Chapter 75: Bandits [1]

As a hail of arrows rained down on the convoy.

The first to fall was a guard. The arrow struck him squarely in the eye, embedding itself in his skull with a dull thud.

The guard barely managed to let out a choked scream before collapsing to the ground, as a stream of dark blood gushed from the empty socket of his eye.

Screams began to erupt—desperate and heart-wrenching. More arrows whistled through the air.

A burly man tried to stand up to give an order, but an arrow pierced his throat, silencing him before he could utter a word.

Blood gushed out as he choked on his own blood, clutching the wound with his hands in a futile attempt to stop the bleeding.

Another woman, who had run to hide, was struck by an arrow in the back. The arrow pierced her chest, tearing through her flesh and ribs. She fell to her knees, her arms trembling, trying to breathe amid gushes of blood, until she collapsed.

Amid all the chaos, a shout rang out:

“Bandits! We’re under attack by bandits!”

Finally, tense figures appeared, ready to launch an attack at any moment.

In response, several mercenaries rushed out to defend the merchants. They ran, shouting orders, and brandished their swords and spears.

…

With screams echoing through the air, Adam quickly made his way to where the bandits were, and upon arriving, he took in the scene.

The fight had already begun, but the bandits were gaining the upper hand, as they vastly outnumbered their opponents.

The air, thick and stifling, was thick with the metallic stench of blood. For Adam, it was a tangible reminder that life could be extinguished with absurd ease.

The ground was littered with corpses. Every face bore the mark of its final moment: eyes bulging, mouths agape in a silent scream, expressions contorted by indescribable suffering. To Adam, it seemed as though, before they died, they had all looked straight into hell.

Adam observed everything for a moment and began to circulate his mana, covering both his body and the blade of his sword.

This gesture caught the bandits’ attention; they sensed his mana and immediately realized it wasn’t that of a novice knight.

“I didn’t know there was a mid-ranking knight here…”

“Shit, we’re screwed now.”

“What do we do now? No matter how many of us there are, it’ll be hard to kill him…”

Their words came out in broken sentences, heavy with despair. The bandits began to panic, for they knew all too well what it meant to face a knight.

Adam could see the men swallowing hard, feeling as if their lives were slipping away with every passing second under that pressure. Some gripped their weapons tightly; others stepped back without even realizing it.

In Adam’s eyes, a primal instinct had taken hold of them: sheer terror in the face of a natural predator.

Then, Adam spoke with a lazy expression.

“Why are you all staring at me like that, pigs? I was having a very peaceful trip.”

The bandits barely had time to react.

Adam stepped forward.

The mana enveloping his body pulsed softly, as if responding to his intent to kill.

The first to attack was a bandit wielding a spear. He shouted and lunged at Adam with all his might, trying to pierce his chest.

Adam didn’t even flinch. He turned his torso slightly, watching as the spear slowly passed by his side, and the bandit’s face turned desperate.

He kneed the bandit in the stomach, causing him to drop his spear, and before the man could react, he swung his sword, forming an arc of mana, and sliced through his throat with precision.

It was a clean cut.

The bandit’s head rolled across the ground before his body even realized he was dead.

Blood splattered onto the damp earth.

The other bandits froze for a moment; even though Adam didn’t know what was going through their minds, he knew they were afraid.

That split second was enough.

Adam vanished from his position, leaving only a lingering image of his body.

The second bandit, who had no idea what was happening, barely saw a shadow approaching.

CLANG!

The sword, its blade curving upward, flew out of his hands.

A second later, a red line appeared across his throat.

He fell to his knees.

Adam was no longer there. He moved among them like a dark wind.

His sword traced precise lines through the air; every movement clean, without waste. The swordplay he had learned while wandering the continent was perfect for a swift slaughter.

A bandit raised his axe.

“Kill him!”

Adam leaned forward as a magic circle appeared in his free hand.

The axe came down.

But Adam had already ducked beneath the blow. He raised his hand as a water dagger emerged from the magic circle, striking with a dull thud.

The man’s chest was split open from side to side. The bandit fell backward.

A nearby mercenary stared at him with eyes wide open.

Adam barely glanced at him.

“Are you just going to stand there and watch, or are you going to fight?”

The mercenary reacted as if waking from a dream.

“A-attack! Now!”

The mercenaries regained their courage.

The momentum shifted.

Before, they had been on the defensive. Now the bandits were retreating.

But Adam didn’t stop.

Three men tried to surround him.

Adam took a slow breath. The mana in his body swirled like an invisible current.

The first bandit attacked from the left.

Adam blocked the blow with a swift flick of his hand.

CLANG!

The impact sent both swords vibrating.

The second bandit attacked from behind.

Adam spun on his heel. His sword traced a black arc through the air.

Two heads fell almost simultaneously.

The third one stepped back.

Fear was evident on his face.

Adam watched him for a second.

One step.

A flash of steel.

The body fell.

The battlefield fell silent for a moment.

The remaining bandits stared at Adam as if they were looking at a monster.

The ground around him was littered with bodies.

Adam twirled his sword once.

Blood spurted from the blade.

Then he looked up at the bandits who were still standing.

Suddenly, the tension shifted; Adam glanced to the side, frowning.

Then the deep, hoarse voice of a bandit emerged from the nearby forest:

“Since when have you become such cowards? We are Bandits. You have raped, looted, murdered… You have bathed in the blood of innocents, pregnant women, and children.”

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