CLANG.
"Nice try."
Justinian teased, sliding across the bandit's sword and delivering a quick decapitation, another easy kill.
"The fuck is he made out of?"
Another bandit yelled out, deeper into the camp this time, along with a full formation meant to overwhelm Justinian, no longer playing around.
"Fire!"
The what seemed to be bandit leader commanded, firing dozens of arrows at once onto Justinian, a guaranteed death to anyone, anyone who wasn't close to being a legend in terms of ability.
But even then, Justinian wasn't taking any chances.
"Okay... that's overkill!"
He grabbed a corpse next to him, using it as a shield as he ran away, preferring not to become a pincushion.
The corpse wasn't nearly enough, but even a few inches of meat and bone were better than bare air.
"Run!"
Justinian yelled out at Feryll, who was still watching, snapping her out of her trance as they both ran outside the camp, a trail of arrows in their wake.
"Guess the easy part's over..."
He chuckled, dropping the makeshift shield onto the ground as he took the time to catch his breath, absolutely mortified inside as he had almost just died.
"You're the one who rushed in without a plan!"
"How was I supposed to know a bandit camp would have the same amount as a small militia?"
Justinian replied, leaning close to the wooden wall to hear for any footsteps, to gauge if anyone was going to hunt them down outside the camp.
"What are we gonna do?"
"Stay calm, stick together, they couldn't have gotten that far."
The bandits from inside the camp spoke to each other, clearly not wanting someone who just killed most of them to get away scot free, especially now that they have him on the run.
"Looks like they'll be looking for us soon."
"Got a plan for that, genius?"
Justinian laughed. He was fine in isolated battles like before, but if the entire camp really did rally, he was no more than simple prey.
"I'll come up with something..."
"What...!?"
'Open shop.'
His system was his last resort. When he was a duke, obviously, he couldn't just abuse it; there were too many eyes watching him, and with Lucan and Cassia being the first ones to notice his weird ability, he was now far more cautious in using his system than before.
But with Feryll being the only witness, he could use his prestige more freely.
[Prestige: 1895]
'All my abilities involve fighting in a group or in a formal setting... so it's time to spend some for myself.'
Lordsworn Equipment: 600 Prestige
Blessing of War: 400 Prestige
[Prestige: 895]
'Let's just hope she doesn't tell anyone this!'
Justinian moved quickly, his form quickly changing in real time at the surprise of Feryll.
His entire attire and hood began to shimmer, transformed into something different, something sturdy and durable.
A full set of plate armor, its steel as dark as ebony, lined with a crimson accent, its appearance shifting to fit its master, matching the color of his hair and eyes.
Making Justinian look like a full dark knight.
[Blessing of War = Merging with War Noble]
+ Duke of War
- Previous benefits.
- (Duke's Domain) - Personally set a battlefield once a day, during which you become unbeatable for thirty seconds.
"W-what in the!?"
Feryll yelled out as Justinian ran straight back towards inside the camp as his mind registered the information of his newly purchased items, deciding he was ready.
"W-wait!"
She tried to grab Justinian's arm but failed, seeing him just enter the camp on his own on what seemed to be another suicide mission after another; her head was now in complete disarray.
***
"Are you all prepared? The more time we waste, the farther they'll be!"
The bandit leader shouted to his grunts, all clearly hesitant to come looking for Justinian after the absolute massacre he had committed a few minutes ago.
They were more than justified in letting him go while they recover their strength.
"We got caught off guard, that's all, he isn't that special..."
The leader smugly declared, smirking as he showed off his physique to the rest of his men for a morale boost.
It didn't work; instead, their eyes were on another thing entirely.
Entirely on the strange ebony-armed figure that was charging straight at them, just directly behind their leader.
And behind the armor... was excited laughter?
"Boss! Watch out!"
A bandit moved, shield raised as he pushed his boss aside to block the sword that was about to slice their leader in half.
"Huh!?"
CLANG!
The sound of the sword hitting steel rang out across the camp, a sound enough to snap the bandit into battle as all of them began to raise their weapons.
It was another strange opponent, this time better armored than the last two, but now, it was one against all of them.
They had a chance.
"Get him!"
The leader yelled out, his heart pounding as his life just flashed before his eyes. If it wasn't for his fellow bandit, he would have died before he even realized it.
"Plan failed!"
Justinian grunted, stepping backwards as he failed to take down their leader with a single blow, wanting to demoralize them enough to scatter.
But now, he was forced to use his new ability, one he really wanted to use.
'Good thing it failed...'
He chuckled before stepping his foot once instinctually, the purchasing of the trait also giving him extra knowledge on how to activate it.
[Duke's Domain]
CRASH!
Debris scattered across the camp as the ability was activated, and along with it came a huge banner from the sky that suddenly appeared and was planted deeply into the ground.
The banner of House Thirell, the banner that had marked the battlefield.
Justinian felt his body become lighter, his senses sharpened, and the feeling that everyone here would absolutely regret not running away when they had the chance.
"What the fuck is that!?"
They yelled out, What else would be the reaction if a literal banner of the duke just came flying out of the sky?
It broke everything they knew about logic.
But it didn't matter; they wouldn't last long enough to think about it.
SLASH!
Justinian lunged, and with a single swing of his sword, cleaving a man in half along with his shield, as if his sword was made with some otherworldly metal.
"H-holy shit! That's not something I expected!"
Justinian couldn't help but audibly be surprised. He had seen some impressive things while in this world, but that just took the cake of craziest.
SLASH!
SLASH!
CLANG!
SLASH!
One by one, head by head, each one fell for his blade. The bandit leader was long dead by now, and the remaining bandits were now just fleeing from the battle-crazed armored psychopath that had just entered the fray.
"Last one!"
FWOOSH!
A swift kick to his back, causing the bandit to stumble and land directly on his face.
SHLK!
And it was ended quickly with a quick sword to the heart; it was painless, like most of Justinian's kills, one that he just realized.
[Trait Granted]
+ Swift Killer
- Every kill done with one stroke of your blade temporarily enhances your abilities.
And that realization gave him a free trait along with it.
"Didn't think it would go that smoothly..."
Justinian muttered, panting from the exertion of singlehandedly wiping out a bandit camp. He was absolutely weathered by now.
"Hey..."
He looked behind, Feryll just arriving, seeing the bloody scene.
"I'll take a small nap... get the ore for me will yo...?"
Justinian didn't get to finish his sentence as he collapsed onto the ground next to the corpse of the last bandit he killed.
It was the first time he passed out while in battle, and this was the easiest battle he had been on; even his system couldn't make up for the limits of human physiology.
"Hey!"
The last thing he heard was Feryll scrambling towards him, desperately trying to wake him up.
"Don't die on me after pulling that stunt, bastard!"