Chapter 45 - 18: [The Failed Infiltrator and the Crimson Sword]

Chapter 45: Chapter 18: [The Failed Infiltrator and the Crimson Sword]

The next second, a ghostly green sword gale struck with a cruel chill, as piercing as a falling star.

Relying on his combat experience as a Fifth-level Swordsman, the bandit leader executed a swift backward step, barely dodging the icy blade! The tip of the sword smashed into the ground, violently cleaving the stone bricks of the ancient Empire’s beacon tower.

An unremarkable Knight Sword had been swung with the devastating momentum of a Heavy Sword Halberd.

Cold liquid trickled down his face. The bandit leader wiped his cheek, wincing at a slight sting. His hand came away covered in icy blood. He had actually been grazed by the sheer wind of the blade. What the fuck kind of monstrous strength was this?!

"You killed the innocent..." the nagging armored freak said softly. "Then... what I do next will be much easier to stomach. Randall, blow the whistle. Go heal Eliot first."

Without waiting for him to finish, Randall had already blown the bone whistle. He threw himself in front of Eliot, grabbing the Magic Potion Bag for emergency treatment.

The piercing whistle echoed in the night sky. In the distance, a Magic Potion Bottle was thrown into the air, shattering mid-flight and erupting with intense light. The glowing sphere hovered over the Bandit Camp, illuminating everything below like broad daylight.

Samael stepped forward, raising his shield with one hand and holding his sword in the other. He took large strides through the light. A hood covered his helmet, leaving only a hollow void in the shadows beneath its eye slits.

"A shield?" The bandit leader sneered. "Do you think adventurers are here to fight a war? Or are you a dedicated protector—"

The Rusted Copper Shield suddenly swung sideways, accompanied by a flash of spectral green copper shadow.

Before he could even finish his sentence, the bandit leader flew straight backward, crashing into and collapsing half a tent. Samael had turned his shield flat, backhanding the bandit leader away like a brutal slap to the face!

"Come," he said, looking around and gently extending the invitation.

Two bandits leaped up fiercely. One jumped onto Samael’s back from behind, stepping on his shoulders to ruthlessly plunge a dagger into the gap at the neck of his armor. The other flashed a broad-bladed short sword, thrusting it straight into Samael’s waist.

The bandit on his back grinned wickedly and pulled at the hilt, intent on ripping the blade loose to draw blood, only to find the weapon firmly jammed within the armor’s gap.

[Foreign object detected in joints. High-pressure clamping activated.]

CLANG! Sparks flew everywhere as the Armor covering Samael’s entire body clamped tightly together. The rags stuffed into the gaps for stealth purposes were ejected, and the blade was cleanly snapped by the hard edges of the Nether Copper Armor Plate. The sheared edge looked exactly like the marks left behind when an industrial steel rolling mill crushes inferior metal.

Samael neither dodged nor evaded. He raised the shield with one hand, sweeping it over his head, and shattered the dagger-wielding bandit’s ribs amidst a scream. The moment the bandit was knocked to the ground, the shield—like the heavy, blunt blade of a guillotine—pressed its edge straight down toward the man’s neck!

The bandit wailed, desperately grabbing the dulled edge of the shield in an attempt to push the terrifying weapon away, but it was to no avail. The immense strength of an ancient Undead crushed down upon him. Even though the edge of the copper shield lacked any sharp blade—thick and flat like a chopping board—the terrifying force behind it drove the shield’s edge down. Amidst screams that were brought to an abrupt halt, it forcibly crushed the bandit’s neck, spine, and flesh all at once!

CLANG, CLANG! The metallic clashing of the Armor echoed brazenly through the camp like a roaring chariot!

He spun around with a sudden lunge, launching a swift upward slash that sent the bewildered short-sword-wielding bandit flying, cleaving him in half at the waist!

Agonizing wails echoed as the upper half of the body struggled in a pool of blood. It barely managed to crawl half a meter before the Nether Copper Knight Sword nailed it through the skull.

"Come," Samael repeated, pulling out his blood-soaked Knight Sword.

Blood slowly trickled down his body, his sword, and his shield. The Nether Copper automatically repelled the fluid, causing it to drip onto the ground drop by drop. The puddle then froze into a thin layer of crimson ice at his feet.

The surviving bandits trembled, retreating in unison.

"Get back... get back! You idiots! Fall back, that’s not something you can handle! Don’t waste my men!" The bandit leader, who had been slapped away by the shield, struggled in the ruins of the collapsed tent. He coughed up a mouthful of blood. Half of his face bore the patterned imprint of the shield’s surface, and his cheekbone was shattered as he slurred out his curses.

With one hand, he yanked a Healing Potion from the chain at his waist, tilted his head back, and poured it into his mouth. With his other hand, he lifted his scarlet Longsword. "Piss off and deal with those defenseless idiots outside the camp! I’ll take care of this heavily armored freak!"