Mamba's wrath
On a throne carved from a low ranked spirit cider tree and covered with the fur of a spirit beast,sat an old man. This old man was Mamba,the boss of Mamba Bandits. He currently seething in anger,rage and furry at the four captains, kneeling before him.
He had just left seclusion,where he had just broken through into the low stage of core condensation realm.
If it was not for the fact that he needed these four,as they were the strongest men under him,and it would take him more resources to nurture others to their level,he would have already broken their necks,cleaved them into two and gorge their eyes.
"How long has it being?"
He inquired on the whereabouts of the fifth captain's squad.
"Close to two months boss..."
One of the men gave a reply as held against the oppressive aura that was suppressing them.
"Two months and none of you thought of going after them..."
Mamba banged his fist on the armrest as he released the full might of his core condensation realm aura, sending the four foundation establishment realm bandits kissing the floor.
"What the heck were you thinking..."
What he did not know was that the four had been fighting for control of more bandits, causing division and havoc among the bandits. Each of these men secretly planned on defecting and establishing themselves far from here.
"You shall be punished..."
The four captains gulped at this.
"Your resources are going to be halved and your positions stripped for an year..."
The four could not believe it and tried pleading,but there pleads fell on deaf ears. Having been stripped of their position was nothing but humiliating to them.
The four men were so angry that each swore to act against the boss,they may lack the strength to fight him,but they did not lack brains for scheming against him. Unknown to Mamba,he had just sealed the downfall of his group.
As word spread round of the demotion of the four captains, several meetings took place. Four of which were a secret gathering of the four demoted bandits and their followers,while the other was between twelve mid stage and five peak stage bandits and Mamba.
"I heard that the fifth captain had gone to collect tribute from Evergreen Settlement and has not returned..."
Both the mid stage and the five peak stage spirit qi gathering realm bandits fidgetted,to them,it seemed like their boss did not know what was took place during his seclusion.
A couple of years ago,Mamba, the bandit leader,had been a ruthless, merciless and immortal person,but his personality changed after he and several of his strongest men had ventured into a ruin,located close to the core of the forest.
Out of the fifty men who left to explore the ruins for treasures with him,only he returned.
His return saw to a change of the bandits conducts and progress in cultivation.
They were not allowed to raid or kill people unwarrantly,but not everyone shared his views,these men were bandits,and evil was their nature.
From all the fidgeting,Mamba noticed that something was wrong...
"If you wish to retain your heads,speak up!"
Mamba growled at the five men,who were shivering in fear. He unsheathed a hidden dagger from his sleeve and toyed with it. One of the bandits,a mid stage spirit qi gathering realm bandit,was the first to speak up.
He was the spy working for Zach,he had weighed his chances,and since he could not do anything that would bring harm to Zach,his territory or his intrests. Both actively or passively.
Him telling the truth of the captains misconduct would lead to further tension between the captains and the boss, favouring Zach's intrest.
It took the spy a whole hour to report everything,the bandits who were associates with the four captains had already given up. The more the spy reported,the calmer the boss became,the scary part was that these men could clearly see death approaching them.
The boss calmness was like similar to the calm before a storm.
At one point,Mamba had released a mild form of his spirit sence, spreading it all across the lair,where he happened to catch the four bandits and their associates conspiring against him.
The four captains had formed a temporary alliance,they planned on raiding the resources of the lair before each heading their way. Those who were not associates of the four were being threatened to choose a side.
Mamba witnessed a few beatings around the camp. He marked the bandits that were still on his side, sending them a spirit sence message. There were to assemble a hundred metres from the camp, though most were shocked by their boss voice in their heads,a pack belonging to those at core condensation realm and above,they did as ordered.
There were twenty-four of them, amongst them were four spirit qi gathering realm bandits.
The hall had long gone silence as Mamba was occupied with gathering his men,as for the four captains and they associates,they had no clue that they were leaving on borrowed time.
Mamba knew well that a direct alteration with the four captains would put him at a disadvantage,and so he decided to cause a rift among the four.
The first step was to reduce the number of spirit qi gathering realm bandits in camp. He knew that among the seventeen bandits before him,most were associates of the four captains,and by sending them out of camp,he would have reduced the number of cultivators by half.
The captains were going to have a taste of his wrath,but before that,he had a spy to interrogate.
"Step closer..."
Mamba ordered Zach's spy,he had senced the seal on him and knew well that this man was acting on someone's order.
From the report he had given and the way he had worded it,it was clear to Mamba that whoever had bonded him wanted to bring down the bandits lair.
He could not blame them as he to would have done the same, considering the barbaric and merciless methods the bandits have been using.
What none of the bandits or even Zach knew was that the current Mamba was not the same as the founder of the Mamba Bandits.
About two years ago, during the ruins exploration, everyone died including Mamba,whose body was possessed by the nascent soul of a sovereign,who had died two thousand years ago.