Chapter 69: Chapter 69: Attacking The Bandits (part 2)

Cold terror gripped their hearts. Several stumbled backward, dropping weapons. One fell to his knees, trembling uncontrollably.

Even one of the injured Body Tempering practitioners faltered for half a second.

That was enough.

Vayne drove his blade straight through the man’s chest.

The first Body Tempering practitioner fell.

The second Body Tempering fighter managed to destroy one of the Bronze-grade undead with a powerful downward strike, shattering its head.

But Aiden simply clenched his fist.

Dark energy surged.

The fallen Bronze-grade undead twitched, and rose again.

The bandit’s face drained of color.

“That’s impossible—!”

Before he could retreat, two Basic-grade undead grabbed his arms. Vayne stepped in and cut him down cleanly.

Now only one Body Tempering practitioner remained.

The camp was already collapsing. Fires from overturned torches began spreading across tents. Screams filled the clearing.

The last practitioner tried to break away.

He didn’t make it far.

Vayne was already there.

One final strike.

Silence.

The remaining normal bandits either lay dead or were cut down within moments.

The forest clearing burned quietly as smoke rose into the darkening sky.

Aiden stood in the center of it all, Bone Armor still covering his frame.

Three Body Tempering corpses lay at his feet.

He didn’t leave a single survivor.

While his undead hunted down the remaining bandits, he walked calmly through the chaos. Screams echoed between the trees, then slowly faded one by one. Some bandits tried to flee into the forest, but Basic-grade undead chased them down without mercy. They didn’t tire. They didn’t hesitate.

Aiden raised his hand and launched another Bone Spear, pinning a fleeing bandit through the back. The man collapsed face-first into the dirt.

One after another, the notifications echoed faintly in his mind.

Experience gained.

Experience gained.

He could feel the surge building inside him.

When the last scream died and the clearing finally fell silent, a stronger pulse of energy rushed through his body.

Level up.

Then again.

He stood still for a moment, feeling the change settle into his bones.

From level 13 to level 15.

A slow breath escaped his lips.

Good.

The fire from the burning tents crackled nearby, casting flickering shadows across the corpses scattered around the camp.

Now came the important part.

Aiden walked toward the three Body Tempering corpses lying not far from each other. Their blood had soaked into the dirt. Their eyes were still open, frozen in shock.

He crouched beside the first one and activated Lord of the Dead.

Dark energy flowed from his palm into the corpse.

Nothing.

The body twitched once… then went still.

Again, he poured his power into it.

This time the corpse reacted more violently. Its fingers jerked. Its back arched unnaturally.

Then it collapsed.

Failed. He tried again, but failed.

In the end, Only one out of three.

But one was better than none.

He studied the newly risen Bronze-grade undead. Its body still carried wounds from the battle, but that didn’t matter much. Undead didn’t feel pain.

“Stand,” Aiden ordered.

It obeyed immediately.

After that, he began looting.

He moved from corpse to corpse, checking pouches, boots, hidden pockets. Gold coins clinked into his storage pouch steadily. Some bandits carried only a few silvers. Others had more.

The three Body Tempering practitioners had the most.

After counting everything carefully, he sat on a half-burned crate and poured the coins out in front of him.

He stacked them neatly.

Ten.

Fifty.

One hundred.

The pile grew.

When he finished counting, he leaned back slightly.

Three hundred and forty-two gold coins.

A faint smile appeared on his face.

Not bad for a bandit group.

—

Aiden didn’t stay long in the burning remains of the Black Fang camp.

By the time the flames had died down to embers, he had already moved on.

His next target was obvious.

Blood Fang.

If he left them alone, they would only regroup and grow cautious. Worse, they might even discover what happened to Black Fang and disappear before he could act.

So he moved the same night.

He tracked them by the marks they left behind, boot prints, broken branches, careless laughter echoing too loudly through the forest. Unlike Black Fang, Blood Fang seemed less disciplined after a successful raid.

Overconfident.

That made things easier.

Their camp was set near a rocky slope, partially shielded by large boulders. Crude torches were planted around the perimeter. The red fang banner fluttered above their largest tent.

Aiden watched from the shadows.

Three Body Tempering practitioners.

Roughly forty remaining bandits.

Less than Black Fang.

He exhaled slowly.

“Let’s finish this.”

He summoned his undead once more.

Four Bronze-grade.

Twelve Basic-grade.

Plus the newly risen Body Tempering undead from Black Fang.

This time, he didn’t wait for them to settle in.

The attack was sudden and brutal.

A Basic-grade undead dragged a sentry into the dark before he could shout. Vayne cut through two bandits near the firepit before they even realized what was happening.

“Enemies!”

“Wake up!”

The Blood Fang leader stormed out of his tent, blade in hand. He froze when he saw the figures emerging from the treeline.

“What the hell are those things?”

Aiden stepped forward, Bone Armor forming over his body with a dry, cracking sound.

“Your end,” he replied calmly.

The leader snarled and charged.

This time, the fight didn’t last long.

They were already injured from the earlier battle with the Dustwind Clan. Their stamina wasn’t at its peak. And now they faced undead that didn’t tire, didn’t fear pain, and didn’t retreat.

The newly added Bronze-grade undead from Black Fang intercepted another practitioner, locking him in place long enough for Vayne to finish him.

One by one, the Body Tempering practitioners fell.

Soon, Silence fell over the camp soon after.

Aiden stood among the corpses, breathing steady.

He moved to the three Body Tempering bodies and began the process again.

This time, luck favored him.

Behind him, two newly risen undead stood in silence.

He now had significantly more power at his command.

Afterward, he looted the camp thoroughly. Blood Fang had been storing their share of the stolen goods.

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