Ambush

Unfortunately, Ace being right in that instance also meant that a larger-than-expected portion of the old man's rambling turned out to be true.

The group that made themselves at home in the ruins didn't present itself well, though.

They were definitely bandits, with their haphazard equipment that often didn't seem even to fit them. The behavior of the ones put on the edges of the broken walls and caved-in buildings betrayed a lack of any proper training.

There was a certain way that seasoned warriors and even common guards were holding themselves up, and that bunch lacked any trace of it.

Still, their lack of any sense of danger or obligation to do their job properly allowed Ace to sneak as close as he wanted, basically.

"..."

And that was when he made a very unpleasant discovery.

Another part of what the old man had said to him turned out to be true after all.

Even though he wasn't able to recognize every single bandit, there were more than a few that would get tattoos of the bandit group or gang they were a part of at some point.

Ace recognized some of those from the groups he had previously taken down and handed to the authorities.

There weren't some big and famous organizations; more often than not, they were only marginally more dangerous than a bunch of villagers who could no longer handle poverty and took their anger out on their neighbors.

So even if they had their own tattoos as a mark, it wouldn't be a design that would take off - hence Ace's certainty that those were indeed the people he had caught before.

There was also more than one gang, as Ace saw more than one or two specific designs.

It was a whole bunch of different groups coming together… but for what…?

"...this better just be a prison break…"

Ace let out a bitter sigh with a hint of anger as he chose his starting point.

Five bandits roasting something over a fire in between two cave-in buildings.

For some reason, that group chose to be completely vulnerable out of the sight of the guards on vantage points. The most likely explanation was they were actually trying to hide as they were either slacking off or they didn't want to share their sizzling snack.

Whichever explanation was correct, it was a chance that Ace gladly used.

"Charge weapon. Sleep. Concussion."

The hooded youth gripped his dagger, transformed it into a six-foot-long staff, and spun it around while infusing two different spells on each side.

Then he made sure that he didn't overlook any guards and silently rushed over to the cooking bandits…

…

"...whpgh…?"

Truth be told, the ambush couldn't even be counted as a fight. The furthest bandit, the one who stood up to move the roast around, got slammed in the face with the sleep end of the staff and fell on his back while Ace was spinning in the air, hitting the remaining four perfectly aligned bandits with a single strike of the concussion end.

"...huh…?"

Ace landed and blinked in confusion, staring at his targets, who had dropped face-first to the ground without any signs of resistance.

It was… almost scary how effective the attack was.

The stats he gained through leveling up weren't just for show, that's for sure.

"This King takes away your right to wake up."

The hooded Ace tapped each of the concussed bandits dooling on the ground with the sleep end of his staff and enhanced the spell with his ability.

He was planning to use it as a test, too—to see how much his Veto Rex had improved.

"...charge sleep…"

Ace's weapon changed shape into a slightly more intimidating children's slingshot, and he cast a spell on the pouch at his side.

As he reached into the pouch, he retrieved a few amber balls of rubbery tree sap.

He loaded the spell-infused ammo and peeked over the corner to confirm the position of the next set of targets - the guards on the vantage points.

"...it works best on unexpecting targets…"

Ace muttered to himself, taking a deep breath, and jumped out into the spot where he could see as many enemy guards as possible, beginning a barrage of attacks still mid-air.

"Wha…! Nnh…"

One of the guarding bandits gasped when he noticed his comrade on the opposite building suddenly sway and drop to his knees just to lay down comfortably, but the next moment, something rubbery smacked him in the side of the head, instantly drowning his brain in overwhelming drowsiness.

"A-ALARM! ALARM! WE ARE UNDER….!"

"Charge concussion."

As the ambush couldn't last, someone realized that the swaying sentinels lying down weren't an organized nap time but an attack. This caused the remaining bandits to become much more attentive and, therefore, forced Ace to change the spell infused into the projectile.

"AT-ack…!"

The shouting sentinel received a rubbery ball right under his chin, and his words were cut off as his eyes rolled into his skull, and he dropped down like a sack of potatoes.

"They are picking us one by one! Group up!"

Using the last chance to do so, Ace loaded almost all the rubbery projectiles he had left onto the slingshot, which enlarged itself especially for that purpose. He sent them at the bunched-up bandits - getting at least seven or eight of them!

Even so, there were many more remaining.

But they were grouped up.

"Charge. Sleep. Concussion."

And to make them stay like that, Ace stepped up, turning his weapon back into a staff and infusing it with spells once more.

"Wha...? W-wait…! It can't be!"

"Oh, so it is you!"

One of the bandits in the back with height, muscle mass, and brute-like mug fitting of the leader of the mountain gasped at the sight of the distinctive golden weapon in the hands of a hooded attacker - in response, Ace raised his brows and pulled down his hood, revealing his face and even more recognizable green hair.