CHAPTER 18: Through the Veil of Night - Part 2

  “Ryse, you have a bad habit of not telling the whole story.”

  “And you have a bad habit cutting me off.”

  They stood back to back, not taking their eyes off the ragged-looking bandit line.

  Their ranks parted to make way for a young woman. Her blonde hair was short. Her average stature and well kept clothes contrasted with the bandits, who looked as if they had just been wrestling feral cats.

  “I'm Sherry. But that lisping city guard captain calls me Shelly. Don't get it wrong when you report to him,” Sherry brushed back her hair. Rings with arrow-tip-like spikes adorned her fingers. “I give you two choices. Hand over all your stuff and I'll kill you. Or resist, and I'll kill you before taking your stuff.”

  Varne would not surrender his Arcanzite and Sky Core. He braced himself to face them all. It was unlikely many among them were Decimae, perhaps none at all.

  However, Ryse lowered Varne’s clenched fists. “Hold on. Let me handle this,” he whispered. “She doesn't actually want us dead. She's making sure we don't get her name wrong when reporting. Dead men can't report.”

  “Think I can't beat them?”

  “Noise will only attract Isofean soldiers.”

  Ryse stepped forward. “Miss Sherry – is that the correct name? – before deciding, I must know the difference between the two choices.”

  “In the first choice, I give you a chance to do something good before dying.”

  “Ha ha ha, how considerate of you, Miss,” Ryse laughed, hands on hips. Varne knew he positioned his hands for a quicker draw of his whip. Sherry was within reach of the Tempest. “How about this, we will surrender our money. May we pass then?”

  “Which part of 'all' do you not understand? I was going to let you keep your undergarment, but that offer has passed.” Sherry brushed her hair, the steel spikes glittering.

  “That would be inconvenient. We're pressed for time, how about–” With a movement so swift his hand seemed to arch, Ryse drew his whip and lashed it to entangle Sherry.

  Thwack! Contrary to Varne's expectation, Sherry parried the whip with her left fist.

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  Sherry rolled her eyes. “Ugh... I thought you were gentlemen. Kill them, boys. Please.”

  The bandits charged without questioning her command.

  “Varn, I'll take care of Shelly–”

  “Sherry.”

  “Fine. Just don't spill blood.” Ryse dodged the bandits' weapon swings, weaving through them to approach Sherry. Meanwhile, Varne faced a dozen bandits alone.

  The first bandit swung his fist. His size was enough to knock out a regular with a single punch. Varne sidestepped, letting the fist pass and causing the enemy to lose balance, then delivered a knee strike to his nose. The bandit knelt, clutching his bloodied nose.

  Not spilling blood meant not spilling too much, right? So, if he made them bleed a little, it was fine, right? Varne grinned, facing the next attack.

  Another bandit raised a rusty sword with both hands. His motion was too wide, Varne slipped his hand between the enemy's arms, grabbed his hair, and brought his face down to the ground. They must have been a perfect match, since he did not rise again.

  The other bandits, enraged at their fallen comrades, attacked with a variety of weapons – if a chipped axe, toothless rake, worn spear, and others could be called weapons.

  He had no trouble evading them all. They were regulars, and not even fighters. The way they swung their weapons betrayed their professions. Lumberjacks, small game hunters, root diggers, tree tappers, and the like.

  The strength of a passive Prana Decima was enough to handle them. However, fighting over ten people without using deadly force meant he would take hits. Therefore, he activated Pale Thundercloud. The enemies retreated a few steps at the sight but attacked again.

  Their weapons were ineffective against Pale Thundercloud. Even when they landed on unprotected parts, their attacks did not harm him. When activating Prana Armor, even the unprotected parts received some reinforcement.

  In contrast, his blows toppled them as easily as toppling a person shouldering a metal bell at one end and a paper lantern at the other, and standing on one leg. After more than half of them were incapacitated, the rest fled towards Sherry, screaming for help.

  “I'm busy!” Sherry retorted.

  Sherry's capability surprised Varne. Even though Ryse was not using his full strength – a foolish move – she matched him. She relied on footwork and a combination of rapid punches to corner Ryse. Varne guessed she had enough Prana to be an active Prana Decima. It was her lack of training that kept her at the passive stage.

  Her left hand deflected the whip accompanied by a metallic clang, while her right elbow arced towards Ryse's temple. Ryse blocked with one hand, but the strike was so powerful it made him hit his own face.

  “Ha ha ha.” He enjoyed seeing Ryse's face contort.

  Sherry's spiked left fist aimed for the chin. Ryse dodged just in time, his hair swept back. She continued lunging to eliminate the advantage of his whip. They were equally fast, but she was more adept at footwork and knew the terrain better.

  Ryse was pushed back into a small forest at the western end of the hill. Varne and the bandits followed. Sherry might have thought the forest would hinder the whip movement, but Varne knew she was wrong.

  Ryse used the trees to create distance, then attacked from afar with his whip. It curved around trees, attacking from various angles.

  She used both fists to deflect the whip. Sparks flew in the darkness. Yet, she could not close the distance, and her body began to show bruises, especially on her arms.

  Unwilling to be cornered, she charged straight ahead with her hands raised beside her head. Tempest then curled towards her legs. This time, it was Ryse who was baited into attacking as the enemy hoped.