The Bandit Leader Subjugation - V

Merlin could feel his heart almost beating out of his chest, all his senses were telling him that the worst had happened. He wasn't sure when, or even if it was going to strike again, but he thought he was at least safe in a well-lit environment. The cold air that rushed into the tent stung his face and forced him to shield his eyes.

Jackson unsheathed his blade and dashed out of the camp without saying a word, leaving Merlin alone in the tent. The inside of the tent was still lit because of the hooded lantern that was hooked onto a chain and hanging from the ceiling.

Merlin looked around the tent's interior, trying to find anything he could use to fight the undead creature, but the tent was just full of documents and loose parchment, no weapons or utility items of any sort. He unhooked the lantern, taking it with him as he dashed out of the tent.

More notifications started appearing in his peripheral vision, quickly getting replaced with the same notification but with updated information.

「Bandits remaining: 13」

There were many ways to approach most quests in New Genesis, with the freedom of full dive it was only natural that the system would try to be as nonrestrictive as possible. With elimination quests, there were many ways to complete them. While some had further restrictions in place, most were generally open to the player's imagination.

The most obvious solution would be to physically engage the enemies in combat and slay them yourself. However another solution would perhaps be to use the environment to kill a creature, such as dropping a tree on a monster to crush it, or causing a landslide to bury a goblin encampment. There were many other solutions, the most relevant in the current situation however would be causing monsters to fight each other.

Areas within the world weren't merely spawn locations for monsters, they were their own living ecosystems. And based on player actions, mostly in the form of quests, they could be modified.

Sometimes monster habitats became dangerously close to each other, causing conflict between the inhabitants. There were many issues that could arise from this, such as one of the two species being annihilated or one being dominated by the other. However there was a rarer outcome, if the two races were compatible enough they would join side-by-side for their mutual benefit. This outcome generally made the area much more difficult for players to travel and fight in.

However, on a smaller scale, if a player were to have a pack of wolves chase them, and then lead them into an orc encampment, only to escape and lose their tracks, there was a high chance that the orcs and wolves would fight. In such a case, the player would be credited for their kill, and the system would most likely count such a kill for their quests, if further restrictions weren't applied. The only downside to this tactic however is that the player would not receive experience for the kill.

This was one such situation. As the undead was here solely for Merlin, killing anything that got in its way. any kill it performed would be classed as if Merlin purposefully baited the creature into the camp, thus adding to his quest counter.

Merlin unsheathed his blade and began running towards the general location of where he heard the screams. As he ran through the bandit camp, he took in his surroundings, there were very few light sources remaining, all of which were lanterns as they protected the flame inside from the wind.

"It's ok sweetie. It's ok, you'll be alright." A woman's raspy voice caught Merlin's attention, causing him to stop running and look around.

"--edmond. Why did you leave us to die." Merlin noticed a woman leaning back against a tree, she appeared to be devastated, and when he looked closer he saw why.

She was almost completely covered in blood, her face had been sprayed with it, her clothes were drenched and her hands were stained, but it didn't seem like it was all hers. Rather most of the blood belonged to the small child she was desperately cradling in her arms.

This sight tugged at Merlin's heart, knowing he was ultimately the cause of this, even though he was originally here to kill them, he felt sad knowing he actually had.

"All I did was turn off the light..." The woman began rambling while rocking back and forth, her voice was slowly fading out, it seemed she had also received a lethal strike. "Sir Redm..."

Merlin turned away as the woman finally passed, the sickly feeling of guilt bubbled up within him. The screams of pain and the mournful cries, they were all being drowned out by the violent wind, and then another notification appeared.

「Bandits remaining: 10」

Angered by this, he ran towards the general location of the screaming, and a few seconds later he saw the perpetrator, surrounded by several bandits, including Jackson, all brandishing their weapons.

There she stood, or more accurately hovered, a tall pale woman with dry corpse-like skin, her sunken eyes and vacant sockets, staring into them felt like gazing into an endless void. This time around her previously she had a nightmare-inducing smile plastered on her face, exposing her mouth lined with long shark-like teeth.

Another bandit charged towards her, only to have his stomach impaled by a long black thorn-covered tentacle. It ripped through the man with ease and then threw his corpse into the nearby fortress wall with enough force to send splinters flying.

「Bandits remaining: 9」

Merlin lowered the lantern's hood to dim its light, he then hid the lantern under his cloak before he approached the ghost. Although it was cheap, the material of his cloak was still thick enough to prevent the lantern's faint light from leaking out.

The previously dry forest floor had now become mud due to the various pools of blood that had formed in the area. It was much harder to traverse, and the slipperiness of the mud made it even more of a challenge. When combat starts he would have to be mindful of his footing to keep himself stable.

Merlin could feel his hand start to itch as he got closer. He glanced at it, noticing that the purple blight under his skin was spreading up his arm much faster than it previously was.

The creature previously had her back to Merlin, yet still noticed him approach, it seemed she had some form of connection with him, the curse most likely also working as a tracker.

She dramatically swung her body around to face Merlin, as if she were a puppet on strings. Rather than floating, it was more like she was being held up in the air by her various thorn tentacles, making quick turns rather difficult.

Her long bony claw-like fingers parted, like the talons of a large bird getting ready to impale its prey. Moments later she sprung forward, closing the gap between her and Merlin in an instant. But before she could strike Merlin, he quickly uncloaked the lantern and swung open its hood, bathing her with its light.

Merlin watched as the ghost's skin started flaking away, and it seemingly began screaming in pain. The ghost pulled herself away from the light with such force that she flung herself into an unlucky bandit, sending him flying into a tent, there was a loud crash but no noises followed. He seemed to be alive still, as Merlin hadn't yet received a notification of his death.

The ghost pounced towards another bandit, impaling him with her claws before sinking her teeth into him. Merlin watched as within seconds the man was drained of colour, and the previous wound that Merlin had caused the ghost vanished instantly.

「Bandits remaining: 8」

After the creature appeared to have healed, it turned its attention back on Merlin. A tentacle flew out from behind her and thrust itself towards him.

Merlin stepped out of its path and sliced down on the tentacle, unfortunately the tentacle was surprisingly tough, so the cut was shallow. Nevertheless, it seemed to have hurt the ghost, as she looked to be even angrier at him now.

Merlin made a dash towards the ghost, lantern in hand. He ducked under a quick horizontal sweep by another tentacle, using his momentum and the slipperiness of the vile sludge to slide ever closer.

As he reached within seven metres, another tentacle thrust towards him, yet as he stepped out of the way of that one, another tentacle swept at his legs. A thorn impaled his leg and he was briefly dragged along for a couple meters until it unhooked itself. He was thrown a few meters further, landing on his back in a pool of blood, his long white hair, or at least the parts that had been submerged, were now stained a deep blood red.

Pain shot up his leg, causing him to flinch, he couldn't yet will himself to stand. Merlin took a glance at his health, that attack alone rid him of fifteen points of health.

As Merlin's attention snapped back to the ghost, he noticed that it was engaged in combat with the bandits once more. One of the bandits was impaled in the stomach, a repeating theme with this particular creature. But when the ghost attempted to throw him like she did the others, he had successfully cut through her tentacle, albeit mid-throw, causing himself to get tossed into the mud.

Merlin watched as the bandit slid towards him, he could now identify the man who was once just a silhouette in the distance. It now made sense why this particular bandit had survived the ghost's lethal attack and dealt damage in return. It was Jackson, the bandit leader, as the boss of the camp, he'd be a couple levels higher than the rest of the bandits, putting him a lot closer to the ghost's level.

Merlin forced himself to crawl out of the blood pool and limp over to Jackson. When he arrived he had a proper view at the disembodied tentacle sticking out of his gut, and the streams of blood running down the side of his mouth. Jackson's eyes locked onto Merlin, his glare was a mix of rage and sadness, but there was also hint of feeling betrayed.

"You--" He tried talking but his speech was cut off by him coughing out blood, when he seemed fine he continued. "You're the reason that thing is here, aren't you?"

Merlin's expression darkened, the feeling of guilt he previously suppressed with rage had bubbled up to the surface once more, a few seconds passed before he nodded somberly.

"I take back what I previously said about you." Jackson let out a pained laugh before continuing. "You're the smartest assassin my father has ever sent."

「You have completed the quest, "Assassinate the Lycoa bandit leader", visit the mercenary guild to receive your rewards.」