Chapter 43 | Elimination Points

The Boss released a hearty guffaw. His voice echoed through the forest as blood drenched his body. Around him lay the bisected bodies of more than fifty valiant knights.

His subordinates searched their bodies for valuables. Stripped them of their still usable armor pieces and piled them in a corner for later retrieval.

Still, after that big a fight, even The Boss didn’t go unwounded. There was a deep gash in his back and on his upper left arm. Sure. There were those potions that they had looted from the knights. But the effectiveness of them dropped sharply for stronger warriors like him. It simply didn’t contain enough vitality to restore his potent body.

“Are you okay, boss?” Ragnar, his trusted aide, asked.

“Indeed, I am fine, Ragnar. How can I not be? Now that we have smashed the head of the snake,” he said. His gaze turned downward as he slammed his foot down on the severed head of the Knight Lieutenant Gerard. “The rest will come crumbling.”

“Indeed, Boss. They can’t hold a candle to you,” Ragnar said with that sleazy tone of his. The Boss liked the guy a lot. How could he not? He was the perfect aide to have. Resourceful, smart, and knew how to suck up to him.

“How is the left wing? Did they penetrate the lines and enter the outpost?”

Ragnar’s smile faltered for a moment. That was rare.

“Our forces are being… Halted, apparently,” he answered. “The knights seemed to have gotten help. There is a first-rate warrior. Our scouts say that he is slightly weaker than the Knight Lieutenant bastard in aura. His skills, they couldn’t comment on.”

“Is that all? That shouldn’t be enough to completely stop our men,” The Boss said with his arms crossed. He had particularly poured many resources into the left wing, so they could penetrate fast and take over the outpost for his arrival.

Sure, a first-rate warrior was strong, but he shouldn’t have been able to stop the march of that many people on his own. Some would have sneaked through.

“There was apparently a mage, too. From the gray tower. Though, he did seem to specialize in fire magic.”

“Hm? What do gray tower mages specialize in normally?” The Boss asked. Knowledge about mages wasn’t commonplace.

“Gray tower mages usually deal with magic arrays and magical machinery. Not fireballs.”

“Hmm… Whatever. A puny mage won’t be much of a problem,” The Boss shrugged. He then patted Ragnar’s back. “And you even know about mages! Good job. This is why I keep you around.”

Ragnar groaned, not because he was being rebellious, but because the simple pat he had given him on the back had caused him to stumble forward, then fall face-first onto the ground.

Getting up, the sleazy man spat a mouthful of dirt and smiled again.

“Thanks, Boss.”

Again and again, Theo was quick to realize that his hands would get dirty tonight. Irrevocably. The smell of charred flesh was a constant. He felt a slight tinge of guilt, but the grateful thanks and nods of the knights doused the flames of worry quickly.

After all, every bandit he killed was a potential life saved.

He didn’t think he was doing some noble deed, no. If he were truly a just person, he would have let that bandit go and allowed him the chance to repent or come back to bite them in the ass in another battle.

His actions were simple. He had a quest he wanted to complete, he had a place he wanted to protect, and he had a person whom he wanted to keep safe.

So I was right… I really would ki- I really wouldn’t spare the lives of my enemies if I were the main character, Theo thought. Still, the word ‘kill’ felt a bit too gruesome, so he opted not to use it.

“Watch out!” Theo heard Satou shout. Before he could react, an arrow flew from the forest and slammed right into his upper biceps. Blood splattered around as Theo took a deep breath through his teeth. This time, the arrow had penetrated quite deeply.

Theo was by no means resistant to pain, but he had realized that it was easier to keep his focus up when the other way around literally meant death.

Stepping back to let the knights handle the fight, Theo gritted his teeth and pulled the arrow out slowly. Normally, this would have been both crazy and incredibly reckless. But his vitality and potion made sure the wound quickly scabbed over. It would stop stinging in a few minutes and wouldn’t cause any mobility issues at all.

Taking that into account, Theo got up and started helping out from a distance.

He had initially been skeptical. How much could a newbie like him help out in a fight, after all? The answer was, a lot. Apparently, having a mage that could tank arrow shots and sword hits while constantly peppering the enemy with bizarre spells was a huge advantage.

Also, from the weird looks he was receiving, Theo could somewhat figure out his mana reserves were absurd for a mage of his level. He was spending without reservation, and his mana had barely dipped below half.

His mana had recently reached 12.781. But unlike other stats, which seemed like the norm for the average adult was 1.000, mana didn’t have an average like that. After all, most people didn’t have mana at all. Then, how much mana did the average first robe mage have? That was a secret he would have to figure out once he went to the mage tower.

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Before he could realize, another engagement was over. The bandits were mowed down, and with Satou’s and Theo’s help, no knights had fallen on their side.

“They have a lot of people,” Theo commented absent-mindedly. Satou flicked his forehead, making Theo jump in shock. “What!?”

“You are losing focus again. That whole fight, you were blankly shooting fireballs,” Satou said. “But your observation is correct. If not for us, this task force would have already been obliterated. I think we have seen enough bandits to take down the outpost on this side alone. And we haven’t even seen the enemy’s main force yet.”

“…Yeah. They probably have a first-rate too,” Theo commented with a sigh. He could only hope he didn’t, but if Lieutenant Gerard died… Well, things would get hectic. “I think I’m going to check my notifications.”

[Eliminate Bandits (Repeatable) completed!]

[Eliminate Bandits (Repeatable)]

[The Bandittide is forming, the bandit lords are gathering their henchmen around them. Give them the time they need, and they will become a force not to be trifled with. Squash them.]

[Eliminate Bandits 29/100]