The surprising escape of the bandit's leader made everyone in the open space bewildered. Though they had to accept that Thomas was too strong.
How old is he?
The slaves had their gaze fixed on Thomas. 'Strong and handsome' they thought. Their eyes had the look of awe and reverence.
The infamous bandit's leader who had his ass kicked abandoned his followers just to save his own life. If word of this incident were to spread out, the demon skull will not have any face again, if he were to escape from this predicament.
But who can blame him, in the face of death, most people turned to cowards, people seek to save their own life first.
Thomas dashed after the bandit's leader, leaving an afterimage. He passed through the hidden door, leading to a narrow passage.
The tunnel is man-made. The bandit's leader had already prepared for this kind of situation. The tunnel leads to the back of the hill, deep inside the forest.
Coming out of the tunnel, Thomas waited for a moment, he narrowed his gaze looking at the surroundings. The size and height of the trees around the tunnel exit were bigger and taller than the forest boundary. Hardly can the ray of the sun reach the ground.
Thomas's ear twitched, discerning the noise of a rapid movement at his right side. He follows quickly.
The bandit's leader was escaping rapidly. He did not try to look back, his breathing was erratic, his back was drenched in cold sweats.
After running for an hour, the bandit's leader stopped. He sat at the root of a gigantic tree, catching his breath.
'That was close, thank the gods that I dug the tunnel ' he thought.
"But where did that monster come from? I must report him to the higher-ups" he murmured.
What!
Seeing an after image approaching him rapidly, the bandit's leader was amazed, he had his mouth wide open. He stood up, sweats were dripping from his forehead.
"Why would this devil not leave me alone!" He uttered. He wanted to cry but there were no tears.
'This is the edge of the safe zone, if I run deeper, I will encounter various ferocious monster beasts. What should I do? I can only take my chances against the monster beasts than this devil' he thought while whisking deeper inside the forest.
Thomas continues to chase after the bandit's leader, suddenly, he starts to feel many presences looking at him. Thomas furrowed, he raised his eyebrows.
'I must finish this quickly. The forest is getting more dangerous.' Thomas thought.
Immediately, Thomas increased his speed, the distance between him and the bandit's leader started to shorten.
Eh!
The bandit's leader was shocked, mouth open with wide eyes.
"How can he increase his speed again!! I'm already using my top speed, but how can he keep up!" The bandit's leader rolled his eyes.
' That can't be right, he can't be in essence building realm at that age. Can he?' He thought.
With that thought, he almost stumbled while gaining his footing quickly.
The bandit's leader had tense muscles, he felt threatened, he felt death at his back.
He looked back with the corner of his eyes, he saw a sword light approaching him with great momentum, he shivered.
'Will this be my end?' He thought.
The bandit's leader turned quickly, facing the incoming attack. He summoned all his essence from his dantian to defend the attack.
Boom!
The bandit's leader was sent flying, hundred meters back. He crashed on a tree, breaking the branches.
Landing on the ground, blood gushed out from his mouth and nose.
Thomas appeared in front of the bandit's leader, he looked at him without any expression on his face.
The bandit's leader had difficulty in breathing, the heavy injury he sustained on his chest was so deep that his chest bone was revealed.
The bandit leader looked at Thomas with a crooked smile on his face.
"I agreed you are strong. But do you know what you get yourself into?" The bandit's leader sneered.
Recognizing that Thomas didn't show any expression. The bandit's leader continued
"Am not an ordinary bandit. Do you think I will have this confidence without people that are backing me up in the empire?"
"So!" Thomas asked nonchalantly.
"Hmm?"
The bandit's leader did not expect Thomas's reaction.
"Oh! The people that are supporting me are beyond your imagination? If you kill me you will never have a peaceful life."
"Really! After I killed all your followers and I know your location. Do you think I haven't crossed that line yet? Hmm, will you let me be if I did not kill you?" Thomas smirked
The bandit's leader rolled his eyes,
'it is true if he escapes from this predicament he will enact his revenge likewise those people will kill him if he leaves him alive or not. So what's stopping him from killing him?' He thought.
The bandit's leader opened his mouth to talk but nothing came out of his mouth.
"Who are those people supporting you?" Thomas asked.
Ah ah ah
The bandit's leader laughed.
"Are you scared now!" He snorted.
"If I'm scared, will I be here?" Thomas curled his lips.
"Just kill me, you're not going hear anything from me"
Thomas had already expected such a reply, he was just trying his luck.
Without further ado, Thomas cut off the bandit's leader's head.
Thomas picked up the head of the bandit's leader and got ready to return back to the bandit's hideout.
Suddenly, he looked up at the sky and narrowed his gaze.
Shortly, he quickly escaped from the area.
Boom!
Something fell from the sky with tremendous speed, destroying a lot of trees and raising a cloud of huge dust.
Thomas stood far from the sudden explosion. His gaze was fixed on the explosion.
'What can cause the sudden explosion' he thought.
After a few minutes, the huge dust had died down. In the location where the explosion took place, there was a large monster beast on the ground with a lot of deep injuries.
Thomas was surprised at the huge body of the monster beast. The monster beast looked like an eagle and a phoenix. It has a length of fifty meters, a width of ten meters. Its feathers had colours of black and blue.
"Phoenix eagle!" Thomas was astonished.
Thomas widening his eyes and looked at the phoenix eagle with an open mouth.
Phoenix eagle was a variant of both phoenix and eagle. It is rare to see a variant of both phoenix and eagle. Phoenix is a legendary beast, nobody had ever seen it before while the eagle is commonly seen.
Thomas only recognized the phoenix eagle from an ancient record book.
Thomas calmed down, he stared at the phoenix eagle who is having difficulty in breathing. It has lost a lot of blood, barely can it open its eyes.
The phoenix eagle opened its eyes and looked at Thomas. Seeing the phoenix eagle eyes, Thomas gasped. He quickly took a step back.
Thomas shivers, he hadn't felt that kind of power from anybody before.
The phoenix eagle closed its eyes. Every surrounding monster beasts felt the huge pressure from the phoenix eagle eyes while they quickly escaped.
Thomas looked at the beast while having a lot of thought.
'I think it needs my help'
Thomas walked to the phoenix eagle while raising all his guard. Thomas took out a healing pill from his storage ring and fed it to the phoenix eagle.
After an hour, the phoenix eagle opened its eyes, it had regained a bit of its strength though it was still weak.
It stood up and looked at Thomas. The phoenix eagle had a height of thirty meters. Seeing this, Thomas had a cold sweat on his back while looking at the phoenix eagle.
The phoenix eagle lowered its head while releasing its blood essence for Thomas.
Recognizing what the phoenix eagle wanted, Thomas was flabbergasted while having his jaw dropped.
The phoenix eagle wanted to have a beast contract with Thomas. It is ready to have Thomas as a master. A monster beast can only have one master throughout its life.
Thomas dropped his blood essence on the phoenix eagle blood. Immediately, the two blood essence mixed, and it entered Thomas's forehead.
Thomas felt a presence in his soul. He could feel the direct link with the phoenix eagle.
Thomas looked at the phoenix eagle and smiled. He rubbed the phoenix eagle's head while the phoenix eagle wiggled its head.
Ah ah
Thomas laughed. He felt the phoenix eagle did not like him touching its head.
"You did not like it when I touched your head?"
The phoenix eagle nodded.
Ah ah ah
"I'll continue to touch your head until you like it"
Thomas touched the phoenix eagle head again while playing with it. The phoenix eagle rolled its eyes while accepting its fate.
"I have to go, stay here, I'll come back," Thomas declared.
The phoenix eagle nodded.
Thomas smiled, he gave the phoenix eagle another pill to boost its recovery.
Thomas looked at the phoenix eagle straight in the eyes, he smiled and left.