The Eclipsed Order

Chapter 99: Chapter 99: The Roadside Ambush

The road ahead was quiet.

Ares walked along it with Draven and Cedric, enjoying the relatively peaceful journey. After everything that had happened recently, it was almost strange to have nothing demanding their attention.

Almost.

Draven suddenly slowed his steps.

"Master."

"Hmm?"

Ares looked toward him.

Draven was staring into the distance.

"There seems to be trouble ahead."

Ares followed his gaze.

At first, he saw nothing more than a faint cloud of dust rising above the road.

Then the sound reached them.

"Clang!"

"Protect the carriage!"

"Don’t let them through!"

"There are too many of them!"

Ares narrowed his eyes.

A battle was taking place farther down the road.

A large carriage stood in the middle of the chaos, surrounded by more than twenty armed men. Their equipment was crude and mismatched, and their behavior left little doubt about what they were.

Bandits.

Several knights had formed a defensive line around the carriage, desperately trying to keep them away.

Judging from the quality of the carriage and the number of knights protecting it, the people inside were clearly not ordinary travelers.

Some of the knights were already wounded.

Others had fallen and were struggling to get back up.

The situation wasn’t looking good.

Draven glanced toward Ares.

"Should we help them?"

Ares remained silent for a moment.

There were quite a few people involved.

Helping them wasn’t particularly difficult, but there was another problem.

If they revealed their identities here, there was a chance the people they saved would remember them.

Ares didn’t particularly want that.

"Hmm..."

He looked at Draven and Cedric.

"Before we help them, let’s change our appearances."

Draven immediately understood.

"So they won’t recognize us if we happen to meet again."

"Exactly."

Ares raised his hand.

"There’s no reason to create unnecessary trouble."

Eclipse energy quietly spread around their bodies.

Their appearances began changing.

Ares’s facial features shifted slightly, his hair changing color and style. His clothes transformed into those of an ordinary traveling adventurer.

Draven underwent a similar transformation.

Cedric’s appearance changed as well, along with his clothing.

Within a few seconds, the three of them looked like completely different people.

Ares glanced at the others.

"How do we look?"

Draven gave himself a quick look.

"Like ordinary adventurers."

"Good enough."

Ares looked toward the battle.

"Let’s go."

The three disappeared from where they had been standing.

---

"Hold the line!"

"Don’t let them reach the carriage!"

A knight swung his sword.

"Clang!"

His blade collided with an axe, the impact forcing him several steps backward.

"Urgh..."

His arms trembled.

He was exhausted.

They all were.

The battle had already continued for quite some time, and the knights were slowly being overwhelmed by the sheer number of enemies.

"Captain!"

A knight shouted as another bandit rushed forward.

The captain immediately intercepted him.

"Clang!"

Their weapons collided.

"Push them back!"

"We’re trying!"

"Don’t break formation!"

Another bandit charged from the side.

"Die!"

"Clang!"

A knight barely managed to block the attack.

"Ugh!"

A second bandit struck him across the shoulder.

"Argh!"

Blood stained his armor as he stumbled.

"Sir!"

"I’m fine!"

The knight gritted his teeth and raised his sword again.

Behind them, the carriage remained surrounded.

A man wearing expensive clothing stood among the knights.

Unlike the others, however, he wasn’t hiding inside the carriage.

He was fighting alongside them.

His clothes were stained with blood, and one hand was pressed against a wound along his side.

"How many are still standing?"

"Not many, my lord."

The knight beside him answered through heavy breathing.

"We’ve already lost several men. The rest are injured."

The noble looked around.

The bandits were still numerous.

And more were waiting behind them.

Some weren’t even participating in the battle.

They simply stood at a distance, watching and laughing.

"Look at them."

"Those knights won’t last much longer."

"Once they fall, the carriage is ours."

Another bandit laughed.

"And the noble inside should fetch a nice price."

The noble heard them.

His expression darkened.

He tightened his grip around his sword.

"We can’t retreat."

"My lord, you should return to the carriage."

"No."

He stepped forward.

"If my men are willing to risk their lives for me, I won’t hide behind them."

"My lord..."

"Keep fighting."

The knights nodded.

"Yes!"

They charged again.

"Clang!"

"Bang!"

"Argh!"

The battle continued.

But the bandits were beginning to overwhelm them.

One knight fell to his knees.

Another was forced against the carriage.

A third barely avoided an axe that struck the ground beside him.

The noble raised his sword.

"Stay back!"

He stepped forward and struck down one of the attackers.

"Ha!"

The bandit fell.

But another immediately appeared behind him.

"You’re mine!"

The noble turned.

Too late.

The bandit’s sword was already descending.

Then—

"Bang!"

The bandit suddenly stopped.

His body collapsed onto the ground.

Silence.

For a moment, nobody understood what had happened.

"What..."

Another sound followed.

"Bang!"

A second bandit fell.

"Bang!"

A third.

The bandits turned toward the road.

Three figures were approaching.

No one had seen them coming.

They were moving far too quickly for ordinary adventurers.

"Who are they?!"

"Where did they come from?"

"They’re coming this way!"

The three figures didn’t answer.

They simply continued forward.

Ares raised his hand.

Black-and-white energy gathered in his palm, condensing into the shape of a gun.

He pulled the trigger.

"Bang!"

Another bandit dropped.

"Don’t come any closer!"

"Monster!"

The man tried to retreat.

Ares fired again.

"Bang!"

He collapsed.

Ares didn’t stop.

"Bang!"

"Bang!"

"Bang!"

The gunfire continued without pause.

Draven entered the battlefield at the same time.

He lifted one hand.

A small sphere of flame appeared before him.

It flew toward a group of bandits.

"Boom!"

The impact sent several of them flying.

"Ugh!"

"What the hell?!"

"That’s only a fire spell!"

Draven smiled faintly.

"Indeed."

Another bandit charged toward him.

Draven casually raised one finger.

A burst of compressed air struck the man.

"Argh!"

He was thrown across the road.

Draven didn’t even look impressed.

"This is more than enough."

Meanwhile, Cedric stepped into the center of the battlefield.

He reached behind himself and drew his great sword.

The weapon was enormous.

Its length was slightly greater than Cedric himself, while its surface was covered in contrasting black and white coloration. Despite its size, Cedric held it with one hand as naturally as someone carrying an ordinary sword.

A bandit stared at him.

"What kind of sword is that?"

Cedric raised it.

"Move."

The bandit swung first.

"Clang!"

Cedric’s great sword struck his weapon.

The bandit’s blade shattered.

"W-What?!"

Cedric swung again.

"BOOM!"

The bandit was sent flying.

Another three rushed toward him.

"Kill him!"

Cedric stepped forward.

One swing.

"WHAM!"

All three were thrown aside.

The remaining bandits finally began to understand.

These weren’t ordinary adventurers.

"Run!"

"We can’t fight them!"

"Get away!"

"Don’t come near me!"

"Someone stop them!"

There was no one left to stop them.

Ares continued firing.

"Bang!"

"Bang!"

"Bang!"

Every shot was precise.

Draven moved through the battlefield without urgency, using simple spells to break the attackers’ formation.

Cedric continued advancing, his great sword sweeping through the remaining bandits with overwhelming force.

"Clang!"

"Boom!"

"Argh!"

"Help me!"

"Run!"

The bandits who had been laughing only moments earlier were now desperately trying to escape.

It didn’t take long.

The road became silent.

The last bandit fell.

Ares lowered his weapon.

Draven looked around.

"That was surprisingly easy."

Cedric rested the great sword against his shoulder.

"Their numbers were their only advantage."

Ares nodded.

"Let’s check on the others."

---

The surviving knights were completely stunned.

None of them had expected the battle to end so suddenly.

They had been preparing themselves for the worst.

Yet these three strangers had appeared and defeated the entire group in what felt like mere moments.

The noble slowly lowered his sword.

His eyes moved from Ares to Draven, then finally to Cedric and the enormous weapon resting on his shoulder.

He couldn’t hide his astonishment.

"Who exactly are you three?"

Ares gave him a harmless smile.

"Just passing adventurers."

The noble looked toward the fallen bandits.

"Passing adventurers..."

He almost laughed at the absurdity of the statement.

No ordinary adventurer could have done what they had just witnessed.

He stepped closer.

"Judging from your abilities, you’re clearly not ordinary adventurers."

He glanced at the weapon in Cedric’s hand.

"Are you perhaps high-ranking adventurers?"

Ares didn’t bother denying it.

"You could say that."

The noble nodded slowly.

"Then allow me to thank you properly."

He placed a hand over his chest.

"If you hadn’t arrived in time, I’m afraid many of my men would have lost their lives."

He looked toward the wounded knights.

"And I may not have survived either."

Ares waved his hand.

"You don’t need to worry about it. We happened to pass by, so we helped."

"Even so, I owe you a considerable debt."

The noble straightened himself.

"Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Harold Lawrel. I am a Viscount from the city of Valeris."

Ares nodded.

"Marco."

He pointed toward the other two.

"This is Drey, and this is Rey."

Draven gave a small nod.

Cedric followed.

Harold looked at them carefully.

"Marco, Drey, and Rey..."

He still seemed unable to accept what he had seen.

"Forgive my curiosity, but are you affiliated with another noble house? Or perhaps employed by a major adventurer organization?"

"No."

Ares answered simply.

"We’re traveling on our own."

"I see."

Harold considered his words carefully.

"Then perhaps you’d consider working for me."

Ares raised an eyebrow.

"As knights under my household, you would receive proper accommodation, authority, and a salary."

He paused.

"Given what I’ve witnessed today, I’m prepared to offer twice the standard pay."

Draven glanced toward Ares.

Cedric remained expressionless.

Ares, however, shook his head.

"I appreciate the offer, Lord Harold, but we’ll have to decline."

Harold wasn’t offended.

"May I ask why?"

"We’re comfortable with the way we’re living now."

Ares smiled.

"And we’d rather not become involved with the affairs of a noble household."

Harold nodded.

"That’s unfortunate, but I understand. I won’t force the matter."

He reached into his belongings and pulled out a small pouch.

"Then please accept this instead."

Ares accepted it.

The pouch was heavier than he expected.

Harold continued.

"There are thirty gold coins inside."

Ares glanced at him.

"Thirty?"

"It’s the least I can offer after what you’ve done."

Harold smiled.

"If you feel it’s insufficient, don’t hesitate to tell me."

Ares looked at the pouch again.

Thirty gold coins.

Not bad.

"That should be more than enough. Thank you."

Before they left, however, Draven stepped toward the injured knights.

Ares glanced at him.

"Go ahead."

Draven raised his hand.

Warm light gathered around his palm.

The knights looked at him in confusion.

"What’s he doing?"

The light spread across the wounded.

The cuts began closing.

Bruises faded.

The more serious injuries stabilized almost immediately, leaving the knights standing in stunned silence.

One of them touched his previously wounded shoulder.

"The pain..."

"Your wounds are healed."

Draven lowered his hand.

"You should still rest for a while. Healing the damage doesn’t mean your body has completely recovered from the strain."

Harold stared at him.

"You can use healing magic as well?"

Draven smiled.

"A few useful tricks."

Harold shook his head in disbelief.

"Powerful enough to defeat an entire bandit group, capable of using healing magic, and yet you claim to be ordinary travelers."

Ares laughed quietly.

"That’s what we are."

Harold could only smile.

"I suppose I’ll have to take your word for it."

Ares turned toward the road.

"Well, we’ll be going now."

"Of course."

Harold stepped aside.

"Thank you again, Marco. And thank your companions as well."

Ares raised one hand.

"Take care on your way to Valeris."

"We will."

The three turned around and continued down the road.

Harold watched them disappear into the distance.

Even after they were gone, he remained silent for several moments.

One of the knights finally spoke.

"My lord..."

"Hmm?"

"Do you think they were really adventurers?"

Harold looked toward the empty road.

"Perhaps."

He smiled faintly.

"But somehow, I doubt they’re as simple as they claim."

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