The girl's group soon walked out of the shadows and was joined by the girl's side. They threw a disdainful look at Hunter's group. What surprised Hunter was they didn't seem to remember them from the adventurers guild. All the others except the girl had blood on their robes and hands. Just a group of five slaughtered all of Hunter's bandits and put a huge dent in his future plans. Once again, Hunter experienced how horrifying this world was.
"You owe me five coins," the girl said in a sweet melodious voice. All this blood and gore around her didn't even make her flinch. Hunter could tell this beauty was not a stranger to slaughter. Just like him, she was a predator behind how delicate she looked.
The black-haired guy behind her took a small pouch from his robes and handed it to her.
"Hate to say it, but I told you they weren't working alone," said the girl. Then, the golden-haired youngster took a step forward and eyed the trio on the ground.
"Before they died, they told us someone came out of nowhere, killed their old boss, and took over the bandit business. Now, who is going to tell me who the new boss is among the three of you?" The golden-haired youngster asked as he strolled left and right.
"Come on, Richard. We both know it's him," The girl pointed the devil's cry at Hunter and rolled her eyes.
"We took this from him," The girl said, fiddling with the dagger.
"Won't you say this dagger is only suitable for a boss?" The girl snickered.
Richard took the dagger from the girl's hand and halted his steps in front of Thrud.
"We still have to be sure. You know that, Vixen," said Richard as an evil grin emerged on his face.
"So tell me, are you the new boss?" Richard asked Thrud. The bandit looked Richard in the eyes for a moment before spitting on his face.
"Go fuck your-" Before Thrud could finish his sentence, Richard cut his throat with the devil's cry. Blood sprayed out of Thrud's neck, drenching Kolvar next to Thrud on the ground. Thrud's body quivered as he collapsed to the ground with his legs twitching until the light of life completely vanished from his eyes. Hunter saw another one of his subordinates, whom he thought would stick around long, slowly die. The youngster didn't bat an eye as he wiped off the blood from the dagger on Kolvar's shoulder.
Hunter knew if he didn't do something, Kolvar would be next, and he would end up in prison or on the ground next to Kolvar and Thrud's bodies. Without delaying any longer, Hunter summoned the system. After slaughtering Xander and his family and burning his fields, Hunter had ten thousand badass points. Although Hunter wanted to save the points in case he needed them to power up his specialization path, he knew he had to use them to escape the current situation.
"System, I want something to disorient them. Like a flashbang,"
[Warning. Anything that doesn't belong to this world would be expensive for the host to buy. The system recommends the host find alternatives]
[A flashbang will cost the host 12,000 badass points. The host is still two thousand points short]
"Fuck," Hunter cursed the system. But another idea quickly popped up in his head.
"Give me a knife. That exists in this world, right?"
[A silver knife from this world will cost the host two thousand badass points]
"I need the knife to appear in my hands. Can you do that?"
[Yes] said the system.
After Hunter confirmed the transaction, a silver knife materialized in his hands behind his back. The youngsters didn't notice that Hunter had started to cut the ropes around his wrist with the knife. Luckily for Hunter, Richard seemed to be a racist who hated the elves to the core. Hence, he turned his attention toward Kolvat before dealing with him. Hunter utilized this time to cut through the ropes and free his hands.
"An elf with a group of bandits. Isn't it interesting?" Richard clicked his tongue as he ran the devil's cry through Kolvar's face. The elf's face turned red as he began to shiver in fear. Looking at the blood trickling through the dagger's path, Hunter hasted. He knew he couldn't afford to lose Kolvar. Not that Hunter thought Kolvar was his best friend, but he needed the elf to establish his criminal empire. Deaths of the bandits had already put a dent in his future plans, and Hunter's last priority was to have his last subordinate killed right in front of him.
"Is he your master?" Richard questioned Kolvar. He slowly moved aside Kolvar's shirt to see the 'X' shaped burn mark on his chest. It was a mark of slaves.
"I have no master," said Kolvar as he felt the chill of Hunter's dagger on his neck.
"It's getting pretty late, Richard. We should hand over their heads to the sect and get our rewards," said Vixen. Finally, Hunter realized that some asshole sect elders had put a hit on the bandits. But the question was, why now. Hunter wondered what made these elders suddenly issue a hit order in his crew. When he first arrived in this world, he thought it was nothing like earth. However, he changed his views about this world. Earth was nothing compared to this world which was not a place for Parkers. One needed to be a Hunter to survive this world.
"Aww, what's the rush?" Hunter opened his mouth, drawing the group's attention to him.
"I can teach you so many things your sect can't even dream of," Hunter licked his lips, looking at Vixen from head to toe. The way he lusted over her sent a chill running down her spine. She felt creeped out.
Richard took the devil's cry off Kolvar's neck and stepped toward Hunter.
"These will be your last words as I am going to cut your tongue…slowly," Richard slightly bent over and grabbed Hunter's face. The poor guy had no idea that Hunter had cut off the ropes with the knife in his hand behind his back.
"You have any last words?" Richard asked Hunter as he slowly ran the tip of the devil's cry on Hunter's face.
"Do you scream?" Hunter's question surprised Richard. But he found out the meaning of his question when Hunter swiftly moved the knife in his hand and stabbed Richard right between his legs.
"ARGHH"' Blood spurted out as Richard screamed like a pig. Hunter immediately grabbed Richard's hand, twisted his wrist as the devil's cry fell off his hand, and caught it himself. The group was stunned as Hunter put the devil's cry on Richard's neck from behind. Vixen and the youngsters were completely caught off guard.
"Richard!"
"Oh god!'
"ARGHHH!" Richard's scream echoed through the forest. One could only imagine how much pain he was in. The knife was still sticking out of Richard's crotch.
Richard's scream was abruptly cut short when Hunter slit his throat with the devil's cry. After cutting his throat from behind, Hunter pushed Richard at Vixen and the group. Everything happened so quickly, within a few seconds. Once Hunter pushed Richard's body at the group, the blood spraying from his throat hindered their sight. Vixen fell down with Richard's body as Hunter leaped at the youngsters behind them.
[Ding! Congratulations to the host for killing a level 10 Disciple Warrior. The reward is 20,000 Experience points and 1200 Badass points]
[Ding! Congratulations to the host for successfully being a badass. The reward is 8000 Badass points]
Finally, the youngsters snapped out of their shock and tried to cast their own spells. Unfortunately, for rhythm, they happened to be mages. Unlike warriors, mages weren't built for close-range combat. Moreover, each spell would take at least ten seconds to cast, which they didn't have. Of course, some mages were exceptions, especially Knight mages who could cast spells and use martial art techniques. Hunter was lucky this group had only one warrior, and he was lying dead on the ground with a knife sticking into his crotch.
"Extiesco," They all cast the spell with the least casting time together as Hunter felt a strong surge of wind blowing past them. Instead of waiting for the spell to complete, Hunter dashed at them and stabbed each of them in the throat. They tried to block by raising their hands, but Hunter was too fast. They could have avoided Hunter's blade if they had trained as a warrior. Since it wasn't the case, it was as easy as stabbing sitting ducks to Hunter.
[Ding! Congratulations to the host for killing a level 9 Apprentice Mage. The reward is 9,000 Experience points and 800 Badass points]
[Ding! Congratulations to the host for successfully being a badass. The reward is 1000 Badass points]
[Ding! Congratulations to the host for killing a level 8 Apprentice Mage. The reward is 8,000 Experience points and 800 Badass points]
[Ding! Congratulations to the host for successfully being a badass. The reward is 1000 Badass points]
….
Their life-saving talismans couldn't save them as the devil's cry ignored its magic and snuffed out their lives. The youngsters clenched their throats, groaned, and collapsed down to the ground. Soon, the light of life completely vanished from their eyes.
[Congratulations to the host for leveling up. The current is Level 21, Assistant]
[The system recommends the host choose a specialization before leveling up again]
"You…You…monster…don't come any closer…" Vixen muttered in a complete panic when she saw Hunter's gaze fall on her. She crawled backward, leaving Richard's body.
"You are the hottest girl I've ever seen. Why did you have to do all this?" Hunter said, wiping off the blood on the devil's cry on his shoulder.
"Now I have to kill you," Hunter had no mercy for the girl, no matter how pretty she looked. What mattered was she crossed his path, and he wouldn't let those who crossed his path live for long.
"No…no…please…let…me go…"
"You messed up my operation pretty badly. You need to pay the price," Hunter slowly said.
"I will pay you…" Vixen said while crawling backward.
"I'll do anything you want…NO!" She screamed when Hunter grabbed her by the hair and lifted her up.
"Tell me your full name," Hunter asked Vixen.
The girl was too afraid to answer Hunter for a few moments. Eventually, she managed to answer Hunter, hoping her family name would scare him to let her go.
"Vixen…Vixen Grimend…" answered Vixen as Hunter plunged the devil's cry right through her heart. She coughed up blood, struggling to say something to him. Instead, it was Hunter who spoke to her.
"Look on the bright side. I will send your whole family to accompany you in the afterlife soon," These were the last words Vixen heard before everything around her turned dark. Her death was far from being peaceful as Hunter threatened to kill her whole life during the last moments of her life.