Chapter 66: Chapter 66
Darius chuckled. This Foldo fellow was truly incorrigible. After being pardoned once, he still had sub-consciously schemed towards his own benefit by sending rogue elements from his group for Darius to kill on his behalf.
Nevertheless, Foldo's methods were clean and faultless. He had accomplished his task in a way that would benefit both the apprentice and his master, just enough that it wouldn't cause any problems later on.
Before entering the battle, Darius decided to Analyze Shanks to check whether anything had changed since he last had done so in secret.
[Detected target is of a Neutral affiliation. Displaying details accordingly.]
[Name: Shanks Torniam
Race: Human
Class: Great Axe-Knight
Subclass: Royal Guard
HP: 992/992
MP: 816/816
Level: 34
Strength: 31
Agility: 29
Endurance: 32
Intellect: 24
Charisma: 14
Luck: 13]
Darius was once again left awed by Shank's stats. He had already checked his host out a week ago, back when he had introduced Gunner to him and Derek.
The revelation had been enough to make Darius freeze up for a split second in shock.
So far, Shanks was the only person to have a subclass like himself. His Great Axe-Knight class was self-explanatory, but Darius wondered what benefits his Royal Guard class brought the man.
Since Shanks was like Derek in the sense that he did not entirely open up to Darius, the old soul could not see much of his status according to the Supreme System.
Still, Darius was not discouraged by this. After today that should no longer be a problem for him.
He cast the basic spell of the death element he had added to his repertoire just yesterday, Spawn.
[Spawn - Level 1 Spell
Cost: 1 MP
Description: Channel the purest death energy through your body to form undead servants that do your bidding. Only two undead skeletons are summoned at this level.]
A black light enveloped Darius for a split second before it passed through his body, down to his feet, and lastly into the earth. The next second, the ground before him cracked apart slightly as two skeletons pulled themselves out.
They both wielded rusty swords that looked ready to crack in the next instant, as well as two wooden shields that were mostly broken and rotten. Yet despite this, they eagerly rushed into the fray before Darius could even command them.
The fellow frowned at this, but decided to leave it for now. Perhaps he might gain more control over them at higher levels, but that would require him to spend his SP.
As it was, he had used up all the Skill Points from his three level-ups to upgrade Blink to level 10. Now, Darius could travel anywhere within 100 meters instead of a mere 10.
The effectiveness of the improved spell immediately showed itself on the battlefield when Darius soddenly appeared behind a Goblin warrior who was engaged with one of the inhabitants of the homestead.
The fellow had been struggling to keep his life under the relentless onslaught of the monster, but Darius quickly swooped in and placed a hand on the short green monster's head.
Before it could cry out in surprise, Darius cast Sparks at point-blank range. The formerly struggling fighter got to watch his enemy being electrocuted to death in one hit before Darius smiled and blinked away once more.
Like this, Darius kept appearing behind many monsters spread out on the battlefield. His single cast of Sparks either lancing his targets to death or dealing enough damage that they were close to it.
Interestingly, Darius avoided targeting the bandits for now. After all, he knew that it would require more firepower to kill a human - or non-monster/beast Darius theorized - whose HP was calculated slightly differently under the Supreme System.
With both Gunner and Darius tearing through the battlefield, the hundred or so monsters were quickly suppressed and dealt with. Once Gunner grabbed the last Goblin, he raised him over his head and tore him in half.
At that time the battle came to a pause, as both sides stepped back to assess the damages.
On the side of the homestead… it was devasting.
Out of the 50 or so able-bodied men that had gone forth to defend their wives, mothers, daughters, or sisters, only about a dozen remained. It had been hard to notice in the heat of battle, but once they broke away, the full scope of the disaster had revealed itself.
The remnants gazed with shock and depression at the mostly ruined corpses of those who had stepped forth to fight alongside them. Despite this sight, deep down in each and every one of their hearts, they were relieved that they had been the ones to survive.
As for the bandits, they were mostly at full tilt. The Diato, Garwen, and Foldo bandits gazed at Shanks and his homestead with hungry gazes. So much wealth, women, and food! If they could take it for themselves, they would be set for a long time!
Diato, Garwen, and a strange man who looked eerily similar to Foldo stepped forward. Shanks and Derek did the same, while Darius and Gunner stood back and watched calmly.
"Do you fools even have an inkling of an idea of what you've just done and what you're about to do? If I hadn't made it clear enough before, I'm Shanks Torniam, ex-Royal Guard, discharged with honors after using my own body to protect the Princess and getting permanently injured in exchange." Shanks began.
Darius's smile stiffened. 'Shanks is injured? That would certainly explain why despite being young and fit enough to work as a guard, he has chosen to retire. … but doesn't that mean that his stats at level 34 are lower than they should be normally?!'
As the only Journeyman Darius had met so far, the latter had no way to gauge his strength with others, but the gap in stats couldn't possibly be that high at that stage… could it?
While Darius was conflicted and worried for his future, the leader of the homestead continued to berate the bandits with a cold glare.
"On top of that, I'm an agent of the Royal Court's Equality Faction, and it's with their backing that I've started a homestead here. However, you all should have already known this, so what manner of stupidity suffocated your brains to try this move?" Shanks finished with a dark gaze.
The man, who judging by the age difference, had to be Foldo's brother, stepped forth and gazed at Shanks arrogantly, which made Darius frown.
"Because, you old sack of shit, we're gonna kill you, take your wives and daughters, and enslave your sons. By the time the Equality Faction will hear of your demise, we'll be long gone!"
Chapter 67: Chapter 67
Darius facepalmed. 'How could anyone start off so stupid? Did Foldo really send out this imbecile of a brother to lead the group… no wait, his side has only sent out those my apprentice wants to get rid off!'
Darius was shocked speechless. It seemed he had underestimated Foldo's ruthlessness. The fellow had handed his mantle to his own sibling for an effort that seemed lucrative and shiny on the surface.
One could only pity his ambitious sibling who had no idea that inevitable death awaited him at the end of this road.
However, the issue remained as to how the bandits were going to defeat Shanks. Even if Darius and Gunner stood back, the three groups would lose every single one of their men and hardly tickle Shanks.
After all, there was a reason why they had refused to touch Shanks ever since he had constructed the homestead, only Darius' seductive offer removing the strain of logic inside their heads as it was suppressed by greed.
Now that they were in front of Shanks and had witnessed his inviolability as well as his invulnerability in battle, they were having second thoughts.
While Darius and Gunner handled monsters, Shanks had been busily slaughtering the bandits superficially, leaving the 'extra hands' the Diato and Foldo bandits along in the dirt while the core members remained relatively intact.
Only the Garwen bandits remained relatively intact, because they were ranged fighters. However, if Shanks were to rush over to them, they would also be thinning out.
Yet the threat they posed was not to Shanks as a person, but to his people. He couldn't risk these bandits killing any more men from the homestead, as many families had already been ruined in just the span of a few minutes.
What's worse, if one of them somehow managed to sneak past him to abduct or harm Portia… Shanks didn't know what he would do. That was why he had reminded them of all his cards.
He wanted to scare the bandits off for now and then deal with them later once he had sorted everything here out.
Meanwhile, the bandits wanted Shanks to stand down and would even allow him to leave with his family.
Once he was gone, they could split the huge amount of crop between themselves, take anything of value from the settlement itself and most importantly they would take the remaining peasants here to have their fun with them.
Both sides glared at the other, convinced that their own side posed the greater threat. This created a staredown stalemate that made Darius frown, as things were playing out too slowly for his liking. Fortunately, he did not have to wait for too long.
"Ah!"
Everyone's head snapped to the source of the cry, which happened to be Derek. Behind him, one would see the form of Jorge materializing, her dagger penetrating the shoulder of the lad lightly.
Shanks roared in anger and charged Jorge, who fled pathetically by using a special footwork skill and some smoke bombs to further conceal herself. Worried more about his son, Shanks left the rogue and knelt over the sweating, wheezing Derek.
Noticing his son's pallid color and the shortness of his breath, Shanks quickly checked the wound to see a purplish-black liquid dripping from it.
With a venomous expression, he rose to his feet and glared at Foldo's brother. "Using poison on my son? Let me make this abundantly clear to you. Should my son perish today, all of you will follow him into the afterlife. You, your families, and any relatives you have in this world. I will find you and will bring you down, even if you were to hide in the deepest pit of Armadon. This I swear on my soul!"
Shanks' solemn vow frightened everyone who heard it, including Darius and Gunner. The sheer intensity of it stressed that he wasn't lying. Should Derek die today, Shanks would do everything he could to complete his promise.
This naturally discouraged the bandits as fear seeped in, even into Foldo's brother. However, his bluster soon came back when he remembered that they were the ones who held the chips in their hand.
"Of course, none of us wishes for Derek to die today, Sir Shanks. Simply leave the homestead with your family and head back to Ando. We shall provide you the antidote once you're far enough away." Foldo's brother began with a gentle endearment.
"We will send out a man with the antidote, who will present it to you when the time is right. However, should you refuse to leave, it will be on you to watch your son die like a dog! You can decide to hunt us if you like, but that won't bring your dead boy back to life." He finished with utter belligerence.
The remaining fighters of the homestead paled at this development, while Darius nodded internally. Things were playing out as they should. The threat of Shanks was not something they could beat at their skill level and with their numbers.
Darius himself also did not want to risk his own life. Obviously, he wasn't going to loan them his Dagger of Death or any other rare item to execute the man. Getting it back would become difficult and on the off chance it was used against him, his death would be the most foolish ever.
Although it would surely amuse Vena and Caesar.
Shanks stood ramrod straight, staring at the bandits opposite him with utter malice and hate in his eyes, for suddenly attacking his people, killing them coldly, and poisoning his son.
Even moreso, putting him in this horrible situation where he had to make a choice where neither option was even worth considering. Shanks felt suffocated, like he was trapped in an airtight box with no air that was pressing in on him with every second.
He could visibly see his son weakening with every passing moment, and the more time he wasted, the less the chance Derek could recover after taking the antidote.
At the height of his tension, just when Shanks was about to break mentally and concede, he heard a young voice speak with a tone of amusement.
"And what makes you idiots think I will sit here and allow you to kill Friend Derek?"
All eyes turned to Darius who had folded his arms behind his back and was walking towards the meeting point of both parties with Gunner following behind him. The approach of the duo was so striking that both sides paused for a second.
For Shanks, it was like seeing an angel, while for the bandits, they grimaced as an unknown variable had appeared.
Darius gazed at Derek, whose health was dropping faster and faster, then took out an Antidote Potion he had Transmuted around the time he had made his plans with Foldo, the day after to be exact.
It had cost him 0.3 CP since the potions he possessed in his inventory were too different from this one, but it was also enough that he could squeeze it in.
Pouring the panacea into the young lad's mouth, everyone watched with mixed emotions as Derek's skin went from pale to rosy in mere seconds.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
200+ Power
Ranking 
6 Power
stone 
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