Dark red blood stained the ground.
Dyuer lay still in a pool of blood, unmoving, seemingly not very resilient to being cut.
Bai En held his sword, Zhan Yan, at Monroe's neck. Monroe, who had been wailing while clutching his severed hand, felt the cold blade at his throat. He forced himself to quiet down, his eyes unfocused, his thighs trembling uncontrollably, betraying his panic and fear.
"Don't kill me…"
Oh, he's a bit more articulate than before.
"What is your purpose in coming to the village? Has the entire Bandit Group arrived? How many people are there? What is your leader's name, and what does he look like?"
The barrage of questions left Monroe, who had lost a lot of blood, a bit dazed, but he still tried to answer without hesitation, based on his memories: "I'm not entirely sure of the specific purpose. They just told us to gather everyone in the center of the village."
"This time, it's a full-scale operation by our Red Blood Slaughter Gang, probably sixty or seventy people… As for the leader…" Monroe swallowed. "I don't know his name, but I've seen him once… He looks very young, and he has white hair."
He mumbled tremulously, "Don't kill me, I've told you everything I know."
"Fragil," Bai En called softly.
Snowflakes fell inside the house, a cold wind blew, and a blanket of white covered Monroe and Dyuer. "Snow Restraint Magic, Coffin of Ice and Snow."
Ice crystals rose from the ground along with the snowflakes, transforming Monroe and Dyuer into two ice sculptures.
Watching the scene unfold, Lily, who was standing by the wall, asked, "Aren't you… travelers? Who are you?"
Bai En sheathed his sword and reintroduced himself: "Magic Knights, Aqua Deer, Bai En."
"Aqua Deer, Fragil."
"Are you Magic Knights from the capital?"
Bai En did not deny it: "We were assigned by the Wizard King to deal with this Bandit Group, but their actions are much faster than expected."
"Perhaps the Magic Knights who acted last time made them feel a sense of crisis," Fragil murmured.
"Wait…" Lily looked at the two with a question in her eyes: "The Bandit Group… wasn't it already defeated by you Magic Knights? Why would they attack our village so quickly?"
Bai En looked up at Lily: "That's what we're curious about too. According to the information we received, the Magic Knights who came last time were slaughtered by the Bandit Group, which is why the Wizard King reassigned us."
"Where did you get the news that the Magic Knights defeated the Bandit Group?"
"The Village Chief… The Village Chief told us that."
Bai En and Fragil fell silent.
After a brief thought, the two said to Lily and Haddon in front of them: "You two find a place to hide for now. The entire Bandit Group has entered the village, so it will likely be a fierce battle. We need to go and deal with them."
With that, Bai En and Fragil turned and walked out the door. The dark night was filled with the light from explosions, providing a slight illumination.
"I'll go with you too!"
Seeing the two about to leave, Lily suddenly spoke: "My father is still outside. I want to confirm his safety. Also, although I can't help you defeat your opponents, I have recovery magic, which I believe will definitely be helpful for assisting people."
"I'll go too!"
Haddon looked at Lily and said excitedly, "I'm sure I can help too."
"Huh? Haddon, you haven't even obtained a magic book, so don't go causing trouble. What if you become a burden?"
"How could I?" Haddon argued with Lily: "Miss Lily, didn't I just save you? Isn't saying that now a bit hurtful?"
"That… was just luck. Even if you hadn't acted, with the Magic Knights here, they would have saved me," Lily's face flushed. She had just said she would protect the Magic Knights and let them go first, which was so embarrassing!
"Eh?! Miss Lily, how can you say that? My heart is broken by you."
Their bickering dispelled the previous tension. Bai En looked at Lily and Haddon and said to Fragil: "Let's take them with us for now. It's not safe to leave them here either. There might be other members of the Bandit Group nearby."
"Besides, in this village, they might still be able to help a little."
"Alright."
The four left the house. In the dark night, they moved, using blind spots and cover from buildings, cautiously heading towards the areas with more light and commotion.
On the street, Mages wearing blood-patterned black robes were escorting the villagers of Eldos Village towards the central square of the village. Lily whispered, "What are they doing?"
"Most Bandit Groups only plunder granaries, money, or women, but gathering villagers like this… I've never seen this situation before."
Bai En was also contemplating, 'Are they members of Midnight Sun? Are they looking for magic stones now? No, not only are the locations of the remaining three magic stones already known, but their methods of operation are completely unrelated to Midnight Sun… Most importantly, their clothing is entirely different.'
'Gathering people… blood-patterned red robes… The two guys just now had a faint, similar smell about them. Could it be some kind of ritual to sacrifice to an evil god?'
'They know the Magic Knights are investigating them, yet they're still causing such a big commotion. Interesting. Let's see what they truly intend to do.'
Thinking this, Bai En turned to the three behind him and said, "You all wait here for a bit. I'll be back soon."
Fragil nodded.
Bai En's figure disappeared into the darkness.
Lily looked at the distant firelight and several figures in blood-patterned robes, then couldn't help but ask Fragil in front of her, "Will he be alright going alone?"
"Don't worry, he'll be fine."
Fragil's ice-blue eyes stared at the spot where Bai En had disappeared. Although she had lost consciousness during the battle against the Demon God in the Dwarf Kingdom last time, she could vaguely feel the surrounding magic… Aside from the Demon God's vast and repulsive magic, the largest and most sharply cutting magic undoubtedly belonged to the new Vice Captain.
Moreover, after the fact, she had asked Gosen and Jackey, and they had both praised him to the heavens. But the common information they both revealed was… Bai En had defeated the Demon God alone in the end.
Doing missions with such a formidable person was the easiest. Just let them do whatever they wanted, because the one who would clean up the mess… wouldn't be her.
This was a principle Fragil had learned from going on many missions with Captain Rill, summarized in Sesk's words: just lie back and relax.
The wind blew quietly in the night, and before long, Bai En returned…
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