Chp.28: Exterminate the bandits

The war was a heyday for banditry, both during and after it. War forced people who knew how to fight to move away from their homes, their villages, their cities, which therefore remained defenceless. And without protection, any sufficiently organized criminal might have an easy time raiding those lands.

Roschark knew that. So he had jumped at the opportunity to build a band and raid the environs of Atharka while the army was away. Having also served in the military in the past, he knew how it worked, and so he intended not to miss this opportunity to build a fortune.

Roschark had always been a greedy man. He was the son of a wealthy merchant and at the age of just twenty he had killed his father making it look like an accident to pocket his fortune. Unfortunately, however, he had planned the assassination poorly and the city watch had noticed some indications that the man's death had not been natural. They hadn't found enough evidence to frame him, but there was enough suspicion to block his inheritance, leaving him penniless. Roschark then had tried another path: he had joined the army, or rather the garrison stationed in Atharka, and fortunately possessed enough talent to reach the diamond level. With his skills he had risen through the ranks to become an officer, and once he became one he was responsible for many crimes, such as bribery and extortion. Unfortunately, this time too he was discovered, and he was imprisoned in the Atharka jails. Fortunately he had managed to avoid the death penalty, but he had still remained in prison for a very long time. But when the war started, he knew his chance had come: as soon as the opportunity presented itself, he escaped and retired to the countryside, where he began to gather criminals to build a gang. Luckily Atharka was on the border with the Baudonia City Alliance, so very quickly he found several deserting or fugitive beastmen who had nowhere to go and joined him. In short, she had formed a sizable gang, enough to be feared by the few guards left in the city.

That situation wouldn't last long, of course: Roschark knew that with the end of the war sooner or later the king would send some men to Atharka to resolve the situation. He had hoped that the war would last a long time, but sadly it hadn't. Roschark therefore now planned to raid as much as possible while he still had time and then flee with the loot.

Yes, Roschark had it clear how things were going to go. So he was somewhat annoyed when some of the bandits in his service appeared before him in his lair shouting: "We are under attack! Svavrosk is dead!"

Roschark grit his teeth when he heard this. Svavrosk was a wolfman with whom he had shared his cell while in prison, and the two had escaped together. He was very loyal to him and Roschark appreciated that. Also, he knew he was pretty strong, so whoever killed him must have been really powerful. "Who is it? Who are the assailants?"

"That's six people!" one of the bandits answered. "They deceived us! They had adventurer plates, but their strength was higher than the level gold! They are definitely royal agents!"

Roschark grit his teeth. This was clearly a bad situation, but he had prepared himself for that eventuality. Having been in the army, he knew there was a possibility that the king would decide to send a person with a high level of force to crush the bandits if the complaints of the people of Atharka were too pressing. Apparently, it had happened. However, Roschark still had a chance to get away with it.

The hideout he had chosen for his gang was not a cave, or a hidden house, or in any case an enclosed place: it was a small clearing hidden in the middle of some trees. This was because it was the perfect place to face an enemy with a high level of strength. Hiding places such as caves were necessary when there were large numbers of soldiers looking for them, because an enclosed place was more easily defensible than an open one. However, Roschark had posted sentries throughout the perimeter, so if large numbers of soldiers arrived he would know well in advance, giving him plenty of time to clear out and flee.

Conversely, against a single enemy with a high level of strength, an enclosed place was dangerous. This enemy would in fact simply kill everyone in his way and there would be no way to escape. It would have been no different than a group of mice holed up in their burrow, only to be followed inside by a snake. Conversely, in an open place and with a large number of men it was possible to fight and implement many efficient tactics to kill an enemy with a high level of strength. Even if the royal agent had been a level adamantium, he would still have been a mortal being: one hit in the right place would have killed him. There were many places in a clearing from which an arrow or a spear could be shot surreptitiously, and Roschark had enough men to set a trap.

All he needed was time… but right now he was short on time. "Idiots! If these opponents really are that strong, then there's no way you escaped! They let you go!" he exclaimed, kicking the bandit who had brought him the news. "They wanted to know where our hideout was! You brought them here to us!"

"You guessed right, Roschark" a voice said. A huge, armored figure appeared through the trees. Roschark gulped when he saw her, clearly sensing that this was no ordinary opponent before him. "We finally found you. We had to walk for hours to find you, you know that?"

Roschark sweated even more when he realized that the man was being followed by five other people. Were they all warriors or high level mages? "Who are you? Why did someone like you disguise himself as an adventurer?" he asked, not understanding why a royal agent would use such an act.

"My motives don't concern you. What matters at the moment is that I'm here to eliminate you all" the man said, looking at the various bandits gathered in the clearing, who shivered slightly at his sight.

Despite the situation, Roschark kept his cool. "Can I at least know your name?"

The man nodded. "My name is Rhaegal"

"Rhaegal, good. Nice to meet you. Tell me, would you accept our surrender?" Roschark asked. That was the most basic strategy: pretending to give up or to be weak, to strike their tormentor from behind at the right moment.

But Rhaegal laughed: "Even if your offer were true, I wouldn't accept it. I came here to kill you. I never wanted to take prisoners"

Roschark clenched his fists. He didn't expect that person to be so bloodthirsty. He tried to look at his five companions, hoping to see some expression of disapproval: if that were the case, he could have appealed to them to cause an internal conflict and take the opportunity to strike their best warrior from behind. Empathy was a powerful weapon and easy to use. But all she saw were blank, emotionless stares; indeed, one of the women was even smiling, as if she was enjoying the show.

"Oh, don't worry about them" Rhaegal said. "They are here just to make sure none of you escape. I'll be your only opponent. I've already had the chance to test the potential of this body, but never against other newcomers. I'll take advantage of this opportunity to see how far I can go"

'The potential of his body? Newcomers? What is he talking about?' Roschark thought incomprehension, but then stopped when he saw a small light appear and disappear above a tree. Inwardly he smiled: that was the signal that some of the bandits under his command had done as he had ordered them in anticipation of a situation like this. It was time to act. "If you want to fight alone, then I have no reason to stop you. Come forward and face me!"

He expected Rhaegal to know it was a trap, but the man started walking towards him very quickly. Ten bandits rushed at him and tried to strike him, but of course the man swung his sword so quickly that they turned into pieces of flesh and blood as they still ran. But they were nothing but expendable pawns for Roschark: "Make the cockatrice sing!"

Some bandits removed a tarp, revealing a cage containing a large bird with its beak locked by a chain. They yanked it off him, and as they did the animal made an extremely loud sound. But the bandits had no trouble putting up with it, because in anticipation of this they had waxed their ears. Instead, Rhaegal froze and looked somewhat annoyed.

That was just what Roschark wanted. He had stolen that cockatrice from a merchant of exotic animals long ago, and he knew that it was very useful since it could make very loud sounds. Now that Rhaegal was busy resisting the cockatrice's cry, he didn't have to hear the wizards who were hiding in the bushes around him and chanting their spell: in an instant, an extremely strong barrier wrapped itself around Rhaegal's body, blocking it. Surely he would have managed to free himself given his strength, but the barrier would have slowed him down anyway: taking advantage of this, all the magicians hurled explosive spells against him, enveloping his body in flames, while the other bandits took their crossbows and they bombarded him with arrows. But this obviously wasn't enough to kill an adamantium level: what Roschark wanted to do was draw his full attention to them, so that he would focus all his mana on defending against them... leaving his nape exposed, which instead it was facing the opposite way. And just above a tree at that spot was the best archer of the whole gang, who drew a bow and hit him squarely on the head, going through it through and through.

Roschark couldn't see clearly due to the flames, but he was sure he saw the arrow strike Rhaegal's head. A grin formed on his face: once the brain was hit, even a level adamantium would die. But his joy lasted just a few seconds: Rhaegal in fact reappeared after a few seconds, calmly walking out of the flames and holding the arrow in his hand. "Mh. Apparently I was right, this body still has too many limitations. However, I was able to ascertain that even without using mana my armor was not affected by your attacks. Apparently, not even magical attacks can damage the bones of a great basilisk. Maybe I could use this knowledge to improve the defense of my head... I could for example replace the bones of the skull with those of great basilisk carefully polished... this way I wouldn't risk my brain being destroyed too much long and that the connection with this body is lost" he murmured to himself. "Also, even though it can't be touched by fire because of the armor, this body is still sensitive to heat. I could fix that by tearing the skin off and thus eliminating the sensitivity, but by doing so I would lose the sense of touch. Maybe I could get it wet with some potion that makes it fireproof... some animals basically use liquids to create a shield and protect themselves from the heat. I will have a lot to try in the future... well noted. In thanks for your contribution, I will make you suffer as little as possible"

Roschark didn't understand what Rhaegal was saying, and he wasn't understanding anything about the situation. The arrow had hit him, he was sure of it! He could still see blood and flesh on it! Wait… that blood was strange… it was thicker and darker than normal blood… it almost looked like… the blood of a dead body?

He didn't have time to think of anything else: Rhaegal rushed at them with astonishing speed and with quick strokes he decapitated all the wizards first, then the other bandits. In less than a minute the bandits present in the clearing, from forty who were, were reduced to just a dozen, and the survivors lost all fighting spirit and began to flee.

Roschark knew this was the worst possible situation. Now he had only one option: take advantage of the fact that Rhaegal was busy with his men and capture a hostage. Using his level diamond strength, he tied his mana into his legs and ran at full speed towards the five adventurers that monster had brought along, and grabbed one of the women. "Tell your friend to stop now, or I..."

"Or you what?" the woman asked, taking his hand and breaking his wrist with only the force of her fingers. Roschark screamed in pain and fear: that woman was also a level adamantium! He cursed his misfortune and tried to beg for mercy, but the woman grabbed a knife and cut off his head cleanly. His body fell lifeless to the ground, while his head remained in the hand of the woman, who admired it as if it were a trophy.

"Tsk! This idiot thought he could use me as a hostage!" Corgorin laughed. "Serengal, are you finished up there?"

"Yes, sister" Serengal replied jumping down from a tree; in her hand she held the head of the archer who had tried to kill Rhaegal. "There was only this one, I inspected the entire perimeter"

"Good, then I'd say we're done. Too bad, for the first mission I'd go for something better," Corgorin said as he watched Rhaegal take out the last of the bandits, then she glanced at Sarah, Efren and Carlos. "Sorry, it looks like you won't be able to participate"

"Believe me, we don't mind at all" Efren replied. "It's not as easy for us to kill people as it is for you dragons. Even if they were evil, we still wouldn't have been happy to execute them"

"Well, we're all satisfied then. But now make yourself useful" Corgorin said. "Fill your dimensional bags with everything in here and cut off the heads of all the bandits, so we will have proof of having completed the mission. If we hurry we can get back to the city before dark"