Aziz looked coldly at the first bandit advancing with a sword in hand, charging at him with a wild scream.
Clang!
The tallic sound echoed as Aziz casually parried the strike, his serene gaze contrasting with the attacker’s distorted expression of fury. The enemy’s blade hit his with force but without technique, more like soone swinging an iron bar — closer to a troll shaking a club than a real swordsman.
"How pathetic..." Aziz murmured to himself, his eyes evaluating every movent of the enemy.
With a minimal and efficient dodge, he leaned to the side and delivered a sharp, direct punch to the bandit’s face. The impact made the man stumble back clumsily, staggering like a clumsy puppet, nearly colliding with another attacker right behind him.
"S-Son of a bitch!" the bandit shouted, bringing his hand to his now bloodied nose. The involuntary tears in his eyes revealed the intensity of the pain.
Aziz smiled disdainfully. His silvery-blue eyes flickered lightly, as if facing a child throwing a tantrum.
"Is that all you’ve got?" he taunted, his voice dripping with natural mockery, as if poking at the enemy’s wounded pride even more.
"You bastard! You won’t have an easy death!" the bandit roared, panting, charging again with savagery.
But before he could get close, a figure sliced through the air beside Aziz. Agnes, with a clenched fist and focused gaze, appeared like a silver arrow. The punch she delivered was devastating.
Crack!
The sound of breaking bones rang loudly, causing the other bandits to pause for a mont. The enemy’s body was thrown back like a kite with broken sticks, falling to the ground with a dull thud, motionless.
Agnes returned to her previous position as quickly as she had advanced. The blood dripping from the gauntlet on her hand contrasted with the shy smile she gave Aziz. An almost innocent expression, as if what she had done was nothing more than a casual gesture.
Aziz returned the smile, intrigued by the companion’s duality. The brutal ferocity in her strikes and the gentle smile afterward — a fascinating combination.
But there was no ti for words. The other bandits, seeing their comrade treated like a ragdoll, charged in fury. Hatred overflowed from their eyes, especially the leader’s, who clenched his fists and began grinding his teeth.
The trio — Aziz, Liora, and Agnes — exchanged a silent glance. Then they smiled. A smile mixing contempt, amusent, and absolute confidence.
Without hesitation, they launched themselves together into the front line, like an unstoppable wave.
Clang!
Clang!
Clang!
Blades clashed. Sparks danced in the air as the battle exploded across the field. The grass beneath their feet was already stained with the first traces of blood.
However, the other bandits didn’t stand idle watching their comrades face the trio in fair fights. One of them laughed loudly, bloodshot eyes gleaming, and ran toward Aziz’s flank, wielding a huge war hamr.
"Hahaha! Idiots! You’re going to die!" he shouted, jumping into the air with the weapon raised above his head, ready to smash Aziz like a ripe fruit.
Aziz calmly raised his eyes. His gaze fixed on the weapon and the blue mana aura surrounding it. With an almost inaudible whisper, he said:
"Energy barrier."
A silver layer of mana ford above his head, solid and shimring.
TUNG!
The hamr collided with the barrier. A vibrant shockwave reverberated, causing the ground to tremble slightly. The barrier wavered, almost cracking, but held firm.
"Argh! Bitch..." the bandit grunted, feeling the impact bounce back against himself. His arms trembled with the recoil, muscles throbbing.
Aziz defended a punch from another bandit with his anti-arm; with the impact, his body slid a bit backward, balancing firmly.
He felt his arm tremble under the force of the blow, but his expression remained impassive, showing no sign of pain. Instead, a calm and serene smile ford on his face, as if the challenge only strengthened his determination.
"Since you want to fight with nurical advantage... maybe I’ll even things out a bit, huh?" he said playfully.
He didn’t expect an answer and indeed received none. The bandits were too busy growling and attacking without any coordination.
With another whisper, Aziz activated one of his abilities:
"Stimulating presence."
The mont the words left his lips, an invisible but powerful aura began to emanate from his body. Like a magical pulse, it spread in subtle waves, reaching everyone around.
The bandits faltered.
Their movents beca unstable. The emotions they tried to channel for attack — anger, fury, revenge — exploded chaotically. Their minds beca foggy, thoughts scrambled. The scarce rationality completely dissipated.
They started shouting, attacking with brute force but no finesse. They turned into troglodytes swinging their weapons like children with broken toys.
In contrast, Liora and Agnes seed revitalized. Aziz’s aura touched them like a breath of clarity. Their eyes shone with confidence, and their movents beca more precise, agile, and lethal.
Aziz watched with a slight gleam of satisfaction.
"So that’s how it affects others... interesting."
But there was no ti to contemplate further. The hamr brute jumped again, roaring like a wounded beast.
This ti, Aziz didn’t wait.
With a subtle gesture, he activated light Telekinesis and pulled the bandit still in midair toward him. The man completely lost control of his flight, his body descending in a clumsy fall.
The bandit’s eyes widened. He tried to react, but it was too late.
Aziz jumped, eting him in the air. The sword pointed directly at the enemy’s unprotected neck.
The bandit instinctively spun his body, avoiding the thrust that would have decapitated him. But he wasn’t unscathed.
With a fluid motion, Aziz followed his spin, adjusting his blade in midair and cutting the opponent’s arm with surgical precision.
"AAAAARGH! MY ARM!" the scream cut through the sky, sharp and desperate.
The bandit fell to the ground, rolling, his gaze fixed on the spot where his left arm had been. Blood wasn’t yet gushing — such was the precision of the cut.
He looked at Aziz with hatred so intense it seed to want to burn him with the gaze. But what he saw next almost made him lose control.
Aziz was holding the severed arm — the very one he had torn from him — waving it as if greeting its owner.
With a provocative smile, Aziz said:
"Heavens... how are you going to lift that hamr with only one arm now?"
Then, unhurriedly, he threw the arm to the ground and crushed it with a stomp.
Crunch!
Aziz’s boot, reinforced by silver mana, shattered the bone and twisted the muscles.
"Oops..." he murmured with a satisfied expression. The sadistic trait inherited from Isis slowly blossod on his face.
"I’M GOING TO KILL YOU!" the bandit scread, now insane, running with the bloody stump of his arm, completely ignoring his vulnerability.
Aziz smiled sideways, analytical.
"Idiot."
He kicked the crushed remains of the arm at the enemy, who instinctively dodged.
That was exactly what he wanted.
With the distraction, Aziz focused mana in his legs, propelling himself like a silver arrow.
The bandit barely had ti to react. He felt a coldness on his neck.
They passed each other. For a mont, everything seed frozen.
The bandit took a few more steps, but sothing was wrong. His body no longer obeyed.
He fell to the ground like a puppet without strings.
His head rolled away, stopping on the side on the soil.
His eyes remained open. The expression was still one of hatred — he didn’t even realize he had been killed.
Aziz watched the head for a mont.
He felt no guilt, no joy. Only slight disappointnt.
"It was to be expected..." he murmured thoughtfully. "Not even close to the training with my mother... or with Isis."
But sothing subtle changed in his gaze. There was maturity there now. A different firmness. Killing left marks, even on soone like him.
He approached the head, grabbed it by the hair, and lifted it, staring at the bandits still fighting Liora and Agnes.
His silvery-blue eyes glead with malice.
"THE FIRST ONE’S DOWN! WHO’S NEXT?"
The shout cut through the battle.
All the bandits stopped for a mont, shocked. The head shaking in Aziz’s hand said more than a thousand words.
He threw the head into the air and, with a precise kick, sent it flying like a ball toward the group’s leader.
The man dodged, but the head fell at his feet, spinning slowly.
For the first ti, the leader looked at Aziz. His eyes were cold, sharp, like a blade about to be drawn.
Aziz walked toward him calmly, the sword resting on his shoulder.
His smile was disdainful. Almost provocative.
"So, little leader... are you going to just stand there or are you coming too?"
=
Next month, I’m planning to release a brand new novel—a fresh romance story. I truly hope you’ll join on this journey. Your support ans everything, and I’m counting on you all to be part of this exciting adventure.
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