"Today, I will become your most loyal saber-toothed tiger."
"Haha you're kidding Ernest, I think you've forgotten us." interjected Rodrigo, laughing, as if he hadn't said anything just before.
Tena stepped forward without expressing anything, just held her sword firmly, with a resolute spirit.
"What the chief means is that all saber-toothed tigers are very strong on their own, but they're even stronger as a team," Romuald continued, shaking his head ironically.
The bandits paused for a moment at the momentum of just 4 people, then roared.
"Kill them!"
"Avenge our comrades!"
Maxime stood quietly behind.
"About twenty men and there's more coming, I wonder how long they can hold out?"
"And above all, given the situation, how will Rodrigo and Ernest react?"
Maxime didn't seem worried though, as each of his mercenaries was stronger than an elite soldier and easily approached the level of a bandit commander.
He could also intervene at any moment.
But he wouldn't because of a certain plan he'd worked out with Andrew beforehand.
Without further ado, the fight quickly began, resulting in deafening noises in the cellar.
Romuald advanced into the crowd and, taking advantage of his powerful physique, swept aside 3 bandits with a single blow of his stick.
The sound of breaking bones was easily audible.
Romuald had opted to use a wooden stick to make the most of his powerful physical strength.
This frightened the bandits nearby.
"Shit, what's that monster!"
"Let's surround him and attack him at the same time, he won't be able to do anything!"
But the bandit who had come up with this idea barely had time to finish his sentence when Romain used his powerful physical strength to sweep away a few bandits who had dared to come within 3 meters of him.
"Bunch of losers, keep on coming if you want to keep on tasting my stick!" threatened Romuald in a powerful voice.
Standing in the cellar, he exuded an astonishing aura, intimidating nearby bandits.
"Keep attacking him, he'll wear himself out sooner or later!
On Rodrigo's side, things were going even better.
"Bahaha keep coming, I'll kill as many as come!"
Taking advantage of Rodrigo's moment of inattention, a bandit crept up behind him, his sword aimed at Rodrigo's back.
As the bandit's sword came dangerously close to Rodrigo, the latter stepped aside, easily dodging his attacker's sword.
Before the still stunned eyes of the shifty bandit and the others nearby, Rodrigo swiftly cut down his attacker with a blow from his axe.
Maxime, who was also watching nearby, was equally surprised.
"What a terrifying intuition, could it be due to his elemental or innate talent?"
"No, if it was just his elemental talent with the earth, then that talent would be a little too scary."
After his brief conclusion, Maxime looked at him as if he were looking at a treasure.
"Even Romuald isn't that impressive next to him, I absolutely must make sure Rodrigo survives, because he'll be one of my future commanders without a doubt!"
Indeed, Romuald had a powerful talent that enabled him to surpass his limits, but his talent only had an effect on himself.
Rodrigo's talent, on the other hand, had ancillary uses that suited him better as a mercenary.
"Bahaha go get your little butts back, you little shits. My axe is thirsty for your blood!" roared Rodrigo, laughing as he took up the fight with the few bandits attacking him.
"Training will no doubt be necessary though..." murmured Maxime as he saw his potential future commander acting this way.
He completely forgot that he himself seemed much crazier on the battlefield.
On the other hand, while Romuald and Rodrigo were doing relatively well, Tena and Ernest seemed to be in danger.
Indeed, only a short time into the confrontation, Tena and Ernest had already sustained numerous injuries.
What's more, the bandits kept coming, leaving no opportunity for Romuald and Rodrigo to come to their aid.
It was particularly difficult for Ernest, despite his 2.1-point physique, because he was a complete novice at swordplay.
Indeed, although he regularly carried a sword around town, he had always concentrated his training on archery.
It was to the point where he hadn't brought a sword with him because he knew that with his sword skills, if he really had to take it out in combat then it would mean his death.
So, in his mind, it was much better to get rid of the weight of a sword and be able to run faster.
And her intuition was right.
The bandits would easily dodge his attacks and they could even kill him as they wished.
"Hey Patrick, how much longer are we going to play with him?" one bandit asked his comrade.
"I'd like to play with him some more, but the two tough guys and the girl seem to be giving our colleagues a hard time, and some of them are even dead."
"So let's kill him now."
"You do the honors."
"So generous."
The man who'd started talking to a certain Patrick approached Ernest, who was already quite exhausted.
Ernest wanted to step back, but a few bandits surrounded Ernest, preventing him from doing anything.
A few other bandits surrounded Ernest, preventing him from doing anything.
At the same moment...
"Shit, how long before reinforcements arrive?" whispered Rena as she fought off one bandit as best she could.
But a second one arrived the very next instant and swung a sword at her.
She dodged as best she could while deflecting the second bandit's sword and managed to find a loophole in his guard.
"Die!"
Her sword easily pierced the second bandit's heart.
But she failed to see that a third bandit had sneaked up behind her.
Tena had managed to hold out thanks to her sword skills, which were far superior to those of the bandits, but she had neither Romuald's powerful physique nor Rodrigo's terrifying intuition.
So at that moment she doubted nothing.
But just as this third bandit was about to pierce Tena's body, he fell limply to the ground.
"At last, one killed," murmured a gentle voice from behind Tena.
She turned, and saw a scene that would mark her forever.
Before her stood a young man with blue hair, dressed like a nobleman.
In this cavern full of hot-blooded men, this made him stand out.
Blood was dripping from his mouth and he could barely stand, but he was smiling brightly.
"I only thought that one day in my life I'd manage to kill a man with a sword."
Just after this sentence, he spat out a large quantity of blood.
Tena looked down slightly, and saw two shiny spikes protruding from Ernest's body.
"Why?" murmured Tena.
No one had ever done that for her.
"I knew I was bad with a sword, but I didn't think so," Ernest replied sadly.
"And how can I tell you...I..."
But Ernest couldn't finish his sentence.
The owners of both swords withdrew their weapons, uninterested in the last words of a dying man.
As if he'd lost his footing, Ernest collapsed to the ground before Tena's shocked eyes.
"Damn, that man really is crazy."
"Yeah, I didn't think he was so strong that he'd manage to fend us both off at the same time."
The two bandits who had thrust their swords into Ernest's body looked frustrated at their mistake.
But others roared with excitement at seeing Ernest fall.
"One fell, only 3 more to go!
"Aim for the woman, she's the weakest of the 3 left!"
The powerful physique of each of the 4 mercenaries under Maxime frightened these bandits who had only 1 point of physique on average, up to 1.3 points for the best of them.
But Rodrigo, who was in the distance, noticed the excitement and took the time to watch what was going on.
Thanks to his height and luck, he saw the silhouette of someone who looked very familiar.
An immense rage seized his body.
But he turned not to the bandits, but to Maxime, who was still calmly at the back of the cave.
A few brave bandit corpses lay at his feet, deterring any potential attack.
"Why Maxime!"
"Why did you let Ernest die!"
"He was the only friend I had in this world!"
"Shit, I thought you cared about your men despite your madness!"
"Ahhhhh I'm going to kill you Maxime!"