The male mercenary - "We'll have to go around them. There is a river nearby. We'll cross from there."

The three mount their horses and back away slowly.

They dash towards the river once they get far away from the patrol. The path forward is filled with long climbers hanging from the trees. Their vision is obstructed by the vegetation but they sense a presence.

Swish!!! Karni is dismounted by a swing of a giant greatsword. Karni is writhing in pain. The two mercenaries are jumped by two bandits but they both ditch the horses and back away.

Karni is struggling to stand up. Karni finally managed to raise his face to see the man standing in front of him. It is a 7-foot-tall monstrosity. Irdan Khasim has made his appearance to duel with Karni.

Karni wastes no time and draws his sword.

Khasim uses only one arm to wield his humongous greatsword.

Khasim uses his greatsword to perform a vertical strike at Karni. He has the reach to keep Karni far from himself. Karni used a normal-sized sabre. This means Karni has to get up close to strike Irdan. 

Irdan swings his greatsword diagonally. 

Karni slips back and rushes to close the distance but Irdan sidesteps and gets behind his weapon. 

Karni backs away immediately right as Irdan performs an upward slash. 

Karni is further moved back by Irdan with a forward thrust. Karni realises that Irdan is just as fast as Karni. The heavy weapon does not seem to slow down Irdan. Karni realises he must get away before Irdan finds an opening and strikes him dead. The two mercenaries show up. They immediately attack Irdan from either side. Irdan ditches his greatsword and fights with his longsword. The mercenaries overwhelm him. Karni runs away and tries to locate his horse. Irdan ignores the mercenaries, picks up the greatsword and rushes to stop Karni from escaping. The male mercenary manages to stab Irdan in the back. Irdan seems to have noticed it as he rages to find Karni.

Karni mounts his horse and dashes away. His vision is obstructed by the vegetation hanging above. He finally sees a body of water. Karni suddenly hears a roar behind him. He looks back and spots Khasim. Karni along with his horse falls off from the opening of the woods towards the riverfront. It was a slash from Irdan with his greatsword.

Karni's leg is stuck underneath the weight of the horse. 

His leg seems broken.

Irdan walks up to Karni and kneels down - "You can't run or hide from me. Face me like a warrior!"

Karni is in pain. He can barely keep his eyes on Irdan. Irdan is approaching forward with pace. Karni has lost his sword and looks powerless.

Irdan steps over his chest. 

Irdan raises his greatsword swiftly with one arm.

The male masked mercenary kicks Irdan on his back. 

Irdan's strike misses and amputates Karni's arm clean off from the shoulder blade. 

Irdan and the male mercenary have a bit of hand-to-hand combat. 

Irdan whistles and his horse appears. 

Irdan dodges an attack and rushes towards his horse. 

The female masked mercenary kicks Irdan in his face. 

Irdan is unfazed and keeps running and immediately mounts his horse. 

The mercenaries rush to check on Karni. Karni is losing a lot of blood. He is dizzy but trying his best to keep his eyes open.

The mercenaries lift his body and mount him atop the horse.

They rush and cross the river.