Bai Chuan's slightly slender build stood in stark contrast to his opponent's brawny frame, yet as they clashed, it looked evenly matched. Back and forth, attack and defense, neither giving an inch.
"If you keep dragging this out with me," Bai Chuan said, unable to find a flaw and choosing to disrupt his focus instead, "your men will be dead in a minute."
And it really was as Bai Chuan said. Even though Shanks was struggling a bit against the crowd, with a few cuts on his body, they were all minor wounds, nothing that would affect him much.
On the bandits' side, though, they'd started to grow timid. Their attacks weren't nearly as sharp anymore. If their leader hadn't been here, they probably would've run long ago.
"Damn it!" Watching his men fall one after another, the bandit chief's eyes went red. Without thinking, he charged straight at Shanks.
And that was exactly the opening Bai Chuan had been waiting for.
"This is the moment." Bai Chuan had already burned a lot of stamina. It was time to end it quickly.
With the chief's back turned, Bai Chuan saw nothing but openings. Any casual strike could tear him apart.
Shanks sensed the danger too. Seeing the bandit chief rushing him, his whole body tightened.
Bang!
A gunshot rang out, fired from Buggy's hands. He'd picked his timing perfectly. The bullet hit the bandit chief's right arm without missing.
"Bastard!" The chief's gaze snapped toward Buggy, savage and murderous. Buggy's legs went weak, and he dropped onto the ground.
"Y-You guys, get him already!" Buggy realized how pathetic he looked and hurriedly shouted at Bai Chuan and Shanks to save face.
"Got it!" Shanks instantly finished off the bandits around him and charged in. Bai Chuan attacked from behind.
Under normal circumstances, such a straightforward pincer would be completely blocked.
But right now, it was impossible.
The chief had already gone half-mad. His weapon arm was injured. Maybe life as a bandit had gotten too comfortable, wearing down his will until there was nothing left.
Bai Chuan seized the hard-won chance. Before the chief could react, Bai Chuan was behind him, and his blade slid from the left shoulder all the way down to the hip.
Blood sprayed in a red arc.
The instant he landed the hit, Bai Chuan retreated. That kind of wound was a severe injury for anyone.
"Aaah!" The chief screamed in agony, completely forgetting Shanks was right in front of him.
Shanks took the opening and carved a slash across his abdomen. The chief clutched his stomach and dropped to his knees. Buggy took the chance to fire again, hitting his thigh.
In the span of a heartbeat, he'd taken three different wounds, with the back slash the most devastating. Blood kept pouring out, quickly soaking the ground beneath him.
"You're finished," Bai Chuan said, pointing his blade at him.
You could say the three of them only brought him down together, yet the Sword of Damocles above Bai Chuan's head still hadn't appeared. That meant Bai Chuan hadn't even gone all out.
Soon, the chief slumped there on his knees, silent.
"No way. He's dead already?" Buggy stepped out from hiding. With wounds like that, he shouldn't die immediately.
In this world, ordinary people were tough. And a burly man with such strong blood and vitality should be even harder to kill.
To prevent any tricks, Bai Chuan walked up, used his blade to flip the chief over, and saw his eyes rolled back.
"Looks like he passed out from the pain."
"Passed out from pain? That's the first time I've ever seen that!" Buggy shrieked.
"That works too," Bai Chuan said coldly. "Let him bleed out slowly right here. That can be his punishment."
"Beautiful. Truly beautiful."
Just as the four of them were about to rest, a voice rang clearly in their ears, accompanied by slow, unhurried clapping, as if congratulating them.
At that sound, Bai Chuan's body instantly tensed. The unease he'd finally pushed down surged back up, even stronger than before.
All of them turned toward the house the voice had come from.
A figure slowly walked out.
The scene was so quiet they could hear his footsteps.
"What's wrong with you guys?" Katherine Lin asked Bai Chuan, Shanks, and Buggy.
Because the moment that figure appeared, all three of them stiffened, like they'd seen something terrifying.
"Run," Bai Chuan finally forced out after a long pause.
As soon as he said it, the Sword of Damocles appeared above Bai Chuan's head. Shanks, Buggy, and Katherine Lin were instantly wrapped in white light and began floating upward, while Bai Chuan prepared to stay behind and hold the enemy back.
"Run, Bai Chuan!" Shanks shouted, snapping out of it. "You're not his opponent!"
"Oh?" The man's tone carried amusement. "Buying time so your companions can escape. What a noble act. But I can't allow you to get your wish."
His figure vanished from Bai Chuan's sight in an instant. Bai Chuan couldn't even tell how he moved.
"Not good!" Bai Chuan immediately understood his target. He whipped his head up toward the sky.
That figure had already appeared beside Shanks and the others. He threw a single punch downward, and they dropped like meteors.
"Oh? I missed?"
Shanks and the others did fall, but not because the man knocked them down.
It was Bai Chuan.
Bai Chuan directly increased the gravity on them, forcing them down instantly. They would still get hurt, but it was far better than getting smashed down by that punch.
"You… who are you?" Bai Chuan stared at the man who descended from the air, his voice heavy.
"You can call me the Grand General," the man said. "My name is Rogge."
"Grand General? You're the one who ordered the massacre in the village down the mountain?" Bai Chuan demanded.
"Rogge? You're the one known as the Kingdom's Fierce Tiger, Rogge?" Katherine Lin blurted out at the same time.
"Yes," Rogge said simply. "That's me."
"Katherine Lin, who is he?" Bai Chuan asked. From her reaction, she clearly knew more.
"The strongest person in the Kingdom of Ge Lun, no question," Katherine Lin said, her voice tight. "A man everyone on the island calls the Fierce Tiger. I just don't understand why someone like that would be here."
"Is that so?" Bai Chuan's heart sank. Now he finally understood where that ominous feeling had been coming from. "Then we're really in trouble."
"As expected of a princess," Rogge said, having clearly heard her. "You know quite a lot. And the reason I'm here is to wait for you."
"Wait for me? Why?" Katherine Lin asked.
"Because we can't just casually send back a hostage as important as you."
"Then why did you order the slaughter of that village?" Bai Chuan asked, his voice low.
"To draw you in, of course."
"Draw us in?"
"That's right." Rogge's eyes were calm, almost bored. "Since you were willing to escort Katherine Lin back to her country, that means you're the kind of people who meddle in other business, with a sense of justice."
"So when you ran into something like that, I figured you wouldn't ignore it."
/-\
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