The soldiers' numbers continued to dwindle under the relentless assault. One after another, they fell, until only five remained standing, bloodied, battered, and barely holding their ground. Climb stood among them, his breaths ragged, his arms heavy like lead. Every muscle in his body screamed for rest, and his vision wavered at the edges.
But he refused to give in.
'I can't fall here... I must protect her... no matter what.'
Gritting his teeth, he steadied his trembling sword, planting himself firmly between the carriage and the advancing enemies.
The bandits on the other hand advance towards them and incircle the carriage making sure that the princess wouldn't be able to escape.
"Surround the carriage! Make sure no one escapes!" the bandit leader barked at his men.
"Yes boss!"
The bandits replied in unison, however their disgusting smiles betrayed their true intension. They wanted to kill all the guards as soon as possible and taste the princess of Re-Estize Kingdom.
Climb's nerves were so tense right now as there were too many of the bandits. If they didn't get ambushed then they wouldn't be put in this situation, but it seemed that someone tipped them that they would pass this forest.
Yet, Climb didn't give up, he tightened the grip on his sword. He would protect the princess even if he die. She was the one who get him out of the slump and the one that took care of him.
'She's the one who saved me… the one who gave me a reason to stand again…'
If he had to give his life to protect her, then so be it. His resolve was absolute.
Climb gritted his teeth, summoning every ounce of strength left in his weary body and attacked the bandit that was walking towards the carriage.
"Haaaaaa!!!"
With a fierce roar, he lunged forward, sword arcing through the air as he aimed at the nearest bandit approaching the carriage. His blade slashed cleanly across the man's side, drawing a spray of blood and a howl of pain.
But before Climb could press the advantage, another bandit rushed in from the side, intercepting him with a heavy strike. Steel clashed violently, forcing Climb to stagger back, barely keeping his footing. His arms trembled from the impact, the strain evident in every breath he took.
His comrades couldn't help him as they too were attack at the same time.
One of the bandits that climb faced off was annoyed that he couldn't kill climb by himself push his ally and charged at Climb once again. Climb saw this and readied himself.
However, just as the bandit was about to slash his sword, he suddenly stopped moving while his sword was raised high above.
"Eh?"
That was the last thing he said before his body was separated into two.
The sudden change in the battlefield startled everyone. They were in disbelief when one of the bandits suddenly died but their question was answered when they noticed a young man with blue hair wearing strange yet nice looking clothes behind the corpse's body.
The bandits were shocked by the sudden appearance of this young man. They didn't see how he suddenly appear here. But their minds were clouded with anger so they immediately attacked the young man.
However, the young man just sighed as he thought of their foolish actions. The young man was of course Shido. He had slashed one of them in half the moment he arrived, thinking the brutal display would be enough to scare the rest into fleeing. But to his irritation, it seemed these fools were even dumber than he thought.
Did they thought he was an easy target?
"Kill him!!!"
10 bandits attack him together in rage however when they arrive about 3 meters away from him. Shido suddenly raised his arms and just tugged something in the air, at first everyone was didn't know what he wanted to do, even Climb was worried that Shido might get injured. But when Shido tugged something in the air, the bandits movements suddenly halted as if there were invisible barrier preventing them to move.
The leader of the bandits saw this strange occurrence and frowned. He squinted his eyes and look closely at his men and saw something like a string binding them. It was so thin that almost everyone failed to notice.
"A string?"
"Correct." Shido smiled casually at the leader's words.
"You should go away and stop meddling on other peoples business, otherwise..." The bandit leader didn't want to show weakness and threatened Shido.
Climb was worried that Shido might get injured by their attack but he more worried that he would leave them. He was in dilemma since Shido was a stranger and he had nothing to do with this situation, however, if he walked away now, Climb wasn't sure he could protect the princess alone. His duty was to her safety above all else.
If possible, he wanted Shido to escape with the princess. Though it was the first time they met, Climb felt more reassured to let the princess be with Shido since he was quite strong and fast.
Yet, when Climb was having an internal turmoil inside his head, Shido smile widened at the bandit leader's words.
"Otherwise, what?" As Shido said without a change in emotion.
With a casual flick of his hand, Shido tugged the string near him.
In the next instant, the bandits ensnared in the nearly invisible threads erupted into sprays of blood. Their bodies were sliced cleanly into pieces, limbs, torsos, heads.
The threads, now glinting red in the light, vanished as quickly as they had appeared.
The bandit leader gritted his teeth since 10 was gone just like that. Not just killed, but butchered like insects. And worse than the loss was the humiliation. Shido had ignored his threat, mocked it, and executed his men right in front of him.
"You don't know who you're dealing with, boy!" The bandit leader growled in anger.
But Shido remained unfazed. With a smooth motion, he drew his blade, Elucidator gleaming black in the sunlight.
"I don't really care who's behind you." he said coolly. "But if you want to fight…"
He leveled his sword, pointing it straight at the bandit leader.
"Then bring it on."
Shido's words only provoked the bandit leader even further.
"You're asking for it," the bandit leader sneered, taking a deep breath to steady himself. His anger was still burning, but he forced it down. They still had a mission to complete, after all.
With a motion of his hand, he ordered the rest of his men to charge. If Shido could take down ten, surely thirty would be too much for him to handle, right? The bandit leader grinned to himself, imagining Shido overwhelmed by their numbers. There was no way he could kill them all without suffering some serious injuries.
The bandit leader laughed inside his head thinking that Shido would be overwhelmed by their sheer number. However, he was bound to be disappointed.
Shido evaded the swords hurling towards him smoothly as if he could see a few seconds in the future. He then strike back and slash and stab his sword at the bandits.
In just a minute, more than half of the bandits had fallen. Their bodies littered the ground, blood staining the earth beneath them. The remaining bandits stood frozen, their faces pale with fear. They had thought their numbers would overwhelm Shido, but the reality was far more terrifying. His sword skills were inhuman, monstrous even.
"What are you all so afraid of?!" the bandit leader bellowed, his voice laced with fury. He was angry of the death of his men and the uselessness of the rest of his men.
However, he also know why they were afraid of Shido. Yet, they still needed to complete the quest no matter what. Since his men was so useless, he decided to act by himself.
The bandit leader gripped his broadsword tightly, his eyes burning with anger as he stepped toward Shido.
"You're just a brat who doesn't know anything!" he sneered, his voice laced with arrogance. "Let me show you the power of a true warrior!"
"Ability Boost!"
"Body Strengthening!"
"Reinforced Armor!"
The body of the bandit leader glowed in different colors of red, blue and yellow as he chanted those martial arts.
With each word, his body seemed to solidify, becoming more robust and intimidating, his aura thickening with the power of his martial arts.
The light around him flared brighter, and the air seemed to hum with the intensity of his techniques. His body was now enveloped in an almost impervious glow, a protective shield of energy that seemed to turn him into an unstoppable force.
Shido on the other hand watched closely with interest since this was the first time he saw someone use martial arts.