Chapter 14: Ambush

A woman.

Watching the figure moving in the jungle, Kyle’s eyes lit up with excitement. He licked his lips and instinctively gripped the dagger at his waist. The woman before him was clearly lost, judging by her stumbling gait. She must have never moved through a forest before. But how did she end up in this godforsaken place? Did some fool botch a robbery? Who cares…

Looking at the girl’s slender waist, snow-white skin, and light purple long hair, Kyle took a deep breath. He was already fantasizing about capturing this woman and ravaging her. Hearing her cry and scream would surely be a satisfying experience. How long had it been since he’d touched a woman? Right, about half a month. If only the previous woman hadn’t been so fragile. But it didn’t matter. Women were like clothes, you could always rob another when you wanted one, right?

“Captain?”

“Go, surround her. Remember, we need her alive, okay?”

Hearing Kyle’s order, the other bandits immediately grinned knowingly.

“Captain’s taking first dibs? Can I go second?”

“Don’t break her, okay? The back door is mine.”

The bandits exchanged lewd glances, speaking vulgar and filthy words, then gradually spread out. They moved swiftly and nimbly. Soon, the figures of more than ten bandits disappeared into the bushes. But Kyle didn’t move immediately. He silently watched the figure in the distance, suddenly serious, in contrast to his previous frivolity.

“Captain, could it be a trap?”

A young bandit also hadn’t moved. He was Kyle’s deputy and his most favored subordinate.

“Doesn’t seem like it,” Kyle shook his head.

“I can tell that woman really has no skills. Did you see her? She’s been going in circles here for three rounds already. Anyone with a bit of adventure experience knows how to navigate in a forest, but look at her, she doesn’t seem like an adventurer at all… Besides, have our brothers found anything troublesome around here?”

“Of course not.”

“Very good,” Kyle nodded and stood up.

“Tell the brothers to start moving. We’ll all have a good time when we get back today!”

The young deputy said nothing. He took out a leaf, rolled it up, and put it to his mouth.

A melodious, crisp bird call sounded.

Ophariel frowned, looking at these men who suddenly stood up from the bushes, not hiding her deep disgust at all. In fact, Ophariel had long sensed the presence of these bandits. If she were still human, she might have been frightened by these bandits. But now, Ophariel had become a spirit, naturally possessing some innate abilities of spirits, one of which was being able to see through the existence of other lives and the fluctuations of souls. Because of this, she had long seen through the disguise of these bandits, but even so, after actually seeing these bandits, Ophariel still found it hard to hide her inner anger and disgust.

“Who are you people! What do you want to do!”

Ophariel took a few steps back, frowning, looking at the bandits in front of her, and shouted. But her words only elicited a burst of laughter from them.

“What do we want to do? Little girl, this is the deep mountains and wilderness. You’re a woman, we’re men. What do you think we should do?” a bandit sneered as he spoke. He swung the curved blade in his hand, taking a few steps towards Ophariel, widening his eyes, carefully admiring the girl before him. Holy Grace above, this woman was beautiful to death. He had handled so many women, but had never seen one so pretty… This bandit had already started calculating in his mind whether he should “do” her now. Although the boss’s anger was terrifying, with such a beautiful girl, and the boss liking to do all sorts of messy things, what if she was ruined or killed before it was his turn? That would be such a waste. Just like that time…

“Hmph!” Hearing this, Ophariel’s face darkened slightly, but she didn’t talk back. Unlike those sheltered young ladies who had never seen the world, Ophariel often went out on inspections and had some resistance to vulgar street language. She knew very well that whether she retorted or got angry, it would only excite them more, so she chose to say nothing. Moreover, Ophariel still had the dignity of royalty in her bones. In her view, these lowly criminals had no right to speak to her.

“Tch, the little girl’s quite spicy.”

Sure enough, seeing Ophariel’s indifferent reaction, the bandits became angry instead. They had originally thought the girl before them was just an ordinary young lady who would cry and beg for mercy when frightened, which would give them great satisfaction. You know, when had those nobles ever looked at them properly? And now this woman was in their hands, they could do whatever they wanted with her. But what? This woman actually looked down on them too?
Thinking of this, the bandits became angry. They gritted their teeth and slowly began to approach Ophariel. If earlier they had wanted to play a game of cat and mouse to scare the girl, now they just wanted to catch her quickly and then thoroughly ravage her to death. At that time, let’s see if this stinking woman would dare to look at people with such eyes?

At this moment, Kyle and his deputy also came to the front of the girl. Looking at Ophariel before him and the subordinates around, Kyle was stunned for a moment. Bandit leaders who could survive on the Golden Trade Route weren’t stupid – or rather, the stupid ones had long been eliminated by natural selection. Seeing Ophariel so calm and composed, Kyle was already suspicious. Unlike his inexperienced subordinates, he had dealt with nobles many times and knew their style well. According to his understanding of nobles, in such a situation, with such a beautiful girl alone, even if she wanted to appear calm in front of everyone, some small movements would definitely betray her. But now this girl not only showed no panic at all, but was also unusually calm.

Could it be…

The sound of wind arose.

Relying on his years of life-and-death experience, Kyle barely dodged this near-fatal attack. He could almost feel the air current from the sword edge brushing past his back, then heavily striking the ground.

“Boom!”

As if it were a s

ignal, at the same time, several black figures jumped down from the surrounding trees. Those bandits didn’t even have time to resist or struggle before the cold sword edges pierced their bodies, mercilessly robbing them of their lives. What was even more unexpected was that at the moment these bandits died, they let out silent screams. Cold soul fires instantly ignited on their bodies, then jumped and flowed up along the sword edges in reverse, gradually disappearing. As the black-armored warriors withdrew their swords, the bandits’ corpses had already become as shriveled as tree branches, as if the flesh that had originally existed in their bodies had long disappeared, leaving only a layer of skin and bones.

What kind of monsters are these?!

Witnessing this scene, Kyle felt a chill rise straight to his heart, but he had no time to think. Instead, he rolled on the ground, then leapt up, pouncing towards the girl standing not far away. He wasn’t an idiot; as soon as these black shadows jumped down, he had realized it was a trap. And now, his only reliance was that girl. No matter who she was, Kyle could be sure that this girl didn’t know any martial arts, and given the current situation, only by subduing her could he save his own life.

It must be said that Kyle’s series of actions were indeed as fast as lightning. In fact, from his forward roll to dodge the ambush from above to jumping up and rushing towards the girl took only the blink of an eye. Even Ophariel herself hadn’t reacted. She widened her eyes in surprise, unable to imagine how this bandit could move so fast, almost reaching her front in just one breath.

Kyle’s reaction was indeed quick, fierce, and accurate, but that was all. Just as he reached out his right hand, trying to grab the girl, a figure suddenly appeared in front of Ophariel, blocking the bandit leader’s path. Then, Kyle felt two cold sensations on his neck. Realizing this, Kyle could only abruptly stop, reluctantly giving up the victory fruit that was within his grasp.

“One should be gentle, attentive, and considerate to ladies. I guess you’ve never considered this point,” Julian said with an elegant, gentle smile, standing in front of Ophariel. Beside him, two Wraith Warriors, one on the left and one on the right, had already gripped their swords, cutting off Kyle’s movements.
Fallen into a trap!

At this moment, Kyle could only helplessly stop, drop his short knife, and raise both hands. He naturally understood what he had encountered now, but at the same time, Kyle was also somewhat confused. His subordinate bandits weren’t useless, they had already thoroughly checked the surroundings, how could they not have discovered these strange fellows?

But who exactly are these people?

Thinking of this, Kyle couldn’t help but quickly size up the young man before him. He looked only eighteen or nineteen, at most in his early twenties, and wasn’t wearing the leather armor commonly used by adventurers. Instead, he was wearing noble attire. This made Kyle unsure of the other’s background. A noble? No, no, those arrogant nobles loved to dress up as adventurers when they went out. But he didn’t seem like a bandit either, and he didn’t seem like an ordinary adventurer or mercenary. He secretly turned his eyes, scanning the surrounding black-armored warriors. Although at first glance, these black-armored warriors seemed unremarkable, when Kyle noticed the soul light that flashed momentarily on the surface of their armor, he felt a chill all over his body.

Intermediate swordsmen? Holy Grace above, I’ve actually encountered intermediate swordsmen?!!

Intermediate swordsmen could be said to be the elite among warriors on the entire continent, and their representative symbol was the soul light reflected on their armor. This was their mark. After entering the intermediate realm, these swordsmen could possess protective soul light, which not only made them more powerful but could also protect their bodies from harm. Everyone knew that intermediate swordsmen had very formidable combat power. It was rare to see intermediate swordsmen among bandits. In fact, it was because the leader of Kyle’s bandit group was an intermediate swordsman that Kyle recognized the identity of these black-armored warriors at a glance.

Kyle felt his heart almost stop, and his face turned as pale as snow. Although being a bandit meant being prepared for encirclement and suppression, Holy Grace above, couldn’t it be some ordinary soldiers or adventurers? We’ve only been robbing caravans, and haven’t done any big business recently. Is it necessary to send intermediate swordsmen to deal with us? Even fifteen years ago, those rebels communicating with foreign countries didn’t receive such “luxurious” treatment!

Although Kyle was full of doubts at this moment, he forced himself to remain calm. By now, most of his subordinates had been killed, with almost no one surviving this sudden attack except for Kyle. The weapons of the Wraith Warriors weren’t particularly sharp, but with the downward momentum, they were enough to pierce through the bandits’ shabby defenses.

“What do you want?”

The fact that they hadn’t killed him yet naturally meant he had some value to them. Faced with swords at his body, Kyle didn’t have many choices. So he didn’t hesitate any longer and quickly asked. Although Kyle couldn’t tell the other party’s background, if he could draw out their purpose, perhaps he could still live a bit longer. Bandits weren’t a group with a sense of honor. They originally did this kind of thing just to survive, and these bandits wouldn’t do anything that was detrimental to their survival.

“Don’t be so nervous, I won’t take your life, at least not now,” Julian gently stroked the hilt of his sword at his waist. His smile was very gentle, so gentle that it made one’s heart cold.

“I just hope you can do me a small favor…”