Chapter 125: Bandits (Part 2)

  There are many luxurious mansions in the outskirts of the Erathia royal capital. These are mostly residences built by merchants or adventurers who have retired from their adventurous life. These wealthy but status-lacking upstarts all prefer to settle here, as if being closer to the royal capital in distance might allow them to absorb some of the noble atmosphere.

  Mr. Axsis's mansion was one of them. As is well known, although Mr. Axsis could still be considered an upstart, he was an unfortunate one among them. He originally had a thriving business and family in Ainfast, but an unexpected accident not only caused him to lose all his family members but also turned him into an ugly cripple. Heartbroken, he brought all his wealth and left his hometown to settle here, relying on his connections with old friends from Ainfast to start a business selling treasures. He often sold large quantities of treasures that were said to be brought from Ainfast by his friends. And it seemed that many adventurers also came to sell him rare items.

  During this period, his business was undoubtedly doing very well, as many strangers could often be seen entering and leaving his residence. Judging by their appearance and attire, they were probably adventurers. As usual, the host did not entertain his guests with great fanfare, as these people typically did not like noise and attention.

  In the basement of the mansion.

  Just like the owner's seemingly simple but absolutely shady background, this unknown underground complex was far more vast and intricate than the buildings above ground, almost comparable to the dwellings of the Minotaurs beneath Nighon. Dozens of rooms of different sizes crisscrossed, connected by over a hundred passages, with more than ten passages leading to hidden exits on the surface, enough for those inside to escape in case of emergency. This was the largest nest of The Shamushi Thieves' Guild. Of course, there were several such hideouts in other places, but this was the largest.

  In the largest room of the basement, it was now crowded with people, shoulder to shoulder. Under the light of tallow torches, over a hundred people had gathered here. Although the ventilation ducts were designed very cleverly, the excessive number of people still made the place feel stuffy.

  If an officer of the Erathia Knight Order could catch a glimpse of this scene, he would undoubtedly be both horrified and overjoyed. Robbers, assassins, thieves, lone bandits, swindlers... every imaginable type of criminal was gathered here as if at an exhibition. Over a hundred criminals wanted by Erathia with bounties on their heads had assembled here, whispering to each other under the torchlight. Every head here was worth dozens of gold coins, and every hand had shed more blood than what flowed in their bodies.

  However, these thugs, who licked blood from their blades and lived with their heads on the line, did not show any signs of agitation. Although crowded together in this stuffy underground cavern, no one spoke loudly or made a disturbance, because the leader Sylka disliked noise. Once, someone had their head directly crushed for speaking a bit too loudly when the leader was in a bad mood.

  There were also many newcomers who had recently joined, but these people were equally not making any noise. Firstly, because they had long heard about the temper of this leader Sylka, and secondly, because in this already crowded space, a special ceremony unique to The Shamushi Thieves' Guild was taking place. Four strong men were carrying two objects through the crowd, stopping for a moment in front of each person.

  To be precise, what the four strong men were carrying were not objects, but two figures that barely resembled humans. These two people no longer had hands or feet, their faces lacked ears and noses, and their eyes were now just two large bloody holes. The only thing remaining intact was their mouths, because they still needed to speak.

  These were two newcomers who had temporarily joined during the last ambush in the Tulalion Forest. During the retreat with the captured elves, these two lechers couldn't resist molesting one of the female elves, which was strictly forbidden by leader Sylka. Therefore, these two had to be punished according to the old rules. After having all removable parts of their bodies cut off, they also had to carefully explain to every guild member the mistakes they had committed and why they received such punishment. No one had ever been able to remain silent or find an opportunity to commit suicide. The Shamushi Thieves' Guild's expertise in interrogation was undoubtedly the best in Erathia, ensuring that every guild member could hear these people's confessions.

  The veteran members whispered and chatted, obviously long accustomed to this practice. The newly joined members, however, were quite shocked and uneasy. In this past month, The Shamushi Thieves' Guild's strength had greatly increased, with newcomers continuously joining, and both numbers and power had reached a nearly explosive peak. While the addition of these newcomers was partly due to the deliberate recruitment by the two leaders, the greater reason was that several major thief guilds in Erathia had been wiped out this month, and those who had fortunately escaped all joined The Shamushi Thieves' Guild.

  Among their conversations, the most frequent and hottest topic was the knight who had single-handedly wiped out several thief guilds, and it was a female knight at that.

  There was no need to listen carefully. The radiant armor on the female knight and the white magic she casually cast already revealed her identity - she was a Temple Knight dispatched by Celeste. The destruction of each thief guild followed the same pattern: during a large-scale collective operation, this Temple Knight would suddenly appear, like a tiger among sheep, going straight for the leader. Those thief leaders, who were quite famous in Erathia, were almost powerless to resist and were immediately decapitated, followed by a one-sided chase and escape.

  Naturally, some had organized resistance, but unfortunately, it was useless. Against these thieves, the Temple Knight, who blessed herself with white magic and whose martial skills were already at their peak, was no longer like a tiger among sheep, but even more relaxed than a tiger among chickens. Except for those who immediately surrendered, only one or two out of ten could escape, while the rest were all killed on the spot. When the thieves talked about her, they had none of their usual contempt and ambiguity toward women as a gender; they didn't even see her as a "human" in their eyes. If not for the fact that she came from the church that worshipped the God of Light, the metaphor of a life-taking demon from hell would have been quite fitting.

  This knight came and went like the wind, alone, unlike large groups of soldiers and officers whose movements were obvious and easy to guard against. Moreover, the timing and location of each appearance were chosen very well, undoubtedly well-prepared. Besides, just the name of Celeste's Temple Knight was enough to make most people lose their fighting spirit. It was rumored that if Celeste's Temple Knights and Templars were to gather together, that small group of less than a hundred people could sweep through an entire country.

  Many people had temporarily joined The Shamushi Thieves' Guild with the intention of doing one last job before retiring. This time, Sylka had offered a high price to recruit manpower, and anyone approved to join first received several gold coins, with promises of more benefits after the mission was completed. There were also many people, especially the veteran members of The Shamushi Thieves' Guild, who were very confident in their leader's ability and in having so many people.

  Regardless of their intentions, so many people had been waiting here for quite some time, but Sylka was nowhere to be seen.

  In another underground chamber, Sylka and Axsis were facing eight people.

  They paid no attention to the more than a hundred people over there, because if necessary, these eight people could kill that group of criminal elites in less than ten minutes. These eight people were the true experts they needed.

  These eight people had various appearances. There was a hunchbacked old man, a young man in his prime, and a woman completely wrapped in a black robe, revealing only a pair of charming eyes. The only thing they had in common was their strength. With the help of these people, Sylka even had the impulse to compete with the Kingdom's Knight Order. These eight people could be said to be the strongest among the common folk and those lurking in the shadows of Erathia.

  "I need you to take action. Name your price." Sylka's words were simple and direct. If he were a merchant, he would undoubtedly like such a customer best.

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  "Price usually only has meaning for the living. First, I need to know if your plan really has a chance of success," said an old man who was sleazy and listless, as if he were a several-decades-old rat that had used shapeshifting to take human form. "You're not the first person to target the elves, but in these past several hundred years, Tulalion Forest has almost never lost even a blade of grass. What makes you think we'll have an opportunity?"

  "With this." Axsis carefully took out three scrolls, as if a believer showing off his sacred relics.

  "This is..." The old man's squinting, rat-like eyes suddenly widened to the size of ox's eyes.

  "I believe you all know that we captured five elves some time ago. And I'll be honest with you, that was merely a test for this operation, using only a small portion of our forces. The reason we succeeded was because these scrolls completely cracked the elves' magical barrier. This time, we are more prepared, and we have three scrolls. You should be able to see the value of these three scrolls. As long as we arrange things properly and with your help, our plan will have a great chance of success."

  The old man's fingers lightly brushed over the scrolls in Axsis's hand, sighed with extreme envy, then returned to his extremely sleazy appearance and said listlessly, "Then I want all the magical items of the elves."

  "Impossible." This time, Axsis's eyes widened even more than the old man's. "If we give them all to you, what will we do?"

  "You still have so many elves. It would be difficult for you to sell so many magical items. Would you dare to sell them to the church?"

  "You don't need to worry about how we'll sell them. We can also give you three elven maidens." Axsis immediately began to bargain.

  "At my age, I've long lost interest in women. Don't try to fob me off with this." The old man yawned disinterestedly, not giving an inch. "I just want the magical items."

  "You can have everything after the teleportation magic array is dismantled. We'll keep the rest ourselves." Sylka spoke, his low voice like two iron rods striking against each other. "I'll say this only once. I never bargain with people."

  Hearing the words "teleportation magic array," the old man's eyes lit up, and he swallowed. He looked at Sylka's face, then nodded. "Alright."

  Sylka turned his gaze to the second person and asked in a deep voice, "What do you want?"

  "Thirty female elves." The answer was as concise as the question. This was a lean man in his thirties, dressed in black tight-fitting clothes, with an S-shaped serrated blade on his back. The enormous size and the cold glint of the blade were still terrifying in the dim basement.

  "Ten." Sylka replied.

  "If a large number of elves appear on the market, prices will inevitably plummet, so we can't give you more." Axsis immediately added from the side.

  The man thought for a moment, then nodded and replied. "Alright."

  The next five people also quickly settled on their respective strange but absolutely astonishing prices. Finally, they reached the seventh person. This was a very handsome young man. He wore light and unremarkable clothing, with only a long sword at his waist. Judging by appearance alone, he was just a very ordinary, good-looking young man.

  But since he could stand here, there must be a sufficient reason. All these people were selected by Axsis, and Axsis's judgment had always been good. So Sylka asked, "What do you want?"

  "One thousand gold coins." The young man replied. "Half in advance."

  This was the first person to ask for actual money. The others all knew the enormous risks and benefits behind this operation, and the conditions they demanded were, like the old man's, difficult to measure in money. Moreover, people like them generally never lacked money, or at least wouldn't have such a strong interest in it.

  "Oh?" Sylka showed a somewhat surprised expression. Such a humanized expression was very rare on his face, because he didn't see the fascinated gleam for gold coins in this young man's eyes. That gleam, though he didn't often see it in others, he could always feel it in his own eyes. So he asked again, "You like money?"

  "I didn't like it much before, but I like it very much now, because I have a use for it." The young man's expression was neither cold nor warm.

  "Good." A ferocious expression of appreciation appeared on Sylka's face. "I like people who are this frank and love money."

  The last person was a man who looked very ordinary. He had a face that would immediately disappear in a crowd, and his age wasn't easy to discern, only that he was somewhere between twenty and forty. Only from his tall and straight posture, the well-proportioned and firm limbs without a trace of fat visible outside his clothes, and a weapon wrapped on his back could one see some signs of extraordinariness.

  "What do you want." Sylka asked.

  "First, let's see what you can get." This person's voice also sounded extremely ordinary, without any killing intent or anything else that would attract attention, but the content of his words made everyone stir. "Then I want half."

  Everyone's gaze fell on this person, with considerable hostility in some eyes. This tone and statement were not just contemptuous of Sylka, but also of the other seven people here.

  "On what grounds?" Sylka let out a cackling laugh that sounded like a knife chopping into bones, and his eyes, which had been flashing fiercely, now showed curiosity instead.

  "Because I'm worth this price. Worth more than all seven of them combined." This person answered lightly, his voice without any trace of emotion, a pair of dark eyes meeting Sylka's gaze.

  But the expressions of the seven people beside him immediately changed. Some had fire shooting from their eyes, while others were as cold as knives carved from ice.

  "I know you're very capable, having repelled a reconnaissance squad of the Kingdom's Knight Order by yourself. But let me tell you, every person here could do the same. Although you were introduced by Axsis's old friend, he didn't specify who you are. So you must prove it yourself." Sylka pointed at each of the other seven people with his thick fingers. "Prove why you can be worth more than all seven of them combined."

  The man in black who carried a serrated blade suddenly sighed and said to Sylka, "You actually dare to hire someone so expensive. Why don't I kill him for you, so you can have more. Just give me five more elves."

  "Of course." Sylka smiled as if he were going to eat someone. This man in black was the most famous and ruthless lone bandit in Erathia for the past decade or more. The number of people who had died at his hands was far more than an ordinary person would see in a lifetime. He had once turned three elite knights of the kingdom into chunks of meat in a single encounter, making him very suitable to serve as a touchstone in this situation.

  The man in black's hand waved, and the enormous serrated blade from his back was already in his hand. The others moved to the side, and the old man and Axsis even retreated to the doorway. Such a strange weapon must be used in an eerie and deadly manner, and one could easily be affected if not careful. Only Sylka remained in place.

  With a low shout, the entire basement was instantly filled with the sharp whistle of the serrated blade tearing through the air. The man in black transformed into a dancing black shadow, while the serrated blade became a brilliant ball of light. The black shadow and the ball of light intertwined and danced, sliding past with incredible speed along a strange trajectory.

  "Shadow Dance Technique." The woman wrapped entirely in a black robe exclaimed in a low voice. This martial art, originally only used by the legendary dark elves, had actually appeared in a human, and a man at that. And the dark elf woman's short sword had been replaced with that strange serrated blade, which was undoubtedly a weapon specially crafted to complement the Shadow Dance Technique.

  The man in black was now completely invisible, leaving only a blur shadow moving and jumping rapidly throughout the room. He didn't underestimate his opponent and attack directly; he wanted to push the Shadow Dance Technique to its limit before striking at the best opportunity. The steps transformed from the ritual dances of the dark elves were extremely magical, and the man's explosive power was far stronger than that of an elf woman, maximizing the ability to change positions and blur his figure. Axsis at the doorway strained his eyes, trying to find any trace of a human figure.

  The seemingly ordinary man didn't move, just stood in place and drew the weapon he had been carrying on his back. It turned out to be a completely unremarkable knife that any blacksmith shop could forge.

  He raised his knife. Each of his movements was very slow, forming a stark contrast with the rapidly moving and falling shadows around him.

  The shadow moved faster and faster. It seemed as if the entire space was filled with his faint, blurry figure, and the whistling of the serrated blade had become piercing. His movements and steps had reached their limit, and all that remained was to deliver a thunderous strike immediately.

  The flash of the knife was but a glint, and the figures and whistling that filled the space disappeared. There was no collision of metal, only the clean sound of a blade piercing muscle and cutting through bone, followed by a desperate scream.

  Sylka's pupils suddenly contracted. From the beginning of the fight, he had been standing not far from the two men. When the man in black, dancing with his serrated blade, leaped through the room and passed behind him, he remained motionless, maintaining his posture in place, without even the slightest twitch of the smallest muscle on his face, like a mountain of flesh cast from steel. Only now did he show an expression.

  And it wasn't just him; every onlooker's expression was one of shock and frozen stillness, their eyes all looking at the same place - the foot of the man in black.

  The man in black had already returned from his rapidly moving phantom form to his physical shape, and he had stopped abruptly. The knife raised in his opponent's hand shot out, piercing through his foot and pinning him directly in place. The two-foot-long blade had completely sunk into his foot and the brick floor below, leaving only a short handle on his foot. His body, due to inertia, swung half a circle around the pinned foot, and his miserable roar couldn't mask the sound of his foot bones being twisted to pieces by himself.

  "Your dancing is really ugly." This person shook his head.

  The man in black roared, swinging the serrated blade in his hand into a whirling ball of light and throwing it at his opponent. This person just casually waved his hand, and the serrated blade changed direction and flew away. Whether by coincidence or not, the redirected serrated blade flew directly toward Sylka, who was nearby.

  Sylka didn't dodge, just waved his hand. With a loud "clang," the serrated blade struck his hand and then rebounded, embedding itself in the adjacent rock wall. On his arm, which was as thick as an ordinary person's thigh, only a white mark was left.

  No one paid attention to him; everyone was watching the two people in the center.

  Throwing his weapon was already the last relatively normal action of the man in black. He was now trembling all over, making meaningless sounds with his mouth. But everyone here was very familiar with that sound - it was the sound of a person's lungs convulsing when suffering a strange fatal injury before death. But he didn't have any fatal wounds on his body now. For someone who had survived on the battlefield for so many years with his head on the line, an injury like a pierced foot was no different from a scratch.

  The man who had thrown the knife walked straight to the man in black, bent down, and pulled out his knife.

  As soon as the knife left his foot, the man in black immediately fell down. But his posture as he fell was very strange. This person, who had been so strong and agile like a leopard just moments ago, was now as powerless as an empty sack. Moreover, his body was continuously shrinking, his skin and muscles rapidly losing their luster and shape, caving in like a deflated ball.

  A low, strange buzzing sound filled the basement. The knife that had just been pulled from the man in black's foot had turned dark red, and the dark red on it was flowing as if it had a life of its own. When the man inserted the knife into the sheath on his back, the buzzing sound immediately disappeared.

  "A high-grade magical weapon..." Axsis's voice at the doorway was trembling.

  "Is it the legendary Vampire's Fang..." The old man added with a sigh, while the others couldn't even make a sound.

  "How about it? Worth it?" The man turned his head to look at Sylka.

  Sylka's pupils had already shrunk to small black dots, the eyes of a beast. After a moment, he spat out a single word. "Worth it."