By the time I reached the center of the hideout, the fire had already grown completely out of control.
Several buildings were burning like giant torches, their flames climbing along the wooden walls and crawling across the roofs.
Thick smoke spread across the ground in slow, heavy waves, almost like a living creature slithering through the camp.
The air was filled with noise, with men shouting, others screaming in panic, and the loud cracking of wood as one of the huts finally collapsed into the flames.
I stopped for a moment.
The heat brushed against my face, and the smoke stung my nose.
Fire.
Smoke.
Screaming.
For a brief instant, the night seemed to change.
The flames looked bigger.
The screams sounded different.
And beneath the smell of burning wood, I thought I smelled something else.
Not bandits.
Home.
My chest tightened, and my hands froze for a moment.
I closed my eyes and forced myself to breathe slowly.
In.
Out.
When I opened my eyes again, I activated my Avenir Eyes.
The world immediately moved in slow motion.
Across the hideout, faint blue lights appeared again, flickering like small fireflies in the darkness.
Two of those lights stood out immediately, dense and heavy presences located right at the center of the hideout.
The leaders.
Around them, I could sense five smaller presences moving restlessly. They were running, turning, and scattering in different directions.
That meant either Theo or Margaretha had already finished clearing their side. If I had to guess, it was probably Margaretha, since her wind abilities were clearly more effective when dealing with multiple enemies at once.
I observed the five remaining lights more carefully.
Three of them were moving away from the center of the hideout, clearly trying to escape, while the other two were heading toward the central building, most likely trying to regroup with their leader.
I made my decision immediately and went after the ones who were running away.
They were… easy. Almost disappointingly easy.
Their steps were clumsy, their breathing loud and uneven, and one of them even looked back while running, nearly tripping over his own feet. Fear had already broken them completely.
They didn't notice me at all.
Not until it was already too late.
I threw my first knife, and the blade slipped cleanly into the back of a man's neck. He fell forward without making a sound.
My second knife followed immediately after, striking another man in the side of the head. He collapsed before his body even finished turning.
The last one finally began to turn toward me, his mouth opening as if he wanted to shout.
My third knife struck him before he could make a sound.
He fell face-first into the dirt.
Three bodies.
Three quiet deaths.
I didn't stop moving.
The real fight was still happening at the center of the hideout.
I ran toward it, and when I finally reached the battlefield, I immediately understood why the others hadn't finished yet.
Two men were holding back all five of us.
The first man was enormous. He was bald and wore almost no armor, yet the mana surrounding his body was so dense and heavy that it felt oppressive just to look at him.
He was fighting Robert and Margaretha at the same time.
His axe moved incredibly fast, far too fast for someone of his size, and every swing crashed against Robert's shield with the force of thunder.
The second man was completely different.
He was covered in heavy armor from head to toe. His mana was noticeably weaker than his companion's, but the armor itself was the real problem. His movements were slow, painfully slow, yet every step he took seemed to shake the ground beneath him.
Spiro, Agni, and Pritha surrounded him from three sides.
Agni's flames burned brightly as he repeatedly wrapped the armored man in fire, while Pritha added smaller bursts of flame from the side. However, the attacks barely did anything more than blacken the surface of the armor.
Spiro's daggers flashed again and again as he searched for an opening, but he couldn't find a place where the blades could pierce.
The armored man continued swinging his weapon in slow, heavy arcs. Each strike looked powerful enough to crush bones if it connected.
Spiro did not try to overwhelm him. Instead, he moved lightly and carefully, staying just out of reach while constantly drawing the man's attention.
It was clearly a battle of endurance.
Whichever side grew tired first would lose.
At that moment, Spiro noticed me.
"Rick!" he shouted, his voice cutting through the noise of the burning camp.
"Help Robert and Margaretha! I can hold this one!"
I nodded and immediately turned toward the other battle.
The bald man was terrifying.
His axe moved like a violent storm.
Robert blocked again and again, his shield shaking violently every time the weapon struck it. Even with his Bone Steel bloodline, he was slowly being pushed backward, his boots dragging through the dirt with each impact.
Margaretha was attacked from behind.
Her wind blades were invisible, but I could clearly see their effect. Thin cuts appeared across the man's back and sides.
One.
Two.
Three.
But the wounds were shallow.
The bald man laughed—a deep, ugly sound that echoed across the battlefield.
Suddenly, he turned and lashed out with his leg.
Margaretha was kicked before she could retreat.
Her body was sent flying, and she crashed heavily onto the ground.
The man immediately turned back toward Robert, raising his axe high above his head.
Robert lifted his shield.
But it was too slow.
The axe came down.
That was the moment I moved.
I threw one of my last knives straight at the man's neck.
He saw it instantly.
Too fast.
He changed the direction of his axe and knocked the knife away.
Steel rang loudly.
But the knife had never been meant to kill him.
It was bait.
I was already there.
My sword swung toward his neck.
He realized too late and twisted his body.
My blade struck his shoulder instead.
The impact sent a shock through my arms.
Too hard.
Too thick.
The wound was shallow.
Barely a real cut.
Danger.
I felt it immediately.
His counterattack came like thunder.
The axe roared toward my head.
I jumped backward, and the blade passed through the air exactly where my face had been a moment earlier.
Then the wind cut through the battlefield.
Margaretha was already back on her feet.
Her attacks came again.
One.
Two.
Three.
...
Seven.
Seven wind blades struck the exact same wound again and again.
The bald man growled in pain and turned toward her.
Robert immediately stepped forward and blocked him with his shield.
The impact echoed across the burning camp.
Robert stabbed toward the wound, but his sword bounced off the man's tough flesh.
Still, the wound opened a little deeper.
The bald man pushed Robert back again.
I moved forward and stabbed the same place.
My blade entered slightly before sliding back out.
His body felt like stone.
The axe came toward me again, and I barely managed to dodge.
Margaretha attacked once more.
This time, she didn't stop.
Her wind blades struck again and again, each one landing precisely on the same wound.
Ten strikes in rapid succession.
The man tried to turn and counterattack, but Robert blocked him every time.
The cycle repeated again.
And again.
And again.
Six times.
Gradually, the giant slowed down.
His breathing became rough and uneven, and his growls turned into loud, painful groans.
Then my blade finally pierced through his shoulder.
Margaretha suddenly moved beside me and kicked the side of my sword.
Wind exploded beneath her foot.
My blade drove deeper, all the way to the hilt.
The bald man screamed.
Robert grabbed the sword with both hands and shouted, "Both of you! Push when I jump!"
Then he jumped with all his strength.
The blade began to move.
Slowly.
Grinding.
Cutting.
Margaretha and I moved at the same time.
We slid beneath him and kicked Robert's foot upward while he was still in the air. Wind lifted both Margaretha and me slightly as our strength pushed forward together.
The sword moved cleanly.
From the shoulder.
To his neck.
Blood exploded into the air.
The head fell first.
The body collapsed right after.
For a moment, everything around us became quiet.
Only the fire continued to burn.
Only smoke filled the air.
And somewhere nearby, the other battle was still going on.