One attempted to attack Aiden with his machete. "They call me mister machete!" He shouted, confidence up through the roof.
He was quickly struck down with a single kick to the face.
The second one, charged with nothing but his fists, he threw a jab at Aiden, but it was dodged effortlessly.
The bandit lifted his foot, trying to front kick him, but was quickly countered with a leg sweep.
The bandit fell to the ground but was able to stand up before sustaining any further damage.
He held his head in pain before retreating behind the other bandits. "I'll get you next time!" He declared, pointing his finger at Aiden.
A certain bandit, a sword in his hand, lunged at Aiden.
Aiden was able to dodge it by a thread of hair. He summoned a golden sword in his hands. "This is getting troublesome." He spouted, his fingers tightening around the hilt of the sword.
Before he knew it, he was already surrounded by the bandits, and with his injured foot, he couldn't think of running.
A brave bandit came running at him, swinging a wooden bat, hoping it would knock Aiden out.
The bat shattered into splinters under Aiden's blade, and before the thug could even scream, his head rolled onto the dirt. Gasps erupted.
"Wha-? How did he do that?"
"That can't be!"
The remaining bandits started to back off, not wanting that to happen to them. But rage carried one forward, fists clenched in pure anger.
A shout echoed from behind; it was that same bandit who had retreated earlier.
"That was my friend! I won't forgive you!" Tears rolled down his cheeks, anger clouding his judgment.
He lunged with nothing but his fists, confident in his skill.
He swung at him with a hook, but once again, it was dodged, and even worse, countered with a punch to the gut.
Aiden's eyes locked with his; a single glare shook him to the core.
But the bandit wasn't going down that easily. "Mama raised a fighter!" He shouted. His wild kick cut through nothing but air, his balance faltering as Aiden stepped aside with cold precision.
Aiden just stood there, eyeing him down, before letting out a sigh.
He moved with precision, landing a low kick to the thigh before finishing it with an uppercut to the jaw.
The bandit fell on his back, unconscious.
"Anyone else still has the confidence to challenge me?" Aiden questioned the crowd of bandits, his sword pointed at them.
A huge figure moved through the crowd. "You think we're giving up that easily?! We're the salty bandits! And I will guide my group to success!" The muscular man muttered under his breath, outwardly mocking Aiden.
"Too bad, your group won't be able to see the beautiful sunset." Aiden declared, swords materializing behind him.
The smirk on the bandits' faces vanished instantly, replaced by genuine horror.
But their leader didn't even flinch; instead, an orange aura manifested in his sword. Shockwaves rang through the alleyway, blinding the weaker bandits.
"We'll see who's gonna come out as the victor…" Aiden hushed, an aura of his own outlining him. It created fierce flames that burned the vegetation to ash.
LUNGE!
CLASH!
CLING!
Their swords clashed with utmost brilliance; the leader was able to predict Aiden's attacks with pure intelligence, but wasn't strong enough to go on the offensive.
With every swing blocked, the bandit was pushed back until he decided to create distance between them, choosing ranged attacks.
He dashed towards the nearest building before instantly climbing it.
Lifting his hand, an orange orb manifested in it. It was quickly shrunken down to an even smaller size before getting thrown straight at Aiden. "The orb is small, but the explosion isn't! He shouted, smirking at the carnage before him.
"Time to get serious." Aiden thought, coming out unharmed from the explosion. One of his golden swords effortlessly blocked the orb.
"Huh?! What? But, no one has ever survived tha-" The bandit leader screamed, feeling fear for the first time.
Before he was even able to finish his words, a sword came flying at him at an incomprehensible speed. It cut through every piece of debris in its way before finally reaching the bandit.
The leader lifted his sword to protect himself, channeling all of his remaining aura into his sword.
It formed a small barrier that was shredded into pieces upon meeting the sword hurled at it.
The bandit's life flashed before his eyes, then, slowly closing his eyes, he accepted his fate.
But strangely, he didn't feel anything.
He opened his eyes with confusion before getting brutally blinded by a golden light. As the flashbang faded, outlines started shaping up in front of him.
Turns out the remaining bandit lent all of their remaining power to save their leader.
"Don't let that sword even think of coming closer to the leader!"
"Pour out every single drop of strength you have!"
"For the leader!"
Tears welled up in his eyes, remembering all of the past experiences shared with his crew.
Out of nowhere, a second sword was hurled at them.
Breaking a few of the bandits' swords in the process, some even lost their arms protecting their leader.
Aiden's glare only grew stronger, but he wasn't expecting a figure to be creeping up behind him.
It was that same bandit from earlier, the one who cried over his friend's death.
"Remember me?! I'll bring you down with me!" He screamed, choking Aiden from behind, tears streaking down his cheeks.
The bandit's body started to crack, a blue light emerging from it.
He started to swell up.
Aiden struggled to escape that grip. "This man! He really is thinking of killing me with him!" Aiden thought to himself, attempting to strike him with his elbows.
Just as the bandit's body was seconds away from explosion.
Aiden bit his hand, freeing himself. "You haven't thought about that, huh?!" Aiden openly mocked him, his face expressing a twisted grin.
"NOOOOOOOOOO!" The bandit screamed; his body started swelling up even faster.
Aiden, seeing this, started running away in the opposite direction.
He looked back, picking up his pace.
The bandit rolled towards him like a hurling boulder; he wasn't stopping any time soon, even breaking houses in his way.