he knew that now was not the time to falter. With the terrified and or enraged alien dialect of the guards ringing into the night, phase three of the multi-step plan had been engaged.

With a soaring leap, Jonathan was able to bound atop the diagonally slanted spikes of the barricade. Each hop from spike to spike with his spiked cleats, embedded the boots into the flat length of a spike near the tips.

With each leap from a spikey part of the barriers he would build up inhumane levels of momentum, catapulting through the side of an intact tower opposing its burned cousin. In a 180 spin Jonathan was able to equip two chiseled stone knives from the confines of his inventory. The unfortunate guards still in shock from the explosion had little time to prepare before the sharpened rock blades pierced their windpipes through arching stabs. One violent twist of the blade severed the delicate nerves, cutting through their spines.

One twist was all it took for the stone blades to snap at the base, leaving the handles in its owner’s hands. Without pause Jonathan leapt through the netting of the tower while tossing the broken blades, landing and kicking off the nearest spike in the barrier wall. From there he would just continue the repetitive process again and again, mindless, numb to their screams. It was like the most beautifully horrific scenes of an action movie, all packed into a garish play by play of death, pain, and sadistic pleasure. Every life that was snuffed was met with a wider and wider smile beneath the mask, scum…scum, and more scum, filth that needed to be purged.

…Rapists, murderers, thieves, shameless plunderers of innocence…

It all melded into a red blur matched with the missing time that had fully escaped Jonathan’s thoughts. The blood of Onyx horn bandits splashed across his clothes, becoming soaked up within the leathers like a gore sponge. When his vision became clear he stood over the trembling form of the last tower’s unicorn sentry.

The blue unicorn looked up with such big, innocent looking, puppy dog eyes, the yellow irises dilating with the pupils to pinpricks. The patches of a scraggly mustard beard poked from beneath his muzzle to compliment his equally yellowed mane. In that brief moment he hesitated, taking in the fact that he was going to snuff the life of a cartoon pony who was so terrified. He was staring down the eyes of his victim for the first time as judge, jury, and executioner.

The faint sound of liquid dripping flooded the cramp booth, with the stale scent of piss soon following. Sure enough the bandit had unceremoniously wet himself, leaving a warm puddle of urine beneath his hind hooves. Clutched in his magic was a small crossbow, the string knocked back with a copper head arrow pointed directly at Jonathan’s head.

Both stared each other down, like a lion to a cornered mouse staring into its maw. The bandit snapped first, letting out a terrified scream before the blue magic aura applied pressure to the triggering mechanism, sending the bolt zipping through the air. It was an archaic weapon that looked more like it was made from scraps, a cheap knock off to the ones used during the human crusades.

Jonathan had simply tilted his head to the side, causing the panicked shot to whiz past him and strike the beam behind his head with a harmless THUNK. The closer Jonathan looked, the more details he had begun to recognize. It was him…that same pony who had been walking alongside the red Earth pony, the stallion with raven black hair and a silver steak. He remembered every detail three days ago, the smug look on his face when he helped his despicable comrade drag that young filly away. The way he robbed her of her innocence, leaving her older sister ill and without care.

Jonathan’s fists balled up with his knuckles popping one by one in a menacing display, all while the piss soaked bandit backed himself further into a corner. His aura fumbled with the bolt when he tried to reload, causing his ammo to clatter to the wooden floor. Before he could focus on picking it up a black blur streaked through the air, grasping the unicorn by his horn. In an instant the concentration on his weapon was broken, sending the crude projectile shooter spinning across the cool floorboards.

(“Celestia, oh Celestia please no! I-I don’t wanna die, P-Please! PLEASE! I-I’ll give you anything, ANYTHING! B-Buck! Please DO-”)

Jonathan silenced his pitiful begging by promptly smashing his face into the tower ledge looking overlooking the forest. The unicorn’s teeth were crushed into powder and his snout gushed blood, some teeth were even sticking into the wood like gory nails. His blood curdling wails rang out like a siren, but to Jonathan they were muffled by the loud ringing in his ears.

Another vicious slam into the same ledge caused his jaw to shatter completely as if made of glass. The flesh, muscle, and tendons keeping both halves of his muzzle together split like wet tissue paper. When he pulled his head back by the mane the pony’s muzzle had unhinged unnaturally, letting him spew a sickly gurgle of blood and bile.

His wiggling tongue flopped weakly while his bloodshot eyes rolled dazed in their sockets. Even now the unicorn was still conscious and lucid during it all, with the stallion’s hooves twitching weakly at his sides. Reeling his head back one last time, Jonathan brought it down onto the ledge with all the rage of a vengeful demon.

*Kr-SPLAT*

The last thing the stallion would ever see was the glowing purple eyes burning like hot stars behind the plates of a smiling skull mask. It was all he would see before his head was split like a ripe watermelon. Brains and the comically oversized organs that were his eyes rolled across the ledge, coming to a stop next to the tower’s searchlight. Jonathan looked up at the ceiling, letting loose a shaky breath of humid air before turning to the tower’s solitary door.

Jonathan had thought that the noise outside would mask it all, that his deed would go unheard, but the reality came smacking him in the face the moment his piss soaked boots stepped outside. He saw the small platoon of bandits rallied outside with spears, axes, knives, and cleavers drawn. When his lumbering form emerged, in their eyes they saw the bloodied form of a bipedal monster.

To them he looked like a gorilla smeared in a mixture of blood and brain, decked out with knives, arrows, and black leather armor. His smiling skull mask gazed back, with both eye holes burning like twin stars in the night sky. Even as twinkling embers tinted the air around them orange, the light from his eyes made the night sky turn twilight.

“Sir! Our camp has been breached, half of the sentry wall has been obliterated by some strange magic! We aren’t sure how many of them there are, but we have suffered heavy material and pony casualties. Our food carriage, mobile smithy, and trade goods have been completely destroyed, your orders boss?!” The tall, buff, lumbering form of a red Earth pony came stumbling through the tent. The slender body of a certain feline kicked back with his paw boots resting on the desk casually. The stallion’s breaths were heavy, eyes wide in alarm, and soot caked in his raven dark mane.

The feline hummed softly, lifting a small glass of wine in his fuzzy digits to look at his underling’s disheveled reflection. “So he has come at last…The Gluttonous One…how interestin, so very interestin indeed. Captain Spade, you have full authority to use “IT” to rough up our guest of honor a little, yea? I heard reports that you put “IT” to good use while protecting our lovely package here…” The cat purred.

Almost on cue a weak cough punctuated the air, causing the ‘captain’ to briefly direct his attention to the battered and bruised Pegasus mare strung up to a wooden post. Her wings were strewn out with feathers painfully ripped from the appendages to create a pile of bloody feathers beneath her. Cuts and gashes of all shapes and sizes danced along her thighs, stopping just outside her nether regions.

The biggest of gashes were sewn shut and what looked to be salt crystals were packed into the festered wounds in a horrid form of sizzling torture. Her bubble cutiemarks were smeared red with the sticky nectar of her blood, all topped off with a swollen, bruised, and battered muzzle to boot. Ditzy’s labored and strained breaths were wet from an array of internal damage, likely due to a cracked rib or two. The captain shrugged the Boss’s plaything off, directing his sadistic and now manic grin to his commander.

“On it boss…this should be bloody good fun~”

Author's Note

Hey ya'll, this is my first graphic fight scene, for those who made it to the end I hope you enjoyed the mess! There is more to come, however I plan to put warnings before hand to those who are squeamish to that sort of thing. Thanks again to all those who are staying around to read, I just want to say that I appreciate the support!

Still looking for an editor, so pm for details to those interested! (exclusive perks included)