41 I Need a Better Hobby...

"Mister Nex, we are about to reach the village."

The little kid on Nex's back pulled on his shirt slightly.

"Is that so?"

He slowed his speed down and began to extend his senses.

"You are right, trusty assistant Roland. Then, it's time for us to go on to the next stage."

He stopped in place and put Roland down on the ground with a smile.

"How was the ride? Good?"

The little kid blushed before lowering his head shyly but he couldn't hide his smile as he nodded.

"Great."

Nex nodded and patted the kid's head. Then, he closed his eyes and used [Sense] so he could find out the exact situation of the village.

'Good, not as bad as I have thought.'

He sighed in relief. Although there were a few villagers who tried to fight back and got killed, the vast majority of them are okay as it seems that the bandits are purposely keeping them as hostages.

Normally, Nex could have just used a single target spell on each of the bandits before they became aware of his presence and take precautionary measures against him. There were just around 40 of them, so their numbers won't pose as a hindrance to him at all.

But then he discovered a problem.

'They have magic detection bombs on some of the villagers. If I wasn't cautious, they would have discovered me earlier. It's also too early for me to camouflage forty spells in a short amount of time.'

He pulled something out from his inventory.

'Have to do it the hard way.'

[Anti-Fiend Bow(Unique - Higher) LV : 25]

*PHY.ATK : 350

*Attack Speed : 30%

*Accuracy : +20%

*+5 All Stats when against Demon-Kin

*Mana Arrow(Active) : For consumption of a small amount of mana, an arrow made of mana will be created. The arrow speed and strength could be adjusted depending on one's mana proficiency.

*Elemental Arrow(Active) : For consumption of a medium amount of mana, an arrow made of a certain element could be created as long as the user's understanding on the preferred element is high enough. The arrow speed and strength could be adjusted depending on one's mana proficiency.

*Durability : 750/750

"Roland, I need you to hide for a while."

♦♦♦

"Speak, old hag. Where did the kid go?"

The bandit leader pressed his blade against the neck of the Village Chief.

"Even if I knew, I wouldn't tell you!"

The badly beaten old woman spit some blood out. Despite her situation, she stared indifferently at the bandit leader.

"He already ran away and won't come back! You will never get your rotten hands on him!"

*Bang*

The bandit leader hit the old woman with the blade handle in anger.

"Damn hag!"

His anger face turned to a sneering one.

"It doesn't matter if you tell us or not. I have already sent my men after his traces. Sooner or later, I will find him. When I do, everything in this village will be set to flames."

"Hmph! That kid is more capable than you think! If you believe you and your apes can find him if he wants to run away, then you are bigger fools than I thought!"

*Bang*

"It seems that you have a death wish."

The bandit leader growled and signaled to one of his subordinates who were guarding the villagers.

"Although I can't kill anyone here yet, they didn't say anything about doing other things."

"No!"

One of the village women cried as a bandit lifted a young girl by the neck and aimed his blade at her small hand, clearly intent on cutting it off.

"Let her go, you monster."

The earlier indifferent expression of the Village Head is now gone and replaced by a mix of fear, anger, and anxiety. She yelled at the bandit who was the holding the girl in anguish.

"Haha! That is the kind of face that I want to see from you!"

The bandit leader laughed madly and made another signal to his subordinate.

"Do it."

The subordinate smiled viciously and lifted his blade in the air.

"!"

Before he could move his blade down, he suddenly froze in place. The little girl was able to frantically get away from him before he fell to the ground. He still had the same vicious expression he had but an arrow is now stuck in his head.

"Damn! An Archer! Quickly, try to get ahold of a hostage so that he won't be able to shoot you! Don't kill them, use them as shields!"

The bandit leader cursed and hastily issued out orders. His subordinates tried to do as he said but before they could get ahold of a hostage for themselves, an arrow appears out of nowhere. It either hits their heads or hearts, killing them instantly.

Seeing that getting a hostage wasn't successful, the bandits abandoned this idea and tried to hide instead. However, their situation wasn't able to improve. It was like the Archer was rapidly circling the area while shooting. The bandits kept getting shot from different angles!

Soon enough, the bandit's number dwindled from around 40 to just their leader.

"If you don't want this old woman to die, then better lay down your weapon!"

The bandit leader lifted the Village Chief. He held her nape as if she was a puppet and held his blade against the old woman's neck.

"Okay. Okay."

Nex's voice was heard. Shortly after, he came out from behind one of the houses with his hands and bow pointing upwards. He then walked to stand a dozen and a half meters in front of the bandit leader. When he got to that spot, he threw the bow to the ground.

"So a foolish man like you is the one who killed all of my subordinates?"

"I guess…"

Nex just shrugged carelessly before looking around. Although most of their captors have died already, the villagers still didn't dare to move away from their spot.

'They were probably told that the bombs will explode if any of them move without permission.'

"Since you are here, it can only mean that the kid brought you here."

The bandit's face brightened but his grin was maniacal.

"Since there is now an extra person here, it means I can bring the brat out by doing this…"

*Stab!*

"Argh!"

The Village Chief cried in pain as the blade stabbed into her stomach.

"Grandma!"

Roland's distressed voice was heard as the kid desperately ran to the old woman's direction.

"Haha! I got you now!"

The bandit leader laughed loudly. He ran at full speed towards the kid.

"Roland, get back!"

Nex's expression changed and he moved fast so he could get to Roland before the bandit leader does.

"I got you!"

Being in Second Awakening and a lot closer to Roland, the bandit leader got to the kid in just a moment and snatched him.

"Roland!"

The bandit leader faced Nex with a wicked smile.

"Don't move! Now that I got this brat, I can kill all of you insects and use your souls to get away from this disgusting realm!"

He then pulled out a gem and began to stream mana into it, making it glow in a threatening light.

*Swish*

"Ahh! Where did this magic come from?!"

The bandit leader grimaced in pain as two magic beams appeared out of nowhere and pierced through both of his arms and utterly crippled them.

"Camouflage, b*tch!"

'[Advanced Enchantment]'

*Bang!*

In a flash, Nex appeared in front of him and took both Roland and the gem. While he was at it, he gave the bandit leader a kick to his chest, strong enough to blast him dozens of meters away.

He then checked Roland's condition. The little kid's attention was still on the Village Chief and after seeing that he was okay, he turned his own attention to the gem.

'This is the controller of the bombs and also a…'

Nex's face became cold upon realizing the main function of the gem. Without wasting any more time, he used his most thorough way to destroy the item.

'[Soul Art : Oblivion]'

The moment the Art was activated, the gem didn't burn nor did it break. It just crumbled and turned to dust particles that soon turned to nothing as well.

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*Roar!*

Hearing the roar the shouldn't belong to a living being, Nex stared at where the bandit leader flew to and without turning his head, he spoke to Roland and handed him a small vial.

"Roland, this is a potion for your grandmother. I need you to give it to her and then take her along with the villagers away. Can you promise me that you will do it?"

The little kid who couldn't think about anything else other than getting to his grandmother suddenly woke up from his misery. Nex's words brought his attention back to their situation. When he got the vial, his face became resolute and he agreed solemnly.

"I promise."

"Good kid!"

Nex smiled and petted him before letting him go. He then walked towards where the roars came from. The sound keeps increasing and getting stronger.

"Now go! This Big Brother will handle the rest!"

Nex then pulled his wooden sword along with a strange, demon-faced mask which he placed on his face.

[Mad Demon Mask(Unique - Higher) LV : 25]

*All Stats +45

*Mad Demon Mode(Active) : At the cost of 1% HP every second, the user will momentarily have the power of either his next Awakening or ten levels higher (could only increase to, at most, level 50). In addition, the user will recover 5% MP every second. At the end of use, the user will experience great pain if he is a Master player; inability to move his body if he is a Professional or Beginner.

'[Mad Demon Mode]'

[You temporarily achieved Second Awakening!]

[Level temporarily rises to 25!]

[You have 36 unused Stat points. Would you like to allocate them?]

'Yes, all to mana.'

[Mana Body]

[Soul Sword Zero Art : Unsheathing]

Nex then stared at the coming monstrosity that was the true form of the bandit leader and sighed.

[Demon-Corrupted Hybrid(Lord - Boss) LV : 30]

"I should choose a better hobby."