“Hmpf!”

As blood spilled from Rowen’s mouth on the grassy plains, an eye-catching green drop fell too as it did not mix with the blood or the soil. But as an old hand reached to grab it, it tore the grass and soil, together with the small green sphere, but a strange phenomenon occurred as the soil and grass were immediately pushed out of his hand, leaving only the floating drop in the old looking hand, as he took a small vial and put it inside of it.

“I leave you unrestricted once, and you lose your head not a moment later while I’m not looking!”

However as the weak and now pale Rowen was with his face on the ground, the voice of an old man reverberated into his ears, but as he turned his face to look, all he could see was an incensed old Wan who seemed to be livid from the anger piled in him.

“Old—Wan.!?”

“Hmpf, you foolish child, are you in search of death? If you can not win fast, then take your time, don’t go for the easy way, the easy ways have always string attached. If not for this old man you would have ruined yourself. Now stay here as I'll start to clean this mess.”

As old Wan carefully took the weakened Rowen and placed him with his back on the grassy plain, while the bodies of the dead bandits were just meters away, bringing the smell of blood with the wind to him. The only thing that Rowen could see before he fell unconscious, was the back of the black-cloth old man as he was assaulted by bandits, although the ones to drop down were only the bandits, as they seemed to lose power over their bodies.

As the fight of the guards against the bandits continued, the pressure that they had suffered from their numerical numbers begin to decrease, as the fights continued. And as more and more bandits littered the ground lifelessly, the fight took a critical moment when the ones to have the advantage were the guards themselves.

But as the fight continue and their numbers decreased, panic took the bandits as they began to back from the fight in an attempt of fleeing. But to their misfortune, none of them could flee, as all those that began to flee found themselves stabbed in the back of their neck, and dead in the next moment.

While the battle of the guards and the rank bandits was approaching the end, the battle at the entrance of the camp could be said to have gone into a stalemate. As the bandits were hitting nonstop onto the wall of shields, those that were using the spears and arrows could be said to have become almost useless, as the adaptability of the messy bandits had won over the uncoordinated formation of the villagers.

However, the ones to still pose a real threat was the young guard in blue that always moved to locations that were close to being breached, as he alone was able to take ten or more bandits on his own, while having the power to kill any of them. But as they were playing cat and mouse with him and some other guards that were helping him, the overall situation of their battle could not be changed greatly, as the villagers could do nothing much but keep them occupied.

“This is going nowhere, vice-captain!?”

“Endure, once the main force will make a comeback, we will grind these bastards!”

As a guard was complaining to him, all he could do was to assure him and everybody else that the main force would come back to support them and end this battle.

But as he looked in the direction where the critical fights were taking place, relief fell on him as there were not many bandits left standing to fight, while the guards were killing them faster and faster.

However, he was not the only one to make such observations, as the bandits that were leading the normal ones, could see even better, arriving at the same conclusions even faster than him.

Nevertheless, that was the beginning of the chaos, as those at the back immediately began to run, as the conclusion of the battle was decided the moment the ranked bandits had loose their superior numbers to the guards. But as more and more bandits notice the vacant posts behind them, and realize the situation for themselves, they begin to escape while following the ones on the run.

But as the bandits began to retreat to the sides, Adrian looked at the fights some hundreds of meters afar, while taking a big breath and with a big shout, warning the other guards, that were almost done killing the ranked bandits.

“THEY ARE ESCAPING! FLANK THEM TO THE SIDES!”

As his voice reverberated on the other side of the open field, making the guards take a look at the numerous bandits that were either taking to the left or to the right,as they were trying to escape either to the south by traversing the river and into the tall grass of the prairie or to the forest lands to the north.

But as the situation was immediately understood, the two other vice-captains authorize twenty or so guards to take to the left or the right, as they become two formations of ten guards each, after which they immediately began to run as to cut the escape routs of the escapees, as well their lives, for their thirst for blood had been raging, as their fight, had not been as easy as Adrian had been lead to see.

While the two groups of guards, commence their assault on the regular bandits that were escaping, Adrian took a closer look at the situation of the villagers, as he immediately arrived to a plan of action with a resolute look on his face, whilst he was turning to the two guards helping him.

“You two, take the lead in the protection of the camp, don’t let the shield wall be breached! FIFTY OF THOSE THAT ARE YET TO BE TIRED AND WANT TO COME AND HUNT THE BANDITS, WITH ME!”

At his call, almost a hundred villagers made a step forward, as they were desiring to bring the fight to the bandits, but Adrian still limited himself to take only half of them, while assembling a spiked turtle formation, as they run out of the wall of shield, aiming directly for the south part, where most of the bandits were trying to escape.

Although he was moving slowly due to the many villagers with him, the guards had been faster still in their blockage of the bandit's path, as the ten guards had put their all into stoping the almost one hundred bandits, while killing a dozen or so, as the normal bandits could not match the ranked guards, even in an exhausted state.

But the situation for the bandits became a nightmare as the fifty villagers and Adrian, clash into their numbers. While Adrian was unleashing his all, as there was no need for him to hold back any longer, for the end of the battle was depended on how fast they could kill the bandits.

But while the bandits were killed one by one, those alive become even more frantic and desperate to live, as they begin to attack with even greater viciousness, making the battle more chaotic.

However, that did not last for long, as many more guards were coming from the north side, while corpses littered the ground at their backs. But as the two vice-captains could be seen, it was evident that all the rank bandits had been killed, after which those that were trying to escape into the forest to the north.

But with another group pushing the bandits into further anxiety, they overwhelmed the ten guards that were blocking them, in a desperate manner for their path to salvation, as they started to run as fast as they could, over the river and into the prairie.

Nonetheless, the guards made their last dash as they chased and killed every last one of them, be it in the river or at the beginning of the prairie as the blood and bodies of the bandits made for a dramatic scene, as they gave the impression to be hunted down like animals while trying to escape from danger.

But as the battle was over and the bandits killed, the one that had led the guards into the fight, was just awakening from a deep short sleep, as pain and heaviness welcomed him at the moment he moved. Nevertheless, as he opened his eyes, the faces of several worried guards and that of an old man greeted him as they sigh in relieve at his rouse to consciousness.

“How is the situation?”

However, as he massaged his temples, from the strong headache he was having, his first line of words was directed at their present situation, as though he had just looked away for a few seconds, after which he was just asking how things had proceed for that small lost moment.

“The battle is over, and the bandits killed, captain.”

But the one to answer, was the old man that was looking with a rather angry and annoyed face, as his eyebrows were almost joined together from the intense frown and stare, given to the now risen young man.

“But it seems we have a strange situation!?”

“---What situation?”