"Who!! Who the fucking hell among you killed my slaves". The bandit leader roared looking at the ground dyed in fresh blood and littered with the death of females.
"I was to be their lord". Mikeal says, turning his attention to the leader and his crew. "Starting from today, I was to show them the honour of a leader". He added, the bang cladding his pupils.
"You robbed me of that chance!! Made it so I had to stain my hands with the blood of my followers!! You will so dearly pay for that". He says, his right slowly lifted toward the bandits.
Angered beyond repair, Vincent got up from the ground to challenge Mikeal.
"Your followers?!". He said, raising his voice. "You killed them in cold blood without batting an eye and you dare to refer to them as your followers". He yelled, about to make his way to Mikeal only to be stopped by Anna's stretched hand.
"You have no such right to use that term, not after what you did". He said, standing at a distance and unable to breach the separating gap.
"I should have known! Forget what I said earlier, you are a monster, your mage powers are a curse to us, to everyone around you".
In a fit of rage, Vincent hurled insults at Mikeal. He wanted to hurt him, he made it his purpose to do so.
Right now, he had no way of physically hurting Mikeal despite his burning rage to do so, Anna wouldn't allow him to.
What he can do from here is get to him emotionally, and damage him from the inside as much as he can.
"I will deal with you later".
Mikeal pointed his hand toward Vincent and tied him up with his vine, including sealing his lips.
"And as for you all! None of you will be able to avoid death at my hand". He stretched his other hand in their direction.
"A mage!!". Says the bandit leader, now on the extreme edge.
He took his arms up, raising his katana at Mikeal.
Mikeal sprouted ten vines from the ground beneath his feet. He lengthened them to go after the bandits, killing them all at once.
The vines grew and exterminated the bandits by shooting into their stomachs and going from one bandit to the other like meat arranged on a stick.
The place is pretty tight so that makes it easy for the vines to round them all up!!
"How are you still alive". He questioned the bandit leader who had managed to avoid death at the hand of his vines.
Mikeal's gaze was taken to the sword the bandit leader was wielding, the katana. He could have sworn he saw it glow a little.
"No matter. You will die either way".
Mikeal recalled the vines to whence they came. He enhanced his body with mana and made his way to the leader, calmly with one step at a time.
He is not picking up any signs of mana from the bandit leader so certainly, mana is not the tool that exempted him from death.
The bandit leader looks average enough. He stands tall ready to antagonize Mikeal with his katana pointed at him.
If this were any normal person, their reaction would be to run after seeing what Mikeal is capable of. They know better than to understand that they have no chance so the wisest thing for them, is to run.
Another reason why escaping will be their first choice is because never in their lives have they seen a human using abilities like this.
An ill omen is what they will consider it as.
However, the bandit leader did not attempt the same reaction. There is only one explanation for that.
He is no stranger to the world of mages!!
The bandit leader took a step to close the distance. He swung his katana to eliminate the threat before him. Mikeal shifted his mode to conjurer and summoned the vines from the ground to shield him.
His surprise when the vines were easily cut down by the katana was well... Questionable but not mind-blowing enough to stop him from acting.
As the katana easily cut down the vine wall, it resumed its track of chasing Mikeal and slicing him in half starting from the head.
Mikeal released his mana, making himself as normal as he could. He had noticed what the problem was and how ordinary the bandit leader actually was.
Of course, it would be a shame if Mikeal had his natural abilities enhanced and ended up killing the bandit leader with one punch.
No! He deserves more than that for the sin he has committed!!
This is the decision Mikeal arrived at.
He got close to the bandit leader faster than he could respond and was somehow able to seize the katana from him.
"I see!". He says with an up-close look at the sword.
The bandit leader tried to reclaim his weapon back but as soon as he moved even a step, the vines came from the ground and tightened up on his body, enough to incapacitate him and keep him alive.
"Keep an eye on him, I will be back". He ordered to Anna as he ended the fight and exited the room.
Mikeal made his way to the bandit leader's room. During his survey, he had noticed one of the hostages was attending to the bandit leader.
He was too late getting there! The girl had already taken her life. Her lifeless body is dangling above ground level held up by the rope on her neck, attached to a hanger on the wall.
Mikeal wasted no time exiting the stage. She was dead, and there was nothing he could have done to save her. After all, he has no power over the dead!!
He got to Anna and transported the ones living, him, Anna, the unconscious Vincent, and the bandit leader. He transported them out of the cave by crafting his vines as a step stool and raising them out of the cave through the hole he made.
Before he departed the cave entirely, Mikeal set the whole place on fire using his flame skill. It was his way of letting their bodies be set free. Though it is a shame the dead bandits also get to enjoy that same luxury.