Chapter 15 - Awakening (1/2)
Hei got up from the ground after recovering a bit from the two previous fights. Although he felt pain in his arms, it was still at a bearable level, and it didn't prevent him from moving and fighting.
Before continuing, he began to rummage the body of the second man. On this one, he found other knives that he put together with those he found on the first corpse.
These were small knives, used mainly to be thrown out quickly as a diversion or to catch the opponent by surprise. To help the throwing, they were attached to a leather belt on the waist so that the user could stretch their arms and be able to throw them immediately.
Hei, therefore, took one of these belts, and, as he felt uncomfortable with this on his waist, he fixed it on the upper part of his body with the knives positioned diagonally on his chest. There are a total of 7 knives, which Hei hoped they could prove themselves useful.
In addition to the knives, he changed his sword with the other one used by the second man, as the first one he had taken was now about to split. After this, he set off again.
Fortunately, he didn't encounter other enemies along the way, and he arrived at his destination.
Once he arrived, he hid in a corner, and from there, he could see the surviving inhabitants sitting on the ground, huddled towards the house of the village chief and the square. The stage and the various tables for the festival had been destroyed to have more space.
Around them, there was a myriad of men dressed in dark clothes with weapons of various types in their hands. Approximately, there are only a hundred of them on the square, but it was likely that their number was higher since they could rapidly subdue the village
The villagers amounted to about a thousand people, but considering that most of them consisted of women, children, and the elderly, their fighting strength was far less. Moreover, not all the men were fighters, and most of them find it hard to stand up due to alcohol.
There was a high risk of sending all the helpless to their deaths. Besides, they weren't in conditions to fight and didn't have weapons with them. So, in the end, they couldn't do anything but accept for the moment such a situation. This was also because the assailants appeared not to have the intention of exterminating them at the moment.
The only thing they could hope for was that someone traveling there would see the smoke and alert the Leaf City so that they could send a rescue team. Alternatively, that an expert would come to save them, but they didn't hope too much for this as it is unthinkable for them that someone able to kill all these bandits would walk around nearby at this moment.
Yes, these men were bandits. They were part of a group called Blades of Slaughter. It was a group founded long ago, but that had acquired more and more power during the last decade.
You have to know that the Rainbow Island was divided into three kingdoms: Lake Kingdom, Mountain Kingdom, and Forest Kingdom. Leaf City and Leaf Village were located in the Leaf Region, one of the regions that composed the Forest Kingdom
The Blades of Slaughter's leader was called Little Blade and was the younger brother of the bandit chief who had assaulted a group of merchants twelve years ago but ended as a victim of a spirit beast that took a baby unbeknownst to anyone.
Overwhelmed by the pain of the loss, he began to look for clues on the incident, only to discover there wasn't an actual culprit. The local authorities declared that the culprit for that incident was a spirit beast. But since the carcass of the creature had never been shown in the city, it was difficult to believe. Even the possibility that it had been a traveling expert was hardly credible; after all, if he had really been a human, he would alert the authorities or at least burn or bury the bodies.
Since the Forest Kingdom King chose the lord of Leaf City among the city's most influential families, it was assumed that there were power games. Little Blade came to the conclusion that his brother had been killed in that way to make it pass like a severe accident caused by a spirit beast and thus shake the reputation of the family in charge of the city or perhaps it had been orchestrated by the same family in charge to prove they were still able to fix the problems and protect the territory assigned to them by the king.
Infuriated that his brother had died from others' power games, Little Blade decided he would get revenge. Thus in 12 years, he incorporated the various scattered groups of bandits forming an actual military force of 500 men. His goal was to take revenge on the real perpetrators, but since 500 men were still too few to directly assault a city, he decided to use the Leaf Village as an exchange pawn with the Leaf City.
Regardless of whether they would accept or not his requests, the prominent families in the city would suffer a severe blow in their power and prestige.
For this reason, he had expressly ordered not to kill the inhabitants for the time being. Except for the first who had fallen during the attack, serving as an example in case they wanted to rebel.
On seeing this scene, Hei's heart was calm, and he remained in his hiding place to carefully observe to formulate an action plan. During his hunting training, Hei had learned how to be patient and analyze the situation, waiting for the prey to make a false step before jumping against it.
After all, charge directly against so many enemies would be stupid. He knew the limits of his abilities, and he would never do such a thing unless he was confident in his means or had been forced to act accordingly.
Unfortunately, the situation didn't develop the way he wanted. Soon, he could hear the cries of a woman being dragged along on the ground with the cries of various children. When he saw who it was, Hei's blood froze completely.
It was Lei Lei, the one who was being pulled by the hair by one of the bandits while trying to free herself from the grip. Blood was coming out of her mouth, a sign that she had been hit, and her new dress had become completely dirty. Even the children who were with her were being dragged in the same way by the other bandits.
”Lei! Bastards! What the f*ck did you do to her?! I'll kill you!!! ”
A man rose from the village people sitting on the ground. It was Lei Bai, Lei Lei's father. He had kept his cool at first because he knew his daughter was outside the village with Hei and must have escaped the danger. However, seeing her wounded and treated that way, his blood boiled. At the same time, a murderous fury began to form against those who had harmed his daughter.
With a sprint, he headed towards Lei Lei's position as he charged against the man who was pulling her hair. But, after doing a few meters, he felt something mighty hit his side, sending him flying several meters while he landed sprawled on the ground.
”Dad!! No! Please, answer- ” She began to scream. However, she received a punch in her face from the man who was carrying her, fainting due to the blow.
”Pieces of sh*t, didn't I tell you to stand guard?! Why the f*ck could he run there? If you don't want to be beaten to death, do as I tell you.” A man with an imposing appearance said. He was six feet tall with short black hair. His eyes were small, but they still contained a sharpness that seemed to be able to peer into people. From the attitude that the other bandits had towards him, it appeared that he was the elusive leader who had brought them together.
Turning to the man who was carrying Lei Lei, he said while pointing at Bai, ”Take that man over there and put him together with the others.” Turning then to ask another of his subordinates, ”There is no news from the troops outside yet, right? Remember to report if there is any news immediately.”
To avoid being caught off guard, he had sent most of his men out of the village. In that way, they could report if there were any movements nearby. Fortunately, Hei and Lei Lei had entered a side not yet covered by their surveillance, and for this reason, they were able to enter without being seen.
After witnessing all this, Hei could no longer hold his heart in turmoil. Although he was very calm and rational, he became very passionate and emotional when it came to people who were dear to him. Lei Lei and Lei Bai had become part of those people and seeing them treated that way, a rage that had never existed before, exploded in his heart.