Chapter 164: Ambush

The next day, the group continued on their journey towards the Cheroque kingdom. They encountered caravans on the way, but they made sure not too sure their faces.

They wanted to have as little exposure as they could do that they would not be noticed by the commander.

The day was coming to a close as the sunset looked over their heads. It was bright orange and gave the surroundings a pixie dream-like existence.

"Do you think that the commander took our bait?" Miser asked as he was looking out over the sunset.

Darren shook his head. "No, it's unlikely. We only did that on the chance that he will hesitate a little bit. He's too smart not to notice our deception."

Miser bit his nails as he got anxious once more. What they were doing was a chance that even the gods could not guarantee.

The only solace Miser had was that Mia was by his side at all times. Even if something went wrong, he would be there to protect her at all costs.

"Ruff! Ruff!" Beru barked. Beru was tailing the group carriage like a good dog on a walk and he suddenly barked over the woods.

Hugh noticed Beru's call, and he looked around the bushes. With his eagle eyes, he immediately noticed some disturbances in the area.

"Guys, someone's here," Hugh whispered.

Miser immediately shut his mouth up and sat even closer to Mia.

"It's probably bandits," Darren whispered back.

Hugh signaled in the group to be alert at all times. Bandits were notorious to be masters of stealth. They hid in the bushes as they became one with nature.

However, Hugh and the others were no ordinary people. They immediately pinpointed the location of the bandits that were preparing to strike.

With his eagle eyes, he was able to discern that at least 20 bandits were lying in wait by the bushes in front of them.

They had simple weapons in their hands but not much armor. They were more amateurish, but their numbers make up for their lack of supplies.

As the horses pulled the carriages to the hiding spot of the bandits, Hugh prepared himself.

With the horses' final step, the bandits burst forth in surprise. They immediately surrounded the carriage and prevented anyone from getting away.

"Neigh!" the horses screamed.

"Hehehe…give us all your loot and maybe we can spare your lives!"

"Hahaha, your lives!"

"Give us loot!"

However, there was no loot in the carriage. From the outside, it was evident to anyone who saw it that there were no kinds of loot in the carriage.

The only things that they had on the carriage were their food provisions and some tools for the tents. Nothing they had on the carriages was luxurious.

"Heheheh," the bandits drooled.

It was then that Hugh realized what the bandits were looking at. They were looking at the beautiful women that were sitting in the carriages.

Serena, Jane, and Mia were all considered to be world-ending beauties that could charm any man. It was a once-in-a-lifetime beauty for these kinds of bandits, and seeing all three of them at the same carriage was too good to pass up.

"Pretty lady, dump these chumps and we can give you pleasures that you have never experienced before."

"We won't hurt you. You will like it!"

"There are a ton of reasons why you should come with us. It shouldn't be because your life depended on it."

Mia was freaked out by the bandits who leered at her. This was the first time that she had ever been looked at this kind of way, and she immediately became uncomfortable.

Serena, on the other hand, was tired and exhausted by this kind of attention. She frequently sees this kind of leering even at school, but none of them were as disgusting as these guys.

Jane was disgusted, to say the least. She immediately wanted to dispose of the bandits one way or another.

"Listen, you should just let us go, and we won't have to go through with this ordeal," Hugh said with an exasperated voice.

The bandits stopped smiling and looked at Hugh. They were all surprised at the confidence that Hugh had.

"HAHAHAHAHA! Did you guys hear this fat man?"

"Does he think that he can defeat twenty of us?"

"I'm more afraid of him eating us! Hahahahaha!"

The bandits made fun of Hugh and his obesity. Hugh was annoyed by their voices and he also wanted to get this over with by taking them down.

"Well, you asked for it," Hugh said as he started to stretch his body.

The bandits smiled and weirdo their weapons. They were confident with their numbers, and they had been undefeated in every battle they had encountered.

The only thing that could stop them was a chosen one. However, how low of a probability would that be?

One of the bandits could not hold his lust for the girls anymore as he charged forth towards one of them. He immediately went for Jane because he liked girls with glasses.

"Hahahaha," the bandit laughed as he raised his sword and slashed it towards Jane.

Without even looking at the man, Jane help up her hand and caught the blade with her hand. However, the sword did not even touch her skin as the air pressure around it was enough to stop the blade.

The bandit was confused as to why he could not push his sword any further. It was like an invisible wall that protected Jane from any harm.

Then, Jane used her other hand and touched the bandit's chest. With one swift motion, the bandit has launched meters away from her into a tree.

The bandit was immediately knocked out. The other bandits were confused as they witnessed the miracle.

It was at this point that the bandit leader realized the threat that Jane faced towards them. Without hesitating any longer, he shouted towards his bandits.

"Charge!!!"

The bandits all raised their weapons at the same time as they charged towards the carriage.

Hugh readied his armor, Aric coated himself in black fire, Serena was surrounded by pink smoke, and Jane levitated off the ground.

With the four of them side by side, they quickly made the bandits obsolete. They fought the bandits with each of them fighting off five at a time.

Darren was left protecting Mia and Miser back in the carriage. Mia was buried in her father's chest as she heard the sounds of blades cracking and trees being broken down.

While everyone was busy fighting, one person was watching from the bushes. In this mysterious person's sight was a direct eye line towards Mia.

The mysterious person poured their mouth and blew on the air in front. A small projectile the shape of a needle burst forth towards Mia.

The needle was small and fast, almost invisible. It directly bypassed the chaos of the fight and went straight towards the carriage.

Then, the needle finally hit its target, Miser. Once Miser was hit by the needle, he was immediately feeling drowsy and tired.

He could not even understand what happened as he closed his eyes and went to sleep.

With the one obstacle out of the way, the mysterious person blew another needle out. This time, the needle went directly towards Mia.

Like an invisible thread, the needle embedded itself into Mia's skull.

Darren was too busy dealing with the bandits to notice what had happened.

As he was fighting off a bandit, he suddenly heard a wooden squeak. When he turned around, he saw Mia walking out towards the woods.

"Mia? Mia!" Darren called out. However, Mia was like a zombie as she continued to mindlessly walk over towards the mysterious person.

It was at this point that Hugh and the others noticed Darren's anxiousness. They turned around and noticed Miser knocked out cold, and Mia out of the carriage.

Darren tried to catch up to Mia, but he was being fought off by the bandits. They seemed to know what was going on with Mia.

With the situation turning into the worst, Hugh burst forth into a flame and threw off the bandits on his body. He ran off towards Mia at top speeds and he was able to catch up to her.

However, the mysterious person was watching all along. They pulled out something from their pockets and threw it at Hugh.

Just as Hugh was about to pull Mia away, he suddenly felt danger coming towards him.

If he were to continue to extend his hand, he would be in danger. However, if he did not extend his hand, he would not be able to reach Mia.

With this split-second decision, Hugh decided to embrace the danger and extend his hand to reach Mia.

However, just as he was about to reach Mia, a spherical object threw his hand out of the way. He was not able to reach Mia.

Then, the spherical object started to emit a cloud of smoke that made Hugh start to feel dizzy and disoriented.

This distraction was enough for the mysterious person to get away with Mia.