บท 14: The Bandit's Epilogue
In the eternal night shrouded by the gloomy darkness, the pale silver moon shone with its brilliant moonlight. There were thousands of starry twinkling stars plastered on the heavens. The night sky was a simple gorgeous scenery, always seen, remembered, and forgotten. Though, this night was a special one. After all, it was where the first soul deal of a Krieger struck.
Slightly below the starry heavens was a black storm, slowly gaining speed and power. The winds in the sky and the earth got stronger and stronger while also becoming colder. What followed after was the silver flashes of the thunderstrike, trapped in the thick dark clouds.
*PANG!!!*
*PANG!!!*
*PANG!!!*
On the land covered by the dark forest, a decimated village stood. Ash, dust and the crimson flames covered the settlement. Along with them were the bandits, former soldiers, or peasants who defected from the country they lived in, becoming criminals or lawless scumbags. They invaded the village, conquered it, and destroyed it.
What was left behind were the survivors, mainly young women, and children. The men died by their bloodied and rusty swords, while the older women got defiled and died along with the men before them. Such were the fates of the adults, though a horrifying one was about to strike the young ones.
The boss of the bandit group was known as Otis, a former captain of the knights. He retired from service and got convicted as a criminal due to the rebellion with the knight order, which he had started along with many others. He was supposed to be executed on the gallows due to his crimes.
However, he managed to escape from his execution and was now in banditry, becoming the very one he pledged to destroy.
Otis found himself in silence as he noticed the storm forming above the dark forest. He furrowed his eyebrows upon seeing it as he wondered how a storm emerged this hastily. Though, that wasn't the main problem Otis wanted to face for now. The only thing he wanted was the price.
It was the bastard's sister.
"It was unfortunate that he died. I could have gotten good reactions when I defiled his sister before him. Well, death saved him before I could inflict damage." Otis shook his head in disappointment while looking at the rusty sword held tightly by his thick fingers.
The sword he was holding was created for the knights to protect and serve the country. Now, it has become a weapon of a criminal to inflict harm upon others. Such an ironic fate for such a sword, though that might be why it became rustier by the day. It didn't want Otis to be its owner. It would preferably be disintegrated into rust.
Otis leaned on a broken wall while looking at his sword before noticing the young women and children gathering right in front of him. A smile slowly formed on his face as he walked forward toward the young women and children. They were kneeling on the dirty ground as they had expressions of sorrow, shock, and fear.
Such emotions were something Otis wanted.
"So, does anyone of you know that bastard's sister?"
Otis questioned with a calm voice while pointing his rusty sword towards the young man's corpse that dared to disrespect and laugh at him. No one answered his questions as most of them were in silence. Some were too afraid to speak, some didn't know what to say, while some didn't want to snitch. Maybe it was all three of the possibilities.
"Hmm... No one wants to speak? Do you know the fate of those that dared to fight against me? Those who dared to stand in my way? Do any of you wish to become them?" Otis asked with a serious and stern voice. He was becoming angrier and angrier as even though they had fear, they still hadn't spoken much about the girl.
Including him, there were ten bandits that invaded the small village. Despite the larger population of the settlement, the bandits won through fear and brutality. Dividing and conquering them, one after another, was how the entire villagers lost against ten bandits.
That part was easy, but the aftermath wasn't something he would always want to deal with. He'd rather kill, torture, and destroy than manage anything. But unfortunately, Otis was the boss of this bandit group. To make the bandit group afloat, he needed to govern it even though he didn't want to.
"So this is how it goes? Another part of the bloodshed? Well, this will make things more interesting." A cruel smile emerged from Otis's face, but before he could continue, a bandit questioned his choice. "Boss, shouldn't we sell them to those bastards? Look at them. They are comparable to high-quality goods, boss."
"If we sell them, we wouldn't have to worry about anything for a whole month."
What the bandit had said made sense. Killing goods and resources was incredibly stupid. Even Otis agreed with it. As the bandit's words echoed, Otis looked at him for five seconds before sighing. The reasoning made sense. He could just take his frustrations out on the bastard's sister.
"Understandable. You'll take care of the goods during the selling process."
Otis gave the responsibility to the bandit as he'd rather not deal with the bastards and the merchants. The bandit nodded in understanding as he looked at the young women and children kneeling right in front of him. He was tempted to take one of them to a single room, though he needed to sell them.
He shook his head as he wanted to concentrate his brainpower on his job, which was to sell the goods.
After dealing with the bandit, Otis looked at the young women and children as he uttered with a smirk plastered on his face. "You were lucky to be goods. If not, you would have been beheaded by my blade. Though, I was wrong to say you were lucky, especially under the hands of the bastards."
Otis chuckled as his mood became better than before.
While the boss chuckled, a figure exited the dark woods. The faunas and bushes rustled as most bandits, including Otis, looked at the spot where the sound came from. They furrowed their eyebrows before the figure got illuminated by the torches and the pale moonlight.
It was the fat bandit who returned first from the pursuers. He looked rather tired as if he wanted to sleep and continue living during the day. Otis looked at the fat bandit with squinted eyebrows as he wondered about the mission he gave to the bandits.
The fat bandit, noticing Otis, spoke with a calm voice. "We found her. The four are behind me, carrying her back to us. I must say, she is quite a beauty, boss. You are pretty lucky to have such a girl." He smirked upon uttering his words. It was unfortunate that he couldn't get the girl, though he could use this opportunity to get closer to the boss.
"You got her?" Otis questioned as the fat bandit nodded and explained. "She was rather a fast runner though it didn't take much time for us to track her. She got tired, forcing her to stop. That was where we managed to catch her. She was the opposite of her brother, though I must say, I can see some resemblance."
Otis nodded upon hearing the explanation of the fat bandit. He thought it would take a while for them to catch the girl. He never expected them to be so fast. Though thinking about the girl, Otis furrowed his eyebrows and asked with a calm voice. "Did anyone of you touch her?"
"No, no, no, of course, we didn't. How could we touch the boss's woman? Anyone that does that would have a death wish in their mind. Only foolish idiots would do that." The fat bandit denied the allegation of the boss. It was unfortunate that the other ones stopped him. Otherwise, he would have died on his return.
"I see... So, what do you think of the storm above us?" Otis asked another question which made the fat bandit turn his gaze to the heavens. The storm in the sky was rather massive and seemed to be getting stronger by the second. A serious expression emerged from his face as the fat bandit silently uttered.
"Where the hell did this storm come from?"
"The storm above us formed more or less five minutes ago. It is becoming stronger with every minute that passes. I have never seen such a thing before though I do know people that could possibly do such things." Otis explained as he stopped before continuing.
"Sorcerers..."
"A sorcerer? Do you think that someone like that is in this dark forest?" The fat bandit questioned as Otis nodded and replied. "That is not out of the possibilities. After all, most sorcerers are travelers from different continents, lands, and countries. I have seen one, and I knew that the power emanating from her was enough to topple a city."
"Then, shouldn't we leave? This sorcerer might be extremely dangerous." The fat bandit didn't want to deal with the magical lords. He'd rather face an undead than meet the people that could turn him into an animal. Otis chuckled upon hearing the fat bandit's words and said with a calm voice.
"There is no need to panic. If a slave interests them, we can give the slave to that sorcerer."
In their world, sorcerers weren't the magical people of peace and kindness. They were cold, calculating, and greedy. For most of the inhabitants of this world, they were walking tyrants without any land. After all, they didn't need land. They had the power to make people from different regions kneel to them.
Compared to devils, they were weaker, less intelligent, and more tangible. Though, they were dangerous as magic tends to be relatively broad in variety.
The fat man nodded as he understood that the sorcerer wouldn't bother them. So within his mind, he convinced himself to never disturb a sorcerer to not gain their attention. Or else he would become their next experiment. He shook his head and sighed as he calmed himself down.
He had heard stories about the sorcerers. Some flattened mountains burned countries to the ground and split the seas. They were simply walking demi-gods who weren't dumb and naive. Dragons even considered the sorcerers as equals, not in terms of power and strength, but through their way of life.
Once again, the bushes and faunas rustled. A smile then formed on Otis's face as his reward had finally arrived. Three figures exited the dark forest. They had the expression of fear plastered on their faces. Their bodies shook as they seemed to be in trauma. They were frozen, though they still moved as if something was chasing them.
"Why the hell is there only three of you? And where is that girl?" Otis questioned with a cold voice as the three bandits ran towards him and shouted with all their might. "You must run, boss!!! A monster is coming. It got him, boss. It tore him apart as if he was a bread."
"What? Is it a sorcerer?" Otis asked as he was somewhat confused by the words of his men. One of the three bandits shook his head and answered with a quivering voice. "It wasn't a sorcerer. It could touch us, but we couldn't. It was like a ghost. It brought upon the storm and is now hunting us."
"It's that brat's fault!!!"
Another bandit shouted as he felt anger he had never felt before. He wanted to behead that brat but unfortunately, under the protection of that monster. There was nothing he could do but hide. The bandit looked at Otis and said with a frightened tone. "I'll have to leave this accursed place."
The fat bandit and the bandits who stayed behind couldn't comprehend how the three bandits were acting. Otis held his sword tightly as he wondered about the enemy that would appear sooner or later. What was he facing? A ghost? A powerful one? But why would it bother them?
Otis gritted his teeth as he shouted. "Ready yourselves, men!!!"
His words echoed over the settlement as the bandits prepared their bloodied and rusty daggers and swords. They looked at the spot where the three bandits emerged. Some gulped as the storm above them got stronger and stronger. The rustle of bushes and faunas then sounded as something flew out of the dark forest.
It fell to the ground with a thud, rolling towards Otis. Blood escaped from it as the bandits and Otis realized that it was the head of the bandit that got left behind. The head had a shocked expression as the beheading was rather beastly. It didn't look clean. It looked like something beheaded by a hand.
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