"Bandit?! Why does it have to be today!"
Krista yelled out in anger, then she spoke to the grandma.
"Grandma Lear, please drag him to the chief's house."
"Ok! You look bad."
The grandma accepts and comes to pick Seth up.
Her arm looks tiny and old, but she is a farm girl, so there is energy left in them to drag Seth across the street.
"Haha. sorry…"
Seth spoke in shame. He can't believe he had to be saved by a grandma.
His body was still so exhausted, even by dragging him, his muscles still throbbing from the pain.
"Try eating the soup while you are at it. It should help you move easier."
Krista put the bowl of hot soup into Seth's hand, the heat making him cry out.
After finding someone to care for Seth, Krista rushed and looked around to find the bandits.
"Where?!"
She yelled.
"That way! They storm out from the north! Chief and others are now defending them."
One old lady pointed at the entranceway. Krista and Seth came in this afternoon.
"Got it! Tell everyone to grab their most valuable thing and gather at the chief's house!"
Krista spoke and jumped off quickly, leaving a fire trail on her track.
The north side of the village is the only way you can sneak in from the mountains and forests.
All other sides are open fields of wheat.
'Shit! All day, it must be the day I find someone interesting!'
Krista is so annoyed by the event. She was starting to have some fun in years, and it had to be ruined by some bandit!
"Where is the chief?"
She asked with a male villager on the way to the front.
"Right there! He holds off the bandit leader."
He pointed at the forest's edge, where many bandits were fighting with the villagers.
And surprisingly, the villagers seem to be on the winning side. These people may be old, but they have much combat experience compared to the bandit side, whose fighting is uncoordinated.
Except for two people.
One figure with a muscle body fighting with the village chief.
The chief tries to attack him with his scythe, but the man only uses his sword to block without moving a single step back or forth.
"Why do you come here? Our village is poor and old, and only the elderly live here. Don't you have no shame!"
Their village is where they want to live peacefully in their remaining short life, so why must they be disturbed by some bandit?
The village chief cries in frustration because no matter how hard he tries, he can't land a single hit on him.
"We, bandits, roam as we please, and today your village just happened to be our target."
A manly voice came from a person in a mask. He saw someone coming, so he pushed the old man away.
"YOU COURTING DEATH!"
The village chief screamed and rushed in head-on.
"AGH!!!"
But got hit by a sword handle and knocked down to the ground.
"I give you one more chance, give me all your loot, or we will burn this village and kill all of you!"
The bandit leader looked down on the village chief and gave him a choice.
"Even If we did, you would do it anyway, don't you!"
The village chief doesn't trust them. The bandit! How can they be trusted?
"No, see, burning innocent people is bad for public image. I just want the loot."
The man was still patient and let the village chief reconsider his option.
"Come on, boss! Fuck public image, we bandit! Let's kill them all and plunder their house! Maybe we can snatch some of the pretty-looking ones back home!"
One of the bandits came in and tried stepping on the village chief's head, but his head suddenly dropped off his neck and rolled away.
Everyone watching was in shock, some in fear, but some from admiration.
"Sorry for my rude associate. We, "White Wind Bandit," is not savage bandit like the rest. We give you guys the safety the government failed to do. Our main goal is to eradicate all other bandits and bring back safety and freedom to this land."
The bandit leader explained their objective.
The village chief was shocked by what he heard.
He glanced over the lifeless head that once tried to step on him and started to believe in the bandit boss's words.
"What is this nonsense?! Do I look like a fool to you? You threaten us and now claim your goal is to be a hero?!"
But he quickly pulls himself back together. No honest man will try to rob a village full of elderly people!
"It's your choice not to believe, but it also might lead you and all others to death. Final chance. Are you sure you will stand against us?"
The ominous aura spread out from the bandit boss. Every villager around can feel the cold grip of death on their neck.
"All people in this village are elderly people. If we gave you the treasure we have, we can't survive."
The village chief tries to bargain and starts to shake from fear.
He just realized that the only reason they are all still alive is that this man has mercy on them and that mercy will run out soon.
"So, the answer is no?"
The bandit boss placed his sword on the village chief's neck and spoke coldly.
The coldness of steel is frightening, but he, as a village chief, won't give up.
"No…t today."
The village chief grabs the dirt on the ground and splatters them on the man's face.
But it is just a decoy for the actual attack!
Krista burst out from the shadow and flew to the bandit boss with her most deadly attack.
[Fire Stringer!]
The spear became hot red metal, and the flame erupted in a drill shape, piercing straight to the boss's head!
But before it reached his head, he turned around and blocked the spear with a glowing blue sword.
BOOM!
The two weapons collided and created a powerful shockwave from ice and fire.
Both of them jump away from each other and stare at a standoff.
"Tsk!"
Krista disapproved of this outcome.
How can he see her in darkness? Did her skill get worse?
"Everyone, attack!"
The female voice is booming for the forest after seeing how potent Krista's attack is.
"Are you ok, boss?"
She rushed to the bandit's boss and asked him with worry.
"Yeah… I'm ok…"
The boss answered back with a slight sign of panic in his voice.
He noticed Krista but didn't anticipate the attack would be this powerful.
"Isn't this against the plan we set? Let's turn back."
The female bandit suggested.
"Plan changes, kill all the aggressors, and spare the innocent. We can't show weakness, or no one will take us seriously."
But the boss refused. They already came here. If they retreat now, it will show that they're weak.
"White wind, try to get around them and move to the village, plunder all the loot, but only kill those who fight back! This is an order!"
He spoke with a booming voice, enchanted by wind magic.
"Ok, boss!"
All the bandits received the order and ran past the villager's line of defense.
"Also, let me handle that woman!"
He dashed at Krista with malicious intent.
The sword glowed bright, and a burst of coldness erupted from it.
'This guy, he's the real deal!'
Krista tries to dodge the attack, but the coldness in the air makes her slower with every step!
"Chief! Pull everyone back! NOW!"
She burst out a wave of flame to ward off her opponent and spoke to the recovering village chief.
But it only works for a moment, and then the coldness has extinguished all the flame.
"Everyone, retreat!"
The village chief saw a fierce battle before his eyes and decided to follow her command.
It is the first time they see such a level of seriousness on Krista's face.
==
Back to the village.
Inside the villager chief's house, many residents that are too old to fight or don't know how to fight are hiding in peace to wait for the conflict to stop. Some even fall asleep.
"Will everyone be ok?"
Seth, lying on the floor, asked Lear.
"They will, young boy. This isn't the first time our village got attacked by bandits, and every time Krista and others can push them back or kill them all."
Lear happily laughed.
Krista is powerful. She was among the strongest in the district when she served in the military.
"I wish I could be a help… but my body…."
Seth was disappointed in him. If he wasn't too reckless with the training, he could help fight against those bandits.
"Don't be too hard on yourself. It's their fault for attacking, not you. You are just training like normal."
Lear tries to soothe him but to no avail.
"Yeah… But I have to try!"
Seth still wanted to help, so he looked down at the soup and started to gulp it all down in one go.
'Fuck, it's too hot and spicy!'
He almost chokes on the herb but keeps going until all the soup is gone.
"What are you doing?"
Lear asked with confusion after seeing Seth's face heat up from the soup and starting to cry from the heat.
"Try my best to help them, Agh!!"
He forced himself to stand up with a short spear and walk to the front door.
It was still painful, but at least now he could stand!
'This soup works well. I can move again now, but it hurts as hell.'
"Are you sure you can go out like that?"
Lear asked with worry. The way Seth walked looked strange and weak.
"YES!"
Seth answered loudly and closed the door, heading to the battlefield.
==
"Who are you?"
Krista asked the bandit's boss. This random bandit has a skill on par with her, a former captain!
"Same goes for you. Someone like you isn't supposed to be here."
The man spoke back, too, surprised that there was an opponent who could withstand him living in a remote place like this.
"I live in this village! You are the one who isn't supposed to be here. DIE!!"
She raises her hand and the spear in the air and pulls them down with all her might!
[Dancing Flame!] x1
Krista bashes her spear in a circular motion, creating an afterimage of a blazing wheel.
BAM!
The ground bandit's boss was standing and got shattered to pieces.
[Dancing Flame!] x2
The attack didn't stop there. It shifted and once again flew at him, catching him off guard.
'It was a combo skill!'
But before the attack can hit him, a thick ice wall appears and blocks the damage.
"Sorry to interfere, but I think you can't beat her alone, boss."
The female bandit put down her hand, and the ice wall melted away.
Krista can see blue light glowing from underneath the female bandit's cloak.
'A mage?!'
Krista's face turned pale. There is a mage here all this time?!
"Krista!!"
The village chief screamed before getting stabbed by the bandits.
"Now our chance, everyone, charge!"
The moment all defenses are down, all the bandits are running to the front door of the village chief's house.
'I have to get them all in one swing, but this man is…. Fuck it! No matter what, I must use it, or everyone else will die!!'
Krista pushed off two of them and launched her back with a burst of flame to step in between them and the village chief's house.
She takes a deep breath and condenses all the mana in her body into the spear.
The spear started to shake from excessive mana before it exploded into a giant spear made of fire!
[Blazing Wave!!]
She swept all the bandits with the giant fire spear and burned them alive.
AHHH!!!
"Huff…. Huff…."
After unleashing her most powerful attack, she blacked out for a second and dropped to her knee.
'Did I get him?'
Her eye became blurry when she tried to see if she had also killed the bandit boss with [Blazing Wave].
But the reality is harsh.
"5th level skill? Isn't this a sight?"
The bandit's boss let out a massive sigh of relief.
The outcome wouldn't be pretty if he had to crash with that attack.
"Boss, wait! We can sell her!"
But before the boss finishes Krista off, his mage stops him.
"You must be some important figure. Are you on vacation? What rank do you have? Is there a tie between you and the noble?"
She asked Krista some questions with interest, it was hard to see what her face was like under the mask, but from the eye, Krista knew that she was very excited.
"Answered her."
The bandit's boss grabbed her neck, pulled her up, and kicked her spear away.
"Fu…CK y..o…u."
Krista faintly answered back before spitting on the bandit's boss's face.
"Can I kill her?"
The boss strangles Krista hardest to the point where she can't breathe. His face is now full of anger.
"No, knock her out. She will be sold splendidly as a slave. It will be a huge fund for our campaign."
His female mage spoke and laughed.
After hearing the suggestion, the bandit's boss uses both hands to choke out Krista.
She tries to kick and punch him but is out of power.
Her consciousness starts to face, and she starts to feel something she has not felt for a long time.
Fear.
"Get your hand off her!"
But before she passed out, one shadow rushed to them with a short spear in hand.
'Seth?!'
Like a lay of hope in the darkness, Krista held on to her mind.
"UGH!!"
The wound appeared on the bandit's boss's arm but didn't piece through him.
Seth's firepower is not enough!
The bandit's boss evaded him at the last second.
They got tunnel vision by their victory over Krista and didn't notice Seth's presence at first.
"I take care of him!"
The female mage yelled and created a barrage of ice arrows toward Seth.
'A spell caster?!!'
Seth forces his painful body to run around, dodging the rain of sharp ice.
"You little rat!"
The female mages screamed in anger. She stopped the arrow, created a giant lance instead, and hauled it at Seth.
'Having distance will be my downfall. I need to get close to her!'
Seth quickly notices that the lancer can be moved with her hand, redirecting its path to him.
'FINE, COME ON!!'
He stops running away and faces the ice lance head-on.
[Quick Thrust!]
He thrust his spear directly at the lancer, clashing with it!
"Ah!!"
The painful scream left out of his mouth, his arm's muscles twisted from the force behind it, and the muscle fatigue, the pain is indescribable, surpassing that of burning alive. It felt like he had been crushed between the rocks.
BUT HE REFUSES TO DROP THE SPEAR!
He overcame the pain by sheer force of will, squished out the last drop of power, and successfully redirected the ice lance away!!
"NO WAY!!"
The female mage screamed in fear and disbelief.
"DIE!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Seth shouted and thrust the spear at the female mage.
The female mage dismantled the ice lance and was forced to create an ice wall to defend herself.
"Tsk!"
Seth's attack bounced off the ice wall, but he didn't let the opportunity go to waste; he ran to the side of it and pierced the spear at the female mage!
"I got yo-"
But before the spear could kill the female mage, an icy sword stabbed his chest.
The bandit's boss successfully suffocated Krista before Seth could finish the female mage.
"uhh…"
Seth let out a short breath, but not from his mouth. It was the lung.
He had never had to feel such sudden pain before.
Even though he once burned alive, the fire only slowly killed him, and the smoke already numbed his senses.
But this sword is instant and deadly and is also extremely painful.
Wheeze….
The wheezing sound can be heard from the leaking lung.
After the bandit's boss pulled out the sword, Seth fell to the ground, starting to lose consciousness from running out of blood and breath.
'Not…this…again….'
The flashback from his old death appears, but it is so cold this time instead of hot.
His hand reaches out to the bandit's boss' feet and grabs them.
"Still not dead?"
The bandit's boss shakes Seth's hand off and walks up to Krista's body.
But suddenly, a fireball flew toward him!
"Everybody, freeze!!! Or your punishment is death!!"
The loud sound came from the north and was followed by a group of people in armor on a horse and their armor and the symbol of an eagle!
"The militia! How?!"
The female mage is confused.
Why is the military here, out of all places, in remote villages with only elders?
AT THIS TIME OF DAY?!
'They know we will be here?'
She tries to come up with a reason, but her boss has already decided what to do next.
"Everybody, retreat!! Use plan C!!"
The bandit boss issued a command while holding his burning face and decided to run away empty-handed.
It is far too risky to kidnap someone while running from a mage on a horse.
His mission is more important than money!
'Kris…ta…'
Underneath all the madness from the fight between the militia and the White Wind Bandit, Seth's breadth of life starts to fade as he tries to crawl his way to save Krista.
Alas, his mortal body can endure so much.
But before He died, he heard a familiar voice that shouldn't be there.
A voice of his alarm.
Ding!