Upon hearing Rakta's words, Vidur sighed inwardly but he maintained a stoic expression on the outside.
"Tsk Tsk"
Vidur put up a fake expression of annoyance as he let go of his Khukuri.
*Clang*
The khukuri fell to the ground and Sardhas also gave up his grip on Vidur's arm.
Vidur still had a fake expression as he looked at his arm, which had red marks signifying the absurd strength behind Sardhas' grip.
"Hehehe, How is it kid? Scared?"
Sardhas laughed as Vidur continued checking his arm with an indifferent expression. He flicked his fingers a few times to see if his bones were fine.
"Ahahaha, checking your bones? Don't bother since I will pound them into dust anyways."
Upon Sardhas' provocative statement, Vidhur continued feigning ignorance as the cogs in his brain moved faster than ever.
"At least 25 bandits are around me. 10 of them standing at the exit."
Vidur stared at Sardhas' while thoughts continued to come and go in his mind.
"This Sardhas bastard is someone I can deal with but..."
Vidur looked at the smiling Rakta from the corner of his eyes.
"That leader bandit won't be easy..."
"Tsk, stop staring at me and get on with your fight."
Rakta clicked his tongue when he noticed Vidur's gaze and spoke nonchalantly.
"Don't you think this is unfair?"
Vidur, who had been mostly silent till now spoke in an indifferent voice.
"Hahahaha, are you scared kid? Ahh, I was so ready to crush you but since you seem to be scared. I will spare a few bones or two."
Sardhas laughed maniacally as the bandits nearby all snickered.
Vidur felt like he was watching a group of disgusting bastards so he spoke in an arrogant tone.
"Scared? Pff- I said it was unfair for us to be fighting... for you!"
As Vidur's words fell, the bandits silenced as Sardhas' eyes became filled with anger.
"Good good, being delusional is a good state before death."
Sardhas charged at Vidur like a wild boar and started attacking with his fists which Vidur dodged without fighting back.
"Haha, is dodging all you can do?! Where is that big talk from before? Kekeke, be glad the leader doesn't want me to go all out. Hehe, I was going to kill that little runt for embarrassing me before but you are a good start for me to redeem myself!!"
Sardhas continued swinging his hand at Vidur like a club, but Vidur dodged everything.
And it continued like that for an entire minute. Sardhas attacking Vidur continuously and Vidur dodging everything.
"Aargh! Running won't do you any good kid, I will break your bone-"
"Oi"
As Sardhas was going on about the things he would do to Vidur, Vidur interrupted his speech with a cold voice.
*Swoosh*
Sardhas heard wind swooshing near his left ear as-
*Slam!!*
A loud slap came to his left cheek.
"You speak too much, you boar-like bastard."
Vidur continued speaking in a cold tone as he grabbed Sardhas hair.
"Tejas has a habit of talking too much. And you seem worse than him."
Vidur pulled Sardhas by his hair and positioned him in a way perfect for slapping.
"You wanted to crush my bones? Your leader wants you not to fight with full strength?"
*Slap!*
Another loud slap accompanied Vidur's cold voice.
"You think I am that weak? Then for your information, I am stronger than Tejas."
*Slap*
*Slap*
*Slap*
Vidur continued the onslaught of slaps as the bandits surrounding them looked with a dumbfounded expression.
The humiliation that Vidur was putting Sardhas through was nothing but astounding.
Of course, Sardhas fought back. He grabbed Vidur's hand that was gripping his hair and laughed maniacally.
"Ahahahahahaha! So, you are stronger? Ahahaha, even better!"
Sardhas had an expression that crave battle as killing intent flashed in his eyes.
Vidur immediately tried to punch Sardhas but His fist was also caught.
"Kid, you thought you were going to win right? Haha, I was just going easy on you. Checking what you were made of but now I have nothing to check anymore!"
Vidur glared at Sardhas' eyes as the struggle turned into a contest of strength. Sardhas and Vidur both put their strength on their fists as the bandits kept watching.
"..."
Vidur didn't reply but could feel him slowly losing in a battle of strength. He was being slowly overpowered by Sardhas and there was nothing to hide about it.
Sardhas continued laughing while Vidur suddenly weakened his strength on his hands. The locked-up momentum that Sardhas had been building from their scuffle acted.
His body plunged forwards and Vidur immediately let go of Sardhas hands, who tumbled for a few steps before striking with a back-swing of his left hand.
Vidur again dodged that before attacking his back.
Yet the attack seemed to not have much effect on Sardhas who laughed and said,
"Did you really hit me pretty boy? Is that all your power?"
"Hmph, even an ant can kill an elephant. Much less a mindless animal in a human's body."
Tejas replied as he jumped and hit Sardhas' jaw with his knee. Following the attack up with his both palms slapping Sardhas ears.
Feeling a tad bit discombobulated, Sardhas felt a bit dizzy. He couldn't hear properly as 'Ooooooooong' was the only sound he was hearing.
But, as if only disturbed a little, Sardhas caught Vidur then lifted him up. To which, Vidur attacked Sardhas head with his elbows causing Sardhas to lose his balance.
Vidur used the opportunity to escape from Sardhas' hold and took a few steps back. Meanwhile, Sardhas felt annoyed at Vidur's attacks.
Sardhas was a man who relied on brute force mostly. His techniques consisted of rather blunt and straightforward attacks. But, Vidur was different.
Taught by Ram and Raj, fighters that specialized in both blunt and sneaky moves. Vidur had honed his fighting skills that utilized the opponent's weak points.
Vidur and Sardhas were the exact opposite in this sense. And that was what irritated Sardhas. He hated sneaky moves because both his physique and personality didn't suit them.
Sardhas couldn't hear properly and his vision was also a bit shaky. So, he closed his eyes and raged.
He charged at Vidur, who was just a few steps away, and started attacking randomly. No order, no special martial art, none of that sophisticated bullsh*t as Sardhas put it.
Pure strength-based attacks. His flurry of punches was truly random but every punch has power to break muscle and bone but all Vidur needed to do was not get within his range.
Plus, those random attacks created more openings for Vidur to exploit than he needed. Vidur deflected an incoming punch and countered with a cross on Sardhas left cheek.
Again, he slapped Sardhas ears. Sardhas also fought back with a jab but Vidur dodged that easily too. Not wanting to give him more chances to attack, Vidur truly switched to offensive mode.
Vidur hit Sardhas stomach then on the right elbow followed by a straight punch to make a right fracture, then another hit to Sardhas jaw to dislocate his jaw entirely.
Again, 4 power shot punches to the upper parts of the abdomen. Breaking at least a few ribs. Then, Vidur switched to the lower body. He attacked the Achilles tendons with a kick and finished the combo with a sweet throat punch.
The bandits were left gawking at the scene in front of them as Sardhas was coughing blood then fell down to the ground, unconscious.
"..."
*Thud*
The sound of Sardhas' unconscious body falling to the ground was the only sound that reached Vidur's ears.
He looked around to see the expression on the bandits. Utter shock and disbelief.
It seemed like they couldn't fathom nor process the fact that Sardhas lost in terms of hand-to-hand combat.
"Is it really unbelievable that you are getting beaten?"
Vidur put up an indifferent expression and spoke in a near-emotionless voice. He slowly walked towards his Khukuri that was still on the ground.
"His ear is slightly bleeding, jaws broken. At least 4 ribs cracked with a few actually broken. Doesn't matter if he is an elephant-like bastard. Recovery should take at least a month."
Vidur picked up his Khukuri and began wiping the dust on it nonchalantly as if he hadn't just beaten the shit out of someone.
This attitude made the bandits scared of him. Their first impression of Vidur was rather stupid. To them, Vidur seemed like a kid who hadn't grown mature properly.
Yet the body of Sardhas, who none of them could ever defeat was lying on the ground.
"Tsk"
Rakta made a disappointed face.
"Pathetic bastard. You lose to a kid and you call yourself 1 of the 3 commanders, you talk so big yet you are so weak."
Rakta said as he got up from his throne. His eyes staring at those of Vidur's.
"Thanks kid, you have reminded me to teach that moron a lesson."
Rakta spoke in a sarcastic tone as the air grew a bit chillier.
The bandits who looked like gawking idiots soon readied their bodies. Sure, they were afraid of Vidur's strength but there were more than 25 people here. Plus, their leader Rakta was someone way stronger than Sardhas.
"Meh, I don't care about the whole duel thing now. Just capture him!"
Rakta commanded his men, to which the bandits followed.
They charged at Vidur from all sides. Even the bandits at the exit charged in.
Vidur was of course more than happy to use the opportunity.
Without wasting a single second, Vidur sprinted towards the exit. A bandit who was coming at him head-on were immediately defeated by Vidur.
He also threw a small rock he had secretly picked up along with his Khukuri at the other bandit.
"Ack-"
The bandit yelped at the sudden rock that hit his forehead. It wasn't anything lethal but created enough time for Vidur to run past him.
"Get him!"
The bandits shouted and ran after Vidur. Fortunately, Vidur was confident in his speed. He didn't completely outrun the bandits but managed to make sure he wouldn't immediately get caught.
And so, he ran past the confused bandits who were near the entrance of the cave, past the locked-up women and soon outside the cave itself.
"huff huff-"
Vidur slightly huffed and ran at the place where Tejas had set up the traps. Then, He grabbed his bow and arrows he had hidden on the ground and shot at the sky.
The bandits in the distance were confused about Why Vidur shot in the sky.
But only Tejas, who was waiting for this very signal understood.
"You made me wait for too long~ Hehe"
Tejas smiled but also immediately went towards the area. Vidur also jumped inside some large bushes and hid inside the jungle.
"..."
All that was left were the bandits, searching for Vidur. They were expecting a few traps and walked carefully. Yet, one of them got caught in a simple trap.
As if it started a chain reaction, The bandits began getting caught in some small holes, random ditches, and some of them even had freaking logs swinging at their heads.
Tejas had managed to lay very basic yet numerous effective traps. As the number of bandits slowly dwindled, Tejas shot the remaining while hiding on a tree.
"..."
Back inside the cave, Rakta spoke in an annoyed voice.
"Those idiots, they are taking too much time. This isn't right. Even if that kid is strong for his age, he isn't enough to take care of all of them on his own. Were his reinforcements on the outside actually strong?"
Rakta tapped the armrest of his throne as he pondered if he should head out.
"Boss! Let us handle this situation. We will catch that boy and his friends and present them in front of you."
Hearing the words of his subordinates, Rakta felt kind of relieved. He knew these 2 bandit commanders are his strongest and could take out Vidur and his companions easily.
But maybe it was because he considered it to be a hassle, he let them be.
"Sure, go ahead. Bring that kid here alive if you can't then his head alone should be enough."
"Yes Boss!!"
The 2-commander shouted and headed outside. They followed the footprints and soon arrived at the place of the traps to see the previous bandits caught in stupid-looking traps.
Tejas, who was watching them from the same tree suddenly shot an arrow at one of them. But another bandit seemed to have noticed the arrow as he deflected the arrow.
Then, the entirety of the bandits spotted Tejas. Arrows flew straight to his face and all he could do was dodge.
That's when Tejas lost his footing and fell on the ground.
"Ugh"
Tejas groaned as the bandits were approaching. The archers among them drew their bows again.
"Ah, I messed it up!"
Tejas spoke in his mind. Clearly, he hadn't thought about his whole plan through.
Tejas immediately got up and tried to run but the arrows had already been fired at him.
*Swoosh*
*Ting*
*Ting*
Tejas deflected a few arrows from his khukuri and dodged some. But,
he couldn't avoid nor deflect all of them.
An arrow that Tejas couldn't deflect went straight towards his head.
*Whoosh*
Tejas heard a whoosh as another arrow came from his side, hitting the arrow that was about to strike Tejas.
Ultimately knocking the arrow down and saving Tejas' life.
"..."
Tejas blinked a few times at the fact that he had just nearly died.
"Idiot! Focus."
Vidur came from the bushes and scolded Tejas for his careless, reckless, and rash behaviour.
"...Ok"
Tejas slapped himself and picked his weapon up. Preparing for combat.
The 2 bandits also looked at the two. Suddenly, one of them said,
"One guy lured us while the other set up traps. Seems like you had the brains to have somewhat of a plan but not the brain to know that you would lose against us."
The bandits knew that Vidur was strong. They guessed Tejas was also strong. But they had the number on their side.
"Boss said to capture you. Plus, even if we are bandits, we can't attack two kids who aren't ready yet. Take your time and don't worry, you won't die just yet!"
Hearing the sentences of the bandits, Tejas felt annoyed. He didn't like the fact that they were being underestimated. Meanwhile, Vidur was happy that the bandits were idiots that gave them another advantage.
"Hey Vidur, now we don't have to run anymore, right? You take care of the one with the sword I will avenge myself against that bow bastard."
Tejas whispered while the two were busy getting themselves ready. Tejas had most things he needed but Vidur was practically empty-handed with nothing but a khukuri, a bow, and a few arrows.
So, they took their time and prepared themselves...