It's midnight sharp, the full moon is at the highest point in the sky, its light covering the entire forest.
The tall trees blocked most of the light, which only reached the middle of the trail and the surroundings through small beams between the leaves.
Only the sound of crickets can be heard within the forest.
The ten bandits can't stop talking about their cruel plans for the women of Fletcher village.
After a few minutes, they forget why they are there, they forget the story that the two members of the trio told about Arthur and Draven.
They relax and lower their guard.
Most of them sit at the edge of the trail, but one strays a bit from the group on the other side of the trail.
"Where are you going, Rat?" A member of the group asks.
"Piss, why?" Rat responds in an arrogant tone and points to his groin. "Do you want to help me?"
"Fuck you, asshole!" The bandit spits on the ground.
"Hahaha..." Rat laughs and approaches the edge of the trail on the opposite side of the group.
He throws his torch in the middle of the trail and turns to the dark part. "Don't peek at me, I'm a shy lady!"
"So graceful!" Another member of the group comments, and they all laugh, including Rat.
He begins to wet the plants with his dirty liquid and lets out a long sigh. "Ah, this is so-"
*Whoosh*
Everyone hears the sound of something cutting through the wind then something breaking at the same time that Rat suddenly falls silent.
"What was that?"
"An animal??"
"Rat?"
The other bandits notice that Rat is strangely silent, hidden by the shadows of a tree at the edge of the trail.
The light from his torch in the middle of the trail makes it difficult for the other members of the group to see his upper body well.
"Rat, are you okay???"
A member of the group stands up and approaches Rat, but a breeze hits his body that falls to the ground.
*Thud*
Everyone sees Rat's head pierced by an arrow, half in the back of his skull and the tip in place of one of his eyes.
That arrow was a perfect kill hit.
"WHAT THE FUCK?!?!"
"WHO?!?!"
The remaining nine bandits are shocked, fear falls upon them like a heavy rain that cannot be avoided.
Everyone stands up immediately, torch in one hand and sword in the other.
"Who's there???"
"Damn it!!"
"Show yourself…"
"You son of a bitch!"
They have faced battles before, they have been in life or death situations, but they have never been ambushed in the middle of a forest at night.
Usually, they are the ones who set such ambushes, so now, they experience in their own skin the despair of not seeing the enemy, not knowing who is attacking them.
"..." Only the sound of the crickets continues.
"Form a circle!" One of the bandits exclaims.
And his companions do so, gathering in the middle of the trail with their backs to each other, so they can watch all directions around.
"What the hell is happening???"
Nothing happens, leaving the bandits increasingly tense.
Sweat runs down their frightened faces, and one of them tries to wipe it off with the sleeve of his shirt... a fatal oversight.
*Whoosh*
Another arrow comes from the dark part of the forest, aimed at that bandit's head.
He doesn't have time to react, but the man at his side hears the arrow and pushes his friend.
"LOOK OUT!!!"
The man's quick action causes his friend to fall to the ground just in time to avoid a fatal shot by a few centimeters. Yet, the arrow's metal tip still tears part of his face.
"ARGHHHHHH!!!" The man lets out a loud scream of agonizing pain.
Blood splashes on the ground along with part of his cheek, ripped out by the arrow.
"SHIT!" "SHIT!!" "SHIT!!!" "SHIT!!!!"
The other members of the group panic, nobody knows who will be the target of the next arrow.
But while most of the group wants to sit and cry in fear, the man who noticed the arrow in time to save his friend's life seems braver.
Unlike the other members of the group, he wields a spear, also with a rusty blade but with a better look.
"There!" He points his spear in a direction within the forest. "The arrow came from there!"
The other bandits quickly form a line, facing that side of the forest while the injured member is still on the ground, behind them.
They stand around the spearman, who casts a fierce gaze in that direction. "Leave the shadows, you coward!!"
"..." There is no response from the shadows.
"This trick won't work again!" The spearman yells again.
"You son of a bit-" Another member, one at the edge, tries to curse the person in the shadows.
*Whoosh*
But then another arrow comes right on time.
"SHIT!!" But the Spearman is alert and breaks the arrow in the air with his spear.
He casts a stern look at his companion. "Be cautious, you fucking idiot!"
The other bandits become even more alert, and the Spearman yells again in the direction of the forest. "I told you, your arrows are no longer worth anything."
"..." There is no immediate response from the forest other than the song of crickets.
The Spearman prepares to speak again, but then he hears the noise of dry branches being broken and then footsteps.
"Huh?"
Everyone looks attentively in that direction and sees a figure walking out of the shadows of the trees, slowly revealing itself under the moonlight.
It's a male figure, tall, slim, dressed in white and red fine clothes, holding a bow with one hand and the other on the hilt of the sword in his sheath.
As the bandits are impressed by the appearance of the mysterious man, Arthur, of course, he speaks first, with a fake friendly and casual tone.
"I had to try one last time, didn't I?" Arthur reveals his face under the moonlight and smiles at the bandits.
All this scene seems crazy to the group, starting with Arthur's appearance, especially his face, so unbelievably handsome that it shakes even the most solid masculinity.
But even more intriguing than his look is the smile on his face, a perfect mix of excitement and malice, something that not even the cruelest member of the group could replicate.
"W-w-who are y-you???" One of the most frightened bandits stutters, his trembling hands holding the sword.
"He is the boy that our lucky companions encountered earlier," The spearman comments, sure that Arthur is the man who faced the trio of ruffians.
Arthur continues walking slowly toward the bandits, his gaze adorned with a dark glow.
"You're a smart guy," He speaks to the spearman. "So you should know what's going to happen next…"
Arthur's words carry all the force of his malicious and cruel feelings, making the bandits feel like prey and not predators anymore.
His confidence alone breaks the spirit of half the group.
But some remain confident, especially the Spearman. They are eight, nine if you count the bandit injured in the face, against one, just a boy with a bow.
"Let me think..." The Spearman makes a fake thoughtful expression. "We're going to beat the shit out of you, and then use your pretty body like a dirty whore... maybe you'll end up liking it, who knows?"
"Hmm..." Arthur maintains his fake friendly expression, which along with his sinister smile, makes the bandits even more tense.
"I don't think so," He shakes his head with a fake disappointed expression. "You're not my type."
"Oh," The Spearman also makes a fake disappointed expression. "What type would that be?"
Arthur puts his hand on his chin as if pondering. "To start with, you can't be a pathetic man who is about to have the ridiculous thing between your legs shoved into your mouth, by me, of course."
"..." Those words leave the atmosphere tense, no bandit has the courage to say anything.
But the Spearman continues to look at Arthur with a curious expression until he opens a smile and starts to laugh.
"Hahahaha... I like you, boy!" The Spearman speaks honestly. "You have the balls, not to mention the way you killed the poor Rat..."
"The man died peeing," Another bandit next to the Spearman comments. "A poetic end, I would say."
The Spearman nods, agreeing. "What's your name, boy?"
"Arthur, if you want to know," He responds with his sinister fake friendly tone.
"Arthur?" The Spearman smiles, revealing his yellow teeth. "That name suits a handsome guy like you, but you have a pretty dirty side, don't you, Arthur?"
"You have no idea," Arthur responds coldly.
The Spearman laughs even more. "I like you, so how about you make up for killing Rat by joining our group? I'm sure we can get along."
Arthur makes a fake sorry expression. "I will pass, but thanks for the invitation."
"Oh?" The Spearman makes an honestly disappointed expression. "Why? Aren't we good company enough for you?"
"It's not you, it's me..." Arthur speaks the classic rejection phrase that no one wants to hear.
"Tsk," The Spearman gets upset. "I should've known that a spoiled boy born in a golden cradle would look down on people like us."
"Oh, it's not that," Arthur quickly speaks, still friendly, but his tone begins to change, becoming colder and more sinister.
"We are not different because I was born into a good family..." The glow in his eyes also becomes even more sinister.
"But because the shadows inside you are a joke compared to the ones inside me." He finishes speaking and keeps smiling.
The nine bandits can't help but feel something stirring within them, perhaps a presentiment, a warning that there is something very wrong with Arthur.
They have never seen anyone like him, a person whose exterior appears to be that of a gentle and gracious nobleman but the interior seems to be that of a sadistic predator.
Arthur has always strived to hide his dark side, Liam's legacy, but now he very much wants to show it to these bandits, the most sinister shadows within his soul.
"You think you're the bad guys, right?" He asks and quickly continues. "But you know what, you're not villains because you torment weak people..."
The bandits are getting very scared of Arthur due to a dark aura growing around him.
They can't speak, not even the Spearman, so Arthur continues walking towards them slowly.
"You think you know fear because you hurt innocent women?" He shakes his head. "You think you know what real despair is?"
The bandits instinctively start to walk backward, moving away from Arthur.
"Don't worry, I'll show you real despair..." Arthur speaks even more sadistically. "The kind of despair that only someone like you can feel when you meet someone like me."
The bandits get more and more confused and scared of Arthur, not due to his power, which they don't know, but due to how sinister he can seem.
For people who are used to doing and seeing bad things, seeing someone who seems much darker than them is bizarre.
The Spearman also feels it, especially since he is a very cruel person, so he can see in Arthur's eyes, that he is much more cruel.
Yet, he tries to hold his ground and contain that instinctive fear.
"Don't listen to his threats!" The Spearman speaks to his partners. "He's using some trick to mess with our minds!"
"I haven't started messing with your heads yet..." Arthur laughs maliciously. "But I will, for sure!"
"Don't listen to him!!" The Spearman yells. "And get ready to fight!!"
"Hahaha..." Arthur really enjoys the desperation of those bandits, but of course, the intention is not to have fun with them.
"This is not going to be a fight... but a damn bloodbath!"