Bab 31: Bandits Ambush

Chapter 31 Bandits Ambush

Author: M_W Cancer

Grammar Checker: M_W Nomral

Leo didn't notice Cassandra's face turning red as he felt that something was wrong in front of the merchant caravan because their wagon suddenly came to a halt.

*Crrrrg!

With the guards' wagon stopping, it caused the people inside to be pushed forward.

Leo quickly went to pull Cassandra to his side as he became vigilant.

"Bandit attack!" Claude who looked at the situation outside the guards' wagon suddenly yelled out, which immediately warned everyone inside about the current situation outside.

"Stay here if you don't want to die!" David reminded Leo before getting out of the wagon.

"Don't mind him. If you want to help, you can go outside but please don't cause any trouble!" Hannah courteously said to Leo and Cassandra compared to David.

Leo nodded his head, not minding at all what they wanted to convey to him. He hurriedly got out of the wagon along with Cassandra to check out the situation himself.

Outside, the soldiers and mercenaries hired by Sword and Magic were currently fighting against the attacking bandits. While the Mages such as Claude, Hannah, David, and the other two were fighting against the Mages of the bandits.

The soldiers and mercenaries were at a disadvantage in numbers despite Ban helping them at the forefront. Looking closely, he was just obviously putting up an act of help, which then made his help useless.

Dandelion was a healer and support, so she wasn't able to cast any powerful attacking Magic spell. Though she was still casting consecutive healing spells on the wounded soldiers and mercenaries, which tremendously helped them continue fighting.

Claude, Hannah, and David were also at a disadvantage in numbers. They horribly discovered that there were more Mages from the Bandits' side.

Cassandra wanted to help them, but she was unable to do anything because she didn't even know yet how to cast a Magic spell.

Realizing that they will surely lose if the situation continues, Leo immediately goes to grab his bow on his back and shoots out an arrow that lets out smoke toward the Bandit Mages.

"Why did you shoot that kind of arrow!" David was enraged immediately as soon as the smoke covered the area of the Bandit Mages. He was already not in the mood since they were losing despite doing all their best, but now someone had done something to worsen the situation.

Moreover, David was also pissed because he could see clearly that Ban was just half-assed protecting the soldiers and mercenaries.

"Stop your argument and go help those soldiers while the smoke is still blocking their way!" Contrary to David's opinion, Claude was clear-minded as he immediately realized what Leo was aiming for.

Unlike David, who had underestimated Leo all this time, Claude on the other hand was told by Lady Angel that he doesn't have to worry about anything that Leo does. She also reminded him to just trust the latter and don't ask any questions about any of Leo's actions.

"Ah, so this is what Angel meant..." Claude whispered silently to himself before he quietly gave Leo a thumbs up as he then cast a Magic spell toward those ordinary bandits at the forefront.

Leo nodded his head in response to Claude's thumbs up. He felt relieved knowing that not everyone in the group was stupid and hot-headed like David.

With Leo's smokescreen, it wasn't only their side who couldn't see the target but also those Mages from the bandit side. Although there were still a few Magic spells flying around from time to time, it was still a lot safer compared to before. Because this time, the Bandit Mages don't dare to attack recklessly.

In an instant, the Sword and Magic merchant caravan gained the advantage since the ordinary bandits were unable to receive help anymore from the Bandit Mages due to being on the opposite side of the smoke.

Even though the Bandit Mages still knew about where the general location of the ordinary bandits, still they were unable to provide full support because of the thought that they might hit their fellow bandits unknowingly.

Without anyone noticing, right after the attention of Cassandra, Claude, Hannah, David, and the others were drawn towards the ordinary Bandits, Leo suddenly launched himself towards the smoke.

It was too late when the others realized that Leo was already inside the smoke.

Cassandra was also unable to stop him since she was also focusing her attention on the ordinary Bandits.

Cassandra wanted to go and help Leo, but Claude was quick enough as he immediately stopped her.

"Trust him!" Claude said after hurriedly blocking Cassandra's path. Though he just met Leo today, with the reminder of Angel in his mind, he had already trusted the guy.

Cassandra could only follow what Claude said despite feeling unwilling. She indeed trusts Leo, but it is exactly because of that trust that she is currently worried.

Despite all this time living together, Leo had only shown Cassandra his bright mind and genius plans. Not once had she found out about his capability in combat. She had even found out that he had only discovered his affinity for becoming a Mage and was still unable to cast any Magic spells like her, too.

At the present moment, as soon as Leo got inside the smokescreen, he showed an excited expression on his face. He put his arm in front of him as he quickly summoned the Earth Elemental.

"Time to test your strength big guy!" Leo said as he patted the back of the Earth Elemental that appeared in front of him.

The Earth Elemental was just two meters tall, the same as the Wind Elemental. But it was completely made out of a rock, which, unlike the Wind Elemental that gives the feeling of a harmless entity, it was giving the vibe of a savage monster.

Looking at the Earth Elemental, he could see it staring towards him with its hollow eye socket.

As he began inspecting its body, he noticed that its arms were the same as those of humans, but instead of fingers, it was actually sharp like an icicle that formed into claws attached to its hand. Its lower body was like armor too, that could surely crash bones if ever they received a knee strike or a kick from the Earth Elemental.

Smiling mischievously, Leo finally gave his order, "Kill them all!"

Receiving the order, the Earth Elemental didn't waste any time as it launched itself toward the Bandit Mages.

Arriving in front of a Bandit Mage, it brandished its claws and sent out a slash.

The unlucky guy was immediately cleaved into many pieces by the Earth Elemental's claw without being able to defend.

Leo couldn't help but be taken aback when he saw the Earth Elementals' capability. He instantly realized that he had underestimated its strength. The Bandit Mage was minced into pieces with just the Earth Elemental's one slash alone.

And to be honest, it was a gruesome sight to look at the minced Bandit Mage.

Seeing such a sight, Leo could only shake his head in disappointment at his opinion about Mages. He finally understood that Mages were not actually as powerful as he had initially expected.

Although Mages were the main front liners on the battlefield of Battle of the Races, it doesn't necessarily mean that they were really powerful individuals.

Based on what he just witnessed, Mages were still ordinary people, too. They were only different from ordinary people due to their supernatural capability of being able to cast Magic spells and other supernatural stuff.

In comparison, the Mages are like Magical Beasts. Albeit the former was much smarter than the latter, both of them can still be killed easily if a person uses the right method to hunt them.

With the new inspiration in mind, Leo turned his attention away.

He is still aware that he should not only be watching the battle between the Bandit Mages and the Earth Elemental.

Turning around, Leo quickly pulled the string of his bow, sending an arrow flying toward one of the Bandit Mages that had unexpectedly appeared in his sight.

The arrow directly hit the Bandit Mage's head, penetrating it and easily killing the poor bandit in a similar fashion as when he was hunting for the Magical Beast.

Leo again pulled multiple shots, trying to kill as many of the Bandit Mages as possible before the smokescreen finally ran out.

Shockingly, he again discovered that he had still vastly underestimated the Earth Elemental's capability.

Not long after he shot his sixth arrow, he was taken aback when he found out that all the Bandit Mages were already dead.

A total of 20 Bandit Mages lay on the ground, dead.

Aside from the six Bandit Mages that he had luckily killed with a shoot of an arrow from his bow, the others were cleaved and minced into pieces by the Earth Elemental with their bodies lying on the ground incomplete.

This was quite literally the meaning behind the words, "Rest in pieces".

"Just how strong is this guy?" Leo said in disbelief while he stared his eyes in disbelief towards the Earth Elemental currently covered in blood. He still can't believe that he has gained such a powerful ability from their family Heirloom.

Noticing that the smoke screen was slowly dispersing, Leo hurriedly unsummoned the Earth Elemental. He was not planning on showing his trump card to anyone.

Even if they could see that 16 bodies of the Bandit Mages were cut in half or pieces and were badly mutilated, they still wouldn't suspect that it was the doing of an Earth Elemental that he could control.

It was much better to give them the idea that he had some sort of trump card that allowed him to bring about such effect than to bluntly show off that it was the doing of an Earth Elemental.

He is certain that he would get into great trouble the moment he returned to Silver City if they found out about his capability to control Elementals.

"Such a powerful ability should be shared with the entire Human Race instead of only being used by one single person," these words would surely become the excuse of the Noble Household and Royal Family just to get his power.

Naturally, he wasn't against the idea of sharing his ability with others, but the problem here was he didn't even know how he had gained the ability. If they found out that it was through a mysterious Red Cube, they would surely ask where he had found the item which he would surely be unable to answer. And after knowing that they will be unable to get such ability, they will forcefully take it from him, which will surely cause him his death!

"Better be safe than sorry..." Leo reminded himself quietly before he walked back toward the merchant caravan's location.

Finally, the smoke dispersed.

In the next moment, everyone could finally see Leo walking towards them. But behind him not a single Bandit Mage could be seen.

However, they soon noticed that all of the Bandit Mages were actually lying on the ground dead, either with an arrow to their heads, cut into pieces, or with badly mutilated bodies.