Chapter 235 Knights And Bandits I

'',

"Oh, this is quite the situation I have run into."

Expressions of shock surfaced on the faces of both the bandits and the knights as neither side had felt any presence until the voice rang out, with both sides reflexively turning in the direction of the speaker.

They were met with the sight of a young boy who looked about fifteen or sixteen years of age, dressed in a plain brown shirt and a pair of simple black jeans with similarly coloured boots.

He had a surprised expression on his face as he saw the two groups, with his hands going to his head the next moment as he scratched his hair while speaking.

"Well, this is quite the dilemma.

I just happen to be a random traveller passing through the woods and happened to come across this situation.

Would one of you mind telling me just exactly what's going on here?"

When they heard his words, the knights and bandits resisted the urge to shut 'BULLSHIT!' as they warily gazed at him.

'I didn't sense even a bit of his presence until the moment that he spoke, and judging from the expression on that bastard's face, it's the same for him too.

There's no way this kid is just a 'random traveller'.

Even more so after sensing his strength, he's powerful, very powerful.'

The leader of the knights thought as he studied the bandit leader's face and slightly turned his gaze towards Evan.

He was a fairly strong knight, the second strongest among all the knights of his lord and had a level standing stably at 185.

As such, it was very easy for him to sense the strength that the 'random traveller' who was obviously Evan, wasn't even bothering to conceal.

The same thing was the case of the bandit leader who possessed enough might to fight the knight leader to a standstill, as well as the Warhammer-wielding woman who was even stronger than the bandit leader himself.

They could easily tell that Evan held power that was in no way inferior to theirs, so they instantly became guarded against him.

Their guard only increased when another voice rang out from the other direction, with a blonder-haired staff-wielding teenager emerging from the trees with an exhausted expression on her face.

Although her appearance screamed the word 'Mage', the short blade sticking out of the butt of her staff made them think otherwise.

'

This blonde-haired beauty, Eliza, was holding her newly acquired staff, one of the reasons why Evan had the group stop at Shad Glua. It was another staff in the Vanquisher series, made by the same weapon smith who created the unforged.

It was a staff that was perfect for a mage who also excelled in staff combat, coming with the ability to be separated into two parts, creating two short staffs that can be used in close combat.

'What's more, is that her's is an awakened type weapon, meaning it has its second and third effects activated.

Unlike my unforged that only has the default effect of multiplying my overall attack power with each hit.'

Those were Evan's thoughts as he recalled the description of the staff in Eliza's hands.

|Memory of the Vanquisher (Memoria)

Type; Staff

A Staff that was forged with the intention of making the world remember a once great magus who fell before their time.

'ɪꜰ ʏᴏᴜ ᴡᴀɴᴛ ᴛᴏ ʀᴇᴀᴅ ᴍᴏʀᴇ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs, ᴘʟᴇᴀsᴇ ᴠɪsɪᴛ Novel(B) in.ᴄᴏᴍ ᴛᴏ ᴇxᴘᴇʀɪᴇɴᴄᴇ ꜰᴀsᴛᴇʀ ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ sᴘᴇᴇᴅ.',

This spear-tipped staff capable of raising its wielder's melee combat capabilities, can be detached into two separate short staves allowing for short and long-ranged melee combat. However, its true strength lies in its ability to raise the power and efficiency of its wielder's magic to astonishing degrees.

Effects;

The owner of this staff receives a 10% overall boost to their base stats, with their overall attack power receiving a 5% boost.

For each target hit by magic cast with the aid of this staff, the caster gains a 5% damage bonus which can be stacked for a maximum of three times. This effect can only occur once every fifteen seconds and lasts for five minutes.

Grants the owner of this staff and a maximum of four other entities considered to be 'allies', a 10% damage bonus on all types of elemental magic cast as far as they are within range. |

With this, Eliza now had three weapons, her original staff which boosted her magic casting speed and efficiency, the Radiant Codex which boosted her support abilities and the Memoria which scaled up her attack power and buffed her allies.

If there was any unknown, it was that the 'range' her 'Allies' had to be in to receive the buff wasn't exactly known.

"This boy, do you really need someone to tell you who is right and who is wrong in this situation?"

Eliza's question brought Evan out of his thoughts as he threw a quick glance in the direction of the shadow spirit sneaking around before replying.

"You can't make assumptions, you know?

You can't assume that the ones dressed in the armour of knights are the 'good' guys just because they look like knights while the other group whose members look like bandits are the 'bad' guys.

You can never know."

He shrugged his shoulders as he spoke, turning his gaze towards the bandits as he asked with lips curled up in a smile.

"Isn't that right, Pride?"

"Yes. Indeed, that is the case."

The bandit leader was shocked out of his wits when a third person emitting a dark aura that made them feel an instinctive fear at the depths of their souls stepped out from the bushes behind them.

'When did she?!

And more importantly, that aura. It is just like...!'

Pride naturally noticed his surprise but paid it no mind as she continued speaking.

"However, in this case, we don't need anyone to tell us who to stand against."

"No, we don't."

The moment Evan replied to Pride, the smile on his face disappeared as the bandit leader felt a chill down his spine.

He instantly tried to move backwards, however, he discovered that he was unable to move at all!

"What?!"

On his arms and legs, he could see long black shadowy arms that wrapped around him and held him tightly in place.

"Thanks, Kuro."

Evan's voice rang out from a closer distance in the next moment while a semi-translucent barrier covered the bodies of the two girls that he had held hostage.

This was a few seconds before a black booted foot slammed into the side of his face, with the force behind it being enough to dislocate his jaw and cause him to lose a few of his teeth.

His vision shook as he was temporarily disoriented, even so, he felt the restraints of the shadowy arms on his disappear, a moment before the foot slammed into his face once more.

**BAM?!!!!

He was sent flying a few dozen meters, crashing into multiple trees and rag-dolling on the ground before finally stopping.

Meanwhile, the other bandits and the knights were surprised when Evan suddenly attacked the bandit leader without hesitation.

The air pressure from his kicks was strong enough to cause the bodies of the noble's daughter and her maid to burst into pieces, however, they were fine for some reason.

A quick glance in Eliza's direction and seeing her outstretched glowing palm, made them understand that she was the reason why they weren't two more corpses on the floor.

Without waiting for anyone to even say anything, Pride dashed towards the second greatest threat that was currently present, the female bandit who wielded the bloodstained war hammer.

Flames engulfed her sword as she swung it at breakneck speed, her eyes narrowing as she aimed to lop off the head of the woman in one strike.

'Tsk…'

The high demon clicked her tongue internally when she noticed the woman's pupils following vanitas while her hands moved to the Warhammer beside her and grabbed it.

**CLANG!!!

The sound of metal clanging together rang out as the Warhammer and vanitas clashed, with shockwaves spreading into the surroundings as the nearby bandits were knocked back while the knight on the floor coughed out a few mouthfuls of blood.

However, unlike the noble's daughter and her main, he was an existence over level 160 so it was impossible for him to die from just the shockwaves even though he received the full brunt of them.

Eliza flicked her fingers and the radiant codex floated up beside her, a second before the injuries of the unfortunate knight began to heal.

"Paladin"

The voice of a certain young hero was heard by the Warhammer-wielding woman as Evan appeared right behind her and delivered a kick to the side of her head.

"Guh!"

She let out a short grunt as her vision began spinning, however, her instincts warned her of impending death and she rose her war hammer and swung it in the opposite direction.

A beat later, vanitas came slashing down, colliding with her Warhammer as the flames spread out and burned her arm.