The man to the right of the scarred leader shouted at the shifty-eyed man lying on the ground.
But five seconds passed, and the man on the ground didn't make a sound. He simply lay there silently, like a corpse!
Something was wrong!
Almost at the same moment this thought flashed through everyone's minds, they huddled back-to-back, warily scanning their surroundings.
Someone in the crowd channeled their mana, and a green magic circle lit up behind him. A gust of wind materialized from his hand, and he directed it toward the shifty-eyed man on the ground.
The shifty-eyed man was swept into the air by the strong wind, but everyone who saw him gasped in surprise, and some even showed a hint of fear on their faces.
This was because the shifty-eyed man, now swirling in the air, had a pale, bluish face. The blood in his entire body seemed to have been sucked completely dry, leaving him as shriveled as a skeleton draped in human skin.
Clap! Clap! Clap!
Loud, rhythmic clapping echoed. The surrounding light seemed to dim for a fraction of a second as a child who looked only five years old appeared in their field of vision. With an innocent smile on his face, he looked at them, beaming!
“Earth Prison! Blazing Flames! Wild Wind! Tempest Slash!”
Before Xia De could even speak, several spells rained down on him. The massive force blasted a crater dozens of meters wide into the ground, kicking up a massive cloud of dust that obscured everyone's vision!
“No, no, no! This isn't how an isekai story is supposed to go. You guys are supposed to ask about my identity first, then show off your own background to try and intimidate me. Then I'll show off my unyielding will against a powerful foe, and we'll trade a few rounds of banter before we actually start fighting. Who just attacks without even letting me say my opening line?!”
Through the obscured vision of the crowd, a dissatisfied voice echoed from the dust, carrying a hint of surprise at having his expectations subverted!
Xia De glanced at his own combat power of 1895 displayed on the status screen in front of him, then looked at the enemy's combat power, which ranged from 501 to 800. He instantly felt bored.
He had wanted to experience the typical web novel trope where the transmigrated protagonist encounters enemies, gets mocked and threatened, and then slaps them in the face with a counter-kill. He just hadn't expected this group to completely ignore the standard playbook. Boring, truly boring!
Whoosh!
Xia De blew a gentle breath. Immediately, the dust blanketing the area suddenly dispersed as if swept by a violent gale, revealing the scarred man and his crew, who had already changed their formation and surrounded Xia De!
“Kid! I don't know what you're babbling about, but once we chop off your limbs, there'll be plenty of time to interrogate you about your identity! Since you dared to kill my brothers, prepare to pay with your life!”
The scarred man gripped his large broadsword tightly and roared. Mana surged within the people around him, and an invisible ripple spread from their bodies.
“Attack!”
The next second, the men turned and ran in different directions. This maneuver once again left Xia De utterly dumbfounded.
Is there really something wrong with my life in another world?!
It was precisely those few seconds of dazed confusion that allowed the bandits to successfully put some distance between themselves and him, their figures already turning faint and blurry.
...
Run!
Run faster!
Damn it, hurry!
Faster!
The scarred man's burly figure dashed through the woods in a panicked frenzy. By now, he was drenched in sweat, unable to tell whether it was from the exertion of running or from being terrified by that child just now.
Yes, he had been scared into running by a child who looked only five years old!
Don't look at his tall, burly frame and think he was a fool. As the leader of a bandit group, if he were truly a fool, his subordinates would have sold him out long ago!
A five-year-old child mysteriously appearing in this remote, uninhabited forest, especially right after one of their men had been silently killed right in front of them, and especially when this child had taken several of their spells head-on without a scratch, only to have the leisure to mock them.
All these signs pointed to the fact that this child was an existence they absolutely could not afford to provoke!
Damn it! Why are we so unlucky!
Feeling his legs grow numb and his speed gradually slowing down, his heart leaped into his throat.
Stupid legs, run faster!
However, in the next instant, his body seemed to lose its balance, and he crashed heavily onto the ground. In his field of vision, he saw a pair of legs without a body running forward, before they too lost momentum and collapsed onto the ground like he did!
Snapping out of it, a sharp, agonizing pain shot up from his lower half. He finally realized those were actually his own legs! This realization turned his face pale, and beads of sweat the size of beans kept pouring down his face. Just as he tried to use his hands to crawl forward, a voice like a demon's whisper echoed from beside him.
“My, what a decent strategy. When encountering an unbeatable enemy, you first use a surrounding formation to trick the opponent into thinking you're going to launch a full-scale attack. Then, while the opponent is focused entirely on defense, you pivot and scatter in different directions. That way, even if the opponent reacts, it's hard to catch everyone at once.
“If someone is unfortunate enough to get caught, they can still buy time for the others. And it looks like this isn't the first time you've done this, right? It seems you've all tacitly agreed to this approach!
“Gambling on luck, letting comrades buy time... a rational and effective method. It truly fits the style of desperadoes like you!”
The child's tender voice sounded like a demon's whisper in the scarred man's ears. He looked at the child standing in front of him, who was holding the severed heads of his companions. His pupils shrank to tiny pinpricks, and sheer terror was written all over his face. He opened his mouth to scream, but the overwhelming fear left him utterly voiceless.
“I say, don't be so scared! You're making me look like the bad guy!
“Let's get one thing straight, Mr. Bandit. You guys were the ones who wanted to attack my village first, so I'm only fighting back.
“Let's be clear, I'm the good guy, and you guys are the villains!”
Tossing several blood-dripping heads in front of the scarred man, Xia De casually flicked his finger. A glimmer of light flashed through his dark eyes, and the scarred man's arms were cleanly severed, falling to the ground as if struck by some sharp weapon.
“Aaaagh!!!!”
Xia De looked down at him, ignoring the scarred man's agonized expression. Flashing a warm smile, he spoke:
“Alright, next up is our interrogation time!
“First of all, who are you, what is your purpose here, and do you have any other accomplices?”
This question brought the scarred man back to his senses. Forcing himself to endure the pain, he lowered his head to prevent Xia De from seeing his expression, quickly thinking in his mind.
Judging by the expressions on Old Second and the others, they were probably wiped out before they could even react. This means the information this brat wants to know is only known by me. There's still room for negotiation.
“I—”
Forcing himself to endure the pain, he lifted his head. But just as he uttered his first word, Xia De waved his hand to cut him off, squinting his eyes and smiling at him:
“Hold on a moment, Mr. Scarface. I get the feeling you're about to say something impolite, so let me give you a piece of advice first.
“If anyone dares to harm me or my family, there are only two options in my book.
“One is a painful death, and the other is a quick, painless death.
“Of course, there's a third option: escape from my hands. If you can escape from me and I can't catch you, then congratulations, you get to live!”
“So, Mr. Scarface, which one do you want to choose? The first, the second, or would you like to try the third?”
As his voice fell, Xia De opened his squinted eyes. His pitch-black pupils grew increasingly dark, like a bottomless abyss capable of swallowing everything.
The sunlight in the sky seemed to be blocked by clouds, and the surroundings dimmed significantly. His clothes and hair fluttered even though there was no wind, and the branches rustled. Unlike the gentle rustling of a breeze, this sound was more like something being choked by the throat, struggling and twisting in painful helplessness.
“I... I... I'll talk!!! Please just give me a quick death!”
The scarred man was utterly terrified out of his wits!
He no longer dared to negotiate any terms, nor did he hope to survive. He only hoped this demon-like existence in front of him would give him a swift end.
“We fled here from around the Royal Capital. It was too hard to survive over there. Tier Three and Tier Four bandits are everywhere, not to mention some of them are the black gloves of certain people in the Royal Capital.
“Minor characters like us at Tier Two have neither strength nor background, so we really couldn't survive. It just so happened that we heard it's the Duke's young son's fifth birthday recently, so we wanted to find some treasures to present to him. If the young son takes a liking to them, we would have a backer.
“But the good treasures around the Royal Capital have already been completely plundered by others. The border is too dangerous, and we didn't dare go there, so we could only come to this sparsely populated middle ground to search!”
The Duke's young son?
For some reason, Xia De subconsciously thought of the man with the high-and-mighty tone when he was just born. That man had said he couldn't inherit his title.
Thinking of this, a trace of coldness flickered in Xia De's eyes.
A newborn baby couldn't possibly survive on his own. For his "father" to eagerly abandon him, he was clearly nothing good. What offended him most was that his life had been disregarded.
Once he became fully powerful in the future, he would definitely go back and demand an "explanation." He hoped they wouldn't disappoint him when the time came!
“Then what about yesterday? You left your camp. What were you plotting then?”
“Th-that's because we aren't the only group that came here. Although the middle ground is sparsely populated, it's also very large. Yesterday, we went to negotiate and divide our respective territories to prevent conflicts in case both sides found treasures in the same area later.”
“You guys are quite loyal to each other, aren't you?”
Xia De sneered, looking at the scarred man with disdain.
“We wouldn't dare, we wouldn't dare. That's because we signed a Tier Five magic contract. This was proposed by all of us together. After all, backstabbing is a daily occurrence in our line of work.”
“Alright, I think I have a general understanding now!”
“Thank you, thank you, Lord! Please, give me a quick death!”
Hearing Xia De's words, the scarred man's face lit up with wild joy. If his arms and legs hadn't been chopped off, he would have desperately gotten up to kowtow to Xia De to express his gratitude. But before he could speak further, he saw a headless corpse. That corpse not only lacked a head, but also lacked limbs.
So, that is my...
Before he could even process the thought, his vision plunged into darkness.
Rate on N.U.
