None of the Bandits expected an attack. Their surroundings were cleared of monsters, and they were far enough from the nearest Monster Gate to stay out of the Kobold, Gremlin, and Dragonoid’s range of attention. Their location was perfect. Nobody was supposed to reach this place, but that was exactly what a group of Card Holders did.
The Card Holders attacking the Bandit Camp were only few, but they were powerful. Their Foundation was high and the compatibility of their Cards was exceptional as well. The Bandits couldn’t defend themselves against the invading forces. They were overwhelmed easily.
Xavier charged into the Bandit Camp as well. However, Xavier charged inside instead of avoiding the camp center like the others. He used Judgement on everyone he discovered as he searched for more Demonic Card Holders.
Where the hell is their leader?
The Demonic Card Holders were already a nuisance but it wouldn’t be that bad if some of them managed to escape. Xavier trusted the others enough to know that they would hunt them. Their leader was a different problem. Anyone capable enough to gather the worst of the worst had to be apprehended. The Bandit leader was powerful enough to treat the bandits and the Heavy Armored Behemoth like playthings. Finding him before the others was Xavier’s highest priority.
Card Holder (Classless)– 15 – Vitality
Card Holder (Classless) – 21 – Energy
Card Holder (Stage -1) – 151 – Vitality
Card Holder (Classless) – 11 – Strength
“Definitely not the leader,” Xavier murmured, his head flicking to the other side of the room where he used Judgement several times again.
Card Holder (Stage-1) – 191 – Wisdom
Card Holder (Classless) – 52 – Vitality
Card Holder (Stage-1) –291 – Energy
He found a group of women huddled together in a corner, pale and malnourished. They all had threadbare clothes and showed no sign of surprise upon his arrival. In fact, they did not even move. It was as if they had lost the will to live and were just existing. Maybe they were waiting to embrace death so they would be free of their misery. Xavier felt a little sad for them. He shook his head when he noticed a very subtle movement from the corner of his eye. It was just for a millisecond, but he saw a glint of malice in a pair of eyes that quickly took cover behind the other helpless women.
Xavier was not a fool to look at the woman directly and give her a chance to retaliate. She was definitely not a prisoner or a slave here. He used Judgement again and noticed a sudden change.
Card Holder (Stage-1) – 1310 – Agility
Lesser Danger Sense perked up while the danger hues from Judgement changed drastically. Even the hues shrouding the helpless men and women from before changed from a vibrant green to yellow. Xavier’s eyes narrowed, and he instinctively used Borrow with Glut as a target.
[Borrow has been used on Glut. A large portion - 50% - of Glut’s Star of Agility has been borrowed.]
[Borrow has been applied. Your Agility increases by 131 for 60 seconds.]
Xavier kicked the ground to move back. Simultaneously, he used Elemental Aegis several times to erupt a wall of blazing Aegis before him. His connection to Glut’s fire affinity ignited. Xavier willed the Elemental Aegis to combine while he conjured more flames to create a wall of flames between him and the women.
Xavier was just about to jump through the shadows and take the woman by surprise when his attention drifted to the left. The woman with the high Foundation appeared next to him. She was clearly using several Cards that amplified her Agility. That didn’t take Xavier by surprise. Instead, her eyes and the horns jutting from the sides of her head surprised him. Her skin burst open, revealing purple skin underneath her flawless white skin. Dark blood gushed out of her. It didn’t trickle to the ground but formed small vein-like streams along her arms. The blood congregated in her hands, where it coiled around her fingers, extending into bloody claws.
Xavier was about to curse when the woman before him turned into mist.
Stealth? Or did she actually disappear? Xavier screamed in his mind before using Dash, Thunder Step, and Foundation Boost at once. His Agility skyrocketed. Simultaneously, dozens of Air Bullets coated in blazing flames emerged in front of him. But he paid more attention to finding his newest opponent. She definitely didn’t look human to him. But what was more worrying was that Lesser Danger Sense indicated to him that the woman was…everywhere.
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Xavier swallowed, his Judgment and Eye of Evolution activated in the hope of pinpointing something useful. A second that felt like hours passed, and Xavier’s hair suddenly stood up on end. A bead of sweat trickled down his cheeks, and the Air Bullets burst in all directions, burning through everything that could be seen—or not—while Xavier changed his momentum.
He used every bit of strength in his body to kick the ground and jump high into the air. Xavier had a bad feeling and summoned several Elemental Aegis around him. He conjured several fireballs beneath his feet and willed them to explode, propelling himself even higher into the air. The fiery explosion tore through his shoes, reducing them to shreds that hung around his foot limply. The scorching fire burned through the hut, but the soles of his feet barely felt a light burn. It was nothing a small amount of Healing Energy would not fix. He was lucky his fire resistance was high and that Glut’s flames did not harm him while everything else went toast.
Once he was high in the air, Xavier used Camouflage and Glide. Camouflage didn’t turn him invisible, but his presence diminished drastically. That was enough to unleash a series of fireballs behind as he levitated through the air. He had never traveled through the air like this, or at all, but his instincts told him that this woman was not normal. Something deep inside him screamed at him, telling Xavier that something was terribly wrong.
Not human!
Xavier shuddered a bit, but he forced his mind and body to calm down. There was no time to hesitate. However, he stopped abruptly for a second as he witnessed the scene around the bandit camp’s center.
The captives’ glassy eyes and blank expressions began to change. It was as if somebody had induced a single emotion in a handful of them-anger. The malnourished men and women seemed to get out of their trance-like state and looked around, confusion apparent on their faces. That only lasted for a second. Their expressions twisted, and their eyes widened. Their brows furrowed, and they began to grind their teeth. Xavier stared at them in confusion as some of the men and women tugged at their hair while others coiled their hands into fists.
Soon, a scream tore out through one of the men whose head was thrown back. And then his body began to tear open from the center, splitting into half vertically as if a knife was cutting through him. His body opened like a closet, and something black and gooey slipped out of it as his body crumpled down to the ground lifelessly.
“What the-”
Xavier felt as if his eyes were fixated on the gory transformation in the captives and could not look away even if he wanted to. A few screamed until their lungs burst, and they collapsed on the spot. It was chaotic.
But then something even strange happened. Xavier noticed the angry-looking captives’ Foundation suddenly skyrocket. A few more captives’ had black gooey substance tears out of their bodies. He peered at it intently and realized it was not some substance but a living thing, albeit hideous.
The black gooey mass kept transforming until the hands, legs, and the rest of the body formed. The big, bulbous eyes looked around restlessly, and a low rumble emanated from their stomachs.
Ghouls?
The angry-looking captives, too, suddenly looked hungry and murderous. They all were.
A woman was running for her life amidst all the chaos, and Xavier saw a captive move blindingly fast and grab the woman’s neck before piercing his fangs in her neck, draining her blood and savoring it as she cried for help.
The smell of blood made the ghouls and the other captives who had transformed into Lesser Vampires jump on all the other captives, who soon became their food. It was a slaughterfest.
Xavier stopped utilizing Glide. The gravitational force pulled him down to the ground again, but Xavier never hit the ground. He disappeared into the shadows around him. Dozens of Air Bullets appeared in the air. Pierce Armor and Armor Break had been applied to them as well. Xavier unleashed them to smash the skulls and chests of the Lesser Vampires and Ghouls.
The Air Bullets sliced through the skin of the Lesser Vampires and Ghouls like a hot knife through butter. They were all malnourished and sickly a few moments ago, so it did not take much to kill them despite their Foundation receiving a slight boost all of a sudden. Blood splattered all around, and the air was filled with howls and shrieks as the Air Bullets did their job. Xavier would have felt remorse if he had accidentally attacked the slaves, but now he only felt relieved as the Air Bullets riddled the Lesser Vampires’ bodies with holes and shattered their skulls.
Flesh and innards were sticking to their clothes, and their bodies had twisted, and their heads were bobbing around while being attached to the rest of the body by just a threadbare strip of flesh. The ground was soaked with blood, and their movements turned slower. Xavier didn’t receive any notifications and instinctively knew the attacks weren’t enough to kill the Undead. He conjured more Air Bullets to crush their kneecaps, feet, and thighs, slowing down the Undead.
The woman reappeared and looked around. She lost Xavier’s trails but picked them up the moment she reappeared. Xavier was right behind her, the Onyx Blade flickering vibrantly in azure flames.
“Did you do that?” He asked, his voice laced with fury.
Even if the woman was fast, she couldn’t teleport. Xavier was faster.
Even though she could turn invisible, the woman couldn’t disappear completely.
The Onyx Blade crackled and threatened to break into Xavier’s iron-tight grip, but he didn’t care. The blade wouldn’t shatter before he pierced it through the woman’s chest.
Xavier moved faster than the woman. He didn’t surpass her enhanced Agility by much, but it was enough. The Onyx Blade pierced through her chest. However, Xavier’s attack didn’t end there.
Glut emerged before the woman with a head-sized azure fireball overhead.
“Stop! I’ll answer your que–...” The woman panicked when she noticed that she couldn’t run away. Death was staring at her in the eyes as Xavier whispered into her ears.
“Forget my question. Your death is more important.”
A moment later, the azure fireball exploded in her face.