Ting! Ting! Ting!

A series of metallic collisions of weapons rang in the area. The scattered battle immediately broke out when the two opposite groups met in the middle.

None of them cared about stomping the remains of those who died just now. On their faces, there was only an expression of wanting to kill and ready to be killed.

A murderous aura surged up higher than the mountain. The bandit leader was a little puzzled by these people. They didn't look like soldiers of the empire. Especially the aura they were exuding. And on their faces, there was no trail of fear.

He had no idea what rank in power these people were. But he guessed that they were at most at silver rank. The only thing that bothered him, was the aura that was covering their bodies. It seemed like not an ordinary aura. He wondered what kind of spell the little girl used on them. But perhaps it was a kind of spell that boosted someone's stats.

Regardless, they had the number advantage. No matter how strong an individual was, it would be useless in the face of multiple enemies.

Wielding the huge ax in his hands, the bandit leader rushed to the tallest person among the enemy's group, he must be the one to kill him.

"Die bastard!"

He shouted upon nearing him. Enveloping his ax with magical energy, he smashed it in a strong downward strike to his enemy.

Bang!

A deafening sound followed right away. But it wasn't a sound of severing his opponent or slicing him into two. It was the kind of sound when a massive weapon hit something hard.

'Tsk! Is this person at the peak of Silver rank?' He thought in surprise.

Only those of the same rank as him or higher could block his attack. 

The bandit leader clicked his tongue when his attack did nothing to his enemy. His attack was obstructed by a huge shield. He hastily used the flat surface of the ax to block the fast-coming mace attack. Right, his enemy was using a mace on his left and a shield on his right hand.

"Ngh!" He groaned. 'Dammit, what kind of power was that?!?' The bandit leader spat, surprised at the enemy's attack power.

Fortunately, he managed to block it. But his arms trembled slightly. After blocking the enemy's attack, he increased the magical aura on his ax. Then, he swung the ax horizontally, "Don't get too full of yourself, dumbass!"

Bang! Yet, it was blocked again. "Tsk!"

"Die!"

He bellowed and summoned again his magical energy from within his body to increase the power of his attack. Then, he sent combinations of attacks. But even with it, his enemy remained unhurt. Uno received the relentless attack while hiding behind the shield.

Even with Little Sky's boost, it still wasn't enough to fight this enemy head-on.

Ting! Ting! Ting! 

Consecutive high-piercing noises followed after. The two of them contested via strength and endurance. However, it didn't take long to notice that one of them exceeded the other.

Each of their attacks shook the space and vibrated the air. It even trembled the ground.

The two of them were almost equal at first. But the bandit leader noticed that his enemy almost had unlimited stamina. On the contrary, he started gasping for air to breathe.

Although both of them received an injury, it was clear who has the upper hand. But, the bandit leader hadn't lost yet. In fact, he was grinning. He just needed to prolong their fight until his men dispatch those 14 enemies.

After a couple of minutes of fighting, he noticed that the noise around him gradually reduced.

"Hehe," while kneeling on the ground and covered with blood, the bandit leader chuckled. "No matter how strong you are, in the end, it's your defeat! Haha!" He laughed. Then opened his mouth once again. "Now, everyone, finish him!"

WOOSH!

He expected that his men already dispatched the enemies. Contrary to his expectation, no one responded to his order.

A breeze of wind passed by. After a second, he noticed that no one responded. He glanced around and saw the 14 people, standing around a pile of unconscious people.

"What?" He gawked with a face that couldn't believe.

"I told you, no one shall pass this area without my lord's permission." He heard his enemy speak in a monotonous voice.

However, his attention wasn't on him. He was puzzled as to how his men were defeated. "C-could it be because of the curse on this mountain?" He asked himself.

No one could give him an answer. Regardless, he felt a little weaker compared to before he climbed the mountain.

But, how about these people? Are they not affected by the curse? He asked and asked but no one could give him an answer. He wasn't a bit worried about the curse in this mountain as it was treatable. Only those fools, the former residents of the village, had no idea how to treat the illness.

While he was mulling, he suddenly heard unhurried steps. He stiffened upon noticing it. When he glanced in front of him, he saw his enemy already lifted higher the mace in his hand.

"Dammit, There's no way I'll let myself die in this place!"

He screamed.

Before Uno could finish his enemy, he froze and was taken aback when the enemy suddenly exudes dark energy. It burst out and sent strong pressure around him.

"GWAAAAARRRRRGGGHH!"

Uno staggered back and protected himself using the shield in his hand. The others also looked at the bandit leader with a disbelieving face.

It was exuding a different aura from before. It was nauseating and strong.

"Captain, be careful!" Shouted one of Uno's subordinates.

The next second, the bandit leader's skin started to change color. And they noticed a horn grew on his forehead.

"GWAAAARRRRGGGHHH!!"

It continued screaming like a madman. Suddenly, it leaped higher while screaming. It clings to the steep wall of the mountain. It climbed hastily and soon gone from their sight.

"What happened?" One of Uno's subordinates asked in wonder. They glanced above but couldn't find it anymore.

"What was that?" Uno asked also. Even he had no idea what happened to that man.

"A demon…" Suddenly, he heard a mutter coming from behind him.

"Little Sky," he saw her walking towards him. She was looking above. Well, it was identical to the demon that she saw in the movie.

Also, she once heard the Lord mention it. He said that they encountered a demon recently. But never she imagined that another one would show up so suddenly in this mission.

"Good Job everyone for defending this place!" 

"Thank you, Little Sky!"

"Regardless, is it fine to let that one alive?" Uno asked worriedly.

"Hmm… but it's gone now. Also, I don't think that you can beat it after it turns into a demon…" Little Sky replied. 

"I also think I can't," Uno replied honestly. "Regardless, how about these corpses?" 

"Uh, The Elder Priest wanted some for his experiment."

"I see."

In the Canyon, Blacklips and his men suffered an ambush. When they arrived at the Canyon to check their men. They were ambushed by a group of unknown people. They were so agile and most of them could burrow in the ground.

They were the former Rat-Crawlers. Their leader was a sexy woman named Tres. The third captain who was personally named by Eman.

Meanwhile, in the village, the soldiers were preparing for the third assault. They were almost at the center of the village.

However, they were unaware that the enemies already prepared a warm welcome for them.