In the dark forest covered by a vast storm, a decimated village stood, shrouded by suffering, death, and destruction. The architect of the three words, the bandits, silently stood while waiting for death, who had come to take them all. A tranquil atmosphere enveloped the destroyed settlement despite the heavens raging above it. Unfortunately for the bandits, such serenity will be broken by the revelation of the Krieger.
The storm continued flashing its thunder which echoed through the dark forest and the night sky above it.
*BANG!!!*
*BANG!!!*
*BANG!!!*
The winds got stronger and stronger as the trees within the dark forest began to bend. The gales became faster along with every second passing by. But that wasn't the problem of the bandits in the decimated village. After all, the only thing they could feel was the looming dread covered with silence.
They pointed their rusty and bloodied weapons towards the spot where the three bandits had recently emerged. They held the armaments tightly as the bandits felt their cold sweat dripping from their foreheads. Fear was starting to clench their hearts as the anticipation of a monster plagued their mind.
'Why?'
Otis thought to himself as he looked at the spot where the head emerged. He had numerous questions passing through his mind. First, he wondered what he had done to offend a sorcerer. Did the sorcerer have some business in the village? Such was the thought which was prominent within himself.
'We need to survive... I need to make a plan.' So he thought as he started looking around for any escape routes. He didn't want everything he had worked for to end this way. He didn't want to die against a sorcerer and be forgotten like many others before him.
He wanted one thing, and it was a simple and disgusting dream. He wanted to be remembered as the greatest and cruelest bandit.
"Boss, what do we do?" The fat bandit asked with a shaken voice as he slowly backed away from the bushes where he and the three bandits came from. From the head and the fearful faces of the bandits, the fat bandit knew that a monster was about to emerge. A sorcerer, a powerful and wandering tyrant.
Otis turned his gaze towards the fat bandit as he got out of his tranced and replied. "I don't know... But we have to do everything to escape." Otis didn't have any idea about fighting against the sorcerer. Who fights against monsters? They were underequipped, and not even the knights who were the best of the best could defeat a single sorcerer.
"Escape? But how do we even escape? We are fighting against someone that knows magic. The things that the monster could do is something not incredibly known. We might get burned, or more monsters would be sent to hunt us down."
The fat bandit knew that running away from a sorcerer was a foolish thing to do. The fate of those that ran away was disgusting in the stories relating to the sorcerer. Sometimes, their slaves would become the strongest men or women on the continents.
Though most of the time, such slaves would get thrown into a pit of bodies or be experimented on despite being dead.
"I'm not talking about running away. First, we will have to talk to the sorcerer and ask forgiveness. Then, we can use the slaves as collateral for our lives." Otis shook his head and said with a seemingly calm voice. It was a simple plan, and it was the only plan they could use against the sorcerer.
Upon hearing the words of Otis, the fat bandit nodded in understanding. The bandits around them also simultaneously nodded as they looked towards the bushes and waited for the sorcerer to emerge from that spot. They hoped that such a plan would work. After all, if not, their heads would be flying away from their bodies.
After a while, the bush then rustled as the bandits stiffened and pointed their rusty and bloodied weapons toward the dark forest. The storm above them got stronger and stronger along with time. It appears that the sorcerer was near them, and their emergence was about to happen.
It didn't take much time as a figure exited from the bushes. The bush then rotted and decayed in seconds as the trees around the figure fell the moment of her arrival. After seeing such sorcery, the bandits instinctively backed away and looked at the sorcerer who had done such things.
They found themselves shocked as they didn't expect the spoken monster or wandering tyrant to be such a beauty.
The one who emerged from the now decayed bushes and trees was a gorgeous young girl.
She had a cold expression plastered on her face as her silver-white hair reached her waist. She wore a military uniform, which appeared to be high-rank in design. The irises within her eyes were light magenta in color, and they lacked the light generally found in young girls.
Her skin was smooth and pale white as, despite looking young, her body seemed to be sculpted by the gods, which was partly true.
The bandits found themselves entranced, and Otis, on the other hand, was also affected though he managed to get out of it by shaking his head and punching his gust. After getting out of the natural trance, Otis looked around and noticed his men slowly falling to the sorcerer's power.
"Be careful!!!"
Otis shouted as the bandits who were frozen got their trance broken. They shook their heads in instinct as they looked around and found themselves in shock. They didn't know what had happened. They wanted to go toward the gorgeous girl, but they knew the fate of those that stood right beside her.
Meanwhile, Alastair, who had finally seen her targets, was confused about their actions. Why were they frozen and kept staring at her? And why the hell were they shaking their heads and now looking at her with fear? It seemed that the bandits in this world were full of hilarious expressions.
"Miss Sorcerer, why did you attack us?"
Otis asked as kindly as possible as he smiled at Alastair, who was gazing at them with a cold expression. Alastair walked forward upon hearing the words of Otis, which resulted in the bandits slowly backing away. It was quite a scene. Though, for the bandits, it was like facing a monster that would entrap them without notice.
Seeing the immediate actions of the bandits. An intrigued smile emerged from Alastair's face as she spoke with a soothing voice.
"May I ask, are you the ones who had destroyed the small village you are standing in?"
Alastair questioned while smiling at the bandits. The bandits found it creepy as one of them was about to deny the accusations of Alastair. But before the bandit could say a single word, Otis stopped him and replied instead. Denying was no use against a sorcerer. It was better for them to be honest.
"We were the ones that destroyed this village. Is there something you want from it, Miss Sorcerer?"
Otis wanted to know if the sorcerer right in front of him had something to do in the village. If the sorcerer did, then a lot of things would become complicated.
Alastair shook her head as she replied with a calm voice.
"I don't want anything from the village. However, recently, I met a young girl. You see... We had a contract, and in that contract, I will kill ten people for her. So, who do you think was the ten people she wanted to kill?"
Alastair gazed upon the ten bandits, though one of them was simply a single head, which was bleeding on the ground. Otis realized what Alastair meant and turned his gaze towards the three bandits who had escaped her. Seeing Otis's serious expression, they gulped and explained with a shaken voice.
"She appeared out of nowhere and asked that girl you wanted us to chase of a contract. The bastard's sister accepted the contract, and it appears that the contract was about the termination of ten people." It was a simple explanation, and most bandits knew what the three had meant.
Otis then looked at Alastair and asked. "Is there any way to change the contract? We can give you many things that would be better than what that bastard's sister could provide. Please... please, give us a chance." He begged for mercy as he knew that negotiations were breaking apart.
Alastair tilted her head as the smile on her face didn't change. Though, at this very moment, the smile faded as a cold and emotionless expression was what replaced it. Alastair then replied with an aloof tone. "A deal is a deal. What comes after the contract is unchangeable."
"W-what..." Otis felt his heart wildly beating as he slowly backed away from Alastair. There was no chance to negotiate against a sorcerer. They were nothing but cold and cunning monsters. Alastair walked forward as Otis immediately shouted towards his men.
"Attack!!!! Attack!!! The sorcerer doesn't intend to leave us alive."
Hearing Otis's words, a single bandit didn't hesitate and charged toward Alastair. Arriving in front of Alastair, he swung his rusty sword with all his might towards the gorgeous girl. Alastair swiftly changed her position as she dodged the rusty sword, which was now right in front of her.
*Pang!!!*
The rusty blade hit the ground and caused dust to dissipate. The bandit, seeing his attack miss, wanted to temporarily retreat. But before he could take his sword back, he felt a soft feeling touching his hand. The bandit quickly noticed that it was the sorcerer's hand.
He wanted to take the hand out, but unfortunately, he couldn't move a muscle. Alastair was holding the entire buff hands of the bandit with a single slim hand of hers. There was a reason why she could behead the first bandit with her hands. Despite being gritty, it was still an excellent technique to have.
Seconds later, Alastair's grip got stronger and stronger as the bones within his arms slowly cracked and broke. Pain then ached as the bandit shouted. "ARrrggghhh!!!" Before the bandit could continue screaming, Alastair swung her hand towards his neck.
The bandit couldn't move, which resulted in a hit. The hit wasn't clean at all. It broke the bandit's neck, and his head was now in a strange position. The bandit couldn't speak as his voice box broke. He couldn't breathe as Alastair practically destroyed his neck. And after a while, he fell to the ground, paralyzed.
The buff bandit died as Alastair looked at him and simply let go of his arms. It was bloody, but the broken neck from her single attack was enough to make the bandits feel a chill within their spines. The bandits looked at each other as the fat bandit uttered. "We'll have to attack her together."
"Or else, it wouldn't take a while for us to die against the sorcerer."
The bandits nodded in agreement as all of them immediately charged toward Alastair simultaneously. With rusty daggers and swords as their weapons, the bandits were relatively fast. They quickly arrived before Alastair and started attacking her with all their might.
They swung their rusty and bloodied weapons as they even used some martial arts. But unfortunately for them, Alastair dodged each of their attacks as if she was a dancer on a theatric stage. They continued attacking while Otis simply looked at them from afar. He then instantly noticed something strange.
Otis noticed the skin of the bandits decaying. He then realized what the power of Alastair was, but before he could tell his men, Alastair began her counterattack. Without any hesitation, she broke all of their necks and punched their hearts, which broke their ribs.
In an instant, the bandits fell to the ground. Bones from their ribs could be seen piercing through their chest. It wouldn't take that much time for them to die, and that was an easy death compared to the first bandit, who got beheaded. After the bandits had been killed, Alastair turned her gaze to Otis.
"Oh, Soteria, I was waiting for you,"
Alastair said with a calm voice as a tiny smile formed on her face. Otis then noticed someone behind him. He didn't know who it was, but she appeared to be an acquaintance of the gorgeous girl.
Not only that, it was a gorgeous maid who seemed to rival the girl in beauty. The beautiful maid slightly bowed towards Alastair and spoke with an emotionless yet respectful voice.
"I apologize for being late, Lady Alastair."