535 Attacking Bandits
Finally, the gamers bought the large backpack using 10 bronze coins, as well as an Axe that they had taken a fancy to.
Though Old John emphasized that the Axe wasn’t very sharp and was inferior to their weapons, the gamers insisted on buying it.
The Axe was an item that wasn’t appraised, and the price was affordable. The gamers were guessing that it could be the best Axe in the entire village. It might even be an Orange Legendary Equipment. This was a common occurrence in other online games.
Old John thought that the troubles would end. But on the second day, when he woke up and went outside his house, he saw many villagers gathering. They wanted to talk to Old John. After listening to the villagers, he got to know what happened last night. Besides Old John, those guests had visited most of the villagers.
Not all of them ransacked the homes. Many gamers requested information or asked if the villagers needed help.
The villagers didn’t have a restful night. The gamers were full of vigor, and they frequently knocked on doors. They would even return to ask additional questions.
The most problematic ones were the gamers that ransacked the homes.
Old John felt that he had to communicate with the guests and tell them subtly not to disturb the villagers at night. Though he might appear inhospitable, he had no choice. He didn’t want the guests to ransack his home in the middle of the night.
With the requests and complaints of the villagers on his mind, Old John walked to the big house that the guests were staying in. As he was about to walk in, he heard voices inside.
Two Fairies seemed to be talking.
“Princess, did they make things difficult for you? Were you tortured in the Underworld?”
“Don’t worry, I’m fine. Let’s think of how we can return back to our homeland.”
“Princess, I don’t feel at ease with the Underworld creatures. They killed numerous soldiers of the G.o.dly Kingdom and the Victorians. Now, they release you out of kindness. I feel that there must be some conspiracy behind all this!”
“Don’t worry. They killed many creatures, but Raintea and the others aren’t the same as the rest.”
The voices of the Fairies became softer and softer. Old John’s heart felt as though it was. .h.i.t by a large hammer. He knew what the Underworld meant. He was aware that the green-skinned creatures were from the Underworld. If the words of the Fairies were true, then the monsters had killed many people.
Old John realized the gravity of the situation. He wanted to talk to the guests about the disturbances at night, but he decided not to. He slowly backed up and knocked into something solid.
Old John turned his head and saw a large figure. It was a green-skinned monster with green symbols above his head who was wearing black armor.
The tall monster lowered his head to look at Old John. At the same time, Old John gazed into the eyes of the monster with terror. Old John’s legs trembled uncontrollably. If his adrenaline hadn’t been pumping, he would have collapsed to the ground.
The large monster spoke to Old John, but Old John couldn’t understand. The large monster suddenly recalled that Old John couldn’t understand him, so he shook his head and shouted at the house.
There were only two Fairies in the house. The Princess understood the Underworld language. When she heard the shout, she walked out and spoke to the monster using their common language.
The Princess and the monster spoke for a while, then the Princess said to Old John, “Arthur is curious why you’re here. Do you have any requests?”
The Princess, who was well versed in both Surface World and Underworld languages, became the interpreter.
Old John was thinking about how to capture the creatures of the Underworld. He had no mood to chat here. He muttered something while backing off before leaving in a hurry.
Old John’s behavior was strange, but Arthur wasn’t bothered. There were many strange NPCs, but Arthur wasn’t interested in them.
Arthur looked in Old John’s direction. He had estimated the resources required for their journey and obtained a local map. The Fairies’ homeland wasn’t far from the village. There was a deviation in the destination of the Teleport Portal, but fortunately, the deviation wasn’t that great. It would take them four to five days to walk to the boundary of the forest.
He wasn’t aware that Old John was planning to deal with them.
Old John walked for a distance before stopping. He then turned his head to ensure that n.o.body was following him.
Old John tried to calm down. It wasn’t practical to chase the unwelcome guests away. However, he couldn’t let them stay in the village either. Last night, four creatures barged in and ransacked his house. Though they had given him money, if he hadn’t come out, they would have taken his property. It was the behavior of bandits. Old John couldn’t help but worry.
Old John gathered the young lads in the village and made a plan to deal with the gamers. Before he had the chance to make the plan, a few villagers brought the gamers to Old John.
“Village Chief, they’re leaving and bidding us farewell.”
The young lads beside Old John heaved a sigh of relief. If possible, they didn’t want to fight with the fully-armed gamers. The large sizes and the appearances of the Orcs and Gnomes were terrifying.
The villagers didn’t feel they were capable of defeating the gamers.
“Village Chief, thank you for taking care of us during this period of time. We have important matters to attend to. We are brave warriors, and the world is waiting for us to save it, so we won’t be staying here any longer. Once our mission is completed, we may come back and help you deal with the nearby monsters. We hope you can prepare rewards for after we deal with the nearby monsters.”
It was the deformed Hoodlum who spoke. TakeASpearHit interpreted his speech and informed the gamers of Eternal Kingdom.
When Old John heard that, he indicated that he would welcome them to his village. He also wished them success in saving the world. Though he said that, he was determined to inform the ruler of the Empire about the existence of the Underworld creatures. Old John felt that the idea of them returning was scary. It was even more terrifying when they requested rewards.
The gamers didn’t know what Old John was thinking. After bidding farewell to Old John, they embarked on the journey to Yggdrasill.
The journey to Yggdrasill was about three to four days. They weren’t going to walk, as many of them brought their rides. With the villagers’ help, they fixed the custom-made horse cart to the back of the horses. In this way, the horse cart could carry more pa.s.sengers at the expense of speed. However, the reduction in speed was insignificant. The gamers had been playing this game for many months, so they were used to long periods of traveling. They could just chat with each other or logout to pa.s.s the time.
In order to complete this major mission with generous rewards, they felt it was worthwhile to spend a lot of time.
They weren’t aware of the pairs of eyes watching them intently while they were on their journey.
After the gamers had left, Old John sent a young lad to inform the nearest n.o.ble. The ruler of the Empire got to know about a group of Victorians and Underworld creatures who appeared in his territory. Victoria City was already well-known during this period of time. Why were the Victorians with the Underworld creatures? They had to be captured and properly interrogated.
…
The gamers weren’t aware that the men of the Empire were pursuing them.
After three days, their horse cart arrived at the boundary of the forest. Seeing the forest in the distance, the Little Fairy Princess was feeling happier. After entering the forest, it would be the Fairies’ territory. They wouldn’t be in any danger. When the Princess saw her homeland after such a long time, tears started to well up in her eyes.
Suddenly, there were shouts and noises coming from the surroundings.
Arrows whistled through the sky.
“We’re under attack! We have to fight! Raise your s.h.i.+elds!” BurningChestHair shouted immediately. The Orcs raised their Great s.h.i.+elds and blocked the arrows that rained upon them. The densely packed arrows were like the spikes of a hedgehog.
Some gamers were slow to lift up their s.h.i.+elds and were killed by the arrows. Fortunately, it was only a small number. After numerous battles, the gamers knew the importance of a s.h.i.+eld, so they were armed with Great s.h.i.+elds.
It was no exception for a Strange Encounter Mission.
Fortunately, they weren’t attacked by a second volley of arrows. However, the sounds of galloping horses were heard coming from a distance. Tens of hors.e.m.e.n were charging towards them. From their equipment and behavior, the gamers identified them as the legendary bandits.
The Victorians had only encountered bandits once, and they had killed them all. Hoodlum’s Strange Encounter Mission was triggered after being attacked by the bandits.
Many gamers were thinking about whether they should allow themselves to be captured to trigger Strange Encounter Missions. However, they were in the middle of a Strange Encounter Mission with specified generous rewards. Even if they were enslaved by the bandits, there was no guarantee that they would be trained. It wasn’t worth the risk.
The combat power of the gamers was comparable to the bandits. After months of training and going through savage battles, their combat power was stronger than expected. Moreover, they were fearless and had the support of powerful Mana and Sacred Light.
When a bald bandit charged at the gamers with a Metal Hammer, he didn’t expect a Human to release a fireball at him. The bandit was lit ablaze by the fireball, and he fell to the ground with a groan. He had no chance to struggle as his body was melted by the fireball.
What was that? Why was there a Magician?
Most of the bandits were given a fright, and some of them stopped in their tracks. A leader shouted loudly, “Don’t be afraid. There’s only a Magician. Capture those green-skinned creatures, they’re worth a lot of money. After this round, we won’t have to be bandits again!”
The fearful bandits became invigorated again, and they charged and screamed at the gamers. Like the bandit leader had said, Magicians weren’t common. Their victims looked poor, so they would only have one Magician. If they killed the Magician, their victims would be vulnerable. The bandits had greater numbers and the help of long-range weapons.
A nearby gamer released a tornado, followed by another gamer who released a fireball. Then there was another gamer who was covered with Sacred Light. His body floated up as though he was guided by the Sacred Lord.
“Holy Lord, is he a Grand Priest?”
The bandits didn’t know what trouble they were in. They had never seen an armored Grand Priest with a huge weapon. However, the power of the Grand Priest was real. After scrutinizing the Grand Priest, they discovered that he was actually a green-skinned creature…
…
Old John led a group of riders in the direction of the Yggdrasill forest. Old John had informed the Empire, and a rider arrived at the village after four to five days. The n.o.bles were interested in Victoria City and the Underworld creatures. As n.o.bles, they had already received information about the war between the G.o.dly Kingdom and Victoria City. The n.o.bles were also aware of Victoria City fighting the invasion of the Underworld creatures.
Old John was able to describe the Victorians and the Underworld creatures, so he clearly wasn’t lying. The Victorians and the Underworld creatures had arrived at the border of the Empire.
Why were the Humans and the Underworld creatures together? The n.o.bles of the Empire didn’t know, but it was a warning. Perhaps the Underworld creatures had invaded the borders of the Empire. Victoria City was only a small city. The Empire never expected Victoria City to hold against the invasion of the Underworld creatures. The Emperor considered reinforcing Victoria City, but he wanted to observe the actions of the G.o.dly Kingdom before making a decision.
The failure of the G.o.dly Kingdom made the Emperor intervene. They heard that Victoria City and the G.o.dly Kingdom had a ma.s.sive battle. The Empire wanted to form an alliance with Victoria City to fight against their common enemy.
After obtaining information about the Victorians, the n.o.bles met up with Old John, who told them that the Victorians and the Underworld creatures had departed for Yggdrasill. Why were they going to Yggdrasill? The n.o.bles didn’t know, and they couldn’t obtain the information. They could only pursue the Victorians. Yggdrasill was the territory of the Fairies. Perhaps the Victorians were seeking the help of the Fairies? It was highly possible. Though the Fairies kept to themselves, to defend against the invasion of the Underworld creatures, they would be willing to help.
It was good news for the Empire. If the Empire could form an alliance with Victoria City and the Fairies, the Empire would have the upper hand in the war against the G.o.dly Kingdom.
The first priority was to locate the Victorians and the Underworld creatures so that they could find out what was going on.