266 Bandits 2 (1/2)
Chapter 266: Bandits 2
Inside the rock pit.
Garen felt Andy patting him. When he raised his head, he noticed Andy tapping the other two of them as well. Next, he mouthed the things he was trying to say.
”Wait for them to leave, and then spread out immediately! Don’t stop! The people from the marshall squad should be arriving soon. My black panther is leading them here.”
”Understood,” Garen nodded. The other two nodded silently as well.
The footsteps began to leave slowly.
Suddenly.
Waa… Waa…!
No one knew when the baby by Jessica’s side had woken up, and now he was crying loudly with his mouth wide open. Even though Jessica rushed to muffled his mouth, the noise had already escaped.
The sound of the footsteps stopped again.
Garen’s heart rose to the back of his throat. He saw Andy instructing him with his gaze: Spread out and run. He understood, the current black panther squad was still not as strong as it would be in the future. Two form one totem users, one disabled totem and his own support totem were up against at least three legitimate totem users, with one of them being a form two as well.
The difference in strength was far too large.
It was like a community policeman going up against a fully armoured special forces soldier. Not to mention that a form two totem user would possess specialized abilities, making the difference even greater.
”This is bad…” Garen could sense that the black robes had probably realised that they were hiding here.
”The noise from earlier probably came from here,” said the black robed woman in a low voice.
The footsteps began to move towards the direction of the four youngsters.
Andy and Jessica’s faces were pale as ghosts, while Goth was grinding his teeth and balling his hands into tight fists, looking as if he was ready to burst out at any moment.
Garen’s heart began to sink.
”Found them! There really were people hiding here!” The woman in the black robe exclaimed loudly out of the blue.
”Run!” Andy roared loudly.
Garen grabbed a fistful of small stones and leaped out of the pit.
Tch tch tch!
The stones flew towards the sky and fell back down towards the black robes, unearthing a heap of soil and dust in the process.
********************
On top of a nearby slope.
Seven to eight White Horsemen followed a blank panther, rushing in the direction of the Black Panther squad.
The man leading the group was a White Horseman in black leather pants who wore a round brimmed woven straw hat, looking out of place. He had a scruffy beard growing on his chin, making him look quite different from the usual portrayal of the White Horsemen.
”Hurry up, everyone! Head to the small hill up in front!”
A woman in a similar straw hat followed closely behind him, furrowing her brows as she said: ”Captain Jefferson, is there really any need for us marshalls to be called over for this? It’s just some bandits. Even if there were totem users they’d just be one or two stage one totems. It seems to me like someone’s making a big deal out of nothing.”
”Just follow your orders, no need to question them,” said the middle-aged leader impatiently. He kept his eyes fixated on what lay in front of him. ”Everything would be easy if only it was so straightforward… Everyone, prepare to fight!”
At that moment, out of the seven or eight White Horsemen, five of them released their totems, illuminating their silver luminescence.
Jefferson put on a leather glove and stroked it gently as a ray of black light flew out of his palm and fell on his shoulder. Instantly, a black hawk with a red cockscomb on its head appeared.
The black hawk opened its beak, showing off its sharp saw-like black teeth.
Jefferson noticed that the black panther had began to growl softly in a worried manner.
”Pick up the speed!” He roared loudly. His right hand pointed towards the sky as he yelled: ”Go!”
The black hawk let out a soft whistle-like ‘caw’ as it spread its powerful wings and raced towards the sky.
********************
”Ahnuxida!”
The black robed woman’s voice rang loudly in the air. Without Jessica here to translate, Garen couldn’t understand a word she was saying.
He leaped upwards and ran down the S-shaped road behind him.
Turning around to look back, he saw that the black robes had dispersed into a few groups to chase after Andy and Goth, while Jessica was holding the baby and hiding in another crack between some rocks.
The stones from earlier had barely scratched the black robes. When the stones crashed onto the surface of their clothes, they disintegrated into specs of beige coloured dust immediately,
A lot of the dust had been scattered everywhere by the wind, obstructing their vision.
Garen noticed that the leader of the black robes was now unconsciously moving towards Jessica’s location.
He narrowed his eyes and kicked a large rock.
Whoosh!
The rock flew towards the black robed man and hit his head, before turning into a pile of powder. The leader of the black robes let out a cold scream and spun around before laying his eyes on Garen. Meanwhile, the black python on his shoulder stuck its tongue out and hissed.
Garen trusted that Jessica had already seen what he was trying to do, so he turned around and ran.
”Jessica, the woman that Goth will end up falling in love with in the future. I’ve saved you once. This good deed will definitely be very valuable in the future.” He continued to concentrate on the task at hand, and willed his legs to speed up as he dashed towards the slope behind him.
Suddenly, a bone-chilling sensation began to crawl up his body.
Garen spared no time before falling onto the floor and rolling down the slope. A ray of green light began travelling downwards from the top of his head.
The green light was like a thread. It shot straight in front onto a large rock. The white rock was immediately dyed into a large green mess, as the rock began to release a sizzling like sound of corrosion. The hard rock then began to melt into a sticky green puddle that flowed towards the ground.
Garen felt a gush of cold air emitting from his forehead, and dared not to conceal his power any longer. He stomped the ground with all his might and dashed forward, looking as if he was a white shadow racing down the slope in front.
”Gadate!” The sound of the black robed leader’s voice echoed behind him. The sizzling noise could be heard once again, as two rays of green line shot towards the slopes behind Garen, corroding the earth and stones nearby into a puddle of green, sticky liquid.
Garen refrained from turning his head but continued running down the slope instead. He covered his right elbow with his left hand, as his elbow had been slightly grazed by the green light earlier. There was a hole in his pale blue luminescence and his clothes were already starting to corrode. The cloth that had corroded turned into dots of green liquid that dripped on his skin, making him feel a searing pain as it touched his flesh.