<h4>Chapter 39: Bandits Part 2</h4>


    However, as time passed, hispanion did not reappear. However, his attention was drawn to an unexpected sight just as he was about to shout out for him—a dense fog was rolling in his direction.


    "What the fuck is this?"


    He murmured, his voice trembling with bewilderment as the surrounding mist swirled about him. He tried to hide his face with his hands, but the mist easily slid through his grasp, much to his amazement.


    He cautiously opened his eyes and took a long breath, his senses in disarray. He realized what had happened.


    "Smoke?" he asked himself, recognizing the familiar stench. As he continued to breathe the smoky air, the full nature of the phenomenon became clear: it was a dense cloud of smoke, not fog.


    The smoke spread steadily through the camp, quickly engulfing the entire base. It acted as an unsaid beckon, luring the upants of the improvised shelters out into the open.


    Those who had been outside were taken aback by the unexpected arrival of the unknown smoke, which caused confusion andmotion.


    "what''s happening?"


    The vice leader emerged from thergest makeshift house, seeking answers amid the surroundingmotion but finding none.


    "Remain calm, you mongrels!" hemanded, hismanding presence tempering the panic and restoring order to the chaos.


    "Where are the watch guards? What''s causing this smoke?" he wondered, straining his eyes in the direction of the watchtower. Despite the deep haze, he could make out the silhouettes of two figures.


    "Someone, investigate!" he yelled, sending one of the men sprinting towards the tower.


    Fear gripped the sprinting person as he approached the watchtower due to the uncertainty. He took one step at a time up the stairs toward the top.


    "Hey there, pal, what''s going on?" He yelled as he hurried up the stairs.


    "Drip... Drip..."


    The air filled with the terrible sound of blood sttering onto the ground before he could reach the top. As he approached the higher level, he saw a young man''s back and the lifeless body of his friend, his throat grievously cut open.


    Panic overtook him, leading him to reach for his bastard sword on his waist, distracting his attention away from the enemy in front of him.


    However, his efforts were fruitless,as a de shed through his throat. Thest thing he saw as his life was slipping away was the masked young man standing before him.


    "Three down," the young man muttered under his breath as he gracefully descended from the watchtower. His presence did not go unnoticed as he approached the crowd gathered in the center of the establishment.


    "Who are you?" one of them demanded, taking his bastard sword from its sheath. However, an iprehensible sense of weakness overtook him as he clutched the weapon, forcing his hands to tremble.


    The young man stood motionless, around ten meters from the gathering. His attention was drawn to the vice leader, who stood behind his subordinates, inspecting both the masked invader and his own troops. He seemed to be waiting for some invisible signal or development.


    One of the spectators. could no longer keep his cool in the midst of the tense confrontation.


    "AHHHH!" he cried as he charged at the masked intruder. Yet, after only half the distance, his motions abruptly slowed, and he slumped to the ground, his body rendered motionless by an unknown power.


    The masked invader advanced toward the fallen man, pulling a spear from its sheath on his back.


    "It appears to be working now," he whispered, aligning the spear to strike the immobilized individual''s exposed back.


    "STOP!" shouted one of the bandits, witnessing hisrade''s impending death. However, before he could act, his legs failed him, and he, too, dropped to the ground.


    "Hmm," the young man responded, making eye contact with the person who had summoned him. As he stared at the man in front of him, he could sense hatred in his eyes. He thrust his spear forward slowly, puncturing the man beneath him while maintaining eye contact.


    "Arghhhhh!" cried the man as the spear pierced his body. His cries, however, were short-lived, as life rapidly left him.


    "What are you doing, idiots? Kill him! All of you together! Kill him now!" The vice leader''smand cut through the hubbub, his voice urgent. He directed his teammates to band together and attack the masked invader, taking advantage of their numerical superiority.


    They mustered the will to advance in response to their vice leader''s orders. Their progress, however, was hampered by an unexinable ailment, and one by one, they began to fall like falling leaves.


    "Argh...."


    "Arghh....."


    As they attempted to move their paralyzed bodies, groans of frustration filled the air. They could only watch helplessly as their demise approached. They turned their collective focus toward the vice leader, whose controlled facade had disintegrated and whose teeth snarled in desperation.


    "Who are you?" The vicemander queried, his fingers reaching for the de slung over his back. His gaze remained riveted on the approaching figure at the base''s center.


    "Are you atra or Vansha of the Lizard n?" As he approached the nearest fallen person, the young man voiced his own query. while he asked that. He swung his spear downward in one fast stroke, removing the man''s head beneath him.


    "Hickk..."


    "V-Vice leader."


    "H-Help us."


    The remaining grounded men shook as they witnessed the masked intruder''s savage ying, their calls for rescue directed at their leader.


    "STOP!" The vice leader yelled. The young man came to a halt and turned to face the lizard man.


    "What do you want" .


    The vice leader inquired, his gaze turning to thergest house behind him.


    "atra''s head" .


    "Give me that, and I''ll leave them alive," the young man said, stepping closer to another man on the ground. He aimed his spear at the terrified man''s throat while looking back at their vice leader.


    "Even a lowly creature like you dares to seek my head." The young man''s attention shifted as another voice echoed through the base. His eyes locked onto the area behind the vice leader, where a towering, 7-foot lizard man emerged from one of the houses, wielding a massive war hammer.