The guard gasped for air and struggled to speak. With a raspy voice he barely uttered that the signal flare was lit and the alarm raised but they couldn't hear it due to all the whip… The man bit his tongue and didn't finish the sentence. Daryll turned to Jazmyne, gave her a nod and she nodded back. He then walked over to a chair he left his clothes on, took his winter coat and put it on.

"I'm going." He said to his wife and added "Do whatever you want with him", before jumping out the window. He landed barefoot unperturbed, gathered his men and ushered his horse into a furious gallop. After he left, the sounds coming from the top continued, this time of scream, rather than pleasure.

Bones had just finished burning down the camp when he heard the neighing of the horses in the distance. He left Murdok at the camp while he and Skully took to the woods and headed toward the incoming reinforcement. He went unnoticed when Daryll rushed past him. A few of his men followed right behind him while the rest were left some distance behind, trying hard to catch up. Bones stopped running and had Skully quickly run to the other side and prepare for an ambush.

He felt through Murdok that Daryll had reached the camp and threw quite a fiss. He had his men search the camp thoroughly and they didn't need to search long. Hidden between the burnt corpses, tents and debris, Murdok waited for an opportunity, then pounced on the nearest bandit and started wrecking havoc. Bones felt all of it and implicitly ordered Murdok through Soul Link to try and avoid direct confrontation with Daryll. The leader both looked and felt powerful and while the orc had strength on his side, so did the leader along with the level advantage. While Murdok engaged the enemies in the camp, Bones and Skully engaged the rest of the leader's men not far from the camp.

Bones knew he had to finish everything quickly on his end. There was no way Murdok would be able to stall Daryll for long and it was only a matter of time before he noticed the rest of his men weren't coming. Bones didn't hold back and went all out in his surprise attack. Empowering himself, he casted Boneyard first, hamstringing the horses and followed with Bone Storm. The attack worked better than he thought. Bone Spikes riddled the men with wounds and half of them died but the other half…

Daryll felt something was amiss with the foe he had been exchanging blows with. Murdok fought with ferocity he had rarely seen and without regard for injuries. In just a short window Murdok put down four of his men before he could intervene, but Daryll had had enough. He had analyzed the skill level of his enemy and he found it lacking.

He changed his stance to a more offensive one and started counter-attacking. Every time Murdok attacked, Daryll returned twofold and if their little skirmish continued for a little longer, he would've won, but he suddenly stopped! He heard intangible sounds in the distance, voices, screams. He put some distance between himself and his foe, turned to his men, the remaining six and ordered them to take care of Murdok while he sprinted out of the camp.

Daryll cussed, berating himself for not realizing the foe he fought wasn't alone. Of course, how could one person storm his camp and kill his men. Many adventurers came before and tried, but he was always there and when he couldn't handle the assailants, Jazmyne would come and diffuse the situation.

Fuck! Jazmyne!

Daryll gritted his teeth. He knew she wouldn't let him off with just a slap on the wrist. No, Jazmyne wasn't known for her kindness.

In less than a minute, Daryll came upon a scene. Bones was searching through the pockets of the bodies of his men, while another figure stood beside him. The bandit leader yelled with a voice full of rage, then charged. Skully moved to intercept him but Daryll swept him off his feet with a full-powered swing of his greatsword. Bones didn't expect the bandit leader would arrive this fast and was startled to see Skully sent flying with ease. The man chased after Bones like a dog without leash and it didn't take long until he buried his greatsword deep into Bones' chest at the cost of being pierced himself in the back. Skully finally landed a hit at the same time Bones took one.

Daryll took one look at the tip of the spear coming out of his stomach before reaching out toward his back, grabbing the shaft and janking the spear out. He tossed the spear to the side and, firmly gripping his greatsword, turned and slashed at Skully with Bones still attached to the tip of the weapon. At the end of the attack, Bones was sent flying toward Skully who dodged, picked up his spear and engaged the leader. Bones hit the ground hard, bounced a few times then slid to a stop and stayed motionless. One on one, he didn't think he had a chance against the man. Daryll was… capable with his greatsword and just looking at the man swinging a giant, heavy sword with dull blade made Bones shudder.

The moment Daryll appeared, Bones gave Murdok orders to stop fighting the bandits and quickly return. Now that he had a giant gaping hole in his chest, he decided that playing dead and recovering while Skully distracted the leader was the best course of action. For the next few minutes, Skully successfully avoided attacks while Dayrll fumed, cussed and lost what little patience he had. His attacks became more wild and more ferocious until he distanced himself from Skully and watched in shock and confusion as the figure of Bones stood up with his back turned to him.

"The hell? You're not dead?"

Bones didn't reply, he casted Bone Storm and Daryll winced. The focus of the casted spell wasn't him so he didn't react to it until it was too late. He heard the sound of horses galloping in the distance and realized who the spell was intended for. He charged at Bones, but Skully got in the way just in time to buy his master a few extra precious seconds. Bones waited until the storm reached its full capacity, then sent the barrage of Bone Spikes flying into the dark. For the next couple of seconds, the sounds of horses neighing and pained sounds were heard until silence prevailed.

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"Noooo!" Daryll shouted in a fit of rage and sweeped low, breaking Skully's leg, then rushed Bones with his greatsword raised high and ready to split him in half. Bones couldn't move or react in time. The hole in his chest affected his movements but he didn't need to move because he felt the attack wouldn't reach him. Murdok passed him by and parried the attack. The two clashed once again but this time, Daryll wasn't testing his foe. Both used heavy weapons and each attack was crippling, if not fatal. At least for one of them it was.

Whereas Murdok suffered bone crunching blows, Daryll suffered cuts and profusely bleeded. Their exchanges made approaching impossible and Bones took the opportunity to heal and fix Skully's leg. The moment Skully was able to put weight on the leg, he joined Murdok. Bones had to distance himself and watch from the sidelines because Daryll still aimed for his head while fighting off the attacks from his golems.

As time passed, Daryll started showing fatigue and he realized he started getting hit more often. Slowly, the gap between his skill and level advantage compared to his foes started to diminish. Having come to that realization, he exerted more strength into his attacks and then Bones sensed something happening, something familiar and dangerous. He sensed mana coming from Daryll.

The bandit leader couldn’t be said to be a talent when it came to manipulating mana, but he was capable enough to reach the current level and that's saying something! The mana he kept suppressed started leaking out and encompassing the greatsword. Bones sensed Daryll’s actions weren't as simple as imbuing his weapon with mana like he and his golems did. This was something else, something more formidable!

This feels too dangerous!

So far, Skully and Murdok were able to keep their distance at the greatsword’s maximum range, but the moment Bones saw Daryll envelop his weapon in blue light, he ordered his golems to retreat! And not a moment too soon. Daryll swept his greatsword in a circle around him, like he did many times before when dealing with golems but this time, the light off his weapon sliced everything in a radius of three meters away from him - threes and two golems included. Skully, the faster of the two, managed to get away with a superficial cut across the abdomen, but Murdok was caught entirely within it. The light passed through his dominant arm holding a greataxe and through half of his body. If Murdok wasn’t facing sideways, he would’ve been split horizontally.

Daryll immediately followed with a downward slash toward Bones, who awkwardly rolled out of the way of the incoming attack. Daryll didn’t stop there. He forgo any decorum of swordsmanship and simply swung his weapon widely, and each slash sent a wave of light that made his surroundings barren. He was forced to, as Bones used his light body and pointy fingers to climb trees in seconds just to avoid direct confrontation with Daryll.

After a few minutes, only stumps were left in the wake of him chasing after Bones. Skully and Murdok managed to get a few hits in with every chance they got but the man was difficult to approach and suffered only light injuries. The attacks briefly stopped when Daryll’s right leg suddenly gave in. It looked like he slipped but both he and Bones knew he didn’t. Daryll was reaching his limits. Both his mana and stamina were spent but Bones couldn’t afford himself to relax. The man was like an animal, heaving and panting but ready to strike at first opportunity.

Bones didn’t let him rest. He had both golems attack, one from each side and when Daryll was about to retaliate, Bones made him pause for a second using Soul Gaze. In that short interval, Skully pierced his ankle and Murdok made a nasty cut along his thigh. Daryll roared in rage and both golems immediately retreated. The bandit leader continued the assault and the same situation repeated until Daryll could no longer stand up. Bones kept his distance even then, five meters away and still refusing to get closer.

*huff huff*

Daryll looked like he would pass out any second now but Bones wasn’t sure anymore. Maybe the man was faking it. He read about him and Jazmyne being into role playing.

Is this it? Role playing? Pretending? Bones didn’t know.

“Hey…you are Daryll right?“

Daryll stared daggers at Bones through his bleary eyes. His vision started getting cloudy and he couldn’t recognize his surroundings anymore.

“The…*huff* uck man, you’re only *huff* sking that now?” Daryll asked tiredly, his voice barely carrying over. “Just… three of ya?” *huff*

“Mmm… Well, yes, just the three of us. Technically, one of me since those two are my minions. I came for yours and Jazmyne’s bounty so tell me, is Jazymne in the camp?”

“Ya, figured you *huff* didn’t come to trade, dipshit! And with your skills? *huff* Forget about taking on Jazmyne!”

*hur hur hur*

Daryll gave one last laugh before the greataxe swished through the air and landed on his neck. Bones watched dumbfounded and mouth agape as Murdok chopped off the bandit leader’s head off.

“W-w-why? Why did you… Why in the world did you cut his head off?” Bones yelled but Murdok knelt next to the body and started rubbing the head of his greataxe against the coat in order to wipe the blood off.

“Come here this instant!“ Bones ordered and Murdok obliged. For the next few minutes, Bones shouted and using hand gestures tried to explain to Murdok what he is and that he isn’t allowed to do without his consent. Murdok stood there quietly, with his head slumped down like a child that got caught doing something he wasn’t supposed to.

“I don’t have a spare axe for you Murdok, so go and pick up that greatsword and bring it to me.“ Bones said while shaking his head. The greatsword Daryll wielded was too big and too heavy to be effectively wielded. When Murdok came back with the weapon and handed it to Bones, his wrist broke as the heavy weapon fell to the ground with a heavy thud, dragging Bones’ arm with it. Bones strained to raise it up and hand it back to Murdok.

Too heavy! What is the point of wielding this weapon? Daryll actually made it look easy…

Bones glanced at his golems weapons and noticed they were on the brink of shattering. He looked back at the greatsword, at the black blade and dull edge.

This weapon wasn’t made to cut, but to crush! It was only sharp when it was imbued with mana…Will Murdok be able to wield this weapon efficiently? No, he doesn’t have to - at least not immediately. It will be fine as long as he can swing it around. Like weapons from other bandit leaders, this one is made of black steel too.

It must be a special alloy used to make weapons specifically designed for second tiers and up! The other weapons made with the same alloy are heavy as well. What other properties does this black steel have? No, I don’t have time to think about this now! I have to repair the golems and recuperate myself. At times like these I wish I didn’t choose passive meditation and fuse Mend Bones and Bone Armor…

This will take time.