"What are you going to do now?" Leo asked, running up to me. "The girl is drawing out too much of the bandits. If she continues, it will start to attract mega ghosts."
I flashed him a smile. "Then, I guess we better stop this mess. You might want to stand back if you don't want to get hurt."
He frowned but complied. I brushed past two of the bandits.
"Hey, you—"
The rest of their curse ended at the sight of me.
"Hey, you," I parroted. "How's it going?"
Their response was to turn and run. I shook my head. Such cowards. One would think with the title Ghost Bandits they would have more balls.
They all thought strength came from devouring a few powerful souls. Once they were in the same cowardice prison, it didn't matter how powerful they became, they would still be weak. They had to have the devotion and mental strength from day one. That was what would make them survive. Their cowardly acts was what differentiated them from the mega ghost.
One's power came from both mental and physical strength. I could consider someone strong by their mental status. These goons weren't aware of this. At least, this Leo guy had a goal. He wanted to beat someone stronger than himself. Whether it was because of a dumb reason or not, it was to challenge someone stronger, not weaker. I had to give him props for that.
The crowd grew thicker. The roofs were covered with ghosts. There was no way to see anything unless from above.
I grabbed the nearest guy and shoved him out of the way. He stumbled, knocking several guys aside, giving me space to pass. I continued the act, going deeper into the crowd. It hadn't occurred to me, they were beginning to pay me more attention than the women at the center of this ring until it was almost too late. Yeah, the keyword in the sentence was almost.
I paused when the ghost in front of me turned to face me. It was puzzling how ugly most of these things were, yet Leo still had his human form. No scratch on his perfect ash-colored skin. I guess their kind of ugly emitted from their ugly hearts. Which made them all the most intriguing.
"Hi, guys," I waved. "I'm just here to get my girl and go. We don't have to—"
Someone threw something at me. It crumbled before it could touch me. The ghosts came closer.
"What are you doing, bones?" One of the ghosts shouted from behind me. "He's one of them."
One of who?
"Shut up, you fool!" The ghost in front of me scolded. This one had to be the bones guy. "There are a lot of us and one of him. Think of all the power we would get from taking him down."
The bandits around me didn't seem convinced.
"Look at him," the bones bandit urged. "He may be one of them but he's not like them. He isn't as powerful. If we work together, we can take him. We just have to work harder."
Damn, good speech. He had the others crossing over to the confidence side. Determination painted on their grey faces. Excitement flooded my receptors.
I clapped. "I must say, you are quite the leader. I don't know if this is an appropriate moment to say this but I like you. You're ugly and not so smart, but good with words."
No one cared about what I had to say. They scowl at me. Pointed, sharp teeth bared and their facial features deformed. Forget that I said they were ugly before because now ugly was too pretty of a word to use to describe them.
"Get him!" Bones shouted.
At his command, they all came for me. Leo came out of nowhere. Yep, nowhere and formed in front of me. The first row of bandits stilled. Within a blink of an eye, they disintegrated. The second row paused at the sudden death of their comrades.
"Leo," one growled. "I knew you were too weak to be one of us. Like a puppet you choose to take the enemy's side."
Leo stood tall. "You're all idiots for trying to go up against a God."
This kid continued to surprise me. He took out the first ring of men by transforming into ash. Leopard couldn't do that. This had to be a new ability with his new appearance. He was even cooler than I thought.
"Killing your kind is unforgivable," the bandit spat. "The punishment is extinction. You're on the wrong side of the field."
"So be it." Leo put on a fighting stance.
Such a serious kid.
The bandits were off again. All pranced at once. Leo didn't waste time either. He once again dispersed into ash. I couldn't help but watch. Ash, a weird thing to turn into. I wanted to know how he injured them in that form.
I watched in fascination as one by one the bandits disintegrated. It took a while to notice no one touched me. The few around me threw things at me: spear, stones, arrows. All made from their essence. None of it reached me. They all crumbled when they got near.
I sighed.
This was no fun. The power radiating from me made it hard for them to come close. If we couldn't fight, then this was a waste of time. I stood there thinking this was the start of a wonderful friendship between all of us, just to be crushed with the idea that they couldn't come near me.
I wasn't even a full God. If they couldn't handle the quarter-power I acquired, how could they manage the land of the living?
Frustrated, I fisted the shirt of one of the bandits. He struggled as I lifted him off the ground. The scent of burnt clothes filled the air. Smoke danced from where my hand fisted his shirt. He kicked and screamed. The heat from me scorched him and puff just liked that he was gone. Deader than he was before. If there ever was such a word.
A boring way to kill if anyone asked me. There was no fun in that at all. I grabbed two more bandits. Less than a second and they suffered the same faith as their friend.
Prior to me clutching any limb of another one of these things, the rest stopped. They once again tried to retreat.
One even had the audacity to kneel. "Forgive us, low lives. Spare us."
One bandit knelt and then the others followed. Leo appeared next to me. I scoffed and turned to walk away. These things were way too pathetic. What a waste.
"He wants the girl," Leo announced. "No one touches her or you're all dead."
They nodded and moved aside to make a path for me to walk. Leo smirked at his accomplishment. I knew I would have regretted sparing him. Such an annoyance. If I wanted a spokesman, I would have gotten one already. Kids these days. Didn't know when to stay out of other people's business.
I strolled down the path they made. The news spread like wildfire. The bandits at the front didn't challenge me and the ones on the roofs stayed put.
By the time I got in the ring, the redhead was sweating. Her breathing came in short gasps. The red… or fire something… whatever it was she called her hair color, well, the freaking thing stuck to her face.
The woman cowered behind her and the child buried her face in the woman's nightgown. Up close, she looked less like a mother and more like a teen.
"What part of don't intervene if you hear anything, didn't you understand?" I questioned.
Her chest rose and fell to match her ragged breathing. "I'm not a light sleeper." Emerald eyes strayed behind me. She held up her fists and closed her eyes.
Smart girl.
I glanced behind me at Leo. "He's not a bother. Just don't look into his eyes."
She peeked at me. "Easy for you to say."
I pivoted on my heels. "Just come. You have caused enough trouble already." The bandits were all standing, observing us. "Go home."
My command echoed through the village. The bandits complied and dispersed. Leo remained by my side. It was not hard to know why. He chose a side. My side. There was no going back with them.
The women trailed after me to the garage. I opened the door and Leo stepped back at the light that sprayed out the building.
"Put on the coat and cover-up," I ordered.
He bobbed his head and followed my instructions. He gingerly stepped into the light. Nothing happened. He plodded forward. Everything was okay.
I tapped on the garage door. "Are you coming in or are you staying out?"
He nibbled his bottom lip and made a leap. Once he was covered under the cloak, he should be alright.
At least, that was what I hoped.