Mastery Is Earned

Through the wooden door, Raymond warned them, “Stay at the back of the cell and keep away from the door. No one comes out until everything outside has gone quiet.”

The woman nodded firmly. Raymond put away the keys, drew the sword at his waist, and turned to leave the cave.

“There he is! Quick, over there!”

“Hahaha! He can't get out! The gate's locked!”

“Everyone, get him! Kill that damned bastard!”

The bandits' shouts rang continuously through the darkened camp. It seemed Henk had run straight for the gate upon leaving the cave. Everyone's attention had been drawn to the camp entrance, leaving the area around the cave unguarded and giving Raymond an opportunity to act.

He quickly surveyed the camp. Many of the torches used for illumination had either been extinguished or knocked to the ground. Raymond could not tell whether Henk had done it deliberately or merely by accident. Darkness enveloped almost the entire camp. A single watchtower stood above the main gate.

An archer holding a longbow stood atop it, looking down over the camp. He continually called out Henk's location so the other bandits would not lose track of him completely. Every so often, he also drew his bow and loosed an arrow at Henk.

Most of the archer's attention was fixed on Henk, and he did not immediately notice Raymond emerging from the direction of the cave. As long as the archer kept reporting his position, Henk would be unable to use the darkness to shake off his attackers. Raymond had to eliminate him first.

He acted at once, lowering his body and slowly approaching the watchtower along the wooden palisade at the edge of the camp. Moving stealthily through the darkness was extremely difficult. Tools and stones lay scattered everywhere. Raymond nearly tripped several times and had no choice but to slow down as he carefully felt his way to the base of the watchtower.

The tower was made of timber. Even though Raymond deliberately moved as quietly as possible, the boards still creaked beneath his feet. Under ordinary circumstances, such sounds would easily have raised the alarm. Fortunately, the chaotic shouts of battle in the camp quickly drowned out the creaking boards. Unable to tell whether the archer above had heard him, Raymond could only continue upward.

When he reached the top, the archer appeared not to have noticed. His back remained turned to the stairs as he continued tracking Henk's position. Raymond tightened his grip on his sword, aimed at the archer's back, and thrust. Unexpectedly, just before the point struck, the archer suddenly sidestepped and avoided the attack.

As he turned, his left hand drew a dagger from his waist and slashed directly at Raymond's neck. The sudden reversal made Raymond's heart jolt, but his expression remained steady as he instinctively leaned his head back. The blade flashed past so close that it nearly sliced open his throat.

Despite missing, the archer showed no alarm. Instead, he dropped his longbow and drew a second dagger with his right hand. The two daggers moved in a blur. He was plainly skilled not only with a bow, but with daggers as well.

“Did you really think I couldn't hear you on the stairs?” The archer looked at Raymond contemptuously. “So that bastard does have an accomplice.”

After cursing him, the archer charged Raymond with both daggers whirling. Raymond barely managed to fend off the assault with his sword. The top of the watchtower was extremely cramped, leaving no room to wield his one-handed sword properly.

Once the archer closed in, his two daggers remained constantly poised to strike Raymond's chest, abdomen, or throat. Raymond could only grip his sword in both hands and block repeatedly, with no opportunity to draw the shortsword at his waist.

His sword could not match the speed and versatility of two daggers in such close quarters. The archer's attacks were quick and difficult to predict, his daggers stabbing at Raymond's vital points from constantly changing directions. Before long, several cuts marked Raymond's body, the worst of them opening a wound near his collarbone.

Fortunately, it was shallow. Only a little blood seeped out, and no vital area had been struck.

The archer retreated two steps and toyed with his daggers, regarding Raymond with utter contempt. He opened his mouth to speak, but a sudden rush of air came from below the watchtower. The severed lower half of a body flew out of the darkness and slammed into the archer, knocking him to the floor.

Raymond did not let the opportunity pass. He planted one foot on the archer's right hand and drove his sword straight into the man's back. The archer's body convulsed violently. Raymond pulled out the blade and thrust it into his throat. Only after confirming that he was dead did Raymond rise.

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Letting out a long breath, Raymond finally looked at the remains that had turned the battle in his favor. The body was relatively intact below the waist, but everything above it was gone. Judging by the ragged wound, the bandit's body appeared to have been torn in half by some tremendous force. It was not difficult to imagine the agony he had suffered before death.

Raymond looked down from the watchtower. The vantage point was excellent. It not only overlooked the entire camp from above, but also offered a view beyond the main gate, allowing the tower to serve as an observation post.

At that moment, the entire camp was already in chaos. The bandits who had been surrounding Henk were now scattering in every direction. Each fled blindly in panic, with none daring to fight him.

Most importantly, the entire camp was shrouded in darkness. Henk's figure vanished into the blackness one moment, only to emerge somewhere else the next, as though the dim surroundings had no effect on his movements at all.

He swung the heavy iron chain in his hands. With his tremendous strength behind it, no one dared meet a blow head-on. Anyone struck by the chain fell to the ground and immediately lost the ability to resist. Henk either crushed their skulls beneath his foot or seized them one-handed, snapped their necks, and tossed them three to five meters away like garbage.

Bang!

The door of the central cabin was thrown open, and the tall man suspected of being the leader emerged. He carried the hand-and-a-half sword and wore an iron helmet fitted with a nasal guard. The coat of plates, however, was nowhere to be seen. Instead, he wore only a padded arming coat.

The hem of the coat had not been fully straightened, several of its ties remained undone, and the helmet's chin strap had only been hastily fastened, leaving his neck exposed.

The leader swept his gaze across the chaotic camp. Rather than step forward to stop Henk, he headed straight for the cave.

Raymond cursed inwardly, hurried down from the watchtower, and ran toward the cave.

Along the way, a bandit fleeing in blind panic scrambled forward on all fours, repeatedly looking back to see whether anyone was pursuing him. But when he saw Raymond standing in his path, he abruptly froze and opened his mouth to shout. Raymond struck without hesitation. He shifted slightly aside to leave the path open, then swept his sword across the bandit's leg, opening a massive wound just above the knee.

Overcome by the pain, the bandit dropped involuntarily to his knees. Raymond turned, cut diagonally upward from the man's lower back, then drove the point hard into his upper back near the shoulder.

The instant the bandit collapsed, Raymond pulled the blade free and thrust it into the back of his neck. After confirming that the man had gone completely still, Raymond flicked his sword downward, scattering the blood on its blade across the ground. He did not linger and immediately hurried toward the cave.

Inside, the leader had already produced a spare key and inserted it into the cell door's lock. Hearing the footsteps behind him, he whirled around while turning the key and pulled the cell door open.

The sudden opening sent the captives retreating in panic, and one child stumbled and fell beside the doorway. The leader reached for the child, but Sarah immediately stepped between them.

He seized Sarah instead and dragged her in front of him, fixing Raymond with a cold, piercing stare. “You! You did this! Who are you? Why are you coming after us?!”

“Someone who wants you dead.” Raymond wasted no words. Tightening his grip on his sword, he stared coldly at the leader.

The leader's expression turned vicious as he held his hand-and-a-half sword against the side of Sarah's neck. “Move, and I'll kill her!”

“Don't listen to him!” Sarah shouted.

The leader's left arm tightened abruptly around her neck, rendering her unable to speak. The threat in his eyes could not have been clearer.

The agonized screams outside the cave had not stopped. Even in the brief interval between their words, a corpse slammed heavily into the rock wall nearby. The tremendous impact crushed half its body into a bloody pulp.

“You should be begging the man outside,” Raymond said calmly. “If you're lucky, I might still leave you an intact corpse.”

“No! Drop your weapon and make that bastard stop, or I'll kill her right now!” the leader shouted anxiously.

Raymond shook his head and shrugged. “Impossible. As for whether you kill her, I couldn't care less. All I need is your head to claim the bounty.”

“You're a bounty hunter! How much are they paying you? I'll double it!” the leader said at once. “Let me go and all the money here is yours. Money is what you want, isn't it? I have more than enough!”

“You haven't thought this through. Once I kill you, the money will be mine anyway,” Raymond replied flippantly.

The leader's lips trembled faintly, and veins bulged across his forehead. The young man before him did not appear to be the greatest threat. What truly terrified him was the half-orc outside who had completely lost control.

As the leader grew increasingly desperate, Sarah suddenly moved. She stomped her heel down on the top of his foot and drove her elbow backward, striking him hard in the lower abdomen. The leader recoiled in pain, and his grip loosened. Sarah immediately ducked down and moved aside.

The leader's anger surged. Just as he prepared to seize the impudent girl again, steel flashed before his eyes. Raymond had charged almost the instant Sarah began to struggle, bringing his sword straight down toward the leader's right shoulder. By the time the blade came down, Sarah had completely broken free and moved to the other side.

The leader had no time to seize her again. He immediately raised his hand-and-a-half sword to block the blade descending toward his right shoulder. The two weapons collided heavily. Raymond pressed forward, pinning the man's blade with his own.

At the same time, his left hand drew the shortsword that had belonged to Tom. Holding it in a reverse grip, he swept it across the leader's exposed throat with the motion of an elbow strike. The instant the blow landed, Raymond turned and placed himself between Sarah and the leader.

Blood gushed from the slash across the leader's throat. He gave a wet gurgle before collapsing heavily to the ground. The blood sprayed across Raymond's back, but not a single drop touched Sarah behind him.

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