Under the glow of the campfires, everyone’s faces were half-lit, half-shadowed. The smell of blood still infested the area, but now, the men on both sides of the battle only stared in shock at that corpse that had been transformed into a pile of flesh and blood, then at Linley and the adamantine heavy sword he carried.
A combatant of the eighth rank had been killed in one sword stroke…
This…
Was hard to believe!
“My brothers, let’s kill these bandits!” Big Beard Malone was the first to react, and he immediately shouted in excitement. “Kill these bastards and avenge our slain comrades!”
Hearing this roar by Big Beard Malone, all of the bandits woke up as well. Their leader, the One-Eyed Viper, McKinley, was killed in one stroke. Even if the mercenaries weren’t there, Linley alone could lay waste to them all with that heavy sword.
“Vengeance! Vengeance! Kill!” The mercenaries’ eyes were blazing as they were suddenly filled with confidence. One after another charged forward, weapons at the ready.
“Flee, quick!”
The bandits shouted loudly, as they all began to flee, forgetting everything else. The archers of the mercenary company immediately began to nock their bows. Staring coldly at the backs of the fleeing bandits, one sharp arrow was shot out after another. “Swish.” “Swish.” Six bandits were hit by arrows and fell to the ground.
In the blink of an eye, the seventy or so remaining bandits disappeared into the darkness.
The mercenary company didn’t engage in pursuit for too long, chasing after them for only a hundred or so meters before returning. After all, their prime responsibility was to protect the caravan.
“Whew.”
The many merchants and travelers in the caravan all sighed in relief. But at this time, the faces of the mercenaries were quite ugly to behold, as they began to collect the corpses of the ten or so comrades who had died.
“Everyone, you can get back to your rest.” Malone said loudly.
Quite a few mercenaries had been wounded as well, and had to rest and be treated. Those hundreds of people in the caravan began to calm down, each returning to their own places. As long-time travelers, they often experienced such events, and wouldn’t be too shocked or concerned now.
…..
One campfire after another was lit, and the ten or so mercenary corpses were buried within the desolate earth at the sides of the road. Mercenaries who lived by the edges of their blades could die at any time. And once they died, their bodies would all be buried thusly, with the other mercenaries at most bringing some keepsakes of theirs back home for them.
Leaning against a large tree by the roadside with the adamantine heavy sword on his back, Linley quietly watched everyone else.
“Lord Ley.” Many of the caravan merchants ran over, expressing their gratitude towards Linley. Many of them even wanted to give gold coins to Linley as a gift, but Linley respectfully declined them all.
“Brothers, a good journey to you!” Malone roared loudly.
All of the mercenaries present were standing in front of the graves. In unison, they bowed deeply towards the graves. In the lives of these mercenaries, death was a common occurrence. After paying their respects, all of them returned to their normal positions.
The captain of this mercenary company, Big Beard Malone, headed towards Linley with Luther and Lowndes alongside him. Very gratefully, he said, “Lord Ley, thank you. If it wasn’t for you, our mercenary company…” Malone fell silent, shaking his head.
“Ley, thank you so much for saving our mercenary company.” The young Luther said gratefully.
Linley’s initial warning to them as well as his assistance at the end had both been utterly invaluable in saving the mercenary company.
“No need.” Linley said with a calm laugh.
“Lord Ley, here is ten thousand gold coins.” Malone withdrew a magicrystal card from his pockets. “This magicrystal card is an un-bound one, and has ten thousand gold coins within it. Lord Ley, you must accept it. If it wasn’t for you, not only would our mercenary company have failed our mission, we most likely would’ve all died as well.”
Linley shook his head with a laugh.
“Ley, please accept it,” Lowndes immediately urged. Mercenaries were usually quite magnanimous. These people who spent their lives living by the edges of their blades generally held in high regard the codes of valor, brotherhood, and friendship.
“Do I look like someone who needs money to you?” Linley looked at the three of them.
Within his interspatial ring, Linley had twenty two magicrystal cards, each with 100 million gold coins. 2.2 billion gold coins! Even the Dawson Conglomerate wouldn’t be easily persuaded to bring out such a vast fortune at once.
Some of the clans in the Four Great Empires were very powerful and very wealthy, but no matter how powerful they were, they couldn’t compare to the wealth of a royal clan.
After all, those extremely large and powerful clans in the Four Great Empires still had to pay an enormous amount of taxes each year to the Emperor.
By comparison, the ruler of the Kingdom of Fenlai, compared to those major clans, had much more power in his own domain. The wealth that had been built up over thousands of years was a frightening sum indeed.
After hearing Linley’s words, Malone was briefly startled, but then didn’t press it. He didn’t dare to keep squabbling with a powerful combatant such as Linley. And in addition, it truly wasn’t easy for his mercenary company to make a living either.
“Captain Malone, go take care of your mercenaries. I see that quite a number of them suffered serious injuries.” Linley said.
“Then Lord Ley, I leave you to your rest. I’ll take my leave now.” Malone said respectfully. Powerful combatants were treated with respect no matter where they were.
The campfires blazed. Many of the people in the caravan weren’t able to fall asleep. Many of them hunched over campfires. Aside from a minority who had managed to fall asleep, most were talking about what had just happened. Every so often, glances would be sneaked towards Linley. Clearly, the topic of their conversation was Linley.
Right now, Linley was seated cross-legged, attuning himself to the vast, boundless earth, as well as the wind which spanned the skies.