Bandits.
That’s what Xavier’s mother and his grandmother decided to call them. They were evil Card Holders who had given up on their humanity. They gave in to greed and lust to take everything they’d ever wanted with force.
Xavier didn’t think it was necessary, but his family was adamant about naming them. He paid more attention to the defenses of the Bandit camp by viewing everything from a bird’s eye view. He used Soulshare to see through Glut’s eyes as his companion circled high above the camp.
He didn’t stay long near the camp to avoid attracting unwanted attention, but Xavier doubted that anything bad would have happened. The Bandits were lax and didn’t guard their camp well.
“They…don’t expect any attacks,” Leyla mumbled, the confusion in her voice apparent. Her eyes were still glowing as she continued surveilling the Bandit camp.
“Or they’re excellent actors and expect our counterattack,” Zora Vador pointed out, “But I don’t think that’s the case.”
Silvia Vador noticed that the others looked at her hopefully. They wanted her to lead them into battle. She took a deep breath and glanced at her gently smiling son before returning her gaze to the others.
“We will split up and circle the Bandit camp. Let’s eliminate the guards first before we invade the camp together.”
Xavier hadn’t paid much attention when Silvia and the others devised several combat strategies. Instead, he had been more focused on his custom training. Xavier was a lone fighter. It was more likely that he would harm his allies if he combined forces with them. The only partners he could accept were Glut and Umbra. They didn’t restrain him. On the contrary, their presence strengthened Xavier.
Soulshare granted him access to their elemental affinities and a fraction of their Foundation. He never calculated how much power he was granted from his Soulshare with Glut and Umbra, but it had to be close to 10% of their Foundation.
“The terrain south of the camp is a little bit problematic. We won’t be able to attack from there,” Mark remarked while glancing at Xavier.
“I will attack them from there. There should be enough shadows to reach the guards before they notice me,” Xavier responded to his father’s hint.
Silvia was about to say something, but she ended up nodding in agreement. She had witnessed how strong Xavier had grown in the last few days. The final blow against the Behemoth had been terrifying. Silvia thought about it only for a moment, but that was enough for chills to crawl down her spine.
“Alright. In that case…” Silvia distributed everyone’s tasks.
Five minutes later, they dispersed in all directions.
**
Xavier used Camouflage before he moved slowly to the Bandit Camp’s southern wall. He noticed three Guards at the south entrance. One of them yawned, while the others chatted calmly. None of them paid much attention to the surroundings.
“Tonight, I will have fun with Xenovia again. That woman is a grenade!” The chubby man laughed loudly. He slapped the back of the other guard, who could only grumble.
“I wanted to take Xenovia today. Why is she so popular?!”
The chubby man looked at his colleague for a moment and laughed, “She is just too good at this. Everyone wants her!”
The other guard joined the chubby man and laughed heartily. After the world changed, their lives turned for the better. They found joy in life and a reason to give their utmost to stay alive. The new world gave them supernatural powers and countless women to play with.
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
Of course, fighting the monsters of the new world was dangerous, but they had the means to fight them. Their power was growing by the day. They were the kings of the new world!
Xavier’s frown deepened as he approached the men. He moved silently across the uneven terrain and used Glide whenever he had to descend a step. He wasn’t far from the three guarding Bandits when the tired Bandit turned in his direction. Xavier pressed his body against the stone and again used Camouflage to ensure he was completely hidden from their sight.
A notification popped up saying that Camouflage had leveled up, but Xavier ignored the message. He was too focused on the situation ahead and tapped into Umbra's affinity for shadow and darkness to merge with the rock’s shadow. Xavier sensed something odd when he merged with the rock’s shadow. Dark threads appeared before him. The threads connected to other shadows. The closest shadows were linked with thick threads whereas the shadows further away were thin or semi-translucent.
Umbra can jump through all kinds of shadows. Does that mean I can do the same?
Xavier’s eyes lingered on the thick threads. He didn’t dare to move as long as the tired Bandit stared in his direction, but he prepared for the moment of truth the moment the Bandit turned back. The sleepy Bandit yawned once again. That was when Xavier made his move.
He grasped one of the black threads and pulled. Following that, the world around him changed. Everything was coated in darkness for a quarter of a second before he appeared behind the tired Bandit. His eyes widened in surprise, but the corner of his lips curled upward.
A blade formed from compressed darkness manifested in front of him. Xavier used Shadow Blade to coat the blade of darkness as he struck his enemies. The black blade pierced through the Bandit’s neck until it jutted out of his throat from the other side. The Bandit froze in place. He tried to turn around, but he didn’t have any strength in his legs. His legs caved in, and he collapsed to the ground. A puddle of blood formed around the lifeless body.
The chattering Bandits noticed that something was wrong only after their colleague collapsed to the ground. It was already too late at that point. Xavier jumped through another shadow and appeared behind the Bandit to the left. Xavier slit through his throat in a swift motion while releasing an overcharged Air Bullet amplified with several uses of Armor Break and Pierce Armor.
The Air Bullet drained a considerable amount of his World Energy, but its destructive power was massive. The Air Bullet pierced through the Bandit’s ear without an obstruction. It drilled a hole into the unfortunate man’s brain.
Card Holder Stage-1- Sergej Voar -(Demonic Bandit) has been slain.
+7 Soul Essences, +1 Rare Card Shard.
Card Holder Stage-1 - Nicolas Blench - (Demonic Warrior) has been slain.
+8 Soul Essences, +3 Uncommon Card Shards, +1 Rare Card Shard.
Card Holder Stage-1 - Karlos Zahn - (Demonic Spearman) has been slain.
+12 Soul Essences, +2 Rare Card Shards.
Xavier knew that the people he killed didn’t deserve to be called humans, yet it made him feel a little weird. Not because he thought they deserved a second chance but because he had a hard time believing just how vile some humans could be. He felt sick to the stomach and ashamed to belong to the same species as them
Wiping the blood on the shirt of one of the Bandits he had killed, Xavier shook his head. Some part of him had hoped that he would see a tiny flicker of remorse, a small sign that the men realized how horrifying their acts had been, but Xavier was disappointed. Even in their last breath, they were cruel, throwing the weak humans in front of them as cannon fodder to save themselves.
“Good riddance,” Xavier muttered and kicked the corpse once more.
They were a humanity shame and had they stayed alive, more innocent blood would have spilled. Xavier shook off the feeling of uneasiness and stepped aside from the corpses.
There was something he had missed noticing earlier since he was trying to get rid of the slight pang of guilt he felt for killing fellow humans. Their Class Path didn't sound nice either, and the word ‘Demonic’ did not mean anything good. They have all Demonic Class Paths…What is going on in this camp?!?
Xavier knew that countless Class Paths existed, but he really didn’t want to know what conditions the Bandits had to meet to unlock a Demonic Class Path. It was not like only one of them had such a Class Path either. All of them had a Demonic Class Path.
His hair stood up on its end.
The Bandits had to be stopped!