It took me a less than a second to realize that this place turned into a complete mess. Then again, this was an attempt to take over the entirety of the village, or the three villages. It was pretty hard not to expect a lot of mayhem coming from that. I could see all the Rodenti jump on top of each other, using skills and trying to attack.
At the same time, it just looked a lot like a brawl, not an actual massacre. There were a few spatters of blood here and there, but nothing that looked too dangerous. That being said, things were far from looking good here. People didn't seem to be worried about hurting each other too much, and some of the blows that were being exchanged were very powerful.
Astrid was pushing a couple of Rodenti away, using her size and weight to basically just toss them around without batting an eye. She was also being very careful not to hurt them too much, as I could tell that the Frosted Lumberjack wasn't going for the kill. She was just trying to throw them towards the structures nearby hard enough to make them unconscious. In most cases, that seemed to be working, as the Rodenti she grabbed didn't come back up. But there were a couple who struggled to return to their feet and join the fight again.
Michael had fired that arrow initially, but his bow seemed to be now a melee weapon instead. He was using it very much like a staff, whacking people over the head with it and dodging incoming blows. Every now and then, you could see him grab something nearby, anything really, and then throw it at someone else who was about to attack another Rodenti that was on our side. Even without his bow and arrow, he seemed to be more than capable of landing the projectiles.
Riley was likely the most unfair of the bunch. Anyone who tried to approach the Novice Silken Witch was wrapped around in strands of spiderwebs and slammed into the ground, the tables, each other, everything really. I was pretty positive the only reason why they weren't a few Rodenti hanging from the ceiling is because they were worried that other Rodenti would see them as targets and start attacking.
Someone started charging me, brandishing a broken table leg. Suddenly, the Rodenti went flying forward. After quickly ducking under it, the view was open for me to understand what just happened. The person responsible for the attack was Rex, who was using his stone skills to send various Rodenti who approached him flying into the distance. Anyone who got close, be it friend or foe, was greeted by a sudden pillar of rocks emerging from the ground and sending whoever was approaching flying off.
Then, another Rodenti rushed at me from my left, which was the arm that was currently being healed by {Body Regeneration}. Quickly spinning to the side, I shifted to block the incoming attack and kicked the Rodenti towards a group of people who were fighting, making him a new target for those who were struggling. While everything seemed to be going well, with no side seemingly winning over the other, I also noticed that Raxzar and the people who he brought here were not really participating in the fight.
Raxzar was on the table, looking at everything with a smug expression. The ones that he brought here were all nearby, each of them throwing a couple of spells or skills into the brawl, but no one was actually stepping into do anything. Even a burly Rodenti that was almost my size, which was very tall for the Rodenti, was just threatening anyone who got close to the table.
This could mean that Raxzar didn't want to participate in the fight and was going to let his minions do all the work. Or, and this option was more worrying, he still had something planned and was waiting for the moment to strike. According to Ash and Rex, his older brother was already a Tier 2, and so were all the Rodenti that he brought here. By the way people had spoken about them, they were not low level either. They should have been at Tier 2 for a while and had grown to a certain extent. This meant that I had no chance of winning a direct fight, much less when I couldn't use my left arm.
Then again, I couldn't do anything by myself. So, instead, I would have to gather my friends. Riley was the closest, so I just stepped over a couple of the silk strands that were on the ground and tapped them with my staff, sending a message through the System.
Cassandra: Raxzar and his friends are not doing anything. Let's bring them to the fight.
Riley jumped when my staff touched their leg, but the message went fast enough so the Witch didn't turn to attack me. Instead, they just nodded and started to move, making sure to keep all the Rodenti that were already trapped still bound by the spider web. Riley gestured to Michael, who was closer to them, while I started moving towards Astrid. The Huskcarver was going to be the most difficult one to sneak out of the fight. Then again, it wasn't as if the rest of us were any smaller. The whole idea of sneaking to attack Raxzar might not be possible to begin with. Astrid's reflexes were so quick that I was a little worried that by touching her, I would end up being the next victim of her throws.
But, by the time I got close and managed to tap her shoulder, a message came before mine went through.
Astrid: Saw you coming. What's up?
Cassandra: Raxzar is not participating in the fight. That seems sketchy.
Astrid: I know. I've been keeping an eye on him, and every time I do something big or throw some Rodenti his way, he barely even moves. The only time he looked in my direction was when I tried throwing someone directly at him. Even then, he just nodded and went back to staring at Rex and Rixnala.
Cassandra: He's completely ignoring his father.
I gasped.
Astrid: How is he? Ash, I mean.
Cassandra: He should be doing better. I gave him {Body Regeneration}
Astrid: How?
She frowned. The Huskcarver understood the issues we had with sharing skills.
Cassandra: The same way we get other skills. By eating.
"What?!" she gasped.
Cassandra: Don't make too much noise! I made him bite my arm.
It was pretty obvious that Astrid had more to say. She was staring daggers at me, but I quickly cut her off.
Cassandra: Come on, we need to make him go to the fight. It's not right for him to not participate. After all, he started this.
Astrid glanced back at Raxzar and gave me a nod.
Astrid: We're not done, but fine.
I glanced back at both brother and sister fighting together. My companion was using his spells to toss people away and get them away from him. Rixnala was using a spear to whack and attack everybody who got close. They were quite in sync. There were times someone was going for Rex, and he didn't even look around as Rixnala blocked the attack and pushed them away. In the same vein, Rex stopped several attacks against his sister before his she was even slightly threatened by the incoming attack.
Looking to the other side, from beyond where Rex and Rixnala were fighting, I saw Riley and Michael moving across the crowd. The Archer's eyes met mine, and he quickly glanced at Raxzar. I wasn't sure if this was what he was telling me, but I understood it as 'let's go attack him right away.' And that's exactly what I started doing.
Sending one more message to Astrid, the two of us started to move closer and closer to the table where the chieftain's first son was located. We tried our best to be sneaky, at least at first, still fighting the other Rodenti and pretending as if our plan wasn't simply to approach Raxzar and attack him. When we were at the edge of the brawl, there wasn't anyone to fight against us. So instead, without having to say anything, coming from the right while Michael and Riley went for the left, we all started running towards the table.
Just as I was expecting, the Rodenti who came with Raxzar quickly stepped in. The large-bodied one going straight for Astrid. I could see the Huskcarver preparing as the two clashed with a tackle that caused both of them to hold on to each other in the middle. Making it clear that their attacks were just as powerful.
While the Rodenti seemed to be clearly surprised by that fact, Astrid wasn't as much. She shifted her body, grabbed the Rodenti by the waist and suplexed him backwards, making his head crash against the ground with a loud crack. It happened so fast that the Rodenti didn't have an answer to it. Or maybe he just had no way of knowing what kind of move a suplex was. The moment he was picked up from the ground, he expected to be thrown around like she was doing with everybody else.
Still, she wasn't done. The Huskcarver grabbed the Rodenti by his leg and started spinning around with him before throwing him directly in Raxzar's direction. The chieftain's son took a bit too long to realize what was going on, and by the time he ducked, the large Rodenti's arms clipped Raxzar's face, causing him to fall back onto the table.
Another Rodenti came rushing towards me. This one was smaller and was carrying what looked like a sword. I quickly used {Compression} to increase the size of my staff as quickly as possible to stop him from getting close. The Rodenti shifted to the side to avoid my attack, but I added {Formless Swipe - Emperor}. With my staff as big as it was, it was able to toss the Rodenti far into the distance.
On the other side, Michael was using his bow as a staff to fight off a smaller Rodenti that I had seen before. The same one that he fought when Rixnala challenged us for the competition. But this time, Michael was able to keep up and even gain an advantage against his opponent. It seems like the makeshift weapon he was using was much better at close range. By my side, Riley was firing a few spells aimed at Raxzar and another Rodenti who was a bit behind him. This pair of Rodenti seemed to be a major threat, as they were not carrying any weapons, but instead using some stone-based attacks from the distance.
Since I had enough space and my companions were covering for me, I rushed along the path, using {Compression} again, this time to make my staff propel me forward. As a result, I landed almost on top of Raxzar. However, I didn't have a good footing on the table, causing me to fall to my knees. The Rodenti kicked my wounded arm and followed up by doing a spinning kick to my face. I landed hard on the table and was about to try to get up when Raxzar pulled a spear out of nowhere and pressed it against my neck. Pinning me to the wood.
"Too weak," he said.
I was about to trigger {Compression} on the table to make us both fall to the ground when a thundering voice echoed through the entire village.
"Enough!" Ash had finally recovered.
It took a bit longer than I was expecting to fight off the poison. Then again, I wasn't entirely sure what type of poison was in his body.
"Father, you—" Before Raxzar was able to finish his sentence, something yellow crossed the field in an instant. Ash body-slammed his son, sending Raxzar into the back wall of the village. There weren't any houses in that direction, just the sides of the cave where the Rodenti made their home. Raxzar landed with a thump, but the wall cracked, embedding his body into the wall.
Ash shook his head and stated, "You no son of mine."
Following that, he hurled Raxzar's own staff towards the Rodenti who attempted this coup. The staff became a bolt of lightning that crashed directly on top of Raxzar's head, killing him in one fell swoop.
"No more fighting!" Ash shouted, and all the Rodenti dropped their weapons and let each other go.
Ash's fur, which had turned yellow as he used his skills, returned to its gray color as the chieftain climbed down from the table and sat on the bench with a sullen expression. Rex and Rixnala approached their father, who gave them soft smiles and said, "Sorry for what I did. Hope one day you can forgive."
With the weight of those words, this short-lived coup ended. The Rodenti slowly started to help each other and organize the food that was now wasted while waiting for their chieftain to pass judgment on those who tried to betray their people.