Riding atop the lizard's back as they ascended the mountain with dazzling speed, Ian scanned the surroundings, alert and uneasy.
Just as the rumors claid, there were no soldiers stationed near Drakmire Bastion. It was as if the entire city had been abandoned.
But how could that be possible? The city was an incredibly important strategic point. Even if the war was still in its early stages, by now the mountain should've been littered with corpses, thick with the scent of iron.
That was not the case, however. It just looked like any normal, ordinary mountain. It was quite—too quiet—and Ian did not like that.
He threw a glance towards his leader. He debated if he should call upon him and share his worries. It wasn't just because Hugo was the bandit leader, but just his appearance alone made people hesitate to speak to him. Close to two ters, with two great axes resting upon his back, his hair was short, black like a raven, and his beard was rough.
In the end, Ian pushed past the hesitation and spoke.
"Hugo, are you sure about this? I have a very bad feeling about this."
The mont Ian opened his mouth, it seed as if the tension in the air rose significantly. All of Ian's partners in cri threw a worried glance toward him but kept their mouths shut out of fear.
The tension seed to grow tenser every second that Hugo kept quiet until finally he scoffed.
"Have a little faith in your leader, alright? I've got inside information. This city—we're heading there because it was attacked yesterday by the Empire's forces. And I trust you're smart enough to understand what that ans."
Ian's eyes narrowed. "There should have been a fight for the city, yet the lack of bodies in the vicinity and with no trace of iron in the air could an only one thing."
"They have taken Drakmire Bastion without them even putting up a fight. As such, the city is ours. Now tell , are we really going to be so retarded to leave such opportunity past us?"
With a twisted smile appearing on his lips, Hugo moved one of his hands from the reins and grabbed onto a chain next to him.
"Uh!" Due to the force that Hugo applied, the woman with the tal collar on her neck could not help but cry in pain as her neck felt like it was about to snap.
"I've had my fun with this one," Hugo said. "She's broken now. What use is she to ?" He chuckled darkly. "Sure, I could go back to the slave market, get sothing fresh—but why bother when a whole city's waiting to be claid? The army's moved deeper into enemy territory by now. No way they've taken all the prisoners with them."
A wide smile appeared on his face, impressed by his own genius. "So why not take a slave or two for free? I don't care what you want, but by the end, at least one blonde woman with a huge rack is to be before . If not, and you hide the best at from , you know what will happen..."
No one needed the rest of that sentence.
The people around Hugo gulped. They knew that once their boss had set his eyes on sothing, then it would be a bad idea to try and get it for themselves.
Ian looked at the chained slave briefly. She was a quite beautiful woman once, but that was no longer the case. Her eyes were hollow, her lips were cracked, and her face bore countless injuries and black spots. That was just how Hugo liked to play around with his won.
Ian wasn't in the group for the won, as the gold was more important to him. That did not an that he felt any bad about the woman—she was a Draconian pig after all. She should be happy that she had been able to provide them with service.
"I see the city gates," Hugo's commanding voice broke through Ian's thoughts as he gazed forward.
The black wall made from jagged stone looked like it would be tough to break, but they didn't need to, as the bridge was lowered… Or more accurately, it was supposed to be lowered, yet it hadn't. It had been raised, and standing silently before it, cloaked in white robes, was a lone figure.
The pounding in Ian's heart seed to increase trendously. The bad feeling was coming back. Was it possible that the Crimson Sun Empire hadn't tried to claim the city? No, even worse—what if they had tried and failed?
It didn't make sense—but if it was true, then their bandit group had walked into sothing far more dangerous than they were prepared for. For a mont, Ian wished he had refused the offer to co along. But back then, the promise of gold had blinded him to the real risks of the job.
"Who are you?" Hugo shouted in his commanding voice, reaching the mysterious person with no problems. Yet rather than replying back, the figure just pointed at them with their white odachi.
'No way, is this guy challenging us?' Ian thought.
"n, I want this person dead!" Hugo commanded as he took a glance at his subordinates.
"Boss, this is not what you said! The city is not taken—there are forces protecting it!" one of Ian's comrades barked.
This was a reasonable outburst. The only reason they had agreed to co here was that the plan had been simple—avoid the Empire's forces, grab so valuable items, and maybe take a few won. There was never any intention to fight.
Not saying anything, Hugo got off the lizard, walked toward the man, and hit him on the head. The force of the attack was so great that the man's skull bent and he was sent flying as he hit the mountain next to him.
The silence seed to grow even tenser as blood began to pour from the man's shattered skull. Just monts ago, he had been alive and well—one of their comrades, an ally. And now, he was gone.
With a single punch, he was dead—which was not surprising, as their leader had a class that seed to make him much stronger than average.
"Are you going to chicken out as well? It is one person by the looks of it. If we take this person, the whole city would be ours! Imagine how many won you will get for free!"
Hearing Hugo's motivating speech—if one could call it that—all of Ian's companions except himself felt a sudden surge of confidence as they all began to approach the masked figure.
Their leader was right, to an extent. They were many, and their enemy was just one. Not to ntion, with the display of power their leader had shown a mont ago, they were certain that if the worst happened, they could rely on him and his overwhelming strength.
It was too late to turn back. Even if he wanted to, Ian knew Hugo would undoubtedly begin searching for the traitor and eliminate him. With a soft sigh, Ian moved forward as well. "I just hope the pay's worth it."
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