Mist swallows the canyon road as Tenda surges into the pincer line. His first strike cracks the rhythm, and the front rank staggers just enough to lose its perfect spacing.
Horn Bearer
Left lane, close it. Do not let him split us.
Soldiers shift to seal the gap, but that motion exposes their flank. Zero rushes in hard, forcing one side of the net to turn inward instead of forward.
Zero
There, that’s the opening. Keep pressing!
Daisy stays near the wounded path behind them, ready to pull anyone back from a killing lane. The Elder With Lantern tightens his grip as wax runs over his hand, and the lantern trembles in the haze.
Tenda Wildheart
The formation moves like one body. Break the timing, and it collapses.
Tenda drives again, ki flashing at his shoulders, and the line buckles. For the first time, the soldiers are reacting instead of controlling the road, and the village beyond the bend suddenly has a chance.
✓ Quest Accepted
Break the warlord's pincer formation
✓ Quest Accepted
Protect the village from the encroaching soldiers
“I sweep the legs of the front rank with a modfied version of my Fleet Footed Strike attack!”
SUCCESS (Superb Hand-to-Hand Combat, rolled +0)
Tenda drops low and cuts across the front rank with a sweeping hook to the ankles. Three soldiers slam down in a tangled spill, their line snapping open at knee height.
Horn Bearer
Shift! Seal the break, now!
But the order lands too late. Zero drives straight into the gap, forcing the nearest men to stumble sideways instead of reforming.
Zero
That’s it, keep them off balance!
Daisy lunges forward just enough to drag a fallen fighter clear of the road edge, keeping the crush from closing behind Tenda.
The Elder With Lantern recoils as wax spills hotter over his knuckles, and his lantern shakes hard in the mist.
The pincer net buckles at the center, its neat lanes broken into scrambling bodies, and the canyon road lies open for a breath.
Quest Complete
Break the warlord's pincer formation