Chapter 67 The Distraction

BANG! A man kicked the tavern's door open, falling on his face, crying like a baby. "Run! The bandits are raiding the farms!" He crawled inside.

Alcott stood, "Bandits in the middle of the day?" grabbing his sword.

Aella froze in place, "Is this my fault?" She mumbled.

Arad and Alcott stared at her simultaneously, "What?"

"I might have eradicated a few camps as I searched for you yesterday," She stared at Arad with a pained smile.

"Will deal with them immediately. Follow me." Alcott rushed forward, and Arad followed him without hesitation. "I hope they were doing a good job." Jack sighed, "It would be a bummer if they didn't have any gold." He chased after them with Lydia at his side.

"You only think of money?" Lydia glared at him, "You know gold isn't everything."

Jack looked at her, "But it's most things."

Everyone rushed outside toward the fields. The bandits have banded there, plundering every house on their way.

Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Alcott charged forward like a raging horse, leaping over fences with his hand on the hilt of his blade. Arad chased directly after him, followed by Aella and Merida. "I understand Alcott being fast, but what about Arad?" Merida growled, unable to reach their speed.

Aella looked at her, "He has 14 strengths."

"What? How could a sorcerer average like that?" Merida gasped, "That explains how hard his skin is," She stared forward.

"I can see them. Get ready!" Aella shouted, leaping above some barrels and climbing into the roof of a barn. CREEE! She pulled her bowstring, aiming at the bandits in the distance while holding her breath. BAM! BAM! BAM!

"Is that a steel bow?" Merida stopped, glaring at her with a puzzled face. Thud! Thud! Jack and Lydia, who were the slower, passed her. "Hurry, what are you looking at?" Jack smacked her back with a grin, "You need to take the frontlines, right?"

SWOSH! Arad and Alcott saw the arrows pass them and kill three bandits who exited a house. "Be careful of the bandits carrying hostages. We don't want any dead civilians if possible."

"Understood,"

"You're surprisingly cooperative now," Alcott smiled.

"I'm not going to tell an experienced adventurer what to do. It's your lead," Arad replied, KA-DON!

"HE?" The bandits gasped, seeing their friends fall dead to arrows. One of them glared into the distance and spotted Aella, "It's her! The long-ear bitch who killed Jamon, Merlin, and Gadra's squads!" He shouted, pointing toward her. THUD! An arrow stuck between his eyes.

"Shut up," Aella mumbled.

All the bandits raged over the murder of the comrades, charging forward with their swords drawn.

Alcott pulled his blade and swung forward. CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! Four slashes in the blink of an eye, tearing through their weapons and shields like paper. "You kill and plunder everyone and get angry when someone does the same to you? Stop joking. Unless you surrender, your rights are forfeit by the kingdom." Alcott shout. "Those who want to live, drop your weapons and walk to the back with your hands up where I can see them,"

"Shut the fuck up!" One of the bandits rushed forward, swinging his half-rusted blade at Alcott. CLACK! Alcott caught his sword barehanded, "I don't want to think of how many innocent people you killed," He glared at the bandit in the face. THWACK! He kicked him in the guts with his steel boot, sending his puking blood to the other side of the field.

Arad rushed at a group of bandits. "That idiot, is he crazy?" Merida growled, running faster and faster, "Does he want to die?"

KA-DON! Arad punched one of the bandits in the face causing an explosion. The flames burned the bandit's face and blinded his eyes, "My eyes!"

The other bandits surrounded Arad, swinging their axes and swords.

Arad pulled his hands together, [Flame cloak]. His body instantly combusted, burning everything that got close to him.

The bandits cried, turning to run away from the searing head. THUD! Arad grabbed two of them by the neck, his palms grilling their neck like hot iron.

"Why are you running?" Arad smiled, throwing them away after igniting their cloth. He turned to look at the other bandits, smiling. With the flame light, his face seemed black except for his red eyes and evil grin. "Anyone wants a hug?"

The bandits looked at each other. A quick death by Alcott's blade seemed far better than getting roasted alive by that demon. "On him!" A bandit shouted, rushing at Alcott.

CLING! Merida rushed into, swinging her long blade like a whirlwind. Cling! The bandit's bodies got severed in half, "Give up." She said, staring at them.

"RUN!" One of them screamed, turning back to run away. CLANG! Lydia stood, glaring at them with golden eyes, "Surrender, and god might forgive you."

The bandits turned their heels and rushed in another direction, just for them to trip on a long thin wire. "What is this?" One cried and then spotted Jack looking at them from behind the bushes with a smile.

"You don't stand a chance. Surrendering is your only way to live!" Alcott shouted. "You can run if you want, but we can just hunt you down." Lydia glared at them, shaking her head, and an arrow hit one of the bandits in the knee.

***

After the fight ended, fifty-six bandits died, and twenty surrendered. "Good job. This should make the forest a bit safer." Alcott said with a smile. But suddenly, his expression changed. "We've been played!" He rushed back to the city as fast as he could.

When Alcott and the rest reached the city, they found people gathering in front of the church, "Move aside. What happened?" He glared inside. The head priest got mauled to death alongside a man and a woman. The sisters standing around cried and brought blankets to cover the corpses.

"The beast attacked just moments ago," One of the sisters approached Alcott, sobbing, "It took two sisters and the city's blacksmith who was praying here."

"The bandit attack as a distraction?" Arad growled, glaring around.

"Someone might have tricked the bandits into attacking the city. Revenge wasn't their only motive." Alcott growled.

The party spent the evening searching the rubble and found nothing. It was like the beast appeared out of nowhere and disappeared into nothingness. "I wish we had a ranger," Alcott sighed, sitting on one of the church's benches.

Arad sat beside him, "Even Jack couldn't find any track. I expected this to be easy with all the blood." He sighed, "That thing is making fun of us,"

"Don't say that. We've only been here for a day." Alcott scratched his head, "I should have brought Ginger, but someone needs to stay in Alina." He looked at the church's ceiling.

Lydia approached them, "We got some witness saying the beast came from inside the church, but we can't tell from where."

"Is there a possibility of the church having a secret entrance?" Alcott stared at her.

"The only person who might know is now dead," Lydia stared at the room where the head priest's corpse was resting till the burial.

"Get everyone out of this place. And line them at the door for me," Alcott looked at her, "I will take some extreme measures. I hope you can be understanding,"

"What do you intend to do?" Arad looked at him.

"Track the beast myself," Alcott sighed, "Sniff the bastard out," He stood.

Lydia went to the back and called everyone from nuns to workers. "Lie up in the church's hall. We need to do some investigation."

When everyone lined up. Alcott approached one of the sisters, glaring at her. She took a step back. His eyes seemed to reach deep into her soul.

Alcott bent slightly, sniffing her chest and neck, "KYA!" The sister tried to push him, but she was the one to fall, "What are you doing!" She cried.

Alcott stood, "I need to know the smell of everyone who lives here in the church so I can track the beast," He said, looking at the next sister.

"Hold a moment," Lydia grabbed his hand, "How can you do that?"

"I have a strong sense of smell," Alcott replied, "Trained it like rangers do," He lied. His lycanthropic blood enchanted his senses. It was a wolf tracking another.

Lydia couldn't reply, he was an S-rank, and they were renowned to be monsters with inhuman skills. Having Alcott do that seemed expected. "Arad, come sniff them as well," Alcott called him.

"Why me?" Arad took a step back.

"You have a strong nose. But you need to train it." Alcott replied. "Identify the scent of everyone in the church and then track any foreign smell you find."

Arad sighed. ^I'm a dragon, and it's pathetic that I can't use my sense of smell well. I wonder what Mom would have said,^ He approached one of the sisters. "You two?" she glared at him, disgusted. Arad picked up on that, so he smiled.

"I'm the one disgusted here, smelling your sweat." Arad scratched his head, "We're doing this to save your life, so at least pretend you don't mind,"

"Should I help?" Merida approached them, dragging Aella with her, "The nuns would find it more comfortable with us,"

Alcott stared back at her, "No, you two don't have what it take," He replied with a passive face.