Chapter 37: The Bandit Leader Subjugation - II (1/2)

"Alright, I'll be off" Merlin gave the guards a nod before flicking his hood up

He held the torch out in front of hi the path only ten meters in front of hi as he took a step past the reach of the lantern's light The hair on his arms stood on end, and an unco he'd be attacked any moment now, he prepared hiht where he knew he'd be safe

A few seconds passed and he had only taken two steps, it was obvious to see frouard raised, clearly afraid of so in the dark forest

"Well, you haven't been attacked yet, so you're probably good" The talkative guard quipped

Merlin slightly chuckled at the reuard received another poke froht Thanks" Merlin shook off the feeling of anxiety that swamped his mind as he took a few uard raised but at least he wasn't paralysed with fear

Merlin h the forest path onceup the surrounding treeline, the best he could see of his surroundings were h the trees, fortunately Merlin's cloak protected hiree The as still cold, but the torch provided some level of warmth to counter it

As he continued on his journey, this ti for his life, he started listening closer to the forest's sounds The leaves rustling in the wind, the sound of crickets chirping around him, the crunchy sound of dirt under his boots as he traversed the well-trodden path What startled his, assumed to be a nocturnal predator that had just scored awhen he noticed four light sources in the distance, this seehly the location where he had first interacted with the bandits, two of which had rizzly fate at the hands of the undead creature He was a little confused as to why there were four lights, but perhaps ht, unfortunately he wasn't all knowing

As he ainst ed to a different party, one that was hostile to the bandits, whether that be players or NPCs of souards perhaps

Merlin was now a short distance away, the ones fighting the bandits appeared to be players, he could see the general design of their clothing, but couldn't make out the details

"Another one has come, we need to finish this up quickly" One of the players yelled out Merlin noticed that this player's voice sounded somewhat familiar

A couple of the bandits turned around, finally noticing Merlin standing a s to speak up when an arro past his head, ailint of the arrow, even aht, Merlin stepped out of the way, or he thought he had In reality the arrow had curved slightly, allowing it to raze

There were various types of tracking arrows, but this was different, this was slightthat did it this early in the garowth, coue, he didn't appreciate getting shot at, even by accident A notification appeared before him that instantly improved his mood, and a plan quickly formulated in his mind

「You have been attacked by player 'LordKyle' Everyone within their party has beenpenalties」

Merlin dashed forward, the two re bandits took a defensive stance, but then were surprised as he siht The player with the bow loaded another arrow, but by the time he was ready to shoot, Merlin was already in his face ready to strike and had started chanting a skill under his breath

「Skill ⟪Sucker-punch⟫ Activated, your next unarer the stun effect for 3 seconds」

Merlin sunk his fist into the player's face, effectively breaking his nose A notification jingle played in hishim that the skill took effect The player tripped over his own feet and fell on his back, he was now stunned for the next three seconds

An evil grin appeared on Merlin's face, the faint torchlight cast shadows on his face that only served to amplify his maniacal expression He turned to face the other two players, both of which only had starting equipet an iteoblin bow

Merlin pounced towards the nearest player, besides the one he just stunned, he drew his gladius, and as his torch got close enough to light up the player's features, Merlin realised who this was

"Oh hey, it's the goblin's pincushi+on" He let out aat the player's throat with his gladius

This person was one of the three who followed Merlin into the Lycoa forest, specifically the first player to fall victi pelted with several arrows after stepping into the goblin camp

The player was about to respond, but before he could do so he received another quick strike across the throat, followed by a killing blow Merlin's blade cleaved through the player as the corpse dropped to the ground The player standing behind him screamed when he saw Merlin's eyes lock on to hi as he pounced on that player

「Skill ⟪Heavy Strike⟫ Activated, your next attack will do an extra 30 daer effect」