"Guess." The stranger said vaguely with a slight chill.
The bandits winced and their expressions contorted with a frown until one of them stepped up again.
"Alright, pal. Why don't you get off there and scram before it's too late, huh?" He tried sounding confident by giving him the option of turning away.
The mysterious man wearing a black mask with white hair silently stared down from his position without responding. Casually, he dismissed the words of the thug and swept his gaze across the surroundings.
At least more than half of the villagers were gathered at what resembled the square. There were children and women binded and locked in cages, and the men and fathers wer brutalized and maimed. Buildings were set on fire and burned and properties lay damaged on the broken streets.
From behind the mask, the stranger finally said in a sinisterly dark voice as he returned his gaze to the bandits.
"I've been wondering for a while now; isn't it proper to lower your heads?"
"Huh? What was that, you bastard?"
"Lower who's head? Who's the fucker anyway, boss?" The bandits roared in outrage at the mysterious stranger. It had been less than a minute since he arrived, but they were slowly growing impatient for some reason.
The stranger's demean and aura was subtle and oppressive. It made them constantly cold and uneasy the longer he kept quiet. So unknown to them, they wanted to get rid of him and everything done before any longer.
The mysterious man behind a black mask didn't show any obvious reactions to their cursing and words, and this only managed to push the nerves of the bandits and everyone closer to the edge.
The boss with a shaven head stepped up again. He raised his hand and arched his back. The next moment, he unleashed one of his short axes through the air as it whipped through and curved straight for the stranger.
The stranger didn't move an inch. He just sat there, with one raised leg, and watched the weapon fly at him at a fast speed.
The short axe with a dull silver sharp blade bent and threateningly struck the top of the carriage, just next to the position the mysterious man was sitting with a sharp thud.
"That was a warning. The next one won't miss." The man with a shaven head who threw the axe said threateningly.
'I was aiming for his right shoulder but in the end I still couldn't do it...' inwardly he added grimly.
The two black holes where the eyes were supposed to be in the mask were dark and empty. Those empty gaze made his mind and heart waver, and he instead shifted his aim at the last minute.
'The next one, I really won't miss.' the boss tried to hide and mask his thoughts. He clenched his second axe in his other hand and glared forward.
The night was still. The full moon continued to climb higher and higher up the night sky behind the stranger, its rays casting a silver halo over his figure.
The terrifying mask suddenly became more fiendish to look at.
The stranger didn't move. He drummed his left gloved fingers were a certain ring was underneath against his knee and finally said coldly.
"Let's try this again."
The next moment, the dark and empty gaze in the black mask seemed to deepen.
"Bow."
The next moment, an intangible pressure bore down against the shoulders of the bandits, forcing them to their knees. Their necks hung and their heads forcefully lowered. A stifling and oppressive pressure filled their minds and drilled their bodies with a strange horror.
It felt as if the weight of the skies had fallen against their shoulders like an anvil, and an indiscernible fear and sense of inferiority bored through their existence.
They didn't know when they fell to their knees. They didn't know when the began to hold their breaths. Yet, not one of them raised their heads.
No one dared to in the presence of an authority.
The bandits were the ones suffering the full weight of the stranger's influence, but even the villagers gathered at the square felt the atmosphere grow thicker abnormally.
They suddenly watched all of the bandits fall to their knees and bow for no obvious reason, but they weren't affected in the same way. They only subconsciously lowered their gaze, not daring to look up at the figure in black instinctively for whatever reason.
'Wh...what is this?!' the minds of the bandit's were filled baffling horror and sudden fear. The felt like they were in the presence of something man wasn't supposed to gaze at.
"P... please! Stop..." One of the thugs tried to raise their head, but the insufferable, intangible weight wouldn't let him. It felt like if he tried to force it any longer, his head would probably fall off and roll.
The lofty figure observed the groveling and trembling thugs from above and looked down.
"Begging? Are you begging me?" His dark voice was strangely symphonic but filled his victims with dread.
"Okay."
The next second, all of the oppressive pressure and bloodlust cease like it never was, leaving the thugs a small breath of comfort.
For only a single second.
They heard a voice.
"Hamlet."
Then out of nowhere, something surged from withing the shadows of the figure, spread open, and devoured the kneeling thugs like a wave.
The villagers watched with stifled horror, unintentionally holding their breaths. Tears were in their eyes, but they were afraid to cry. They wanted to scream, but they were afraid to utter a sound.
They watched the bandits who had terrorised and oppressed their village be devoured, leaving nothing behind.
There was no blood, no disemered limb, no piece of cloth nor shadows left.
They were gone.
As for what was responsible for this, the dark mass that swept like a shadow underneath the night surged and moulded into the form of a large silver wolf with, black markings and four fluffy tails that bloomed like flower petals. It was an immensely enchanting beast, but one that also instinctively drew dread.
The enchanting beast just stood there, in the embrace of the shadows. It's only pierceing deep silver eye coldly swept through the villagers, making them shudder.
Once they realize the beast only watched them and made no attempt to attack, the villagers slowly began to retain some level of composure - as much as they could in a terrifying situation like that at least.
The apprehensive and oppressive feeling from before had vanished. The bandits that had raided their village had vanished. All that remained was the partial waste that had become their little town and home.
And the lofty figure behind a mysterious mask.
Slowly, one of the villagers, a young woman, not older than the age of 18, turned feverishly towards the direction.
Her hazel eyes gazed at the mysterious stranger who remained aloof and indifferent and exuded a passive cold aura and authority.
His white hair that reached his neck fluttered gently in the night wind. The silver moon climbed high above behind him, casting an enchanting halo that glistened like pixy dust against his back.
The black garments he wore made a striking contrast to his hair, and the terrifying mask he wore was deeply unsettling. But there was a strange solemnity to his being.
The lofty figure just sat there silently. He had yet to move since the bandits disappeared.
As the gaze of the young woman deepened in strange enthrallment, the masked man moved his head and met her gaze.
She froze. Her breath was stuck in her lungs and her fingers trembled.
He was looking at her. Or at least that's what she felt.
"Wh- who are you?" She gulped and managed to say. The rest of the villagers dared looked up equally, in dark curiousity and anticipation.
The masked man raised one of his gloved hands to his mask and rose up. His long coat fluttered behind him in the wind and the moon formed a strange halo over his head.
He didn't respond and coldly stared.
The next moment, a powerful draft of unnatural wind blew through the square and disoriented the villagers. By the time they came to, the mysterious man had disappeared.
Along with him was the fearsome beast of earlier.
Where he once was untop the carriage, was an empty space. In the end, he didn't even leave a single trace behind.
"Hm?" As she stared at where he previously was, the young woman noticed something.
The carriage that was filled with the loot of the bandits, their jewelry, gold, and diamonds....half of it was gone! The carriage was now almost half empty!
As for how he could actually steal it without a single one noticing, they didn't know. They also didn't know why he didn't just take it all.
Perhaps it was his way of paying compensation for the damage the village had suffered? His way of showing sympathy?
Or something else?
Nobody knew.
In the end he left without even dropping a name.
It was finally over.
As the girl stared at the moon hanging above, she let out a struggled breath of relief and clasped her hands together next to her chest, and said in a small voice like a whisper.
"Thank you."
That was the first appearance of the traveler.
***
Victor stepped out of the darkness some distance away from the villagers. He stumbled and immediately took the wooden black mask off, as a system message notified in his head.
[{Immersion} has been deactivated]
Beads of sweat rolled down his ashen pale face and dropped down from his chin. His white hair reverted to its normal brown and style, and Victor had his whole world throbbing with a hazy pain.
"Dammit..." He cursed with a pale smile and took a step forward. His legs quickly gave out, and his consciousness faded. Victor fell forward to the ground , and felt a soft, squishy and cool surface embrace him instead.
Hamlet had been swift in breaking his fall and inflated it's body to form a cushion.
Victor's bloodhot eyes were half close and in a haze, but the young man with a reckless attitude still smiled as he stroke his familiar and uttered in a weak and faint voice with a chuckle.
"Thanks..."
After that, he gave into the pain and exhaustion, and Victor Bright passed out.
***
Second chapter to make up for my missed day. Please vote!