Chapter 431 Last Leg

Chapter 431 Last Leg

Karl jogged down the road in front of Thor, who was nearly prancing with joy to have passengers. Especially passengers who were gratefully petting the rough scales around the carrier bags on his back.

Karl noted that they seemed to be becoming more smooth with age, or perhaps he was keeping his barrier up over them, as the sandpaper texture of the scales was not harming the Elves at all.

He wasn't a dragon, but his scales were similar to Dragon scales, and the Elves had a ritual for polishing Nature Dragon scales in their home villages. The Green Dragons apparently liked to visit the Elves when they were young, as the Elves lived long enough for the Dragons to get to know them. So, the Elves viewed them as an extension of the Nature Goddess, which in a way they were. All Dragons who came from the lineage of a Chromatic Dragon God could hear instructions from their species' patron.

[There are more bandits. They have a wagon surrounded.] Rae informed Karl just as the sun was coming up.

[Remi, stay here with Thor. Hawk, keep an eye on the kids while I go with Rae and eliminate the bandits. If we can save a few people from the wagon team, we can have them smooth our entrance to the city.] Karl instructed.

Remi exited her space to appear on Thor's back in a coil, where she could see everything going on around them.

[I will do my best to stay out of sight, you pretend the Golems are yours.] Rae insisted as she raced off into the distance with Karl chasing behind her.

The wagon, as Hawk called it, was actually a carriage with a very fancy sigil on the visible side, made of what appeared to be genuine solid gold.

There were a dozen guards around the carriage, all of whom seemed to be in the high Ascended power range, while the five bandits that were toying with them were all on the strong side of Commander Rank.

Karl noticed that the bandits all had the same red bandana that the fruit merchant had given him tied to their left arms, making them easily identifiable, even if they weren't facing a force in uniforms. But they were also well-trained as a group, and they fought well together, despite not having a single mage in their group.

In fact, there were no mages in either group that was fighting, it was all warriors and rogues.

Karl whistled to catch the attention of the carriage guards, who looked immensely relieved to see Karl, despite him still being in his shabby armour disguise.

It didn't seem wise to change back and look like a Darklight Host member when he was close to one of their bastions without any idea how their organization functioned.

One of the bandits broke off to deal with Karl, and Rae called the Golems in between them. n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

The man screamed in terror as they appeared, and then the screams cut off with a rasping gurgle as the Golems pinned him to the ground and began to shred his body.

Everyone was so horrified that they completely stopped fighting for a whole ten seconds, just staring at the massacre as the wounded man begged for death.

Then the blood soaked golems turned to face the battle, and the bandits' morale broke.

They didn't even say anything, they just ran.

The Cerro stopped next to Karl, who gathered the loot into his storage, and gave him a head ridge rub as Thor made happy rumbling noises that had the kids giggling.

Hawk returned to his space, leaving only Karl and Thor outside, but the guards weren't relaxing.

"Where are the children?" The guard leader asked.

"In the pouches. It's the best way to carry children on a fast journey. They're all mostly unharmed, as Thor here is a Lightning Cerro, and his barrier has a regenerative effect that will have helped them heal from their injuries."

They still looked rough, but the bruises had faded, and the few broken bones they had suffered were all repaired.

"You wanted to take them to the Darklight Host?" The young Cleric asked.

"Yes. I was told that they were the right place to bring kidnapping victims." Karl shrugged.

"You would side with the Darklight Host against the Demon Guild Alliance?" The Cleric asked.

"Miss, I don't see any symbols of allegiance on him. It could be a trick." The carriage guard leader whispered.

"We should get going, those bandits will regroup with their friends and be back soon." She whispered back.

But Karl's hearing was far too sensitive to miss that conversation.

"They won't be regrouping with anyone. I killed them all. The Golems hunted them down in the woods." Karl informed the pair.

"What sort of monster are you? You don't even let surrendered enemies flee?" The guard asked.

"Sure I do. If they're in custody. If they're fleeing, they didn't really surrender, they're just retreating. Don't count that one on the ground in front of me, that was an object lesson.

I really do sound like the bad guy here, don't I? I swear, I'm actually a rather kind fellow."

The kids on Thor's back all laughed as Karl stumbled over his words, while the guards stared at him suspiciously.

"I'll tell you what, why don't I lead the way into town, so I'm not at your backs, and then when we get there, you can help me get these kids to someone who can help and won't sell them to slavers?" Karl offered.

The guard leader nodded. "That works for me. But first, I need to know what your class is. I can't see your information on the status screen."

You can see information about others on the status screen? That was news to Karl.