Chương 49: Battle End and Loose Threads

Feeling the sword tip pricking his skin, Nick's face turned pale with fright.

"I'll talk, I'll talk! Please don't kill me!" Nick quickly raised his arms and said. Looking at the trembling Nick, Kyle didn't relent; he pushed the sword tip even further, puncturing his skin, causing blood drops to fall. Nick's body trembled violently. The sword tip rested so close to his throat that he could almost feel it cutting into his windpipe.

"Why are you here? Why did you attack us?" Kyle coldly asked. Nick trembled as he opened his mouth to speak, but an explosion followed by a shockwave interrupted him. Kyle frowned as he looked at the cracked energy barrier and the countless craters filling the canyon. Alric and Bram were still fighting, and bandits and adventurers were still clashing.

"This isn't the place to interrogate him. Luke, please keep an eye on this guy as I assist the others. We'll try again once the bandits fall back." Kyle hurriedly said, pushing Nick in front of Luke.

"Fine by me. I won't let him escape." Luke nodded before pulling out a sturdy piece of rope from the carriage and tightly binding Nick's limbs. Kyle kept an eye on Luke as he pulled Nick into the carriage before rushing toward the nearest bandit....... As Kyle barged into a fight between a guard and a bandit, killing the bandit in two strikes, on the other side of the battlefield, Alric and Bram were still fighting. After another clash, Bram's muscles bulged as his mana fully filled them.

"Ha!" With an earth-shattering cry, he used his short stature as a point to throw Alric to the sky.

"Take this! Young man!" Bram shouted before holding his two hammers next to each other. The two hammers magnetically linked together, seamlessly connecting into one single hammer. Then, as Bram injected mana into the hammer, it quickly grew to over 1. 5 meters long, with a head as big as a human torso. The hammer's shadow ominously flowed onto the ground. Bram quickly ran forward, each step he took shaking the ground, before jumping into the sky and swinging his giant hammer at Alric.

'If I take a clean hit from that hammer, I'll die.' Alric immediately judged. As he fell from the sky, he got closer and closer to the hammer. Yet, Alric didn't panic. He placed his sword in front of him, and at the moment of contact…

"Boom!"

"Ha!!" Bram pushed his hammer upward, intending to break Alric's sword and crush his arms and torso. However, to this, Alric just relaxed his body…

"[Vector Redirection]" Alric murmured; his body seemed to slip to the side before being flung away like a tennis ball. He somersaulted mid-air before placing his fingers near his mouth and whistling.

"Neigh!" The sound of a horse neighing, followed by hooves stomping the ground, sounded. In the next second, Alric smoothly landed on his horse's saddle as it moved forward.

"Hahaha! Not bad, young man! That was amazing!" Bram laughed as he landed back on the ground, still holding his giant hammer.

"Boom!" A huge crater exploded on the ground as he landed on it. The earth shook around them; even the canyon seemed to tremble. Alric sheathed his sword and held his spear, his expression solemn as he looked at Bram. Up till this point, he was at a disadvantage, but now that he was back on his horse…

"Hm?" Alric suddenly noticed Nick, tied up, being dragged away. He silently looked at him for a moment before looking at the energy barriers around. Two of them had already been destroyed, and the rest were on the verge of breaking as well. Shifting his gaze to his subordinates, he found that they were at an overwhelming disadvantage. He had gotten so caught up in his battle with Bram that he didn't notice. After a moment of silence, he turned his gaze back to Bram.

"We'll continue this later, Bram." Bram's eyes widened before bursting into laughter. He shrank his hammer before separating it into two again.

"Whatever you say, young man." Alric turned his gaze to his subordinates.

"Retreat!" Alric shouted. The bandits paused for a moment as they heard their boss's voice, then quickly pushed their opponents before falling back.

"You think you can attack us and retreat just like that! Who do you think you—" The employer struck his head out of the carriage and hollered, but his cries stuck in his throat as he glimpsed Alric's cold eyes. Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.

"Let them leave, young man. The casualties will be severe if we continue to fight." Bram hung his hammer on the buckle on his waist and said, The employer's face turned red, seemingly intending to retort, but in the end, he just snorted and slumped back into his carriage. The bandits quickly retreated, and with Alric and Bram keeping an eye on each other, no one dared to do anything. It wasn't until all bandits walked away and the energy barriers dissipated that everyone in the caravan heaved a sigh of relief.

The Silver Vengeance bandits were in a low mood as they walked back to their hideout. A bald bandit slowly approached Alric, who was on his horse, and asked,"Lord, was it okay to retreat just like this? That guy Nick was captured, right?" Alric glanced down at the bald bandit, then replied.

"I don't care. Our deal was to provide them with the opportunity to strike. Since he failed his task, he has no one to blame but himself. I completed my end of the deal, and that's enough." Alric calmly said. The deaths of so many of his subordinates were nothing but a necessity. Anyway, most of his rank 1 subordinates were fine; the others could be easily replenished at any time.

"I see." The bald man nodded and retreated. Alric calmly moved forward. His duel with the dwarf was brief, but it still stung him. The two of them were undoubtedly at the same level, but he was at a disadvantage throughout the whole fight. While that might be partly because of the carelessness at the beginning, Alric undoubtedly was serious during the fight. In the end, it all boiled down to one thing: his injury.

"Victor…" Alric whispered, his hand drifted unconsciously toward his chest. In many instances during the fight, his reaction was a fraction of a second late, or his mana flow was unstable. Usually insignificant, but against an experienced opponent of the same level, these flaws were as clear as day.

"Soon, soon…" Alric whispered as he disappeared into the forest on the mountain, his subordinates following behind........ Back at the caravan, the scene was busy. Guards and adventurers moved on, tallying the losses and bandaging the wounded. Because Luke was guarding their prisoner, Kyle and Aaron were the ones talking with the captain of guards, reporting the damages and injuries. After completing the report, Kyle and Aaron walked away.

They hadn't mentioned the fact that they were seemingly targeted or the fact that they captured Nick. The situation was very chaotic at the time, so no one noticed their actions. Kyle and Aaron glanced at each other before silently walking toward their carriage. They nodded at Tina, who was standing at the entrance, before walking in. The carriage felt a bit crowded with the addition of the two, but no one complained, not even Doyle. He was glaring at Nick, his gaze sharp.

Even though he was currently bedridden, Nick still felt stifled by his gaze.

"Finished?" Luke glanced at them and asked,"Yes." The two of them nodded before shifting their gaze to Nick. Luke coldly looked at Nick, his dagger inches away from his eyeballs.

"I've been interrogating this guy for a while, but he didn't say why they suddenly attacked us. He only said that Bloody Hand Garrick tasked him with getting rid of us." Luke paused for a moment, his eyes narrowing in confusion.

"They even went as far as paying over 800 gold coins to do so. Those energy barriers and the money paid to Alric. I can't fathom why the head of a gang from a small town would pay such a large amount just to get rid of us. He didn't even send competent assassins." Luke shook his head. Nick was terrified as he looked at the tip of the dagger within an inch of his eyeball.

"I've already told you what I know! The boss said that it's just a crippled party. The only threatening one was the assassin!" Nick quickly shook his head and said. Kyle crossed his arms and leaned against the walls of the carriage, deep into his thoughts.

'Why would a gang leader spend over 800 gold coins just to get rid of us? That's so stupid. What's there to gain from this?' Kyle felt that he was on the verge of figuring something out.

'First of all, I can rule out that this is retaliation for killing those henchmen under him. They aren't worth the price.' Kyle thought of Evan and the other three, but quickly shook his head. He quickly went over all possibilities connecting them to the Bloody Hand, eliminating them one by one.

'Think, Kyle, think!' He closed his eyes and constantly tapped his forehead, feeling that he was extremely close to something. In the end, light flashed in his mind.

'The cult!' Kyle's eyes snapped open. He quickly thought of the last quest he completed, the only thing connecting him with Doyle's party.

'Why didn't I think of that earlier?' Kyle felt like slapping himself.

'So the Bloody Hand is connected to the cult?' Remembering the cautiousness of the guild president back then, only now did Kyle realize how justified that was.

'They wanted to get rid of us because we interrupted the ritual? But is it worth spending so much money just for that? That doesn't make sense!' Kyle was baffled. His gaze immediately fell on the terrified Nick.

'This guy shouldn't know about the cult, but just in case, let's confirm.'

"Hey, do you know anything about the Old Imperial Cult? Is your gang involved with them?" Kyle sharply asked.

"What? The Old Imperial Cult?! Why would we be involved with these madmen? The kingdom and the church would hang us!" Nick quickly shook his head, his eyes filled with fear and bewilderment. Kyle sharply looked at his eyes, seeking any trace of falsehood, yet he could only glean genuine fear and bewilderment in those eyes.

'This guy probably doesn't know. There should only be a few figures that know about the cult in the Bloody Hand gang; maybe it's just their boss, Garrick. However, if that's the case, then was Garrick propped up by the cult or did he join them later?' Kyle fell into deep thought.

"Wait! Kyle, you mean the gang behind these guys is involved with the cult?" Aaron asked with wide eyes. Doyle leaned back on his chair, and Luke narrowed his eyes. Upon thinking about it for a while, they also felt that it was likely the case. The only thing they did in Mirevale was assist in the goblin extermination quest, involving the cult. They didn't offend anyone during their stay. In fact, apart from the guild and the church, they hardly communicated with anyone else.

"But why did they send people to silence us just now? The guild already knows about the ritual; killing us won't change anything. Moreover, spending so much money just to do such sloppy work... I don't understand." Doyle shook his head and said.

"Maybe this is a part of a bigger conspiracy? Or they might have other intentions?" Luke said thoughtfully. They were just as baffled. Kyle pondered for a while before giving up on deducing Garrick's thoughts. He didn't have enough clues for now. Nick's expression turned strange. As he listened to their deductions and hypotheses, he gradually figured out the reason why the boss sent them to kill these people.

While he was shocked that their boss had gotten involved with the cult, he was speechless as he listened to their theories about Garrick's master plan. He knew for sure that their boss didn't have any master plan. He was just a thoughtless and impulsive man. The only reason he could stand as the ruler of Mirevale's underworld was because of his strength and the support of the baron. Kyle pondered for a moment before asking Nick, "Did Garrick issue any strange orders lately? Did his behavior change?

And did he connect with any strange figure recently?" Nick recalled for a moment before nodding, "Indeed, the boss did start acting strangely lately. He also gave us some strange orders, such as secretly leaving a variety of materials in secret locations and placing slaves and corpses periodically in some places inside and outside the town." Kyle nodded upon hearing this.

'That confirms it.' After further interrogating him about the place where they transported the materials and other pieces of information, Luke pulled away his dagger. They had basically learned everything this guy knew.

"So what should we do with this guy? Kill him or give him to the guards once we reach the city?" Kyle asked, his gaze settling on the increasingly terrified Nick.