(Rathiel's POV)
My head is throbbing.
Must be an effect of the Failsafe, my head was hurting, and my emotions were completely haywire. My body was also sluggish, preventing me from moving at my ordinary speed. Despite that, I was able to kill those bandits who were searching for my body.
Necrotic Failsafe. To think that I would use that after so long obtaining it. I sacrificed one of my two Necrotic Cores, extremely valuable relics that contain so much power and fuel certain abilities of mine. Such a valuable resource was suddenly wasted on a stupid mistake of mine. I am so angry at that!
Fortunately, I am still alive. Necrotic Failsafe simply puts me in a dead-like state and I awaken later, my magic power depleted and slowly regenerating.
But at this point, it is slowly crawling back up to its original state, which I don't like at all. But, on the good side of things, I have Pact of Debauchery, which will allow me to take care of that problem.
While Necrotic Failsafe allows me to sacrifice a Necrotic Core to cheat death once, Pact of Debauchery allows me to overcome the major drawbacks of that Aspect. If I partake in acts of debauchery, filling up a threshold of the Goblet of Debauchery, I can "Level Up" and grow stronger. I typically go for magic power increase, which allows me to cast spells without worry.
One of those acts of Debauchery includes sex, which is honestly the most important one. I have developed a liking to bedding women and growing my power by doing that. But in doing that, I was lured to a trap by a Vampire Vixen.
Arianne....to think that she would betray me. The mere thought of that enraged me, i couldn't stand it. She led me to the edge of the Bonefields and had the Castrella Coven ambush me, catching me off-guard with devastating attacks. I was able to fight back, however, and managed to wound several of them, but I lost at the end.
So humiliating.
This is not something I will let slide. I will have my revenge.
But first, I must regain my power. And by doing that, I must use my Pact of Debauchery. I must have sex with women, filling the threshold of the Goblet and restoring my Magic Power to its original state. I don't know how long the effects of the Failsafe will last, but I have to be quick. There is no doubt that Hota, the Disgraced One, has begun to snoop around. His Bandit Gang is quite formidable, which means he'll send his hounds after me. I'd rather not be caught off-guard without magic power by those fuckers.
I will kill them, that much is decided.
"Hey, young man." I felt the caravan wagon slow to a stop, "We're at the bridge."
I looked over, past the baskets of fruit and food, and at the flap where I saw an older man's face that was looking at me.
"The bridge, huh?" I said, "We're passing the ravine already?"
He nodded, "Yes." He said, "I was told by the Swamp King that you are headed to Greenspire, no? The bridge will take us that way, but we have a problem?"
"What is it?" I asked
"There are some stray bandits camped out on the other side." He said, "I don't suppose you know how to use that axe?"
I nodded, "I can take care of it."
Otake, The Swamp King, like he calls himself. That fat fuck got a caravan to take me to Greenspire, as an apology for not intervening in the ambush. I don't blame him, his Warlock Pact prevents him from attacking Vampires or any Supernatural Creature. Not just that, a certain clause of his pact prevents him from bringing me harm, so there was no doubt that he wanted to help me.
But still, he should have warned me. Unless he didn't know, which I don't doubt it when I think about it.
All of that is in the past, though. My only goal is to regain my strength and find the Castrella Coven and have my vengeance. Arianne is not going to come out of this unscathed either, she has to pay for doing that to me. She fooled me, made me think we were friends about to share the same bed.
It was a stupid mistake of mine, but dammit, it hurts.
I stepped out of the wagon, landing on the stone bridge that was built above a ravine near Lake Agartha. The ravine houses dangerous wildlife at the bottom, also housing some cavern systems that are home to goblins and other beasts.
This makes the bridge pivotal for anyone passing through, making it a good target for bandits.
And speaking of bandits, there was a group already walking towards the Caravan from the middle of the bridge.
I frowned as I walked towards the front of the caravan, which consisted of three wagons and a couple of pack mules. This was a very profitable target for these scumbags, and I am sure they would stop at nothing to get them.
Normally, the caravans wouldn't have to worry about this since the Ogres keep the bandits away, and Otake allows them to pass through should they need to. But sometimes, some idiots do manage to grow balls and wander into the bridge and the surrounding areas.
I stepped in front of the caravan, looking at the front wagon's rider, "Stay back." I said, "Don't move until I toss the bodies over."
"Bodies?" He asked, a bit concerned
I pulled out the handaxe, "Yea, this won't take long."
There were four bandits, who had swords and spears.
"Hehehe...." one of them said, smirking and showing his rotting teeth, "How about you lot just hand over your valuables and we let you live."
"No chance that you can walk away, right?" I asked, staring at him
"No." He said, "Either you gives us the valuables or you die trying to protect it."
I sighed and shrugged, "I tried."
"Eh?" He said, "What are you-"
I flung the axe at him with tremendous force, watching as it spun towards him and hit him in the face. The blade cut through his skull, lodging deep inside and causing blood to spray everywhere.
"What the fuck!!!" the one next to him exclaimed as he glared at me, "We'll gut you!!"
I was already running towards them, reaching for the collapsing bandit's corpse. I knew that I had enough magic power to use a single spell, which would be low-power for my current state. But it was more than enough to deal with magic-less bandits like these.
"Corpse Weapon"
Suddenly, the bandit's body burst open, bone and guts flying out of it as it siphoned towards my hand. In the matter of a second, a large bone revolver with blood flaring out of the barrel's side appeared. I grabbed it by the handle, feeling the small amount of Necrotic Power imbued in it.
"What is that?!" another bandit said as he readied his spear, "Magic?! What the fuck!!"
I took aim at the nearest one, pulling the trigger. The revolver fired, a nice kick to it, and a bone projectile flew right through the bandit's head. His head exploded violently, pieces of his skull and brain flew everywhere as I aimed the gun at the others.
In a swift motion, I shot each of them in the head, killing them in a similar manner. Their bodies fell to the ground, blood pouring everywhere as I felt the bone revolver slowly crumble into dust.
"Hm...." I said as I looked at their bodies, "Even in my weakened state, I can handle these fuckers with ease."
"I'm good."