*Tack! *Tack! *Tack!
Micah stepped quickly towards the village, preparing to set a distraction to help Doris' plan succeed. He planned to cause a little disturbance while killing a few of the bandits to make them a bit more emotional.
Micah couldn't easily kill all the bandits at once. The archers on the rooftops would be his main obstacle. Plus, his Desert Eagle pistol could only hold 7 bullets, so he couldn't just shoot indiscriminately and had to keep his distance. No matter how powerful his weapon was, it was useless if it wasn't reloaded.
From his observation, there were 7 archers on guard in the village, with 2 of them on the rooftop of a house near Micah's entry point.
The archers still couldn't shoot because Micah was still in their blind spot, but if he entered their line of sight, Micah would be in trouble.
The only safe place nearby was a tall rock that resembled a giant gravestone. The rock could withstand attacks from the archers, but not from the incoming bandits.
Micah's shooting skills were still lousy. So it was impossible for him to easily shoot down the archers. At this point, it was his first time holding a weapon. But strangely, he could feel that he wouldn't have trouble reloading his gun.
"I hate this..."
Micah took a deep breath. Slowly, his steps began to slow down. His hands stretched out as if challenging the bandits who looked confused without their leader.
"HEY! ALL OF YOU! DO YOU REMEMBER ME?!"
The bandits were instantly focused on him. Their expressions, which had previously shown hostility towards each other, suddenly cooperated with one another. They nodded to each other to agree on something. Micah didn't know what they had agreed on, but they looked like they were walking towards him in unison.
The two archers guarding the entrance began pulling their bowstrings, indicating that they were not hesitant to kill Micah then and there.
"You again?! I'll make sure you die this time!"
The bandits gathered to attack Micah.
"Hey, this is not a warm welcome!" Micah walked backwards while aiming his weapon. He was confused about who to target first. Time was not on his side now. He had to shoot sooner or later.
"Screw this!"
*Bam!
Micah fired a shot towards the frontmost bandit.
*Thud!
The bandit who was shot instantly fell unconscious. The wound on his chest was large as if he had been hit by a rock.
Around six bandits who followed their fallen comrade were stunned to see his lifeless body. They seemed to not believe that Micah's weapon could penetrate their armor.
Unconsciously, they left themselves open. Micah, who realized their lowered guard, approached them and pointed his gun towards each of them in turn.
*Bam! *Bam! *Bam! *Bam! *Bam! *Bam!
At a close range, Micah easily shot their heads and made them die instantly.
"This is not over yet!"
More bandits began to arrive. This time their number was twice as before.
*Swoosh! *Swoosh!
In addition to the archers who started shooting, Micah had to take cover behind the tall rock.
"Now I just have to wait for you, Rudi!" He said while reloading his weapon.
***
On the other hand, in the southwest part of the village, a curly-haired boy was running in his school uniform, which was covered with a school coat draped over it like a cloak. The boy ran towards the entrance to the southwest part of the village.
His mission was not to attract attention or kill the bandits brutally like Micah. His mission this time had to be done like a ninja.
He had to sneak up on the archers and kill them so that Micah, who was outside, so he could go rampage.
The first archer was standing near a house close to the village entrance. He stood and focused his gaze towards Micah, who was surrounded by the bandits. His eyes were completely locked, not even noticing a black figure approaching him.
*Slash!
"Argh(his mouth was covered by a hand)-!"
With one strike, the archer died without making a sound.
The third and fourth archers were stationed at the entrance where Lidya was supposed to be. They left their post, thinking that nothing would happen there.
*Slash! *Slash!
"Argh!" "Gargh!"
Without realizing that their friend was dead, the two archers lay lifeless in the middle of the road. This time, Rudi didn't have to cover their mouths since they were far from the crowd.
Three archers had fallen, leaving four archers still on guard.
But that wouldn't last long...
The archers in the middle of the village were too focused on Micah, and the same went for the ones in the southeast. It didn't take Rudi long to dispatch them. Within minutes, they were all dead.
Two archers remained on the entrance road where Micah should be. It was a bit difficult since there were many bandits near them, but their focus was on Micah, making them easy prey for Rudi, who ran through the darkness.
*Slash! "Arg(his mouth was covered by his hand)-!"
Only one archer was left.
"Hey, where did all the archers go?!"
All at once, out of control, one of the bandits noticed the archers disappearing from their positions.
"Look! There's someone near you!(pointing towards the last archer)!"
Rudi was discovered, but it didn't stop him. He swung his sword and...
*Slash!
He killed the last archer. As a result, the bandits split into two groups, one chasing Micah and the other chasing Rudi.
Luckily, Rudi's dark skin made it easy for him to blend into the darkness. He became one with the shadows in the village alleys.
"I leave everything to you, Lidya~..." Whispering into the darkness, Rudi waited for the arrival of reinforcements.
***
In the northeast, Lidya ran into the village, shouting loudly enough for everyone to hear.
"HARRRRRGHHHHH!"
Her staff with Micah's face on it lit up like it had been dipped in lava.
"Take this!"
A magic circle appeared where the bandits stood. The circle released a fire tornado controlled by Lidya.
"What is this?! It's so hot!"
"How can someone use magic without chanting?!"
Although the tornado didn't kill them outright, it inflicted painful wounds on the bandits.
"Run! We shouldn't be here!"
The bandits started to panic. They no longer cared about leader election or anything else. They just tried to escape from the wrath of the three youths.
"Who said you could run?!" Micah came out from his hiding spot.
*Bang! *Bang! *Bang! He began to shoot at each bandit who tried to flee. He didn't want Doris and Sherry to get a score. He still didn't fully trust them.
*Click! Unfortunately, his ammo ran out. That meant he had to let some bandits escape.
"I won't let them!" (Lidya)
Lidya threw fireballs at the bandits. When they hit, her attack wasn't too strong. None of them were killed, as if Lidya was holding back from killing them.
Even so, the bandits were badly injured by the fire shots. They were now helpless. Even a small attack could make them collapse on the ground.
Those who were still strong enough to ran away go to southeast from the village, while those who were already exhausted could only lie on the ground, facing their fate.
*Tap... *Tap... *Tap...
The sound of footsteps approached those who were lying on the ground.
When they looked, a dark-skinned man with curly hair stood with his sword.
He didn't say anything to them. But something suddenly made them traumatized. He immediately stabbed them without mercy.
"Is that the last one, Rudi?" Micah walked towards him.
"Hmm (nodding)... This is the last one."
"The last one that here! Some of them escaped!" Lidya joined their conversation.
"Damn it! I was trying not to give them a score!" (Micah)
"You consider them as a score?! Are you insane?! Where's your humanity, fool?!" (Lidya)
Micah brought his face closer to Lidya. "Humanity is useless if we're in different worlds..."
"You're badshit insane..." (Lidya)
"Enough! Enough! Can you two not fight for a minute?! We're on a mission! Continue your argument until you're old if the mission is over!" Rudi intervened.
*Silence! As usual, no one dared to fight against Rudi's word. He was like someone respected by both of them.
"Let's focus on finding out about this world first! After that, we'll figure out how to go back! That way, I'm sure you won't be shocked anymore." Rudi calmly persuaded them. "Little by little, we'll surely reach our world, understand?"
They both fell silent, listening to Rudi's advice. Not because they were reluctant anymore, but because what Rudi said was true. Shocking now was useless. They had to crawl out of this no matter what.
***
In the southeast, Sherry and Doris waited for the bandit group to arrive.
"That's them!"
Doris immediately stepped forward as soon as he saw them.
"Die, all of you! Death Blow!"
A wide swing in the air created a wave that shot towards them.
In just one strike, the dying bandits died at the hands of Doris and his sword.
"Sherry, now!"
"Got it!"
Sherry opened her book, which was her weapon, and created a magic circle that covered all the bandit corpses that tried to escape.
"Purification!"
Slowly, the corpses softened and turned into 100-day-old corpses. They instantly disintegrated and turned into high-quality organic fertilizer.
"I don't think this is enough for what they did." Doris looked at the fertile land in front of him (referring to the spot where the bandit corpses were). "We lost everyone precious to us! And they can never come back!" Tears streamed down his face.
*Pat, pat...
"We may not be able to retaliate in kind, but... we at least managed to reclaim some of what they stole." Sherry patted her husband's back. She tried to smile amidst her sadness.
"We were lucky to meet the three of them here. If not, this revenge would just be an ego of our emotions (smiling wryly)." (Doris)
"My father once said that, sooner or later, whether we're aware of it or not, we'll have to say goodbye to the people we love... Now, let's bid farewell to them!" Sherry cried on her husband's back.
Doris could only stay silent when he heard his wife's words. He slowly looked over the entire village from where he stood. His mouth slowly opened and he said, "Goodbye, everyone! We will rebuild everything! Just watch!"
In an instant, the shadows of the people they loved appeared in front of them. All of those people smiled and then disappeared forever from their sight.
"Big bro, is it safe now?"
A girl suddenly appeared behind the two of them. The girl had black hair like Doris, but her hair was long. Her body was short and she walked like a cripple. The child who called Doris 'big bro' walked into her brother's embrace while crying.
"Yes, Floria, everything is safe now..." Doris hugged his sister while crying.