He adored his pet couple, but he knew that, once he was bored, he'd have to dispose of them.
Nothing remains entertaining forever.
Except power!
Night fell, and countless nocturnal insects crept out from their nests, rubbing their forelegs and cleaning their mandibles.
The insects were hungry, ready to hunt and mate.
It was a noisy, teeming night full of life.
The bandits yawned; their leader had told them that, come dawn, they'd launch an all-out attack on Daniel's camp.
This contract carried a massive reward, but failure would bring serious trouble.
Fortunately, they were only playing a supporting role.
The real force was the specialist sent from Coruna Heights.
That said, the bandits were confident their efforts alone would be enough to make these knights suffer.
A few hundred fresh-faced recruits—just one ambush from them would be enough to shatter these knights' morale.
Ha.
How could these greenhorns possibly compare to them, veterans who lived by the edge of the blade?
Besides, many of them used to be knights themselves; they'd just grown tired of following rules and had turned to banditry.
As dawn approached, the bandits' anticipation was growing tense.
They quickly gnawed on dried rations, awaiting the signal from their leader.
Meanwhile, over in the knights' camp, everything seemed strangely relaxed; there weren't even any sentries posted.
Clearly, these new recruits assumed they were still within Coruna Heights territory and had no fear of anyone coming after them.
Such naive little soldiers.
"Boss, it's about time. Let's do this!"
"We've been waiting all night. Any longer, and we'll go mad!"
"Right, I'll check in with the High City's official. Everyone, get ready…"
The bandit leader's lieutenants had been impatiently stewing all night, now eagerly prodding him to begin.
Ignoring them, the bandit leader peered through a gap in the leaves, scanning the knights' camp with careful precision.
No sentries.
The campfires had all burned out.
Quiet—almost no sounds at all.
And yet, something felt off.
The bandit leader reassured himself, chalking it up to nerves.
Once he confirmed the knights were still snoring in their tents, he gave the signal: "Prepare for the attack!"
The orders quickly passed from one bandit to the next.
The bandit leader climbed down from the tree, crouching as he crept over to a large trunk nearby.
Under the tree, a man in a gray cloak was resting with his arms crossed over a sword, three black gemstones embedded in its sheath.
The bandit leader approached.
The man opened his eyes. "Is it time?"
The bandit leader nodded. "Yes! It's nearly dawn, and the knights are still fast asleep. It's all up to you now, sir."
The cloaked man scoffed. "Just a bunch of trash. They got lucky capturing a Demon Clan commander and now think they own the world. Don't worry; I'll be quick. Your people won't suffer many casualties."
The bandit leader nodded eagerly, practically groveling.
Sacrificing a few of his men was a small price to pay for the promise of wealth and power.
Moments later…
The bandits launched their assault on the knights' camp!
Surrounding half the camp, the leader was sure these rookie knights would lose dozens in this attack.
In his mind, the plan was perfect.
And in practice, it seemed that way too—as they reached the main path, the knights appeared to be sleeping soundly, unaware.
Shhhhk!
Shhhhk!
Shhhhk!
Suddenly, the bandit leader froze as he watched several tents before him.
With the sound of fabric tearing, the tent flaps split open, and armored warhorses burst forth, charging directly at him!
This scene unfolded across the camp.
Once the knights' horses began their charge, it was a crushing blow for infantry.
The bandits, thrown into confusion, screamed and scrambled in panic.
It was supposed to be their surprise attack on the rookie knights—but now it felt as if they were the ones under attack!
When had the knights sensed something was wrong?
And when had they prepared for such a counter-attack?
Confusion and fear spread like wildfire, throwing the bandits into chaos.
Thud! Thud!
Unfortunate bandits were launched skyward by the charging warhorses.
"Agh!"
"Cavalry! It's the cavalry!"
The bandits shouted, scattering frantically.
The leader dove to one side, barely avoiding a charging horse, only to catch another in his peripheral vision!
A cold shiver ran down his spine as he tried to grasp where it had all gone wrong.
It's okay, it's okay!
If they could just endure this first wave, the High City master could step in, secure some victory, and they could retreat.
Surrounded by dense forest, he was sure they could escape into the trees, where the cavalry wouldn't dare follow.
But what he didn't know was that the so-called expert from the High City was in an even worse predicament than he was.
At this moment, the cloaked man—despite wearing inconspicuous clothing—felt as if he had some strange beacon on his head. Even amidst the crowd, he was singled out instantly, with four unicorn-mounted knights charging straight for him!
Holy Light Beams crackled as they targeted him, searing through the air.
The cloaked man felt his courage drain entirely.
He had tried to run to the side, yet the knights refused to let him escape!
What?
Had they all gone mad? Why were they relentlessly chasing him?
The cloaked man couldn't even count on the bandits for help; after all, this was a unicorn cavalry charge, and the bandits were scrambling to get out of the way as quickly as possible.
In a bandit's mind, risking one's own life to help someone else simply wasn't worth it.
If they were that noble, they wouldn't be bandits in the first place.
In reality, all of this was part of Daniel's preparation.
Though he couldn't get detailed information on his enemies from the system, he had noted that a few enemies showed Evil Values significantly higher than those around them. Naturally, he'd ordered his knights to give those individuals "special attention."
Daniel didn't even need to join the battle himself—he was simply giving commands.
The veteran knights, his strongest fighters, were stationed precisely to handle these high-Evil-Value targets.
Those with the highest Evil Values received the full force of the knights' attention!
"See that cloaked man at twelve o'clock? Don't let him get away! Unicorn cavalry, go!"
"Six o'clock, the bald guy—send in the cavalry!"
"Seven o'clock, that fat guy blending into the crowd—take him down!"
One order after another saw the bandit leader, their key fighters, and the supposed "expert" from the High City all relentlessly pursued by the cavalry.
One bald bandit lieutenant, fleeing at full speed, couldn't resist a glance over his shoulder; the cavalry was focused entirely on him, ignoring the other bandits entirely!
This was madness!
"Ahhhh! Damn it! Why are you only chasing me?!" the bandit cursed furiously.
But two legs couldn't outrun four.
Thud!
He felt a sharp pain in his back and suddenly found himself airborne, hurtling toward a large tree.
"Hold onto the tree!" was all his mind could process. Otherwise, he'd be done for…
With their leader and lieutenants relentlessly pursued by the cavalry, even commanding the other bandits became impossible, throwing them into complete disarray.
Meanwhile, on Daniel's side, his infantry moved in tightly coordinated formations, providing mutual support.
The armored warhorses and unicorns swept through the perimeter, crushing and breaking through; few bandits dared to challenge the sheer force of the cavalry.
The bandits were utterly unable to break through the knights' defenses and, with no familiar voices from their leaders or lieutenants, had already fallen into chaos.
Everything was unfolding exactly as Daniel had planned.
The knights had received intel in advance, crafted a battle strategy, and made all necessary preparations, allowing them to fight methodically. Compared to battling demons, this felt surprisingly easy.
Fighting demons required true desperation.
This, however, felt almost like armored knights bullying defenseless farmers.
Half an hour later.
The knights finished up.
Most of the bandits had fled into the surrounding dense forest, and there was no need to pursue further.
As the knights took stock of their wounded and counted their prisoners, they couldn't help but smile, admiration for Daniel evident on their faces.
No one had died—only a few were injured.
Through prisoner identification, they confirmed that Daniel's high-priority targets were indeed leaders and key figures, especially the cloaked man, who was particularly mysterious.
Apparently, he was an underling of a powerful noble from Coruna Heights.
Daniel's eye for targets was incredible!
Just by observing, he could pinpoint which enemies held higher status or rank, even in the heat of battle.
Everyone knew the saying, "Capture the leader to topple the bandits." With this level of insight, it was practically supernatural!
"Aaagh! I'm not saying a word!"
"You can beat me to death; I'll never talk!"
"No way, not a single word!"
The cloaked man's screams echoed throughout the forest.
Daniel was determined to uncover who was backing this man.
An interrogation was in order.
"Seems your master is quite a figure, isn't he?" Daniel murmured, rubbing his chin thoughtfully, and called for Naya.