Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
The bandits were all on the verge of breakdown at this point, but the most depressing thing on earth was not some ruthless demon lord, but annoying pests. Even though Lin Li had killed more than a hundred men right from the start and frightened the whole Syer Bandits, they did not collapse entirely, as they knew that Lin Li was scarily powerful, and they would not have a chance to escape. Hence, all they could do was to grit their teeth and fight it out with him.
However, once the bandits realized that they could not harm him at all no matter what they did, their initial resolution started to waver…
The feeling of futility spread like an epidemic and infected all of them. They started to panic and lose hope, and began to look for ways to escape. If not for the presence of Vanskore, the remaining 200-some bandits would have been reduced to an army of headless chickens.
But even Vanskore was unable to prevent the breakdown of the bandits.
The last straw was a cloud of black fog that started spreading.
A cloud of black fog started appearing after Lin Li channeled his mental strength into the oil lamp, and the space around the mountain slope contorted weirdly. Before they could figure out what kind of magic this was, a deafening growl shook up the place…
“My God!”
“Monster, it’s a monster…”
“Good heavens, what kind of a creature is this?!”
“Run, my brothers…!”
The Humerus Wyrm was at least a few dozen meters long, and took up half the space on the mountain slope the minute it appeared. As it spread its bony wings, it took up the other half of the space on the mountain slope. Apart from Vanskore, the rest was at most at level-15, and some of them were only at level-10. How could they have seen anything as scary as a Humerus Wyrm?
They had initially planned on holding out for a little more, but as soon as the Humerus Wyrm appeared, they broke down completely. In an instant, their cries for help intensified; the bandits were scared out of their wits, leaving their weapons to run for their lives. They feared that the terrifying creature would catch up with them.
What a pity that they would never outrun a Humerus Wyrm’s ice flame given their abilities.
After letting out a deafening growl, the Humerus Wyrm opened its mouth, and the mountain slope was soon covered in its ice flames…
The Humerus Wyrm’s ice flame was so powerful that even a level-17 Archmage like Adelo nearly fell prey to it, much less these level-10 Bandits. All they saw was a blue light sweeping over the mountain slope before dozens of ice sculptures appeared.
This was a massacre as the level-20 Humerus Wyrm was in itself an undefeatable existence. Even the level-18 Vanskore was insignificant in the face of the Humerus Wyrm, much less the other bandits. Moreover, Vanskore was unable to do anything as he was bound by Lin Li’s Gravity Spell.
Even though Vanskore was a powerful level-18 Warrior, he was unable to retaliate before he was bound by Lin Li using a Gravity Spell. This was not unusual, as Lin Li was indeed terrifyingly powerful as he had benefited a lot from the fights in the Scar of Death. While he was still a level-19 Archmage in terms of strength, he was comparable to Legendary-mages in many other ways. Coupled with his seemingly endless mana and mental strength, Lin Li was only a step away from the Legendary-realm at this point.
Purely in terms of combat abilities, Lin Li was definitely the most powerful in the whole of Anril apart from the Legendary-realm individuals, and this was merely in terms of his own combat abilities. He might even be able to go against those in the Legendary-realm if he used both the Holy Light and Gloomy Dark as well…
This was way beyond what a level-18 Warrior like Vanskore was capable of going against, and it was merely a matter of wasting more energy for Lin Li.
“Good evening, Mr Vanskore. I didn’t think we would meet in such circumstances…” After binding Vanskore using a Gravity Spell, Lin Li was in no hurry to make a move; hence, he happily struck a conversation with the bandit leader.
“What… What do you want?” Half of his most elite men had died, and he was now bound by magic. It was no wonder that Vanskore’s usually calm demeanor was nowhere to be seen.
Vanskore was filled with utter regret after seeing for himself how powerful this young mage was.
If he’d known it would come to this, he would never have sent men to harass Black Clouds Town. To think that he had thought that this young man was a rising talent, and had even thought of buying him over for the Syer Bandits.
He had to have been blind, and should have known better than to mess with this young mage after he killed 30 of his men. Why had he not realized it earlier? To think that he’d even volunteered to help Hutton get rid of him. Look where this brought him? Even though he finally knew how powerful this young mage was, he had already paid too heavy a price. All of over 300 elites of the Syer Bandits were going to die here, and even if he did make it out alive of the Blackstone Mountains, the Syer Bandits would have lost their position as one of the top 10 bandit groups in the Breezy Plains…
“Calm down, Mr Vanskore. I just want to ask you something…”
“What is it?” Vanskore’s heart skipped a beat as his initially dull gaze suddenly brightened up. He already knew what kind of a person he was going against even before the fight. This mage was unusually ruthless, and even though he was young, he was a seasoned executioner who did not hesitate to kill. Vanskore never thought that he would make it out alive if he were to ever fall in the hands of such a person.
But this person seemed to be asking something from him…
This discovery made Vanskore heave a sigh in relief as this made everything easier. While he was merely a bandit leader, he had accumulated considerable wealth after all those years, and would be able to give Lin Li a satisfactory answer regardless of whether it was wealth or equipment that he desired. If Lin Li was still not pleased, Vanskore could well give him everything he had. It was alright, nothing was more important that staying alive…
As long as he was still alive, it was only a matter of time before he would get it all back.
He would not even have to wait long. All he had to do was make it alive to the Dragon Mountains, where he could agree to Master Lucin’s terms. As long as he had the help of Master Lucin, he would be able to take back everything he had lost—even the life of this young mage…
“It’s nothing much, actually…” Lin Li had no idea what Vanskore was thinking, and he did not care about it, either. Why would he bother with whatever a dying man was thinking?
“Rest assured that if it is anything I own, I will give it to you without any hesitation as long as you’ll let me go. I can even give you the whole of Dragon Mountains, there is a treasure cove that I’ve had for over a decade, and you can easily buy half of Doland with all the riches inside…” Vanskore hurriedly added, fearing that Lin Li would change his mind.
“Alright. Since you’re so generous, Mr Vanskore, I will cut to the chase. I’m interested in taking over your men. Well, I’ve got no choice, you see, I was forced to become the President of some Guild, and there are matters that I’m unable to see to myself. So, I’m going to need some help, but then there’s a problem. As you know, your men are immensely loyal to you, and may not listen to my orders, so I’d like to discuss with you to see if I can threaten them with your death…”
“You…” Vanskore’s face paled, and he suddenly channeled all of his Combat Energy to try and break free from the Gravity Spell. Unfortunately, his struggle was too late. Just as he channeled all his Combat Energy, a blood-red vine crept up his neck…
And thus, the Combat Energy of a level-18 Warrior eventually lost to a tiny blood-vine.
The thorn in the heart of Roland City and the head of one of the most powerful bandit groups in the Breezy Plains had been vanquished by a tiny blood-vine…
The killing on the mountain slope came to stop just as Vanskore took his last breath. Only 10 of the over 300 bandits were spared. Even then, they were spared only because Lin Li had given the Humerus Wyrm orders to do so, allowing them to leave the Blackstone Mountains alive.
It was because Lin Li needed people to bring the message back to the Dragon Mountains.
Lin Li could not care less as to what reaction the people at the Dragon Mountains would have to such a message, because he had more important matters to see to at the moment.
“Hey, wake up, the sun’s shining on you…” After turning the whole Syer Bandits upside-down, Lin Li was in no hurry to return to the Malfa Family’s campsite. Instead, he kicked the unlucky bandit who had fallen next to him.
“Ah…” After a few consecutive kicks from Lin Li, the unlucky bandit finally woke up, but his sight was still blurry as he was out for a while.
Of course, that did not last long, as he quickly realized who had kicked him awake…
The unlucky bandit paled as soon as he saw Lin Li. “I-I-It’s… It’s you!”
“Why, you know me?”
The unlucky bandit did not even dare to look at the smiling man as he buried his head and gulped with difficulty, hesitating for a while before he chose to answer truthfully. “Y-yes.”
“Tell me about it.”
“You once took off my pants in Black Clouds Town…”
“…”
