19 Karma is a ...

'I should have asked this before killing the villagers.' Montu sighed

He thought of receiving all the exp gained by them from now on and went towards the entrance of the cave.

Montu's gut churned with an unsettling familiarity as he ventured deeper into the cavern. The shadows whispered of a forgotten memory, a chilling déjà vu twisting in his undead gut.

"I came to this area for the first time, yet it feels like I have been here before. This is strange." He pondered.

He pushed the sensation aside, focusing on the task at hand. Despite his confidence, prudence eluded him; he marched in blind, arrogance his shield against the unknown.

The cave swallowed them whole, its vast maw echoing with silence. Then, a voice, faint and distant, beckoned like a siren song. Montu, ever the predator, followed its trail, the hobgoblin and Happy flanking him like silent sentinels.

But the silence, once pregnant with anticipation, morphed into something sinister. An arrow sang through the air, finding its mark with a sickening thud in Montu's chest. Then another, and another, a rain of feathered death from unseen shadows.

HP= 390/410

HP= 370/410

Instinct roared into action. Montu threw himself behind the hulking form of the hobgoblin, seeking momentary respite. More arrows found their mark, piercing the hobgoblin's shoulder and thigh, each strike chipping away at his formidable bulk.

Two arrows hit him from the back, one in his head and the other in his left hand.

HP= 330/410

Montu wasn't even able to catch a glimpse of who was shooting the arrows.

From a high platform, bathed in a sliver of sunlight, a figure emerged. A muscular man, adorned with furs and scars, wielded a spear, its tip dipped in crimson. He launched it with a guttural roar, the weapon a whistling blur before it ripped through Montu, lodging in the hobgoblin's chest.

HP= 270/410

The spear lowered the health of the hobgoblin too but Montu wasn't free enough to check it. He ordered Happy to attack the man who was holding the spear.

A primal rage blazed within Happy, eyes burning with unholy fire. He charged, defying the hail of arrows that peppered his undead flesh. They didn't slow him, thanks to his undead nature, but they drained his health. He reached the platform, a monstrous battering ram poised to strike, only to be met by a swarm of bandits erupting from the darkness.

There were a total of 71 bandits including the leader.

Montu watched in horror as Happy was swallowed by the tide of blades, his valiant charge ending in a sprawl of lifeless limbs. Fear, a primal, chilling sensation, gripped him. The bandits, a sea of snarling faces and glinting steel, surrounded him.

[Controlled Zombie Happy's health has reached 0, immediate help required to save him from death]

Happy fell on the ground lifeless.

"Why resist the inevitable? Accept your death peacefully and depart from this world" boomed the bandit leader, his voice dripping with cruel amusement. "Embrace oblivion, monsters."

And everyone else began to shout too 'Die monsters, Die monsters, Die monsters'

Montu blamed himself for not confirming the bandits' numbers before charging into the cave cluelessly.

'Its all my fault, I was too naive.'

Panic gnawed at Montu's edges. He was trapped, outmatched, facing his own mortality for the first time in his un-life. He stammered, desperation coloring his voice, "We meant no harm! We're lost, seeking our way... Please, take our gold, spare us, let us go!"

(You reap what you sow)

A familiar scene unfolded, with him being in the position of the villagers and the bandits being the tyrant killing them.

The bandit leader was quite shocked by listening to this. He never thought that the monster in front of him could talk.

Every bandit standing there was  shocked too.

"Ohh, is that the story? I thought you were someone who intruded on our cave to kill us, if you are willing to give all the money you have I may consider letting you go." Said the bandit leader.

He conjured all 954 coins from his inventory, a shimmering cascade raining down in a desperate plea for mercy. The bandits gawked, eyes wide with avarice at the sudden wealth materialized from thin air.

Everyone standing there could not believe this sorcery in front of their eyes but the coins on the ground were proof of that, had the coins not been there they would have thought that their brain is tricking them.

The leader's eyes, however, gleamed with a different kind of greed. This monster, with its space magic and bottomless purse, was more than just prey. He envisioned power, influence, a way to rise above this squalid life.

"Space magic and untold riches. This isn't some usual monster, he can talk and even knows space magic, what if I kill him? Will I get some amazing skill as a reward?" he murmured, a dark smile twisting his lips.

The bandit ordered his men to go and pick up all the coins.

The bandits were hesitant to go near a talking monster who can do space magic, but they had no choice. They slowly went near Montu picked up the coins and dashed back with the speed of light.

'He shouldn't be some normal monster, as he has such an amount of gold on him and space magic too. What if he is associated with those higher-order monsters, if that's true than even if I let him go they will kill us all. It's best to kill this monster here and remove all traces of him ever coming here.' Thought the bandit leader while sighing heavily.

He shouted at the top of his lungs "Attack, don't let him leave alive from here"

With swords in their hands, they began rushing towards Montu and the hobgoblin.

Montu still didn't lose hope. He began to think of some way to escape with his life.

He didn't even have the time to analyze the opponent's stats with his skill.

[Host, it is recommended to quickly escape from here as your life is in danger here]

For one second, Montu just wished to beat the crap out of the system.