Episode 02 - Bandit m******e
1220 Words
The demi-human stood steadily as the group of people arrived. He looked at the people directly one by one. There were three nimble-looking warrior bandits. He assumed that those are rogue classes who excel in speed and accuracy. They are equipped with light protection and each of them is wielding a crossbow similar to the old man earlier. There are fifteen other normal looking warrior bandits. Most of them are equipped with heavy protection and wield a set of swords or axes, and a shield.
But there were two distinct and powerful looking enemies the demi-human noticed. One giant-like human with an approximate height of seven feet. His large body is protected with heavy protection. He is wielding an abnormally large great sword. It seems he is a berserker. The second one was a dragon knight. Who is covered with a set of heavy golden-plated armor with a dragon insignia, and wielding their traditional weapon, a long sword and shield.
The demi-human understood the situation was not simple. As the kidnapers had to hire a berserker and a dragon knight on top of that. He quickly cast two magic. The first is a physical enhancement magic, "Haste", to increase his already blinding fast speed. The second is an equipment enhancement magic, "Blade of the Wind", enveloping his wielded short sword with the sharp pressure of wind. Increase the sharpness of his weapon.
Both the group of hired mercenaries and the demi-human stood still and glared at each other. Then one of the warrior bandit's eyes became enraged, after seeing one of their allies being beaten up and had already lost two of his arms. His voice was trembling as he shouted while charging angrily towards the demi-human.
The three rogue bandits acted as soon as one of their charges without thinking. They dispersed themselves and attacked using the crossbow that can shoot multiple arrows. Before the barrage of arrows hit the demi-human, he disappeared again, leaving only a cloud of dust. In the few seconds that he disappeared, the demi-human had already decapitated eight of the fifteen warriors and two of the three rogues. The berserker's eyes were stretched open from the surprise of seeing most of his companions' heads dropped from their shoulders and tumbled to the ground, instantly. The berserker's eyes suddenly turned red. His teeth ground with each other. And large veins popped out of his muscular body. He then swang his abnormally large great sword as if it weighed nothing. It sliced the demi-human in half. So they thought.
The berserker's point of view suddenly spun like the world is spinning. And saw the demi-human standing on the shoulder of a big bulky person, without a head. It was already late when he realized it was just an after image of the demi-human he cleaved in two. The demi-human raised his guard against the remaining dragon knight. The dragon knight has not even drawn his weapon or even react.
A few seconds later, after the berserker's head rolled. The remaining rogue aimed and shot his crossbow towards the demi-human. The demi-human disappeared again and the arrows hit the dead berserker's body. Suddenly, the demi-human cast wind magic, "Wind Blade", on his short sword and swung it horizontally towards the remaining enemies. High pressure air passed through the enemies. Instantly, the remaining rogue bandits and seven warrior bandits were cleaved from their torso.
The only remaining foe was the dragon knight. The dragon knight still has not moved an inch or drawn his weapon. The demi-human was waiting for their one-on-one battle.
Dragon knights are creatures with immense strength and magical power. Inheriting their ancestral dragon's strengths and attributes. They are said to be as powerful as a dragon itself. In addition, they are ridiculously strong combatants. Who trained day and night until they have perfected their combat skills.
Like dragons, dragon knights are resilient to fire in a great degree. The demi-human knew about this. He became curious to what extent of resilience one dragon knight has against his fire magic. He smiled and said to the shaking dragon knight with an excited tone of voice, "Dragon knight!!! I want to test your fire resistance!!! So brace yourself!!!" as the dragon knight heard him, his legs became like vines falling on the ground and he fell on his back. It tried to escape by crawling away, but the dragon knight could not even move an inch because of fear.
The demi-human lets go of his short sword and changes his stance, similar to boxing. And chanted, "Engulf my hand with the flame of purgatory!" violet flames engulfed the demi-human's right hand. It shrank and became more concentrated and formed a claw shape. The demi-human then swiped his hand and said with an excited tone, "Have a taste of my fire magic, Claw of the Purgatory Flame." The demi-human's eyes showed excitement as well and smiled like a loonatic.
The dragon knight who was fleeing screamed before he was incinerated instantly along with his golden-plated armor and a piece of land that seemed to be clawed out.
The demi-human's expression returned to its emotionless state. After looking at the battle field, he inhaled deeply and signed. He was disappointed. The dragon knight he was expecting was a fake dragon knight. If he was the real deal, even if his armor was incinerated. He could have gotten out of that mid-leveled fire magic unscratched.
After checking the battle field, the demi-human returned to the armless old man. As he stood in front of the lying armless old man, he said with a monotone voice, "Old man, I could hear your breathing and heartbeat. I know you are awake." As soon as the old man opened his eyes, tears came pouring out of him. He said with a shaking and squeaky voice as he tried to roll over and stand up, "Please! Please! Please! Don't kill me!" The demi-human looked at him and responded with the same tone as before, "I will not kill you. Just answer my questions."
The old man answered, "Yes, yes, yes. Anything. Anything you want to know."
The demi-human started to ask the old man, "Okay, who was that boy earlier?"
the old man answered hurriedly, "H- he's no one. He's a slave that we bought." The old man's heartbeat became faster than before.
"Hmm, are you sure, old man? If I ever find out that you are lying, I can hunt you down, even if you are protected by the dragon knight's clan."
"Ye- yes, mister demi-human. I am not lying." again, the old man's heartbeat became faster.
"Are you sure? I know the fact that the slave boy is not a slave." The old man's heartbeat began to increase again.
"No, no, no si-sir."
"I also know that you were hired by a member of the Artis Family."
The old man started to sweat aggressively.
"And I know the fact that your dragon knight friend was a fake."
The old man started to cry like a waterfall.
The demi-human faced away from the whimpering old man and said, "Thank you old man for the information."
"Ca-can I leave now?"
"Sure you can. As long as you can out run my hungry family members. They haven't eaten yet because of your disturbance earlier."
- Writer
