He rushed towards the source of the scream, spotting the source of the trouble before spotting the victim. Surrounding a lone tree were bandits, lecherous smiles on their faces. The reason for the smile was growling at them.
A girl glared at the bandits, his purple eyes could not hide the fear he currently felt even as he defiantly looked at the bandits. Her brown hair was tied in a ponytail style. She wore brown and white clothes, though most of them were in pieces, no doubt the work of the bandits.
Thanks to the tattered clothing, he could see the red tip on her breast, plus her nether region, even with her attempts to cover it. A bandit grabbed her hands, removing the only thing covering her breast and crotch, while another bandit grabbed her by her ponytail, making her gasp in pain.
"Now there is a good girl. Don't worry, this daddy will make you feel good," the leader said, laughing as he said it, his men following suit.
The girl tried to squirm away but failed, the defiant gaze turned to fear as she realized she was about to lose her virginity to a bunch of scum.
"You know, you really should watch your surroundings better," a voice rang out, the leader looking at the source to see one of his lying on the ground, blood seeping through the wound on his back, while the other struggled, a young man holding him by the neck before snapping it.
The body of his man was soon thrown like some trash as the young man looked at him like he was just a piece of trash. Angered by the notion that the man looked down on him, he lowered, "Don't just stand there. Get him! But don't kill him. I'm going to torture him first,"
Ryker looked at the bandits, his cultivation allowing him to sense that no one in the group was a cultivator. Realizing that, he decided to toy with them first. His blade quickly pierced through one of the bandits' skulls, before he beheaded another one.
He avoided a hammer strike before cutting the arm holding the hammer and using it against its former owner, on the head. The sound of a watermelon being crushed could be used to describe what happened to the man's head.
He caught a wrist, the hand holding a knife before twisting it, the knife should have fallen to grounding not for him grabbing it and slitting the man's throat. The remaining three bandits looked at him with fear, seeing how he made short work of their allies.
Deciding they wanted to leave, the trio ran away, the leader screaming for them to stop before he spotted something more important.
"You said you going to torture me. Well, here I am," Ryker mocked him. The bandit gritted his teeth in both fear and anger.
"Don't try anything to me! My big brother is the leader of our group and he is a cultivator. He could easily kill you and the entire village!" he screamed, hoping to scare the young man.
"Cultivator eh, just him or are there any others?" Ryker prodded.
"Well, my big brother and two others are cultivators, with the three of them, they could subdue this town!" the bandit said, backing away, the girl's neck in his hand.
"Really, I don't believe you. If they were cultivators they would attack the town sooner," Ryekr questioned, extending his divine sense to the direction the trio ran.
"They just become cultivators. Once they can control their strength, they will attack this place. Say, you are strong. Why don't you join us, I even let you have this woman," he offered, before pushing the girl at him.
As the bandit leader did so, he pulled out a knife before moving to stab the young man, only to feel great pressure on top of him, pushing him to the ground.
As he struggled to lift his head, Ryker caught the young woman, removing the brown cloak he had and covering her. After that, he walked past the leader before doing a come here motion. In less than ten seconds, the three bandits that tried to run away were brought, tied, and gagged by a bunch of vines, a little preparation he had made earlier.
He brought his sword before cutting them all in one strike before looking at the leader, who realized what is he up against.
"Y- you a cultivator!" he screamed, this time in true fear. He could sense the power the young man exuded was far greater than even his big brother.
"W- wait, we could talk this out," he said, trying to find a way to survive this ordeal.
"I'm not a scum like you, there is nothing we need to talk about," Ryker coldly replied before he behead the leader, still begging for his life.
Ryker then turned towards the girl, only to see her fainted, no doubt the event was too much for her. Memorizing the location where the three bandits tried to run, he carried the young woman in a princess carry before walking towards the village.
-x-
"Uughh," slightly groaning, the young woman opened her eyes, only to meet with another pair of eyes.
"Ina! I'm so glad you're safe!" a middle-aged woman, a bit plump, said as she hugged Ina.
"Mom, what happened? I go to the for-" Suddenly remembering what happened, she looked at her mother.
"Mom, the bandits, they caught me. And they wanted to-" Unable to speak anymore she hugged her mother before crying.
"Oh my dear, don't worry, you safe, you in the village," the mother soothed her only child.
"Oh right, mom," Ina suddenly remembered, "There is a young man that saved me. He killed all the bandits. But I never saw him before," she told her mom, wondering where the young man's whereabouts.
"Oh him, he just came to the village some time ago. It's a lucky thing for us that he decided to take a stroll and heard your call for help. It's him that carries you before giving you to your father before he goes back to the forest again," the older woman told her daughter as she recounted what happened.
"Yes, if not for him, the bandit would have their way with me," she shuddered as she thought of her would-be fate if the young man didn't rescue her.
She blushed a little as she thought of the silver-eyed young man, his white and black hair blown by the wind as he cut down the bandits.
The mother, seeing her daughter blushed, shook her head, "I wonder if the boy will love you back, Ina,"
-x-
"Hachoom," Ryker sneezed, looking around for the reason before focusing back on his search. Thanks to the bandits' attempt to flee, he had narrowed the search area. Unfortunately, it is still a large area to cover. He wondered whether to go back and continue tomorrow when he heard a bunch of voices talking to each other.
"So, when do you think the boss is ready to attack the village? I can't wait to have a go at the women there," one bandit wondered out loud.
"Soon, but you probably have to wait before you get some of the more beautiful ones. The boss is definitely going to have a go first," the other bandit replied.
"Yeah, but I sti- "
Ignoring the conversation, he looked at the bandits before spotting a huge cave, no doubt the entrance to their hideout. He quickly circled the area, trying to spot any other entrances but failed to find any.
Using his divine sense, he stopped when he sensed three stronger aura, no doubt the leaders. Thankfully, there is only one entrance, meaning it could be turned into a choke point. Quickly moving away from the area, he let out a terrifying smile.
'The bandits will meet their demise, tomorrow night' he thought to himself.