Strong, or Weak...?

As soon as Gao Shun's sword had touched the Sturdy Iron Cudgel, Ryker switched out his weapon for the shorter Snow-Rimed Sword and simultaneously used the illusion array to briefly meld into the surroundings, giving the illusion that he had teleported.

Although Gao Shun would have noticed him if he were paying attention with his eyes, he was too occupied with searching with his spiritual sense to realize Ryker had used the illusion array instead of the Void Crossing Steps, leaving him open just long enough for Ryker to land a decisive blow.

"Kuuaagh!!"

Blood began to drip down from Gao Shun's mouth, his eyes red and bulging as he glared at Ryker, his trembling hands dropping his sword and moving to the blade that had pierced his stomach. There was no way...

There was no way he had been bested by this peasant!

He let out a wretched cough as Ryker pulled the sword from out of him, doubling over and clutching at his abdomen, which was steadily bleeding out and showing no signs of stopping. The combination of mana and the explosive force of the Ferocious Dao Charm was preventing his liquefied insides from healing, and he could feel himself growing colder as his blood dripped down to the forest floor.

How long had it been since he last bled...?

"You... bastard!"

Step by step he shuffled towards Ryker, hand outstretched as if to grab him, but he stumbled before he could even get halfway, falling to his knees and coughing up more blood. His vision was slowly fading, and he could feel his extremities growing numb, the pain from his stab wound dulling as a wave of ice washed over his body.

By the time his body hit the floor, it was as if he was watching the scene from some outside perspective, unable to move or feel anything.

"No... please... I, I don't want to die...!"

The whole time, Ryker just looked down at him with an unreadable expression on his face, hearing out Gao Shun's final words impassively with his sword still at the ready. He watched as the light left the bandit leader's eyes and the breath left his lungs, the metallic smell of blood overtaking his senses as the warm liquid ran down his sword and onto his hands.

There was no telling how long he stayed like that, his soft breathing and the forest breeze the only sounds permeating through the clearing.

['Borrowing' time limit reached,] Mini C said, snapping Ryker out of his daze. He quickly put away his sword, shaking out his body that was covered in cuts and gashes.

"Sheesh, what a nut job."

He cracked his neck tiredly, stretching out his arms. Still, with this, the village should be safe; all that was left was to deal with the small fries that were still wandering through the illusion array.

Though, there *were* those two that were in the Soul Wandering realm, but hopefully they would give it up, seeing that their boss was dead.

{... Are you feeling okay, Ryker?} Bestie asked him worriedly, to which he just nodded, a weary smile on his face.

"Yeah, just a bit tired, is all," he said, honestly. Although he still couldn't say he felt good about killing Gao Shun, he was at least getting used to the feeling. Whether that was a good thing, or not...

'Well, it's not like I could've let him live, either.'

The man had admitted to wanting to destroy the village simply because it was an 'eyesore'. Letting a guy like that live was the same as condemning other villages to a similar fate. Perhaps that was just a simple truth, in a world like this where 'the strong dictate life for the weak'.

"Let's get this guy over to his cronies. I'm sure they'll back off, now that their boss is dead."

Grabbing Gao Shun's body by his now-bloody robes, Ryker leapt off in the direction of the rest of the Red Viper bandits, wondering just how he should handle them. If worse came to worst... would he be able to kill them all?

--

Haoran and Lanfen were still dutifully leading the Red Vipers through the illusion array, even though they'd lost all hope of ever finding their way out of it, by now. Still, if Gao Shun returned to find that they weren't even trying anymore...

As if on cue, however, a bloody corpse landed with a thud right in front of their path, causing them to jump back and ready their weapons, keeping watch of their surroundings to see if they were being ambushed.

"Hey, lighten up. I was just coming back to warn you guys."

Haoran looked up to see Ryker nestled in the treetops, looking down at them with a cheery smile despite the many cuts and wounds all over his body. If he was here, then...

He looked back to the corpse that had fallen to the ground, gulping loudly when he saw that it really was Gao Shun, looking back at him with a lifeless stare. This kid had really done it, then.

"So? Y'all gonna be heading back, or what?"

Haoran turned to face Ryker, once more. Contrary to the goofy cheerfulness he'd observed back when they first fought, he saw a trace of coldness in Ryker's current grin, and he felt a chill go up his spine as he stared at them, waiting for a response.

"... You won't pursue us?" he asked, to which Ryker nodded.

"As long as you promise never to return to this village, I won't do anything."

"You're placing quite a bit of trust in us."

"I have some means in place to tell if you do. If that ever happens..."

Ryker's grin fell as he trailed off, highlighting the coldness in his eyes. Haoran winced, unable to tell if he was bluffing, or not. But, considering he'd taken down Gao Shun... well, it wasn't as if he had any plans to come back to this village, in the first place.

"You have my word. I, Haoran, promise never to return to this village," Haoran vowed, bowing in a martial artist's salute as he did.

"... Same here. I, Lanfen, promise never to return."

Lanfen also chimed in with a promise, mimicking Haoran's salute, and soon enough, all of the Red Viper bandits that had come with them had made their own vows to stay away from the village, bowing their heads submissively. Ryker's eyes just swept over them in a steely gaze, his arms crossed as if to discern their sincerity. Eventually, he nodded, and the endless stretch of identical forest surrounding them began to dissipate, melting away to reveal that they were in a clearing not far from the village as the illusion array deactivated.

"Take your boss' body and get out of here," Ryker said, gesturing at Gao Shun's corpse. Haoran nodded and signaled for some of the troops to retrieve it, though he really had no intention of burying him, or anything like that.

They would leave it somewhere for the demonic beasts to pick clean, or let it rot, for all he cared.

Ryker watched as the bandits meekly left, taking Gao Shun's body with them. He'd already looted his storage ring, so there was no point in keeping the body around.

"Phew, guess that's taken care of. Time to head back."

Dropping down from the treetops, he turned to head back to the village, wiping the sweat off of his forehead with a sigh.

--

"Sir Ryker! You've returned!"

Upon hearing Zhao Hui's shout outside of the village hall, all of the villagers who had been taking shelter rushed out to see Ryker returning in the distance, waving at them with a broad grin on his face. They hurried over and crowded around him as he approached, clamoring and fussing over him.

"Sir Ryker, are you alright? What happened with the bandits?"

"You're wounded! We have to treat your injuries!"

Ryker just smiled, putting his hands up and making his way through the crowd towards the village chief, who was standing near the back. The chief bowed as he approached, which Ryker returned as he reported the situation.

"Yo Chief, the bandit leader's dead, and the rest of them have promised to never return to this village," Ryker said, to which the crowd gave out a cheer, jumping and hugging each other in joy. The chief simply held his bow, never raising his head as he thanked him profusely.

"Great Warrior Ryker, there are no words I can say to thank you enough for your kindness. We are but simple commoners, but if there is ever anything you may need, please, come find us. We will do everything within our power to pay you back."

Ryker nodded, retrieving a small object from out of his dimensional pocket and handing it to the village chief, who looked up at him in confusion as to what it was.

"Here, if those bandits ever show up around here, again, just break this. I'll use the teleportation array we set up before, and come help," he said, placing the small jade token into the chief's hands. It was modified from one of the Great Void Sect's disciple tokens by Mini C, and would send a signal to him when broken and allow him to teleport straight to the village's teleportation array, no matter where he was.

The chief just looked at him with misty eyes, bowing again in salute. When he got back up, he took Ryker's hand and raised it high into the air, bellowing at the top of his lungs as he did.

"Everyone! Tonight we celebrate this great hero! Get ready to drink until you can no longer stand!"

The villagers all cheered as Ryker laughed heartily, rubbing the back of his neck with his free hand. He wouldn't be going anywhere until tomorrow, it seemed...