Death God's judgement

The bandits dismounted from their horses. Chief Marg rabbed a hammer which was carried by his horse. It was heavy and only his huge muscles could lift it. It was obvious that Chief Marg was the strongest among his men. It was only natural for a chief. "Alright, men! Take their loot!"

The men unsheathed their blades. Greed was found on their grin. They then began slamming against the doors of the villages.

The village governor was concerned. He stood up and approached Marg. "Please no, we've been saving it up in case of famine."

"The hell we care." Marg held his hammer up and swung at the governor.

Marg then struck the ground where his target was, causing it to shatter. But he missed. "Huh?"

The team leader of the adventurers, Rezan managed to swoop in and save the governor. "Please forgive me, we were late." He then unsheathed his long sword. But looking at his stance he could barely stand.

"You damn bandits! Didn't you agreed you won't plunder anymore?!" Rezan said.

Chief Marg grinned. "Moron, have you heard of a bandit that don't plunder?"

"You bastards! Once we return to the capital, we will report this to Commander Heinred."

Marg laughed aloud. His men followed laughing as well. "The keyword there is "once". I mean look at you, you're barely standing. Great warrior Rezan, I heard you slew the mighty python once in the inner ring and chopped its head. Due to that, you gained a great name in the adventurers guild. Even the royalty are entrusting you with difficult missions."

Rezan was on his knees. He was panting and sweating profusely. "Marg! I challenge you in a moonlight duel!"

The elf harrumphed. He nocked his arrow and aimed at his head. "Are you joking?"

Marg chuckled. He gestured at him to lower their weapons. "Fine."

Moonlight duel was a sacred battle between two brave men under the night. Every Silian man honored the tradition. The winner was allowed to choose the outcome, even letting the losers leave even if they had the upper hand.

Rezan and Marg were from the Silian race, thus they honored it. Breaking the rule of the moonlight duel, their generations would get cursed every time they look at the moon.

The god of the moon was their witness at this time.

They were given space by the bandits and the villagers. It was enough for them to move around and fight.

Marg held upon his hammer tightly. "If I win, I'll massacre and pillage the hell out of this village. But I'm keeping you alive. Once you return to the capital, give a fake info that this village was attacked by beast or something."

Rezan took several seconds to ponder upon it. But he agreed. "Accepted. And if I win, you'll leave this village peacefully. Get ready because you will get hunted by the Vallion Knights."

Marg laughed. "Of course."

The villagers gasped in surprise from their conditions. If Rezan loses they would lose the village and the bandits would also be free from the consequences.

They then yelled. "Great Rezan! You can do it!"

"We are counting on you!"

They were boosting up his morale. The adventurers which were his team were there to support him as well.

Shi the adventurer archer yelled. "Rezan! Beat the shit out of him!"

"This is bad, Rezan is not in the condition to fight. To be honest, he should be on bed. The only thing keeping him standing is his will power." Said Hekki, the buff adventurer with halberd who was limping.

They were exhausted and injured after all from the battle against the Volgius. Even standing here was a too much task for them.

"Anyway, where is Minnie?"

"Beats me, never saw her."

Rezan and Chief Marg were facing each other. And on a signal, Marg attacked first. He swung his heavy hammer at him, slicing the air. Rezan rolled away to dodge it, but he groaned and felt the ache of his body. "Ah!"

Marg was amused. "What's wrong." He then delivered a blow at the ground, which Rezan luckily dodged another time. Rezan didn't even have the strength to fight, all he did was evade.

"You can't win by evading, can't you."

The villagers were concerned.

Rezan then rolled away again to maintain distance. He then crouched and panted to catch his breath. He closed his eyes and held out his sword.

"What is he doing?" Shi asked.

"If I have to guess, he's performing the fierce deep blade. It's a secret technique passed by the five legendary Silian swordsmen back then. It was technique used to fight against the Mendovians. If he can use it, we might win. But a full concentration and a healthy mind is needed for it to work. Rezan is already battered up so him performing it successfully is unlikely. But if he's given time he might be able to do it."

Chief Marg charged again and Rezan evaded another time towards a safe distance. Rezan crouched again and extended his sword out. He closed his eyes and focused on his sword. He needed five seconds for this to work.

Marg grinned. "I don't know what you are trying to do but I'm gonna kill you." He was walking to Rezan which gave him time. "Stay still." He raised his hammer and when it was the time, Rezan opened his eyes. Veins popped up on his arm and with a swift swing, the handle of Marg's hammer fell.

"Huh?!" Marg was confused.

The villagers were glad on what they saw. They cheered. The adventurers were relieved. "I can't believe he performed a fierce deep swing."

Rezan grinned confidently. "The power of the fierce deep blade allow us to even slice metals. This technique can destroy any weapons no matter its size or shape. That's why a master of this technique can defeat any enemy no matter how strong they are. No matter what weapon you wield you are powerless from this swing."

Marg was taken aback. "That kind of technique exists?"

Rezan posed to strike. "Yes and it will be your end! Ya!" When he was about to swing, an arrow came from the audience and struck his back. "Ah!" He then weakened and fell, dropping his sword.

Chief Marg smirked. He grabbed Rezan on the collar and held him up. "Oops, you almost got me there." He laughed.

Seeing the audience it was the elf who fired it. He was holding a menacing smile.

The adventurers were outraged. "You scum, how dare you meddle with their duel?"

The elf cackled. "As you can see, I'm an elf. The traditions of the duel have no bearing on me since it only works for you humans."

Chief Marg was amused. "That's right." He then slammed Rezan on the ground and stepped on him. Rezan screamed in pain. "Ahhh! You bastard!"

"Hahaha! I haven't violated the duel yet you know since an elf meddled with it. This tradition only works for us of the Silian race." He then kicked Rezan causing him to get rolled away.

The adventurers, Shi and Hekki were gritting their teeth. If things went the way they are, then it would be going for the bandit's way.

Shi nocked his arrow and aimed at the elf. "Damn you!" He then released it and it went flying at the elf.

The elf grinned. He aimed at the incoming arrow, with a release he managed to hit the arrow flying in mid-air.

It caused the adventurer's jaws to fall. The rumors were right, the elves were a masters of the bow that he could hit the arrow while it was flying. With their sharp and long distance sight it was as if the Gods made them to wield a bow.

To their surprise, a spirit hell hound leaped at Shi and began tearing his insides. "Ah!"

Blood spurting out and his entrails were seen in the open.

"Shi!" Hekki grabbed his halberd and charged but another hell hound leaped at him. It was biting his face off with its wide jaws.

The alt-mage bandit summoner licked her lips. "Poor souls."

The villagers were enraged. They grabbed their rakes, attempting to fight against the bandits. The bandits were laughing with their blades up, "these will be a bloodfest."

At some point, the Minnie arrived. Seeing her comrades getting eaten she was surprised. She aimed her staff at the hell hounds. "The liquid of life that flows through the world, flow to me and give me strength. Production. Formation. Transformation." Water droplets emerged in mid-air and it then formed a water ball, it changes shape and became two ice spikes. The ice spikes then flung out in a speed of an arrow and struck the spirit hell hounds. It pierced into their bodies, causing them to turn into smoke and dissolve into a magic dust.

Minnie checked her comrades but too bad they were dead. Their heads were missing. She then gritted her teeth. "You'll pay for this!"

To her surprise, a hellhound was leaping at her. Teisha just in time tackled her causing the hellhound to miss.

Minnie couldn't believe her life was saved just now. "Huh, you? Why are you here? Why don't you just mind your business. This is our fight as an adventurers."

"This is no time to fight aimlessy! Let's set aside our disagreements for now and we will fight together." Teisha raised her arms and revealed her sharp claws. But even Teisha would have a hard time. This was no ordinary hound.

The spirit hound pounced at her quickly which she barely dodged. It even managed to slash her arm to which she yelled. "Ah!"

She tried to fight back but it leaped away.

Minnie gasped seeing Teisha was in trouble. She then aimed her staff at the summoner bandit. The only way to dispel the summons were to defeat the one who summoned it.

The alt-mage bandit was amused. "So you're gonna fight me, huh?" With a flick of her fingers several spirit hell hounds were summoned. They growled and crawled slowly to Minnie.

Minnie was casting her spell but she was worried that she won't make it. Seeing Teisha she even had a hard time fighting against the hound. She bit her lip since she knew it would be her doom. But then she remembered something. Tears started to fall from her eyes. "Grim reaper! If you save us, I'll follow you forever!"

And when the hell hounds were about to attack they stopped. They sniffed the air. They found their targets.

The alt-mage bandit was amused. "Chief, we found the Grim Reaper, his scent is bing carried by the wind. That means he is somewhere near--"

With a sound of thunderous noise, the alt-mage summoner's skull was holed. She then fell lifelessly on the ground. Her hell hounds dissolved on the air.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Though it was fainter than usual.

One by one the bandits fell. They stopped for a moment and assessed their situation.

Chief Marg burst out. "What happened!"

"We don't know Chief."

However, it brought a smile on the villagers' faces. "It's the Grim Reaper!"

With repeated bangs, the bandits were helplessly being killed. It was as if a God from above just decided to take their lives. They felt powerless since they couldn't even fight back and see their enemy.

Some dropped their weapons and fleed. "There's no way we can fight a God!"

But it was too late they got struck down. With every thunderous noise one bandit falls down. It was a proof that they were fighting against a God.

The elf managed to see Sting, who was above a mountain. He was 2 kilometers away. "Boss, the enemy is over there!"

"Where!" But even a normal human couldn't see him.

The elf nocked his bow and when he was aiming, he felt powerless. "Eh? There's no way my arrow can reach him. The gap between our abilities are too high." He got shot down as well after. His forehead was holed and bleeding.