Vesper's eyes flickered when he saw his reaction.
He then raised his head and looked at James with a cold glint in his eyes. 'You will have only yourself to blame.'
Two minutes later, they reached the river. It was over fifty feet wide, its waters rushing with powerful force. If an ordinary person were to fall into it, even if they knew how to swim, the current would easily drag them under, and they would drown.
There was a five-foot-wide wooden bridge built over it, allowing people to cross it with ease.
As James' horse moved closer and closer to the bridge with the carriage trailing right behind, a heavy tension filled the air.
Vesper kept his eyes locked on James' back all while scanning the surroundings for the slightest unusual movement. It was difficult for him to focus on two tasks, but he pushed his mind to the limit. The instant he sensed anything out of the ordinary, he would take out White and let her take care of everything.
"Alright!" Suddenly, James called out and turned his horse around. He gave the old man a cold look before looking at Vesper. "It seems you are not entirely useless, seeing how you managed to figure out my plan."
Saying this, he paused, and a sadistic smirk appeared on his face. "However, wouldn't it have been better if you hadn't figured it out? After all, if you hadn't, you wouldn't be so tense right now and could've died in peace."
Rustle! Rustle!
As he spoke, the grass and leaves rustled, and several people—five to be exact—appeared around them. From their coarse clothing, their iron sabers, and wild mannerisms, coupled with the fact they were deep into the forest, anyone would know the moment they saw them that these people were bandits.
Vesper glanced at them, took a deep breath, and turned his gaze back to James.
"So, you really wanted to kill us here, dispose of our bodies into the river, and blame it all on these bandits?" He asked,
James frowned in displeasure upon seeing Vesper still had that calm and indifferent look on his face.
He then snorted, "You are right. That's exactly what I planned and will do."
Vesper nodded and then asked, "Why? Did my f… Did Rhaedor order you to do this? Or was it someone else?"
James didn't answer and instead shook his head, his face full of mock pity, "You are really pitiful! You haven't done anything wrong, but so many people want you dead. You must feel really bad."
'Not telling, huh?' Vesper thought.
Right then, James ordered coldly, "Kill them."
"Kill!"
Immediately, the five bandits rushed toward the carriage with bloodthirsty looks on their faces.
Vesper was about to take White out when…
Swoosh!
He heard the sound of someone rushing over.
Bang!
Right then, one of the bandits' heads exploded, pieces of bone, blood, and brain matter raining down in all directions. Then a moment later, his body fell to the ground with a thud that sent cold shivers down everyone's spine.
"It's a mage! Run!"
A bandit shouted and turned around to escape when…
Swoosh!
Bang!
A fire projectile flew over from a distance at blazing fast speed and pierced through his head, causing it to explode in the same manner as the one before.
Thud!
By the time his body fell, James had taken out his sword, jumped down from the horseback, and rushed toward the carriage.
Within these few moments, he understood the situation—whoever was killing the bandits was clearly doing this to protect Vesper's group. So, if he manages to capture Vesper or Alric, he would be able to leave this place alive.
That was right. The moment the first bandit died, he knew this mage was not someone who he could handle.
'This bastard should be a 2-star low-level mage at least,' He thought, feeling his heart constricting in fear.
He was just a Fighter Rank Knight, equivalent of a novice mage—1-star low-level mage--or maybe a little stronger. How could he hope to put up a fight against someone an entire realm above him?
He pushed himself to the limit, wanting to reach the carriage as soon as possible, but the narrow distance, barely ten feet, between them seemed to stretch for infinity at this moment.
Seven feet…
Bang!
Third bandit died.
Five feet…
Bang!
Fourth bandit fell.
Two feet…
Bang!
The last bandit also died.
His heartbeat rose up, but seeing he was almost near the carriage, his eyes flashed with excitement and relief as he stretched his hand out toward Vesper.
Right then, however…
Swish!
A figure appeared in front of him and caught his hand. Then…
Bang!
He was sent flying backward while a burning pain shot through his body, originating from his solar plexus.
Boom!
He crash-landed on the ground, and the impact made him spew out blood.
Ignoring the pain, he hurried to stand up but couldn't muster any strength… Instead, his vision started turning blurry.
'Huh? What's going on?' He thought and finally looked down at his chest. His eyes widened in horror when he saw a large, charred hole at the center of his chest from where a large amount of blood was gushing out.
'Huh? Is that… part of my heart?' He thought, noticing a piece of soft flesh sticking out from the hole.
'Damn, he is really… stro…ng.'
This was his last thought as he looked at the blurry, cloaked figure standing in front of the carriage, looking down at him. Then, light vanished from his eyes, and he fell dead.
…
From the moment James ordered the bandits to kill them to the moment he died, barely ten seconds had passed.
Vesper and the old carriage driver were still in the same position, staring at the headless corpses of the bandits and James, who just died.
They then looked at the cloaked figure standing in front of them, with their back facing them.
Gulp!
The old man gulped nervously, not daring to make a sound while Vesper took a breath and asked, "W-Who are you, Sir?"
He was overwhelmed after witnessing such quick and gruesome deaths and barely managed to voice out his question.