The Bandits' Collapse (1)
The Guillotine Unit led by Orleans appeared at the mountain stronghold’s entrance in the blink of an eye. The two bandits standing guard rubbed their eyes in disbelief at the soldiers who had materialized like ghosts. Where had all these troops suddenly come from? The moment confusion crossed their faces, arrows flew in and buried themselves in their foreheads.
“Wipe them all out!”
At Orleans’s command, sword drawn, the soldiers roared in unison and surged into the stronghold. Bandits who had been sleeping jolted awake at the noise and burst from their barracks. The battle erupted instantly.
Orleans, the space-mage Jute, and his adjutant Madin cut straight across the chaotic battlefield and headed directly for the leader’s quarters.
“Oh-ho, so it’s you! You’re the boss, huh? You’ve got some nerve barging into our mountain hideout without a shred of fear. You’ve walked right into your own grave!”
With a fierce shout, the armored Bernhardt drew his blade and charged the three men.
Orleans gave a small snort of laughter and jerked his chin lightly at Madin beside him. Madin drew his sword and sprang forward.
For a while, the clash between the two was quite the spectacle. But no matter how strong or skilled in a brawl he was, Bernhardt was still just a back-alley thug at heart. In the end, he couldn’t match Madin, who was equipped with expensive gear and had undergone proper military training. Gradually pushed back, Bernhardt finally fell to a powerful swing of Madin’s blade—his head flying clean off.
“B-Bernhardt has fallen!”
The bandits, who had always seen the giant as their unshakable pillar, witnessed his gruesome death and lost all fighting spirit in an instant. Their morale plummeted. They offered almost no resistance and began to be pushed back one-sidedly.
Amid the hellish pandemonium, Orleans reached the front of the leader’s tent without incident. Just then, a soldier who had entered the tent moments earlier stumbled back out, clutching his throat with both hands. Blood poured uncontrollably from the torn flesh. The soldier gasped desperately, froze for a split second, then collapsed forward and breathed his last.
The tent flap was swept aside. The female leader stepped out boldly, a longsword gripped in one hand. She stopped just outside the entrance, her gaze slowly turning toward Orleans. There was not a trace of fear on her face—only a relaxed, confident smile.
Orleans saw her face and let out a stunned, hollow laugh.
“Why are you here? Don’t tell me… you’re the boss?”
Before she could answer, a frantic voice cut in from the side.
“Leader!”
Ision was sprinting toward them with three of his men.
“Don’t you dare touch our leader!”
Hearing the shout, Orleans chuckled in disbelief.
“Leader? Pfft. What a load of bullshit.”
He looked back at the female leader.
“You disappeared from the capital for months, and here you are playing bandit in the countryside? Your hobbies are truly disgusting. Did your father put you up to this? Acting as a spy?”
“Kaaaah!”
A gut-wrenching scream erupted from Ision as Madin’s blade pierced him. Madin stabbed straight through Ision’s heart, then swiftly dispatched the remaining three bandits in the blink of an eye.
The female leader didn’t even flinch at the sound of Ision dying. She didn’t spare them so much as a glance. She simply stared calmly at Orleans, the faint smile never leaving her lips.
“Because of you, my plan has gone awry.”
“What plan? If we ruined your little scheme, then I’d call that a job well done. Our commander will be very pleased. I might even get some praise for once.”
“You’d better worry about getting out of here alive before you start thinking about praise. There’s more than just ordinary bandits here, you know.”
“Hmm?”
The moment Orleans sensed something strange and turned around, the female leader’s eyes were fixed on a man racing toward them from afar at blinding speed. With a mysterious smile, she introduced the newcomer to Orleans.
“He’s the man who will one day become part of our family.”
“Your family…?”
The man was none other than Kang Hyun-woo.
While Orleans tilted his head in confusion, Hyun-woo closed the vast distance in a single breath and was suddenly right in front of him. It was an unbelievable burst of speed.
Taken completely off guard, Orleans could only watch as Hyun-woo lunged forward and slashed with a dagger wrapped in blue mana. The strike was so fast that Orleans had no chance to dodge. The surprise attack was so perfect that his face paled and the word “death” flashed through his mind.
“Lord Orleans!”
But just as Hyun-woo swung his arm to slit Orleans’s throat, Madin threw himself forward with lightning reflexes. He wedged himself between them and took the blade instead. The instant Hyun-woo slashed Madin’s throat, he rolled behind Orleans, tumbled across the ground, and sprang back to his feet. Madin sprayed blood like a fountain from his neck, shuddered violently, rolled his eyes back, and collapsed.
“Who the hell are you?”
Orleans, who had barely escaped with his life, stared directly at Hyun-woo with a thoroughly displeased expression.
Several archers who had noticed the sudden intrusion hurriedly loosed their arrows. More than eight shafts rained down on Hyun-woo, but they all bounced off the transparent magical barrier surrounding his body.
Then the star-filled night sky suddenly darkened. Thunder roared, lightning cracked down, and struck one of the archers. The man screamed as his body charred black and fell. The lightning didn’t stop there. Bolt after bolt slammed into the other archers, dropping them like flies.
“It seems there’s a mage nearby. I’ll go deal with them,” Jute said in his low, resonant voice. In the blink of an eye, he vanished without a trace.
Hyun-woo glanced to his right. In the distance, Pasvachio and Unia were swinging their greatsword and spear with wild abandon, carving through the soldiers. He decided to leave the rest of the troops to them, Dana, and the surviving bandits while he took care of the enemy commander himself.
“Why does a mere bandit like you possess mana? Are you one of Lady Olivia’s subordinates?”
Olivia? Hyun-woo had never heard the name before. More importantly, the overwhelming pressure radiating from Orleans was immense. It was clear this was no lightweight opponent. He deeply regretted missing the perfect chance to kill him with a single strike just moments ago.
“Cat got your tongue? Well, it doesn’t matter. You’re going to die anyway.”
Orleans drew his sword. Hyun-woo raised his dagger in response. A longsword against a dagger. In every way, the longsword held the advantage. Moreover, Orleans’s blade was clearly a finely crafted masterpiece made from premium materials. The fear that his own dagger might snap the moment the two weapons clashed surged through him.
Which meant he had to fight dirty.
Hyun-woo’s mind was entirely occupied with underhanded tricks. He was a bandit. Bandits didn’t fight fair. A head-on duel was the stupidest thing a bandit could do.
He quickly pulled a smoke bomb from his pocket and set it off.
Boom!
Thick gray smoke exploded outward, instantly obscuring everyone’s vision. Using the cover, Hyun-woo rolled sideways, then fired his repeating crossbow toward where he guessed Orleans was standing.
From within the thick smoke came the sharp ting ting of arrows being deflected by a blade. Hyun-woo clicked his tongue in admiration—until Orleans suddenly burst through the smoke and brought his sword crashing down with both hands.
Hyun-woo rolled desperately to the side, narrowly avoiding the strike. He was shocked. Even though the golden orb was reading Orleans’s intentions, his own skill couldn’t keep up. The moment he heard the man’s thoughts, Orleans had already moved. Facing an opponent whose actions outpaced both thought and reaction was disorienting.
This type usually resembled Bernhardt, but the difference was like night and day. While Bernhardt moved without thinking, Orleans’s movements were refined, instinctive, and perfectly honed—like thought and action had become one.
Hyun-woo, still rolling across the ground, couldn’t find a chance to stand. Orleans chased after him, swinging his sword down again and again as if trying to squash a mole. Hyun-woo kept tumbling, dodging the blade every which way. In just a few seconds, he had evaded ten strikes.
Even Orleans seemed stunned. He let out a hollow laugh and paused his assault.
“What are you, some kind of slippery monkey…?”
Rumble—crash!
Suddenly lightning struck from above, aimed straight at Orleans’s head. It was Dana’s supporting fire. The fact that it had resumed after a brief pause suggested she had already dealt with the mage from earlier. In any case, Orleans swiftly raised his sword and split the descending bolt cleanly in two, blocking it with ease.
The opening was all Hyun-woo needed. Still lying on his back, he hurled two throwing stars at the man’s throat. But once again Orleans blocked them effortlessly with his plated forearm.
The man’s offense and defense were flawless. On top of that, his high-quality equipment left no visible weaknesses. Hyun-woo rose to his feet in silence and glanced at the female leader. He was puzzled.
Why is she just standing there while the bandit group she leads is being attacked?
As if reading his mind, the female leader smiled and suddenly called out to Orleans.
“Hey, Sir Orleans.”
“Hm? Got something to say?”
Orleans turned around leisurely. Hyun-woo saw the opening. The man was underestimating him. With inferior skill and equipment, Hyun-woo had no choice but to bet everything on a single chance. And speed—he had that in spades.