Chapter 138 Dread
The bandit leader's ears rang excruciatingly, his gaze flickered and darkness momentarily engulfed his vision, the metallic, pungent scent of blood assaulted his nostrils, making him stumble in nausea and fear.
The chaotic battlefield from before was now deathly still, the heart-wrenching screams of the bandits and the soldiers now could not be heard, and only the noise of scraping as well as the mild clinking of armors, the snorts of the horses and some livid chatter remained.
Even though the atmosphere was mostly silent, there was a sense of eeriness that chilled the bones. In the blue sky radiating with the scorching sun's illumination, Eagles and vultures circled, letting out a screech occasionally.
The bandit leader who was in a completely pitiful and disheveled appearance slightly raised his head gruntingly, feeling his right shoulder throbbing with excruciating pain, his entire body stiff, and his knees entirely numb.
Raising his head, the sea of dead bodies most of the bandits as well as the white family soldiers cleaning the scene entered his sight from the corner of his eye. Not daring to look further, he moved his pupils to look ahead—only for his head to be shoved down forcefully.
Naturally, it was done with great resentment and without any mercy and so a 'bam' sound rang followed by the bandit leader's pitiful grunt.
"Who told you to raise your head, huh?!" A voice mocked disdainfully beside his ear, followed by a kick to the gut.
The bandit leader was furious, never In his life was he treated this way, like a dog on its last breath. Even though he was incomparably angry, he could only swallow it all reluctantly.
Because even he knew that this time he had landed in deep trouble!
As he gritted his teeth and pondered everything that had happened that day, things began clearing in his mind like the mist getting blown away by a breeze.
The 'merchant convoy' that was supposed to be carrying very valuable stuff was the white family in disguise. That means the so-called batch of weapons and tributary goods didn't even exist.
It was all a trap!
"Gillian! That bastard! Did he betray the army?" A thought flashed in his mind but then immediately after he frowned in doubt.
"No… that shouldn't be. Gillian… he can not betray the army… then what happened?"
His eyes shined pensively. Cautiously raising his head, he glanced sideways full of suspicion, gauging the tightly covered carts behind the adorned carriage.
As he looked coldly In a daze, Ethan who saw this from the carriage chuckled. He got off the carriage, approached the man, and said with a gentle smile on his face, "You're thinking right. Your scout didn't betray you… rather, he was deceived by us into thinking that there truly is a fortune to be had. Hehe."
Hearing this, the bandit leader's misty gaze gained clearly. Then, his expression changed colors as he glared at Ethan fiercely, full of resentment.
The expressions of Jason and other knights changed to that of fury seeing the bandit leader's impudent behavior. Viper, who stood close to Ethan, frowned, killing intent gushing out of his body.
Ethan chuckled casually and raised his arm, calming everyone instantly. Looking at the bandit leader in amusement, he asked, "What is your name?"
Ethan's appearance was extremely soft. He wore a lazy smile and his white hair reflected the sunlight, making him look like a benevolent angel.
Seeing such a child in front of him, the bandit leader was stunned at first, a strange expression appearing on his face before getting replaced by a sneer. He blatantly looked at Ethan in contempt, momentarily forgetting the circumstances he was in, and refused to answer.
Ethan's carefree, lazy smile then suddenly became cold and callous. His angel-like appearance from before was nowhere to be seen as he blurted, "Sir Viper, crush his arm for me."
It was as if a cold bucket of water had been dumped on the man as he heard this. Before having the chance to say anything, he saw the man in the mask stepping forward, water particles rippling around him like waves, releasing a penetrating aura.
As he saw this man in black with a mask on his face, the bandit leader only had one thought on his mind, "H-he's the water attribute expert from before!"
Sensing the chilling atmosphere, the bandit leader regretted offending Ethan but as they say, there's no medicine for regret.
Viper extended his hand slowly with his lips curled upwards. As his hand came nearer, the bandit felt his soul leaving his body from trepidation.
It could be said that Viper truly lived up to his name. Truly vicious and ruthless.
Viper grabbed the bandit leader's right hand's wrist and looked at the bandit leader as if looking at a corpse.
Then, the sound of water rang, followed by a short 'pop', next second, the bandit leader's eyes almost popped out of his sockets as blue veins bulged outwards. His entire body became drenched in sweat, his breathing became rapid and his mouth opened wide agape, his tongue moved inside his mouth but only some incomprehensible muffled sounds were uttered.
The man was in so much pain that he couldn't even make a sound!
Finally, Viper removed his hand and stepped back with a scowl. Luce, who was also observing from the side sneered in delight, seemingly taking pleasure in other's misfortune.
After half a minute of this strange picture, an ear-piercing screech akin to a pig being slaughtered rang out and echoed out, even scaring away the vultures roaming above. The bandit leader's right arm limped lifelessly. Or rather, the bare skin on his arm dangled grotesquely as the bones in the arm were already crushed into oblivion.
Ethan turned his head in disgust and shot a glance at his knight Fred, who nodded and then took out a bottle of potion from his pouch. He then forcefully had the bandit leader drink the potion and stepped back.
After some time, the potion seemed to have done something like the expression of the bandit leader which was hideous beyond compare before, now softened.
The poor man broke out into loud sobs. He screamed and cried like a child, not even daring to raise his head and set his sights on the little demon looming in front of him.
"Raise your head," Ethan commanded coldly.
The bandit leader, after going through such a soul-shuddering experience had no strength or courage to disobey. He was now as docile as a dog.
"Look around you…" Ethan spoke coldly.
The bandit leader didn't dare disobey and moved his head to look around him. His entire body was trembling in fear, his teeth were chattering endlessly and his face was covered with tears, dirt, and snot.
As he finally looked around freely, the horrid scene around him broke what was left of his spirit. The land was covered in dried-up blood, and hundreds of dead bodies were piled up on one another. Broken-up bones, body parts, and chunks of flesh were visible throughout the battlefield.
The bandit leader's heart sank to the deepest depths of hell. The scene in front of him wasn't any lesser than hell either. Even though he wasn't alien to blood and gore as a bandit, the scene laid in front of him was a hundred times more intense and grand.
The bandit leader finally realized the kind of predicament he was in. When he saw that apart from him, there wasn't a single bandit alive—his soul froze.
At this moment, the soft and calm voice of Ethan that seemed more like the devil's whisper to the bandit leader drifted into his ear, "So… what is your name?"
The bandit leader immediately jolted. Obviously, he had no intention to suffer that kind of pain again and so he lowered his gaze hurriedly and answered obediently, "M-m-ai… my n-n name is… R-a… Raven! M- My Lord!"
Ethan smiled, looking at the restless man on the ground kneeling not even daring to look up, he smiled In satisfaction and did not speak for some time deliberately.
Just as the bandit leader was engulfed with panic, fear, and trepidation as well as restlessness due to the unnerving silence, Ethan's voice, which was very cold this time, sounded right beside his ear, "Raven… Tell me then, what information do you have? If it's useful.. I might just think of perhaps letting you live."
A/N - was it too much gore?
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