Chapter 34: The Damian Bandits

Dennis and Carlos took turns keeping watch on the opposite bank of the Yusla River. Carlos was on duty this night, and he stood by the river with seventeen of his subordinates.

“It’s a quiet night,”

Carlos pointed to Rolf, one of his subordinates, who held a newly forged long-handled sword (Nagamaki) as he peered at the river.

“Not exactly a romantic mood, huh? Besides, those Damian Bandits were former soldiers of the Duke’s household, right? They must be elite soldiers,” Rolf said.

“Well, yeah. They probably have one of two true names under their belts.”

“Does that mean they’re stronger than us?” Rolf asked.

“Thanks to Sir Dennis, we also possess true names. If we catch them off guard, we should be able to hold our own,” Carlos said.

“But are we really okay with just our ‘Magic Energy’, ‘Armor’, and ‘Lightning Strike’?”

Carlos turned his gaze to Rolf.

“You doubting yourself, buddy?”

“N-No, of course not. It’s just that we’ve never fought against enemies with true names like ours,” Rolf retorted.

“We had mock battles among ourselves, didn’t we?”

“Isn’t real battle different?”

“That’s right. However, we fight to protect our people. You heard about what happened to the villages in Mynmey territory, didn’t you? We need to summon all the courage we have here,” Carlos responded.

“Understood.”

Suddenly, one of the soldiers who had been keeping watch raised his voice.

“Captain, there’s movement from the enemy.”

Carlos looked across the river and saw several lights. It seemed like the enemy was boarding the ships.

“Move to the sandbank. As planned, we’ll launch a simultaneous attack with lightning balls once the enemy lands,” Carlos ordered.

The soldiers silently began to move.

Carlos positioned the soldiers in a formation around the sandbank. Flickering lights, resembling torches, approached while swaying back and forth.

“What are those Barras people planning?”

“Hmph, who knows? They probably didn’t want to face us in battle.”

“But it’s not normal to prepare food and weapons for us. They might have some grudge against the Beneshof territory.”

Carlos could heard the voices of the bandits coming from the river.

(Those bastards from Barras territory; they really are lending a hand to the Damian Bandits.)

“Quiet down. This is enemy territory.”

Damian, the bandits’ leader, reprimanded his subordinates. Although he may have been a former soldier in the Duke’s household, his discipline had waned since becoming a bandit.

The figures of the bandits finally emerged, illuminated by the moonlight and the torches attached to their boats.

Three small boats were pulled ashore on the sandbank. The bandit group that landed consisted of 29 individuals, but none of them seemed to be from the Barras territory.

Carlos unleashed his true name, “Lightning Strike”, and prepared for the start of the barrage of lightning balls. He extended his right hand, and balls of lightning shot forth from his palm.

That served as a signal, and the lightning balls from his subordinates were unleashed as well. Eighteen lightning spheres struck the bandits, resulting in the collapse of nine of them under the simultaneous attack.

And amidst the bandits’ confusion, soldiers from Beneshof territory launched their attack. The first strike carried the full force of the soldiers.

It was the swordsmanship taught by their next lord, Dennis. When Dennis started practicing solo on wood striking, no one showed interest.

However, once news spread that he had defeated Eckhart, one of the four devas of the Fine Kurtz Swordsmanship, in the royal capital, more people began practicing wood striking in a similar manner.

And as Dennis started training the soldiers in the labyrinth, wood striking practice became a trend in Beneshof territory. The Miyasaka-style wood striking practice started with striking a single log with a stick, then progressed to striking multiple logs while moving between them with unique footwork.

The secrets of Miyasaka-style footwork and the body movements during the strikes held profound wisdom. While what Dennis had mastered was the foundation rather than the secret techniques, even the foundation proved effective in training the soldiers.

At this point, the Beneshof soldier’s weapons were half long-handled swords and half normal swords, but with the first strike, more than ten bandits were slain. Those who remained were skilled bandits within the Damian Bandits.

The true names of “Strong Legs” and “Strong Arms”, were mandatory among the soldiers of the Duke’s household. These two true names partially enhanced the strength of their legs and arms.

They had a higher enhancement rate compared to the true name of “Strength”, which strengthened the entire body, and depending on how they were utilized, they could provide astonishing combat capabilities. As a result, one-on-one battles were disadvantageous for the soldiers of the Beneshof territory. It was only when they fought together as a pair that the battle became more evenly matched.

For a brief moment, the bandits gained the upper hand. However, the soldiers of Beneshof territory possessed the true name “Armor”. Although they were sent flying by powerful blows from the bandits’ formidable sword attacks, they managed to avoid fatal injuries, leading to a prolonged battle.

In such a scenario, stamina became the determining factor. The bandits, who had led an unhealthy lifestyle, began to fall one by one as their stamina ran out. And when only four of them remained, their leader, Damian, slammed something onto the ground.

In an instant, black fog surged out, obstructing the light of the torches attached to the small boats and plunging the surrounding area into darkness. For a while, the soldiers of Beneshof territory were in a state of disarray.

When the fog cleared, the surviving bandits had vanished. Carlos ordered his subordinates to search for them, but they couldn’t find a trace.

Carlos returned to Beneshof and reported the battle to Egmont, who was in the mansion.

“How many of them survived?” Egmont asked.

“Four,”

“Did any of our soldiers die or get injured?”

“Thanks to the true name ‘Armor’ bestowed upon us by Sir Dennis, there were no casualties. However, six soldiers suffered fractures due to the incredible brute strength of the bandits.”

Egmont’s face twisted with bitterness.

“Where do you think they escaped to?”

“They must have realized that Beneshof town is on high alert, so they might have fled to some small village on the outskirts,” Carlos speculated.

Egmont envisioned a map of Beneshof’s territory in his mind.

“Perhaps it’s the village near the Rock Mountain Labyrinth.”

Egmont assigned his squire Geleon, along with seven soldiers under Dennis’ command, to eliminate the remaining bandits. At the break of dawn, Dennis embarked on his journey towards Hannes village.

“Geleon, do you know how many people reside in the village of Hannes?” Dennis asked.

“About fifty or so,”

“We must hurry. I have a bad feeling about this,” Dennis said.

As Dennis and his group approached Hannes village, they noticed smoke rising from it.

“We may have been too late,”

Upon reaching the village, Dennis and the others sprinted in the direction of the villagers’ cries. Four bandits were recklessly chasing and swinging their swords at the terrified villagers.

Dennis spotted one of the bandits about to strike down an elderly woman and charged forward, shouting in anger.

“You bastard!”

The bandit noticed Dennis hurtling towards him and turned his sword in Dennis’ direction.

Dennis held his Vajra staff in a high stance before he swung it down towards the enemy’s sword. The bandit intercepted the staff with his sword; he seemed to be using the true name of “Strong Arms”.

Surveying the surroundings, Dennis noticed that the soldiers were already engaged in battle with the bandits. Then, locking eyes with the bandit before him, Dennis formed a Quaking Blade within an instant. At that moment, the bandit’s sword swiped sideways, narrowly missing Dennis’ neck.

Dennis clashed his quaking blade against the bandit’s sword, resulting in a sharp and resonating sound as the sword snapped and flew away.

“Eh?”

The bandit was dumbfounded by the sudden turn of events. Seizing the opportunity while the bandit was momentarily frozen, Dennis swiftly beheaded him with a strike from his quaking blade before the man’s head went flying.

After killing the first bandit, Dennis spotted a man who appeared to be Damian, the bandits’ leader, engaged in a fight with Carlos, and he immediately rushed toward them. It seemed that Carlos was being pushed back by Damian. The latter possessed the true name of “Freezing” and was employing freezing ball attacks as feints.

In between sword strikes, Damian skillfully launched freezing balls. It was a remarkable display of skill. Even for Dennis, it was challenging to perform Lightning ball attacks while simultaneously engaging in melee combat with his Vajra staff.

“Why did you kill those innocent villagers?”

“Hmph, because they didn’t comply and provide us with money and food. It’s only natural.”

Dennis swung his Quaking Blade towards Damian. The bandits’ leader’s sword intercepted the strike.

“Why won’t it break?” Dennis was surprised.

“This sword is the Darkwolf Sword, a sword passed down in the Duke’s family. There’s no way it would break against a mere staff.”

“Oh, is that so? Quite a sturdy sword.”

After hearing Damian’s boasting, Dennis grew more determined as he slammed his Quaking Blade against the Darkwolf Sword time and again.

“Don’t waste your efforts. This sword is a treasure.”

Nevertheless, after striking it over a dozen times, an unsettling sound echoed from the middle of the Darkwolf Sword. Dennis smirked and struck it once more.

And then the Darkwolf Sword snapped in half. Damian stood there in disbelief. Meanwhile, Carlos maneuvered behind Damian and struck his back.

“Ugh!”

Damian, groaning in agony, cast aside his Darkwolf Sword and launched himself at Dennis, the two were locked in close proximity. However, Dennis, leaping backward, swung his Quaking Blade in a fierce diagonal slash.

In that single, devastating strike, Dennis cleaved through Damian’s chest, causing the young scion of the noble family to bleed profusely as he met his demise.

“Sir Dennis, why did you shatter such a valuable sword? Surely there could have been an alternative approach to this fight.”

“He wielded this “valuable” sword to mercilessly slay innocent villagers.”

Deep within Dennis’s heart, the haunting image of the villagers who had perished in the hands of those ruthless bandits remained. The young Dennis couldn’t suppress his anger towards these heartless criminals.

“However, if we had taken the treasure sword back to the duke’s house, we could have received a substantial reward, couldn’t we?”

“Oh… I hadn’t even considered that.”

The moment Damian died, the battle came to an end. With Damian falling and the remaining bandits losing their will to fight, the soldiers swiftly dispatched them as well.