Chapter Sixteen: The Strange Man

  "Hurry up, we can't let those two guys get away."

  Raymond and Babs made their way quickly through the woods, tracking down Dennis and Matthew.

  The reinforcements of Rudes and the garrison cavalry threw the remaining bandits in the camp into a desperate situation. Under the joint attack of Haiding's garrison, the guards under Raymond, and the reinforcing cavalry, most of the bandits became corpses on the ground.

  Only a few who were quick-witted and realized that continuing to resist would be tantamount to seeking death, so they quickly dropped their weapons and surrendered, thus preserving their lives.

  According to statistics after the event, nearly 700 bandits were killed, with more than two-thirds of them being wiped out. The 200 people brought by Jerek were even more annihilated. It can only be said that they were unlucky. In the special terrain of the valley, Luz transformed into a Bimon beast blocking one end, and the remaining cavalry blocked the other end, leaving the thieves with no choice but to be surrounded.

  As for Raymond's side, the 50 cavalry suffered the greatest loss, with only 34 surviving. However, they captured the bandits' horses, and after replenishment, the cavalry would be able to expand to over a hundred men.

  The defending team, thanks to Shawn's correct tactics, suffered minimal losses, with many wounded but only 12 dead, which can be said to be perfect.

  It was actually Harlott's gang that suffered the least losses, their combat strength was relatively strong to begin with, and they were fighting a winning battle, so they hardly encountered any decent resistance, as a result only three people died, and not many were injured.

  It is unbelievable that with such a small cost, nearly 700 people from three strong bandit groups were annihilated. Who could have imagined that in the face of an enemy with numerical superiority and the advantage of having a fortified camp, they would only pay such a small price to achieve complete victory?

  All in all, it was due not only to the use of "advanced weapons" like incendiary bombs but also to Raymond's pre-war planning genius.

  In this way, the bandits who had been rampaging outside of Haidington for a whole year were completely annihilated. And as for the creator of this miracle, everyone admired him to the point of prostration.

  But that's a story for later, at this time Raymond and Balthazar were not even having the chance to celebrate their victory as they were chasing after Dennis and Matthew who were escaping in the woods.

  To find out why these robbers came to Headington and why they lingered without leaving, the two robber chiefs were the key, so Raymond must catch them.

  The other side took advantage of their familiarity with the surrounding terrain and the cover of night to escape very quickly. If not for Bastet's innate feline keen senses, they would have been long gone.

  At this time, the two stood in a clearing in the woods, with the cat girl crouching on the ground, intently observing a trail of footprints that extended into the dense forest, as well as several clumps of unremarkable wild grass that had been trampled down.

  "Meow, they think they can lead us astray with footprints, but unfortunately, it's useless on us." A moment later, Bastet pointed in the opposite direction of the footprints with a smug expression: "It's over there."

  "Quickly." Raymond didn't hesitate and ran in that direction. Unless they were high-ranking thieves or first-rate hunters, no one could deceive Bastet in this regard.

  After chasing for a while, when turning over a hillside, Raymond suddenly heard a surprised voice coming from the front: "Is it you? How can you be in this place?"

  That's Matthew's voice.

  "Right ahead!" Raymond's heart leaped with joy. In order not to startle the other party, he made a gesture to Barbara, and the two slowed down their pace, quietly sneaking in that direction.

  At this time, Matthew's voice continued to come: "Sorry, we lost our grip, but..."

  Raymond felt a strange sensation, as if the other party had met someone they knew here. But this is a desolate mountain wilderness, how could someone suddenly appear, unless it was their accomplice?

  Just then Matthew's voice suddenly rose and became extremely terrified: "What's going on? You... how did you suddenly become like this?"

  At the same time, Dennis also cried out in fear: "That's not a person, quick... run!"

  Then came a series of chaotic sounds, interspersed with Matthew and Dennis's cries.

  Raymond shouted "Not good!" and something extremely terrible must have happened on the other side. He couldn't hide his tracks anymore, so he and Bast rushed towards the direction of the sound immediately.

  As he turned to the other side of the hill, what he saw immediately stunned Raymond.

  All that was seen was a mysterious man in a grayish-white robe standing with his back to the two on a grassy plain. At his feet lay two corpses, which were Matthew and Dennis from their clothing.

  But what really caught his attention was that the man had both hands pressed down, facing the corpse on the ground, and muttered unknown incantations in his mouth. As he chanted, a grayish mist-like substance emerged from the two corpses and was absorbed into his hands.

  The scene was so bizarre that Raymond felt as if a basin of ice water had been poured over his head, and a chill ran through his entire body. He almost instinctively drew his sword: "Who are you?"

  It seemed that he had only just noticed the presence of the two, and the man slowly turned around. Due to it being nighttime, his face was hidden under a wide hat brim, making it impossible to see clearly.

  "Who are you and why did you kill them?" Raymond continued to ask.

  The other party stood still, motionless and silent, like a lifeless sculpture.

  Raymond's heart was filled with increasing trepidation and tension, although the other party had not made any dangerous moves so far, but even when he faced Hakken's pursuit and killing, he had never been so uneasy.

  This guy in front of me is absolutely extremely dangerous!

  At this time, the Bastet beside him stood up all over his body, the cat woman's eyes emitted a deterrent cold light, she lightly gritted her teeth, her body slightly leaned forward, her hands tightly grasped the knife handle at her waist, with a posture that wanted to attack but did not dare to act rashly.

  It's clear that her animal instincts gave her the same feelings as Raymond.

  Gritting his teeth, Raymond took a step forward: "If you don't answer..."

  Before he could finish speaking, the man's right hand, shrouded in his cloak, lifted slightly, and in an instant a long spear made entirely of white bones appeared out of thin air, shooting straight at Raymond.

  His heart greatly shocked, Raymond hastily raised his sword to block, and with a surge of great force transmitted from the sword, he involuntarily retreated one step. The bone spear was knocked flying, and due to its collision with the sword body, it sparked a burst of sparks.

  It was just then that Mars shone brightly for a moment, and Raymond took advantage of the faint light to see his opponent's appearance under the hood.

  That was a face he would never forget. The man under the hood, looking around 50 years old, had a stern and solemn expression, with high cheekbones and sharp facial features that were not at all coarse, but rather had an air of dignity that only good breeding could bring, like a noble from another era.

  But all of this was overshadowed by his eerie pale grey skin and the pupils in his eyes, which seemed to be two tiny flames dancing. Just like Dennis's dying exclamation, this was absolutely not an ordinary human being!

  "Who... who are you?"

  At this time, seeing the young master being attacked, the cat woman let out a sharp cry and instantly rushed up close to the ground, with her curved knife chopping towards that man.

  "Don't!" Raymond hastily stopped him, but it was too late.

  The man under the hood hummed a low tune, and at the same time his hand under his robe made some unknown movement. In an instant, as if bursting open a water flower, countless bone spurs suddenly sprang up from the ground in a chaotic manner, rushing towards Bastard.

  Never had she encountered such a bizarre attack, Bastet was momentarily stunned, those bone spurs were already upon her, and even with the agility of a catgirl, she couldn't dodge them.

  At the critical moment, Raymond didn't think twice and threw out the long sword in his hand. The heavy treasure sword rotated, bringing a dull wind whistling sound, and slammed into that pile of bone thorns, immediately hearing a series of cracking sounds, and countless shattered bones splashed everywhere, the cat woman who was almost stabbed took advantage of the opportunity to quickly retreat.

  Unexpectedly, he was escaped by the opponent, and the mysterious man was about to attack again. Just then, Raymond's sword was inserted into the ground at an angle, with the hilt facing him.

  Then the man saw on the hilt a badge of a white dove holding four-leaf clover.

  "What's this?" His movements paused for a moment, and then, seemingly from his body, an invisible ripple suddenly radiated outward, causing the wide cloak outside to undulate in layers.

  At the same time, the man raised his head. Although his face was still hidden in the shadow of his hood, a pair of wildly jumping flames suddenly flashed out from that darkness, and they were exactly where the man's eyes should be.

  He... seems extremely excited?

  I don't know what triggered this man's reaction, but Raymond clearly sensed that the dangerous aura emanating from him had almost reached its peak.

  Unconsciously, he and Bastet stepped back step by step.

  The mysterious man took a step forward, seemingly wanting to reach out and grab the sword. Just then, he seemed to sense some kind of call, and suddenly turned his head back.

  The man hesitated for a moment, then slowly exhaled. He looked deeply at Raymond, but suddenly ignored the two of them, took a slight step back, and stepped into the shadow cast by the trees, disappearing from sight.

  Until he had completely disappeared, Raymond and Barbara let out a deep breath of relief.

  "Master, what exactly is it?" Bast asked with a lingering sense of fear.

  "I don't know either." Raymond shook his head: "I've never seen such a terrible guy for the first time."

  "My goodness, I almost thought we were done for this time." Even the normally optimistic Bast said something like that, showing just how dangerous things had been.

  Raymond let out a long sigh and stepped forward to draw his sword. He had a premonition that the strong reaction of the person who suddenly appeared just now seemed to be related to this sword of his own.

  As he thought back to the various things that this sword had brought him, directly or indirectly, after leaving the Beastman Empire, Ramon couldn't help but sigh inwardly, "Mom, you really did give me a 'good thing', didn't you?"

  At this time, Basute walked over: "Young master, what should we do now?"

  "Take a look at Matthew and Dennis' corpses. Raymond sighed: "These two guys are already dead, what else can we do? Let's go back."

  To think that I would run into such an unusual encounter while chasing after them - am I lucky or unlucky?

  Anyway, the person was already dead, and staying longer would be of no benefit. So Raymond and Barbara left the place. Before walking into the woods, Raymond couldn't help but turn his head back again to take a look at the pile of shattered bones on the ground.

  Today's second update