A month after the battle at the fort, the carriages moved along the path toward the nearest Rank 3 Kingdom of Paws. They passed what little traffic there was, until they reached a familiar sight. Ahead of them, blocking the four-lane, two-way road, was a group of demihuman bandits wearing the same smug expressions as the dungeon bandits they had encountered before.
"We've got bandits," Ariel shouted.
"Again?" Lilia complained. "That's like the third group this week. Why are they suddenly showing up in droves?"
"Isn't it obvious?" Ariel asked. "This is the road between Rank 2 and Rank 3 kingdoms, which means it connects high-resource kingdoms with high taxes and low-resource kingdoms with low taxes. It's the perfect place to set up an ambush. Plus, this road seems unused by merchant caravans, so it's probably a well-known bandit route that merchants avoid."
"Either way," Bastion said as he donned his armor, "we'll scare them off like the rest."
He stepped out of the carriage and made his way to the front, taking note of the bandits that had them surrounded. There were a dozen of them, significantly fewer in number compared to previous groups, but they were all Rank 2 rather than a rabble of Rank 1.
They were hyena demihumans, with long, dog-like snouts, rounded ears perched atop their heads, elongated limbs, and brown fur marked with dark spots. Their features were far more anthropomorphic and bestial than the demihumans back in the Kingdom of Brilliance.
They were clad in poorly stitched Rank 2 leather gear, each piece mismatched and unevenly fitted, and armed with a random assortment of poorly maintained weapons. Their posture and movement carried a relaxed confidence, suggesting they were completely certain of victory despite not knowing what threats were inside the carriage.
It seemed they might have a real fight on their hands.
"Right!" the bandit at the front shouted, toying with his scimitar. "We're taxmen, here to collect some tax."
"What kind of tax?" Bastion asked.
"Ignorance tax," he said with a sneer. "The only carriages who move around here are noble brats like you who think you're ready for the wider world. So you head out without knowing what's what. Now you've crossed through our territory, and that means you pay with your money or your life."
"I'll pay with strength," Bastion said, drawing his sword and shield.
"Ha! Get a load of the balls on this guy. He thinks he's strong enough to take on all of us."
"I don't know, Jeff. He doesn't seem like those pompous noble brat types. This one looks like a proper knight," one of the bandits to the side said.
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah, I'm getting some dangerous vibes from the guy."
"Alright, how about this," Jeff, the lead bandit, said as he turned back to Bastion. "Pay a magic crystal as toll for the road, and you won't have to deal with us or our Rank 3 boss."
"Oh? So there's a Rank 3 among you as well. Tell me," Bastion said as he stepped closer, the weight of his armor ringing out in loud metallic clangs against the road. "Do you happen to have bounties as well?"
"Jeff… you'd better call the boss over or we're dead!" one of the bandits said in a rising panic.
"Damn it," Jeff muttered as he pulled out a whistle and blew into it.
The surrounding bandits winced at a high-pitched sound beyond Bastion's hearing. From the forest to the left, a faint rustling stirred at the treeline, subtle at first, then spreading through the undergrowth as it deepened into a low, rolling rumble. It swelled with each passing second, the ground beginning to tremble, until a pack of over a hundred hyenas burst out of the treeline.
They were about the size of horses, with one in particular at Rank 2 that was as large as Bastion's own diamond steed. Its heavy frame tore through the brush as it advanced, the ground shuddering faintly beneath its weight.
Riding atop it was a woman with long, wild yellowish-gray hair spilling in untamed waves, framed by a sharp, striking face that carried a raw, predatory beauty. She wore a fitted brown leather bra and a battle skirt, the cut leaving her midriff exposed. Studded long leather gloves and boots completed the outfit, clinging to a muscular physique built for power.
"What's all this then?" she shouted, taking in Bastion's unyielding stance as her hyenas circled the carriage.
"He wants to fight, boss," Jeff reported.
"Does he now?" she said, intrigued, her gaze studying Bastion's confidence. "Even after seeing me?"
"I only want you more now," Bastion said.
"Alright then, you've got your wish. Get him, boys!" she shouted.
The bandits and hyenas immediately lunged toward the carriages, a few breaking off to box in Bastion and surround him.
"FIGHT ME!" Bastion roared, unleashing a powerful Taunt that rippled through the area and dragged every eye onto him at once.
Instinctively, they began turning, abandoning their coordinated advance as they surged toward Bastion instead. But before the momentum fully took hold, another voice cut through the chaos.
"Command: Attack!" the woman shouted, overriding the pull of his Taunt.
In an instant, the bandits and hyenas broke off and redirected themselves back toward their original targets.
At the same moment, the front carriage exploded open. Ariel emerged with the Rank 2 autocannon already spinning, the barrel screaming to life before she opened fire. A sweeping torrent of bullets carved through the left flank, reducing a dense cluster of bandits and hyenas into a bloody sieve.
On the opposite end, Seraphina and Lilia burst out, immediately hurling spells into the fray. Seraphina's Eternal Flame ignited across the battlefield, engulfing enemies in searing heat that spread through the clustered ranks.
"Damn it! They have guns! Command: Retreat!" the woman shouted, but her order came too late.
A shimmering blue barrier flared into existence, sealing the battlefield. It locked the group inside as mana drained steadily from those caught within, while Seraphina's Eternal Flame burned across the enclosed space, steadily grinding down their health. It was followed by thick walls of earth rising from the ground, enclosing the entire battlefield and sealing it off completely, preventing escape even if the blue shield were to be broken.
The woman looked on in shock as her bandits and hyenas began dying in droves. She hadn't expected a counterattack of this scale or intensity. Rank 2 kingdoms simply didn't have access to this level of technology, which meant she had tried to ambush a caravan that regularly dealt with higher-ranked powers. It was a mistake that would cost her her life.
As she moved to retreat, a surge of danger flared behind her. She reacted on instinct, swinging her arm backward, catching an assassin mid-lunge and sending them flying away. Immediately, she pulled on the reins, trying to break away on her mount, but the beast only managed a half-turn before its legs were swallowed by the earth itself, locking it in place.
Cursing, she abandoned it and leapt, attempting to escape alone. But something snapped around her leg mid-leap. A bladed whip coiled around her, biting into the flesh and anchoring her in place.
Her gaze shot toward the black knight at the head of the carriage who held her in place, fear mounting with each passing second. With a burst of sheer strength, she leapt again, managing to gain distance despite dragging the knight along with her. She reached the treeline in a few more desperate bounds before her escape began to collapse.
Chains of blue mana coiled into existence, binding her arms and legs to nearby branches and tree trunks. Then the shadows themselves began to writhe, lashing around her limbs and adding weight, dragging her down further until even a single step became impossibly heavy. Finally, her own shadow locked into place, sealing her movement entirely and leaving her completely restrained.
She opened her mouth, preparing to unleash her ultimate escape skill, when a pair of daggers pressed into the skin of her neck, interrupting the activation long enough for the black knight to close the distance. He drove his shield into her head with full force, finally knocking her out cold.
Once the leader was restrained, Bastion and Elyra re-entered the battle, cutting down the remaining bandits and hyenas. It was much easier now; with the woman knocked out, their formation collapsed into uncoordinated panic as they scrambled for their lives and tried to escape.
In the end, half the bandits were dead, while the only surviving hyena was the Rank 2, which Pebbles had trapped and pinned in place, encased in hardened mud turned to stone that prevented it from moving a muscle.
"Ariel, head into the forest and try to find their hideout. It shouldn't be far since she was able to get here in less than a minute. Elyra, accompany her and try to find any stashed loot," Bastion commanded once the cleanup was finished, with all the bandits bound and stripped naked, and the corpses collected.
Ariel and Elyra took off into the forest from which the woman had come, while Bastion headed toward the prisoners to start asking some basic questions. That was when he heard a sudden, excited exclamation from Seraphina.
"Bastion, come quick. Look at this! This woman has a penis!"
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