13 Defeating the Red Bandits

Li Wei was calmly analyzing the fight between the 2 level 10 warriors, more specifically, he was watching the Red Bandit Leader, the wild dual sword style inspired him. The 2 warriors were in a deadlock, but that balance was suddenly broken when the Red Bandit Rogue jumped behind the Commander.

Li Wei actually noticed that man moving, but he was just too far from their location, there were at least 15 meters between them. He instinctively tried to grab a needle but he had already used all of them. When Li Wei saw the Commander being stabbed from behind, he knew that if nothing happened, that man would definitely die.

Li Wei thought for a second, he then grabbed his sword and dashed out of the corner. But instead of charging towards the Commander, he stayed a fair distance away and used his sword to cut the straps holding his shield. Li Wei then grabbed the shield, made a quick spin and threw it like a disc towards the Red Bandit Leader.

However, the Red Bandit Rogue was very alert and immediately noticed Li Wei. He stepped forward and put himself between Li Wei and the Red Bandit Leader. The rogue then leisurely raised one hand and with a mocking smile, grabbed the flying shield with just that one hand. The difference in strength of a level 7 and a level 10 was clearly displayed.

Many militias present had actually noticed Li Wei's actions and hoped for him to succeed, but the rogue's action shattered that glimmer of hope they had. Even Li Wei felt a bit dejected, he thought that his actions would be enough to buy time for the commander, but he failed.

The Red Bandit Leader's sword then became the center of attention. It was like the light in the darkness, everyone present was watching him as he was striking his sword down. The Commander himself could only watch as this sword was slowly falling down towards his chest.

However, just before the sword hit the commander;

"[Power Shot]"

"Woosh", an arrow flew from a dark corner of the room. Everyone was so focused on the sword that they did not notice it until the very last moment, even the Red Bandit Leader could do nothing but watch the bright arrow hit his chest and push him back. A normal arrow would not have such power behind it, it was the level 10 skill of rangers, [Power Shot]

[Power Shot]

Charges for 1 seconds, then releases and empowered arrow that knocks back the target, Damage +10

The arrow interrupted the Red Bandit Leader's strike and pushed him back a few steps, a massive red "-34" appeared on his chest.

Out of the dark corner, a slim hooded man was slowly walking out of the shadows, holding a long metallic bow. It was another level 10 militia and this one was a ranger. He was wearing a messy militia's uniform but on it was a badge, representing his rank of vice-commander. Despite being carefree and undisciplined, this man was able to slowly climb the ranks and become the vice-commander as he displayed his skills in fights.

"Sorry am late, the date took longer than expected..." said the hooded man while showing an embarrassed expression.

"Oh, by the way, thanks for throwing your shield kid! It bought just enough time for me to charge my [Power Shot]"

Seeing this scene, all the militia and the Red Bandits were dazed, they did not know whether to laugh or cry, but the appearance of this man definitely turned the tides of the battle. However, ht vice-commander took advantage that everyone was dazed and before anyone could react, he drew his bow once again and took, not one but 3 arrows from his quiver.

[Scatter Shot]

The 3 arrows flew into 3 different directions and stroke the Red Bandits. This action quickly jolted everyone awake. The fights resumed while both the Commander and the Red Bandit Leader were being evacuated by their respective captains as they were severely injured.

The vice-commander remained in the corner and shot arrows after arrows towards the Red Bandits. It had a strong oppressive effect, forcing the paladins and warriors to lift their shields to block the falling arrows.

As for Li Wei, as soon as he saw the Scatter Shot, he dashed and pounced on the nearest enemy. He then lifted his sword and stabbed it into the neck of the Red Bandit before the latter could even react. He knew that the conclusion of the fight was already settled, now, he needed to gain as much as possible from this operation.

Red Bandits were falling one by one, they were quickly cornered and were retreating into a corner of the hall.

Since the Red Bandit Leader was injured, the Rogue directly gained command and directed his troops to form a defensive circle around the Red Bandit Leader. "F*** that, captains use 'that', it's our only chance to escape"

As soon as they heard the command of their temporary leader, the remaining Red Bandits Captains quickly drew something from their pockets. It looked strangely similar to Health Potions, except that these bottles were green.

And instead of drinking them, they directly threw the bottles as far as possible from them. The militia had no idea what that was, the bottles looked like shiny objects. But, as soon as the bottles hit the militia, they exploded dealing a large amount of damage to the surroundings. The bottles were mini-grenades made by alchemy, they exploded as soon as the liquid inside was exposed to air.

Li Wei was very lucky this time, he was standing behind a militia paladin, and the latter happened to take the full blow of the explosion, leaving Li Wei unharmed. Li Wei frowned, the Red Bandits were actually using such cruel methods, even though a huge amount of damage could be dealt, they could not distinguish between friends and enemy and so, many Red Bandits were actually killed in friendly fire.

With only 20 Red Bandits remaining, it was their last desperate struggle. The floor of the hall was quickly filled with corpses but the militia continued charging forward.

Li Wei dashed forward, he crouched next to a Red Bandit Warrior's corpse and picked up the sword there. He now only had 2 swords and some daggers, he wanted to try the dual sword style that the Red Bandit Leader was using.

And so, when all the mini-grenades of the Red Bandits were exhausted, Li Wei charged in once more with a group of militia. But only the strongest of the Red Bandits were remaining.

Upon noticing an isolated Red Bandit, Li Wei pounced towards him, he lifted the 2 swords in a cross shape and slashed them down. The Red Bandit was actually a mage, he immediately activated his [Mana Shield] but it was immediately destroyed by the 2 strikes.

Li Wei then followed up with a [Cleave], taking out half the HP bar of the mage, and tried to do a spin and stab with the second sword. Even though his attack landed, he felt his movements were awkward and that was reflected in the damage he dealt, compared to the normal strike, when he used his left hand, the damage was halved.

Seeing that, Li Wei quickly continued his attack, violent kicking with his left foot before striking down the sword in his right hand. The mage tried to resist and cast [Mana Bolt], they were so close, just like when Li Wei fought in the Tower of Heroes, but this time, Li Wei was more experienced. While his right sword was striking down, his left sword moved just enough to push away the staff of the mage, this simple action, interrupted the casting. Seeing that, the mage closed his eyes, he knew everything was over.

After Li Wei finished the mage, only 8 Red Bandits were left, but the Red Bandit Leader had time to heal up with several potions and the help of their last remaining priest.

"Surrender, there's no way you'll be able to escape... Even the Solas Family is being arrested at this very moment"

The Commander also healed up and was already surrounding the Red Bandits with the other captains.

"What's the point? It's not like you'll let us live, we might as well fight till the very end. Fight with me brothers! Let's bring them down with us !!"

[Strengthen]

As soon as he finished his sentence, the Red Bandit Leader rushed towards the Commander and activated his skill. The clash between the two powerhouses resumed once more but this time, there would be no interruption as the militia charged the remaining Red Bandits.

Against so many militias, the Red Bandits did not hold for long. Even the Vice-Leader, was defeated but not without taking down with him quite a few militias.

After that, everyone surrounded the area where the Commander and the Red Bandit Leader were fighting. The latter knew everything was over but he might as well do a desperate struggle and take down the commander with him.

The militias only surrounded the 2 powerhouses in a rather large circle, they did not step forward to help their Commander. They knew his character, it was his fight and he would end it alone or be defeated.

The Red Bandit Leader was once again on the offensive, constantly attacking the Commander who could only defend. Li Wei started once again to observe the fight, after having tried the dual sword style, he knew its difficulty and had some respect for the Red Bandit Leader.

While Li Wei did not contribute much to this fight, he had a great harvest. He was after all just level 7, while most of the Red Bandits were level 8 and above. Even if he could hold his ground, he wasn't strong enough to defeat one alone and so, during the fights, Li Wei was greedily collecting loots from the corpses. He did not touch the militia's corpse out of respect but he did plunder the Red Bandits and obtained quite a lot of daggers and swords. After all, one never had enough money and he could sell them to Carlos. In addition, he received a decent amount of exp, from killing the weaker Red Bandits and assisting in killing the strong one. Li Wei now had almost enough exp to level up once again, fighting against opponents that were meant for level 8-10 players, did indeed provide more exp than usual.

The last fight was intense, both parties used their [Strengthen] and their HP bar was being depleted at the same rate. With his swords constantly being blocked, the Red Bandit Leader became irritated,

[Howl]

After striking the shield, he used the level 10 skill of Warriors,

[Howl]

Let out a sound wave in a circular radius, damage: 10, has a weak knocked back effect and chance to stun the targets.

The small knockback effect was what the Red Bandit Leader was looking for, as he immediately followed up with the other level 10 skill, [Blade Draw]

[Blade Draw]

Performs the drawing motion of a blade and sends a wind slash towards the target: damage: 18

That skill was the only low-level ranged skill that Warriors have. What was impressive was that the Red Bandit leader performed that skill with both swords at the same time, sending a cross-shape slash. He perfectly timed his skills so that the knockback effect, would slightly push away the Commander's shield, allowing the wind slash to hit him directly.

But the Commander was also experienced, he used that knockback effect to jump back, gaining a few moments, but that was enough for him to lift his shield and block the wind slashes.

The Red Bandit Leader was panting, he was exhausted and had depleted all his remaining MP in this combo. But he did not give up, he charged the Commander, thrusting the 2 swords, one at the waist and the other at the neck of the Commander.

Being attacked at 2 different spots, the Commander could not simply block with his shield. Instead, he used his own [Howl] and push back the Red Bandit Leader. The Commander then quickly followed up, slashing his own sword, not at the Red Bandit Leader, but at his swords, pushing them away, completely disarming him.

The Red Bandit Leader struggled and tried to stand up, but he was quickly pinned down by the Commander.

"Finish me! I don't need your pity" howled the Red Bandit Leader

The Commander stayed silent for a moment, he was gasping for air, despite the appearance, this fight was very taxing for him. He looked at the Red Bandit Leader and let out a faint smile,

"Ohh! But you won't leave this place alive, but it's not me who will finish you. Seven! Step forward"

Li Wei was stunned, why would the Commander call him at this time? But he nevertheless stepped up. The militia was wondering who was that Seven, while those who knew Li Wei were looking at him, trying to understand the situation.