Chapter 124 - Bandits

Cale and his subordinates descended slowly. They scrutinized their surroundings and felt that the origin and elemental essence was much thicker on this planet than on Earth. The gravity here was also twice as strong, but it did not bother them much. 

"What thick origin essence! There should be a lot of strong beings living here on this planet..." Atlas spoke in amazement after sensing the thick amount of origin and elemental essence in the air. The others nodded in agreement, but there was no fear in their eyes at the mention of strong beings.

"For now, we should search for the nearest town. Faramis told me that there is a human empire here, but it will take longer for us to arrive on that empire." Cale took out a metallic ball from his storage space. He clicked the bulging part of the ball and a holographic map was projected in front of him.

In this world, only the Avran race used advanced weaponry to fight, while the rest used cold weapons. The advanced weaponry of the Avrans was only effective for enemies who were below the Saint-Class level. Once they fight someone who was a Saint, it was the time they use cold weapons.

Their cold weapons were not ordinary. Engraved on their weapons are array carvings which will enhance its strength. But there were only a few array masters on Shura, thus, a piece of Saint-Class equipment which was inscribed by an array master will surely cause a bloody war.

Aside from that, there were also savage beasts living on the planet. There were even some Saint-Class level beasts and a few known Immortal-Class level beasts. Once a beast achieves sainthood, they had the ability to transform themselves as humans, but their beastly auras were difficult to mask.

Cale bought enough Divine-Class level set equipment for him and his men. It was much cheaper than a Saint-Class level set equipment. Also, he did not want to show his Saint-Class level set equipment or he will look like a pile of walking treasure in everyone's eyes.

"This is the nearest town, and it is governed by the beastman race. There are also several other races living inside the town. As for demons... There are some, but not high-level ones. Saints can be considered as one of the strongest here on this planet, so there should be no problem once we go inside. Let's go." Cale spoke while reading the information on the town by clicking the holographic image of Manu Town. Rows of Avran texts can be seen, describing the town.

Everyone draped themselves with the black robes that Cale provided them. Although there was a strong human empire on this planet, a lot of humans still experience the contemptuous glances of the other races due to their bodies being much weaker than the rest.

The black robe covered all parts of their bodies. Their facial features were covered by masks, of course, Cale was still wearing his wolf mask. 

They chose to walk since they had consumed a lot of their elemental essence. And while they were walking, Zero suddenly talk with Cale telepathically.

"My lord, do you want me to kill them?" 

Cale did not reply telepathically, but he spoke calmly.

"Leave one alive..."

The others heard his voice, but they were not surprised. They had long since felt that a few people were following them, but they chose to ignore them since they were merely Emperor-Class level fighters.

Emperor-Class level fighters were already considered as the top on Earth, but they were merely the dregs here on Shura.

Zero vanished from his spot and he reappeared behind the group that was following them. 

Zero felt the killing intent that this group of bandits released when they looked at them. He knew that their goal was to murder them and steal their stuff. But the bandits never knew that everyone from the group that they had planned to attack were actually Saints.

Zero brandished his two knives as if he was painting a beautiful image. His movements were as calm as the floating clouds and flowing of the river. The scenery was dyed red as the heads of the bandits were detached from their bodies. Blood gushed out from their headless corpses like a torrent. But no blood can be seen on Zero's body. His long black robe was untainted and there seemed to be an invisible force blocking the buckets of blood from tainting his robe. 

The remaining bandit did not even realize what had happened to his comrades. It was only when their heads rolled on the ground and when the blood of his comrades drenched his entire body that he turned his head around.

What he saw was an individual draped in a long black robe. The individual's mask was facing his direction. His comrades' headless bodies dropped on the ground. Blood gushed out ceaselessly from their necks. His face turned ashen white and he felt his legs turned into jelly. 

'Who did we choose to offend this time?' The bandit thought to himself with remorse and regret.

He then felt a strong force gripping his neck tightly. He kept on thrashing his body, but he could not escape the grasp. He just glanced fearfully at the masked man while holding the arm that was clutching his neck. He then felt himself hovering in midair.

'Flight? Fuck... This man is a Saint!' The bandit thought in fear while he was being carried by Zero towards Cale and the others.

The ability to fly was something that only Saints were capable of doing. Of course with the exception of the birdman race and a few other winged races.

Zero then released his grip on the man's neck. The bandit coughed roughly as if he had tuberculosis. He then swept his scared gaze towards the group of people draped in black robes. 

His group thought that they had seen a group of fat sheep, but they never knew that what they saw was actually a group of mysterious monsters.

"Sires, please spare my life! I will do anything as long as you let me live!" Tears and snot can be seen on the beastman bandit as he knelt on the ground. 

"Who is the strongest person in Manu Town?" Cale asked calmly while ignoring the pitiful look of the beastman.

"Its... Every...Everyone knew that...that it is Lord Alucard. He is a human who wields a... a demonic sword. He's also an Adamantine-Rank mercenary from the Heavenly Wind Empire, the strongest human empire on Shura." The bandit spoke fearfully. He felt like his soul was leaving his body the more he spoke.

"This Alucard... What's his cultivation realm? And what is this Adamantine-Rank mercenary?" Cale asked emotionlessly. He was not told by Faramis about the mercenaries' rankings. So he did not want to miss any information about them.

The beastman bandit looked at Cale weirdly while thinking to himself.

'These people might have come from afar if he does not even know anything about the Mercenary Guild.'

"Sire, in the Mercenary Guild, all the mercenaries were ranked according to their achievements and strengths. Their ranking will be Wood-Rank, Bronze-Rank, Silver-Rank, Gold-Rank, Diamond-Rank, Platinum-Rank, and lastly, the Adamantine-Rank. As for Lord Alucard, he is one of the strongest Saint-Class level fighter who wields a Saint-Class demonic sword." There was admiration in the bandit's tone when he described Alucard. 

In Shura, the one with the strongest fist will rule, while the weak can only remain as cannon fodder. Although most humans were bullied on a daily basis, there were also some humans that were admired by many. One example was the Adamantine-Rank mercenary, Alucard.

He was one of the twenty-five Adamantine-Rank mercenaries and a higher ranked one at that. He was rank eleventh among all the mercenaries of the Mercenary Guild. Thus, many admired him on Shura.

To become an Adamantine-Rank mercenary, one should defeat someone from the twenty-five Adamantine-Rank mercenaries of the guild. But of course, it was not that easy to gain the chance to fight them. They would still be monitored closely by the Mercenary Guild.

So anyone who was an Adamantine-Rank mercenary was never weak, how much more Alucard who was rank eleventh among the twenty-five.

There where also rumors that the top ten mercenaries were all Immortal-Class level fighters...

"Interesting..." Cale muttered softly to himself before walking straight to Manu Town. He did not even bother glancing at the beastman bandit. Although leaving him alive would most likely be troublesome, but it was also part of his plans. Their arrival would slowly spread within Manu Town. He also made a slight modification on his plans after hearing the bandit's words.

He planned to meet this Alucard and speak with him about the Mercenary Guild. Cale could not defeat the demons alone. He had to have a force who was willing to fight for him. And for that to happen, he needs to gain a reputation within Shura. His plan was for him and his subordinates to become an Adamantine-Rank mercenary!

They walk towards the Manu Town, leaving the stunned beastman bandit kneeling on the ground. Even after seeing that Cale and his group were already far, he did not dare stand up. He only stood up after no longer seeing their back figures.

"Looks like the Manu Town will be quite lively with the arrival of this mysterious group. All of them are most likely Saints, but who are they?" The bandit was curious about the identities of the robed individuals, but he was also fearful of them.