Jin lay flat against the cold stone of the high ridge. The night wind whipped his heavy brown cloak around his shoulders. He stared down into the valley.
The bandit camp was a sprawling mess of violence and noise. Eight hundred heavily armed men drank, fought, and yelled around massive bonfires. It was a chaotic machine.
Jin watched the large red tent at the back of the camp. He waited. He did not like these odds. He was a manager. He liked controlled environments. He liked predictable supply chains. Sending one asset into a camp of eight hundred killers was a massive risk. If Nyx failed, Jin was stranded in the wasteland with no money and no protection.
He gripped the edge of the boulder. His knuckles turned white. He needed this capital. Without money, the teleportation circle in Iron-Spire was useless.
Down in the valley, the heavy leather flap of the red tent moved.
Nyx stepped out.
She walked into the bright orange light of the closest bonfire. Her black cloak shifted in the wind. In her left hand, she held the massive, bald head of the bandit boss. She held it by the greasy black hair.
Thick, dark blood dripped from the severed neck. It hit the dry dirt with a soft, wet sound. Drop. Drop. Drop.
Behind her, a small figure stepped out of the tent. It was the merchant's daughter, Luna. Her pale blue dress was soaked in crimson blood. Her face was stained red. She shook violently in the cold air. But she stayed close to Nyx's dark shadow. She did not run away.
The camp was incredibly loud. But then, a bandit standing near a wooden barrel turned around.
He held a heavy wooden mug of cheap wine. He looked at the red tent. He saw the dark woman. He saw the dripping head.
The bandit froze completely. His jaw dropped. The wooden mug slipped from his fingers. It hit the dirt and spilled red wine across his boots. He did not breathe. He did not blink.
The man standing next to him noticed the spilled wine. He turned to curse at his friend. Then, he followed his friend's terrified stare. He saw the head too. He also froze.
The realization spread. It moved through the massive camp like a fast, silent disease.
It washed over the dirt fighting pits. The men stopped throwing punches. It washed over the meat racks. The butchers dropped their bloody knives. It washed over the watchtowers. The guards lowered their heavy plasma rifles.
The loud, chaotic noise of eight hundred men died completely.
The camp turned dead silent. The only sound left in the entire valley was the crackling of the massive bonfires and the wind blowing through the dry brush.
Jin watched from the high ridge. He let out a slow breath. The psychological shock was perfect. The camp structure was breaking.
Then, the silence shattered.
Someone near the back wagons screamed. It was a high, panicked sound. It was the sound of a rabbit smelling a wolf.
Chaos broke out instantly.
The structure of the bandit camp collapsed entirely. There was no loyalty here. There was only fear. With the boss dead, the fear turned into pure panic. Men drew their rusted swords and looked wildly at each other. Some men threw their weapons on the ground and ran blindly toward the wooden gates. They trampled over each other in the dirt.
They were terrified of the dark shadow holding the dripping head.
"Stop running, you cowards!" a massive voice roared.
The voice was incredibly loud. It was amplified by thick, red Aether. It shook the wooden watchtowers. It cut right through the screaming and the panic.
A man stepped out of a large grey tent near the center of the camp. He was huge. He was taller and wider than the dead boss. He wore thick, heavy armor made from the bone plates of a giant beast. He carried a massive iron hammer with a long wooden handle.
He was the Vice Leader of the camp. He was a early Core Formation expert. He was only one step away from the boss's level.
The Vice Leader jumped up onto a heavy wooden table. The table groaned under his weight. He glared at the panicked men.
"Look at her!" the Vice Leader roared. He pointed his massive iron hammer directly at Nyx. "She is one woman! One! We have eight hundred men! Are you going to let one scavenger walk into our home and steal our camp?"
The running bandits slowed down. They looked back at the red tent.
"She used a trick to kill the boss!" the Vice Leader lied loudly. He needed to restore order. He needed to use their greed. "She is an assassin, not a warrior! Look at her! She does not even have her sword drawn! Kill her!"
The Vice Leader raised his hammer high into the air. The heavy iron head glowed with hot, red Aether.
"Whoever brings me her head gets first pick of the boss's loot!" the Vice Leader promised. "You get the high-tier cores! You get the merchant gold!"
The panic stopped. The fear in the bandits' eyes was slowly replaced by dark, ugly greed. Eight hundred men looked at the single dark figure standing by the red tent. The Vice Leader was right. The numbers were entirely on their side. They tightened their grips on their rusted swords.
The Vice Leader did not wait for them to charge. He wanted the glory for himself. He wanted to secure his position as the new absolute ruler of the camp.
He roared a battle cry. He jumped off the heavy wooden table. The ground shook when his boots hit the dirt.
He charged straight at Nyx. He raised the massive, glowing iron hammer. He swung it down with terrifying speed. The heavy weapon tore through the air. It was aimed directly at Nyx's cracked obsidian visor. It had enough kinetic force to shatter a boulder into dust.
Nyx did not move her feet. She did not dodge.
She simply dropped the severed head. It hit the dirt with a wet thud.
She reached her right hand to her black belt. She did not draw her curved blade. She pulled out a simple, small throwing dagger. It was just a plain piece of sharp, dark metal.
She flicked her wrist forward.
The movement was too fast for mortal eyes to track. There was no sound. There was no glowing Aether trail.
The small throwing dagger flew through the air. It bypassed the massive, swinging iron hammer completely. It struck the charging Vice Leader directly in the center of his forehead, right between his wide, angry eyes.
The dagger pierced his thick skull effortlessly. It buried itself deep into his brain.
The Vice Leader's eyes rolled back into his head. His massive body instantly went completely limp. His forward momentum carried him a few more feet, but his legs were dead. He crashed face-first into the dirt. He slid across the ground and stopped just three feet away from Nyx's black boots.
His heavy iron hammer slipped from his dead fingers. The red Aether glow faded away instantly.
The camp went completely silent for the second time.
The bandits stared at the dead Vice Leader in the dirt. He was their strongest warrior. He charged with full armor and full power. The dark woman killed him with a flick of her wrist. She did not even take a step backward. She swatted him like an annoying fly.
Nyx stood over the two dead leaders. She looked out at the massive crowd of men.
She slowly raised her right hand. She pointed a single, black-gloved finger at the crowd.
"Anyone else?" Nyx asked. Her real voice carried clearly across the quiet, cold dirt square. It was flat and entirely devoid of emotion.
No one moved. No one yelled a battle cry.
A heavy bone sword slipped from a bandit's trembling hand. It hit the dirt with a loud clatter. Then, another weapon dropped. Then ten more.
The bandits started backing away slowly. They kept their hands empty and visible. They did not want the loot anymore. They did not want the camp. They just wanted to leave this valley alive.
Nyx watched them retreat. She lowered her hand.
She gave a single, slow nod of approval. They understood the new hierarchy.
She turned her back on the entire army of criminals. It was the ultimate display of disrespect. She did not consider them a threat anymore.
She walked past the shivering Luna. The girl was staring at the dead Vice Leader with wide eyes. Nyx ignored her. She walked back inside the warm red tent.
The interior of the tent was still covered in blood, but the wealth remained untouched.
Nyx reached inside her dark cloak. She pulled out a small, worn leather pouch. It looked entirely ordinary, but it was a rare spatial artifact. It held a compressed pocket of empty space inside it. It could hold the contents of a large warehouse.
She walked over to the heavy wooden chests scattered across the silk rugs. She kicked the lids open.
The chests were filled with thousands of dull, low-tier Aether cores. There were hundreds of mid-tier cores glowing with bright blue and red light. There were small leather bags filled with raw, refined gold and rare, heavy metals stolen from the merchants.
Nyx held the small leather pouch over the chests. She channeled a tiny fraction of her Aether into the artifact.
The glowing cores and the heavy gold lifted off the silk rugs. They flowed through the air like a glittering river and vanished into the small, dark opening of the space pouch. She emptied chest after chest. She took the rare beast materials. She took the high-quality medical herbs the boss hoarded for himself.
She took everything of value in the tent.
High up on the rocky ridge, Jin watched the entire scene play out. He saw the bandits drop their weapons and run. He saw Nyx walk back into the tent.
He rested his chin on his crossed arms. A slow, tired smile spread across his bruised face.
The risk paid off. The hostile takeover was a complete success. His bank account was no longer empty. He had the capital. He had the money to pay for the teleportation circle. He had the money to buy a Gene Legacy in Iron-Spire.
He was finally ready to start playing the game on his own terms.