”No one will hear you, even if you scream.” The bandits had naturally created a small magical barrier to hide the place.

”P-please let me go already….” Their victim resorted once more to begging.

The bandits clicked their tongues in annoyance. What a shameless guy! Even now, there was a hint of hope in his eyes, somehow.

”You still think your family will save you? Keep dreaming, hehe!” Thus started another round of torture.

In the meantime, a few of them were sent out to investigate and mislead. This was a basic skill anyone in the thieving business had to master.

They assumed plenty of innocent-looking personas: the drunk laborer, bumpkins brothers looking for the red-light district, the kind old man searching for his long-lost son.

Their best tool for misinformation were rumors. They would hide in the crowd and start new discussion topics.

They were just accomplishing their tasks when they suddenly stumbled on something. On the wanted board were drawings of people they quickly recognized: it was them!!!

< Bounty: Mountain Bandits! >

Mountain bandits?! It showed them in their laborer disguise, the one most of them were still wearing. Didn’t this mean someone had been watching them all along?!

That’s when their hearts chilled, as they finally remembered the desperate cries of the youngster, pleading his innocence. They had thought it ludicrous earlier, but now…

”Oh god!” They rushed back to warn their allies.

They were too late…

The fight had already started when they came back. On one side, the bandits plunged sabers into the bodies of guards, the latter calling for reinforcements.

Their main advantage, anonymity, had been stripped away from them. All they had left was their valor.

”Bring the Noble along, use him as a shield, let me see if they’ll dare shoot us down! Move out!!”

”Yes, Boss!”

The city gates would soon get closed. They had to get out of this deathtrap ASAP! Their bodies were already faintly glowing dark, and it would only get worse.

Speed, more speed!

Thus started the greatest bandit escape.

Every time they turned a corner, guards were awaiting them. “Crush them!!” The bandits simply charged in their midst, their blades ripping the flesh.

Surprisingly, they were better coordinated than the guards they were trying to evade. They knew that getting captured would be the end of the line.

”Careful! Don’t hit the hostage! We need— ARGG!” The poor soldiers felt hesitation. They were trying to do their job, but their opponents were fighting for their lives!!

The resolve of the two was different!

But even then, the army was slowly encircling the villains and cutting their escape routes one after the others.

”Goddammit, stay back, or I’ll slit his throat!!” The leader kept screaming as a deterrent.

”Let him go! You’re surrounded. There’s no hope for you. You’re only adding to your crimes. It’s pointless to run!!” The guards screamed, oblivious to the bandit spirit.

Was it impossible? It should have been, but suddenly the guards’ faces turned livid.

— BOOM! BOOM!—

All over the City, explosion sounds resounded, dark columns of smoke rising. Some crazy guy was detonating magical resources in the City!!!

Smoke, heat, and fire spread akin to a calamitous world-devouring beast. The City would be fine, they had contingencies against this, but it would take guards to contain the fire!

Visibility —> Extremely Shitty, perfect for a small group to sneak out.

Guards’ Reinforcements —> Pretty much gone. This would even the scales of the battlefield.

The bandits had no clue what was happening, but there was no way they’d simply stand idly and perish. They broke out, trampling many guards in passing.

As the City went crazy, a man meditating on a mountain cliff faintly grinned. Had his eyes not been closed, one would have seen the scheming light in them.

First —> Designate an enemy

Second —> Cause chaos to help them escape

Finally —> Cause further chaos, all to help them.

While there was a chance that some would remember him, it would all end up blamed on the bandits. After all, the explosions came from things they had stolen in the past.

He had already sowed a few seeds. It would appear as if the stolen treasure had been an inside job and the kidnapping planned.

His demon friend would do that last part. After all, he had been a city resident for 200 years and was quite resourceful and trusted, albeit under many aliases.

For now, Jack simply enjoyed the show, watching the scene from Moon Moon’s eyes thanks to their link…

Civilians ran everywhere, the whole city a mess. Their living was on the line. They didn’t care one bit about the guards trying to interrogate them at this moment.

”Did you see bandits pass through?!”

”Who cares?! There’s a fire!!!!”

Both guards and bandits felt uneasy as they realized how the destruction had been a setup. It was as if the goal had been to escort the villains out of the city.

The idea of a genius mastermind pulling the strings was horrifying!

”We’re almost at the gates!” The bandits were utterly covered in ashes, blood, and filth. Some had lost their arms. A few had been forever left behind too.

— City Gate Appeared! —

”They’re here! Ready your bows!”

There were a few soldiers on the City walls. There weren’t that many of them, most busy with the flames, but it was enough.

”Dumbasses, we still have the kid!” They shouted to buy time, the opponents clicking their tongues in annoyance.

To leave, they needed to breach the City’s defenses. How?! Massive gates stood before them. They had no way to take them down nor reach the soldiers on top.

”It’s the end of the line. Give up!” The soldiers shouted in the background, the bandit leader slowly resolving to perish here.

That’s when a dark light suddenly appeared, seemingly floating in the air. It hovered closer and suddenly dropped something in front of them.

— Clang! —

”?!?”

Those were grappling hooks?! With this, they’d be able to scale the walls and escape! Puzzled bandits stared at this magical phenomenon as a small voice was heard.

”Here you go, Boss. I’m done starting the fire, and here’s what you asked for.” The dark light uttered before disappearing.

The “Boss” was in shock. Fire? Hooks? He had no clue what was happening! While he was flabbergasted, his men were already grabbing the tools.

”Show them who’s Boss!!! AH!” It was as if the bandits had been given wings as they ran up the walls, many perishing.

In total, 13 of them reached the top, starting a massacre. They were like wolves let loose upon a flock of chickens.

Archers 0 Bandits 1111

As the bandits dropped on the other side, there were only nine of them left out of the initial thirty. All they had accomplished was to kidnap a **ty noble youngster.

This mission couldn’t have gotten more wrong!

But, for now, they had to run away, leaving the despair behind. They all knew there would be retribution for today’s event, but they might live as long as they reached the mountains.

”Hehe, I guess we can be proud. We managed to overturn the City entirely. Did you see the guards’ faces as we left? This will be a stain on Timber’s History.”

”Boss, what was that black light? Why didn’t you tell us you had such a cool trump card?!” They chattered to fill the deathly silence, to forget all the brothers they had lost.

”T-this…” the leader was about to deny when the sound of galloping resounded.

Oh god, no! In the distance, a dust cloud was rising as powerful creatures stampeded the ground at once. Since when did Timber City have a cavalry?!

That’s when they knew they were **ed.

”Men, arrest the evildoers!” The man leading the 20 men strong unit thundered.

The bandits were tired, but the newcomers weren’t. Plus, every fight would be a 1 v 2 since the mounts were powerful level 35 Draconic Stallions.

Heck, did they even have the energy to break past the scales of the mounts? This was so depressing. But, just as they were losing hope, something happened.

— Shriek!!! —

Another cloud of dust appeared out of nowhere, this time accompanied by loud, powerful shrieking. But, why was it coming from the mountain?! This made no sense!

As the creatures got closer, all humans suddenly felt their stomachs turn.

< Macabre Big Scaled Lizard Lv 30! :lizard::skull_and_crossbones:>

There wasn’t just one or two, but dozens! They ran toward the knights, ready to eat their brains out. Strangely, it appeared as if they were trying to rescue the bandits!

”For Light’s sake, is there any sin they won’t dare commit?!! KILL!” The proud soldiers couldn’t believe how evil the bandits were.

”W-what the hell?!” The bandits felt like they would go insane. Weren’t these the creatures they had been eating at their camp?! How had they suddenly turned into atrocities?!

By now, they were so tired that they could only watch everything happen powerlessly. A great battle of light versus lizards happened, the soldiers being victorious.

—

Everything ended well…besides the many casualties in the City. The evildoers were soon brought back to be interrogated. That’s when many things were revealed.

1. The Boss owned a broken ring imbued with demonic energy, one he swore he had never seen before. It was probably thanks to this that he had been able to create the Macabres.

2. The Boss had long planned the kidnapping, fires, and escape with the support of a floating dark light. The latter was a complete mystery, but they had caught the main culprit.

There were still a few loose ends, the mastermind refusing to admit to his crimes until the very end, but everything pointed to him, so the investigation was closed.

Thus peace returned to Timber City, or so it seemed. At the same time, Jack was entering his new playground…