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.

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Chapter 68: Chapter 68

There was a long spell of silence as both parties watched the proceedings with different thoughts coursing through their minds. On the side of the homestead, there was relief and reverence, whereas on the side of the bandits, there was horror and anger.

Shanks, for that matter, slowly approached Darius. He knelt down and inspected the state of Derek, his stiff smile lightening when he found that his son was - as a matter of fact - much better than before.

Once he rose to his feet and locked gazes with Darius, his smile widened further as he nodded towards the lad.

"You have my sincerest thanks, Lord Darius. I will never forget this," Shanks stated happily.

Darius responded with a humble smile. "After providing me with shelter for the past few weeks, this is the least I can do."

Darius' eyes suddenly sharpened as he revealed a strange grin towards Shanks. "However, I plan to thank you for your generosity even more. How about cleaning up some rats?"

Shanks' eyes gleamed in much a similar manner to Darius as he heard the lad's suggestion. "Lord Darius doesn't need my permission for doing a good deed. Everyone from the homestead would be glad to have your help."

The duo simultaneously turned to face the bandits who had sneakily begun to retreat. After all, the situation had gone to shit. They had lost their only advantage and trying to continue the fight would be utter foolishness.

Darius noticed that Jorge and some of the Garwen bandits had already escaped, while Diato and Foldo's brother were still trying to extricate themselves somehow.

With Shanks' attention on them, they immediately broke ranks and a panicked full escape began. The sheer chaos from over a hundred or so bandits trying to run away was quite a funny sight to behold.

Shanks lifted his axe and rushed forward, his speed far outstripping any of the runners as he cut them down one by one, surgically and methodically. His strikes never surpassed a single one, and there was nothing but the sound of flesh being split or shattered.

His targets didn't even get a chance to scream before they died.

Darius nodded to Gunner. "Chase after the Garwen Bandits who fled. I'll handle the Diato Bandits."

Gunner clapped his palms and beat the earth as he used that force to propel himself forward like a bullet. With his greenish energy surrounding his form, and a crazy smile on his face, he looked really dangerous.

Darius activated his Blink spell and disappeared from the area.

* * *

Jorge was currently flitting through the forest as fast as she could, her body covered in sweat as she felt her panic subside only marginally the farther she got.

The moment her eyes had locked onto Darius as the young boy stepped forth to save Derek, Jorge had had an epiphany, allowing her to see through everything.

That height, that voice, and the fact that he had been disappearing and re-appearing earlier… why did it hit her so late?

That boy was the same mysterious mage who had paid them to attack the homestead!

In those few seconds, it had been as if time had stopped for Jorge as her cognitive functions spiked.

Foldo himself had not been present and had instead sent out his unruly brother. It was an open secret that the fool wanted to usurp the position of his elder brother.

Garwen and his crew had remained hidden at the back, while there was also the strange outbreak of monsters timed with their attack provided by Foldo.

What if... What if after visiting them, Darius had visited Foldo next? What if, knowing that old fox, he and that boy had struck some kind of deal to get rid of them all?

Alas, just like bees to honey, they had fallen for the trap. None of them were supposed to survive this day, they were all expected to be killed by that mage for some purpose Jorge couldn't yet discern.

Yet, the little she had gleaned of the entire picture was enough to horrify her. To play both sides so deeply, how could that mage be so… horrible?

He had presented them a gold coin, all to spark their greed!

To Darius, this gold coin was just a piece of metal since he could easily Transmute more, but to any Andrato citizen, the gold coin represented so much.

To Jorge, Darius was a monster who could even sacrifice the mighty Gold Ando Coin just to achieve his aims in orchestrating both sides. He was a master deceiver and tactician that must never be crossed.

And yet, this was just a pretty basic scheme in Darius' book. Anybody from Earth with more than room temperate IQ could have thought up something of this degree. Still, actually going through with it would require someone of a certain mindset.

To him, this was only phase 4. Although it might seem like the climax, the true climax lay in phase 5, the aftermath of this entirely orchestrated event.

It was there that Darius would strike for his goal and achieve the target he had set out for himself.

Jorge jumped from branch to branch, trying to reach her rendezvous point with her handler on the frontier when she discovered to her shock Darius seated on a branch in front of her, his handsome face smiling genially towards her direction.

However, to Jorge, that smile was that of the devil himself. Her movements slowed as her body lost steam, coming to a stop on the tree directly opposite Darius.

"My name is Darius Stone, and I'd love to make your acquaintance." Darius greeted pleasantly before his eyes shifted to serpentine slits as he added. "Your real acquaintance, Georgina."

Georgina shivered then shuddered strongly. She had never felt so naked as she did now. It was like, before those hazel eyes, all her secrets were nothing worth mentioning.

Georgina gave up. She surrendered to her fear and despair, her mind telling her that it was impossible to escape. He could just use his magic to chase her and her identity had already been seen through.

Rather than fight back in futility, why not give in? What was the worst thing he could do aside from killing her? Whatever it was, it was far better than dying so young, not when she hadn't achieved any of her personal goals.

Darius just watched the disguised woman have a breakdown right before him with an amused smile. He hadn't expected her to be sharp enough to piece everything together, but it made things easier from here on out.

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