As Val and the merchants got into a position to observe the battlefield, what they sore shocked them. They were just in time to see Drake stabbed by a spear through his shield and into his throat. They sore him collapse dead and witnessed the proceeding madness of Margret.
The merchants were shocked, they had been lucky enough not to have lost anyone, but it seems the other side had not been as lucky. Mr. Gregory was able to keep his composure and started giving orders to the merchants,
"We need to provide support to them, they are defending us, fighting for us, and now, dying for us. I know everyone is exhausted but even if it's only a little, I need everyone to give as much support as they can. Val, are you able to continue using your Spatial Skill?"
Val responded without looking at Mr. Gregory, he could not take his eyes off the scene ahead of him,
"I've used a lot of mana, and my mana reserves are lower than I would like them to be, but I should be fine to continue fighting."
Mr. Gregory gave a nod and then gave the signal for everyone to start the operation.
The merchants started heading toward the battlefield, Val however, headed toward Leo and Margret, he needed to check up on Leo and he wanted to try and calm Margret down. In her current state, she was dangerous to everyone, as she could accidentally hit a teammate, she could especially be dangerous to Val, who would be randomly appearing in close proximity to the bandits.
As Val was arriving next to Leo and Margret, the merchants got to a place, a slight distance from the battlefield, close enough to fire ranged skills, but far enough that it would be impossible for the bandits to arrive undetected, and surprise attack the group.
The melee merchants did not move forward and join the fight, their job was to prevent any of the bandits from getting close to the merchants whilst they used their skills to attack from afar. It was the same strategy they had used in the previous fight.
They did not attack all at once, of the 7 ranged skill merchants, they would rotate groups of 3 and 4, allowing them to recover a bit of mana in between attacks. They had not been able to rest properly so they were all still exhausted and running low on mana.
The assistance, however, helped Mark and Becky, who had attempted to take advantage of the chaos caused by Margret, to eliminate the C-Rank bandit. Unfortunately for them, the bandit was able to survive the initial attack and then received the support of the remaining bandits, with just the 2 of them on the front lines they were being surrounded and overwhelmed by the constant attack, not giving them time to counterattack. They were being forced to constantly defend until suddenly a barrage of attacks hit the low-rank bandits who were taken by surprise and unprepared. This gave Mark and Becky time to back off and recoup. They were exhausted and injured but they knew this was not the time to focus on that, their lives could be taken at any moment.
At the same time, the lightning attacks also stopped. Mark predicted that Margret had finally fainted from exhausting her mana. Mark had a quick look behind to confirm his suspicion and sore Val covered in blood, next to her. He had caught her and placed her gently on the ground. Mark swept his view and noticed all 10 merchants, who had been responsible for the assistance which allowed Mark and Becky to retreat. Mark noticed that they had survived and won with no casualties, which was a good thing but made Mark slightly envious.
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When Val arrived next to Leo and Margret, Leo immediately went to him, he looked quite smug, fully aware of the good job he had done and wanting praise, Val quickly gave him some head pats and gave a compliment to Leo, letting him know he had done well and will get a treat later. Val could not spend too much time stroking Leo's ego, he had to try and calm Margret down, he was not aware that she and Drake were lovers, he thought she was just grieving over her companion's death.
Val slowly approached her, not wanting to be attacked by mistake, whilst approaching he tried to talk to her,
"Margret, it's me, Val, are you okay? You will pass out from depleting your mana soon if you continue this crazed attack. Calm down please!"
Margret did not respond, nor did she stop her barrage of attacks, Val was unsure how to proceed, this was a new situation for him after all, and comforting someone was not a forte of his either.
As Val arrived next to her, he placed his hand on hers, which was raised and directed at the bandits, and tried to lower them. He met with some resistance but eventually, they were lowered. Margret stared at Val, and he returned the look. Val could see her face, which had been stained with a flood of tears, and when Val looked into her eyes he could see sadness, pain, grief, and visceral hatred.
After a few moments of them intensely staring at each other, Margret collapsed, completely exhausted and out of mana. Val caught her as she was falling and gently placed her on the ground.
With Margret unconscious, Val could begin his attack, utilizing the same method as the previous battle. Val turned his focus to the battle and noticed Mark's gaze on him and the merchants. Val instructed Leo to continue with what he had been doing and continue providing support when he found an opportunity.
Soon, Mark and Becky were forced to reengage in battle with the C-Rank and D-Rank bandits, the other 8 bandits were preoccupied with the attacks from the merchants and Val had made his way closer to the battle.
Val began his assassinations, slowly reaping the lives of the bandits, one by one. None of the bandits could deal with Val's method, they were simply not strong enough, nor had the skills to deal with him. The merchants were consistently attacking and the bandits had to constantly dodge or defend, this left their focus split, Val took advantage of this and took them out with a single attack. His [Stab] skill allowed him to pierce through leather armor and none of the bandits had metal armor. He could also use [Ice Spike] to attack the bandits or use it as a way to create distance.
It only took roughly 10 minutes for Val to eliminate the 8 bandits with the help of Leo, and the merchants. Once the low-rank bandits had been dealt with, Val and the merchants turned their attention to Mark and Becky's fight.
Mark and Becky had been fighting on equal terms with the 2 remaining bandits. They would normally be stronger and would have been able to defeat them, however, Mark and Becky were injured and exhausted from the long and disadvantaged fight.
However, with only these 2 bandits left, the tables had turned. The 2 bandits were severely outnumbered now. The merchants began assisting Mark and Becky, providing constant attacks, which meant the bandits could no longer stay on the offensive.
Becky began her assault on the D-Rank bandit, swinging her sword with precision and lethality. She used a three-swing combo skill, which started with a slash down diagonally, then a slash to the side, then a slash up. The bandit was barely able to defend himself using his own sword. The two became stuck at a standstill, with their swords pressing against each other.
Val sore this as an opportunity, used [Port] to appear behind the bandit, and slashed his Achilles tendons, causing the bandit to lose the battle of strength with Becky and fall to the ground. Becky quickly finished him off and shifted her attention to the last remaining bandit, Val did the same.
They could see that the fight between Mark and the C-Rank bandit was fairly equal, even with the assistance of the merchants. This was due to Mark's exhausted and injured state, but also because of the wide gap between the ranks of the bandit compared to the merchants. The bandit was much stronger than the merchants and was easily able to dodge their skills.
Becky and Val looked at each other and nodded, they both understood they need to take down this opponent as quickly as possible. They had realized that Jamal, probably would not be able to win his fight by himself, he might not lose, but he could not win either.
However, with assistance, they may be able to make an opportunity for Jamal to capitalize on, so they wanted to join the final battle quickly.
Becky rushed over and began her assault. With another person attacking him, one with strength comparable to his own, the C-Rank bandit was struggling to defend himself and not die. Unfortunately, he was quickly getting overwhelmed, and Val took this opportunity to appear behind him, utilizing the same method that had allowed him to eliminate so many bandits before.
Unfortunately for Val, this bandit was a far better and more experienced fighter than the bandits he had faced before and was able to react in time. He turned and swung his sword down on Val as he appeared behind him and before he could attack. Val was forced to use both swords to defend the attack and even then, he was barely holding on in their clash of strength.
Val's body was only that of a 10-year-old, his physique allowed his body to be stronger than a normal 10-year-old, but against this bandit, it did not matter. As Val was struggling, suddenly a spearhead appeared straight through the bandit's neck and simultaneously the hand holding his sword was cut off.
For a brief moment Val was shocked, however, he soon realized that both Mark and Becky had taken advantage of the moment he distracted the bandit, to end this battle and kill the remaining C-Rank bandit.
When the bandit finally fell to the ground, dead, everyone let out a deep sigh. This fight was won and there was only one more battle that needed to be won for this to be over.
Val took a look at himself and realized that he was completely covered in blood. He already had a lot on his face and clothes, but after being splashed once again, now his entire body was covered in dark crimson blood. He really did look like a little demon.
Val then shifted his gaze around the camp that had been a battlefield up until just a moment ago, and what he sore was truly shocking.