3 What goes around comes around

Amaryll blankly looked at the black-robed youngster just like everyone else as the scene unfolded. Arwen's eyesight had been blurred by his own blood, but he could still vaguely see the youngster's figure as the robed figure walked towards the bandits.

Everybody's gazes were pointed at the newcomer. His raven-black hair was long enough to flutter alongside his dark robes in the wind. From Arwen's point of view, the chiseled man looked like he was in his early or mid-twenties. The bandits, meanwhile, looked at his weapons in an effort to gauge his threat level. They noted that he had a longsword and a blunt hammer-shaped weapon on his back. The weapons overlapped one another, forming a menacing 'X' behind him.

Unbeknownst to them, the black-robed youngster was Don. Until now, he was watching the bandits from the shadows as he waited for Knight to rescue the children and send him a telepathic message.

A tense silence enveloped the field. After a few moments of noting his surroundings as well as the newcomer, the bandit leader realized that he was only facing a single opponent. One who was much younger than him as well. The thought made his mouth curve into confident a smile.

"You? A mere brat is going to send me to hell?" the bandit leader scoffed at the incredulity that he was hearing. "You should not have interfered here, boy. Now you're going to die just like this lowly dog."

"Funny," Don coolly said. "This would have been the thought of your brothers who you sent to kill the elven kids." 

Don threw what seemed to be bloody badges at the feet of the bandit leader. The leader as well as his followers watched with dead silence as the small objects clattered uselessly on the ground.

"Boss… It's... They... " one of the bandits struggled to finish his sentence as soon as he saw the bloodied badge before his feet. "It's Jordan's badge… He got it from that one lady he killed…"

"This is Kieran's gold button…" another bandit identified one of the objects. 

The bandits' eyes almost popped out of their skulls. They were staggered. Fear and uncertainty seeped into the air as they realized the implications of what they'd just seen.

"What have you done… No...no...it is impossible!" the bandit leader shook his head in disbelief. "They were at Master level! A boy like you couldn't have killed them… No...no way!"

"The size of the ant doesn't matter. An ant is an ant." Don's coldly replied, his face showing nothing but frigid contempt.

"No! I don't believe you!" the bandit leader bellowed out before pointing his finger at a female bandit in the group. "Lisa! Capture this brat! I will torture him till he begs for mercy!" 

Lisa was a female bandit in the group whom the bandits used for seducing traveling merchants or soldiers to lower their defense, assassinate them silently, or simply kidnap them. She was a peak-level master magi who could effortlessly capture Don. Or so the bandits thought.

Hearing her orders, Lisa slowly started to walk toward her target. She wore a transparent veil to cover her face alongside a black tight top and leather pants. She played with her red hair with her fingers, curling each strand in between her fingers in a calculated manner. Although Lisa was not a country topping beauty by any means, for the common population, she was still a beautiful woman in her own right.

Reaching her target, Lisa slowly removed her veil and revealed her beautiful face to Don. Her inflection was smooth and seductive, exactly as she wanted it to be.

"It's a shame that you're in the wrong place at the wrong time, honey. Please surrender obediently like a little kitten or this sister will get very angry." 

To her chagrin, Don just stood in front of her without getting influenced by her charm. Lisa watched the man in slight surprise appeared for the briefest moment. After which, she then started to cast a spell to dispose of him.

"Don't bother, woman. You won't complete that spell of yours."

Lisa stood dumbfounded at what she just heard to the point of actually halting her chant as she processed Don's words. The slightest wind seemed to breeze through her, an unseen force moving through her.

"Lisa, move your butt quickly!" the bandit leader shouted with impatience. "You should've been done with him by now!"

However, Lisa couldn't respond as a red line appeared across her neck. Gravity slowly made her head tilt, blood spilling out from the gash as the bandits stared in horror at the scene. A few seconds later, her head fell on the ground with a sickening thud as her headless body twitched for one more second before following suit.

Everything happened in a flash. From Lisa casting a spell, Don had already unsheathed his blade and cleaved Lisa's head off from her shoulders. The bandits had no idea what even happened, only that their fellow bandit had seemingly died within the blink of an eye.

"Ahhhhhh!!!" 

One of the weak-hearted bandits screamed at the scene. The other bandits' faces turned pale as their hands shivered in fear.

"Lisaaaa!!!" the bandit leader screamed, his voice so loud as if it was metal screeching against metal. "Bastard! I'm going to kill you a thousand times!" 

The leader's eyes turned blood red in anger to the point that he looked like a demon. The Bandit leader loved Lisa and they were inseparable as was a nail to a finger. Normally, Lisa would operate behind the curtains. But today, he made an exception since she wanted to see an elven woman and compare her beauty. The leader would've never imagined that his better half would be literally sliced in half.

Meanwhile, Arwen, Amaryll, and all the other elves were stunned at the sudden turn of events. They never would have guessed that the delicate young human before them was able to kill a peak-level master mage that easily. A small spark of hope began to rise in Amaryll's heart that took on the shape of Don. The other elves looked at the scene unblinking, the children closing their eyes as they turned pale in horror.

The rest of the bandits couldn't help but shake in fear. They were even afraid to look at their comrade's corpse as their boss's killing intent almost smothered them in its thickness.

"Get him... Kill him… No...no… Make mincemeat out of him!" 

The bandit leader shouted out his orders at his lackeys as he subconsciously ran to the body of his beloved. Seeing her head and her headless body, his legs betrayed him as he knelt. Tears streamed down from his bloodshot eyes as he gently picked up her bloody head before holding it gently between his hands. 

The bandits couldn't underestimate their opponent anymore. They immediately activated their magic core and enhanced their abilities, as well as exchanging their mundane weapons for magical swords and spears.

And yet, there was still no expression on Don's face. Even in the face of danger, no panic nor fear showed on his face. He just killed a woman but he seemed like nothing had even happened.

''Hmm… there are still eight bandits left and they all seemed to be on the mid or low level of master magi," Don assessed to himself. "The leader is surely peak level master. I should quickly kill these guys quickly and focus on the leader.''

With two of the bandits being long-ranged combatants, they aimed their magic knives at Don's head and chest. The knives flew straight at their target, their edges so sharp to the point that they were singing through the air.

Don blankly watched the knives flying towards him. Just before they could reach him, he sneered and raised his right hand to his eye level with his palm facing the knives. As if ordering them to stop, the knives stopped right before hitting their intended targets, hovering dangerously as if waiting for orders. Before the bandits could even react at the sight, Don turned the knives with the slightest flick of his palm. 

The bandits stalled in their step, their gaze too busy watching the bizarre event before them. It was here that they realized that the sooner they kill Don, the better. However, the cold chill running through their spines made even moving forward a challenge as they stared at the knives now pointing their dangerous edges right at them.

The bandits didn't stand even a sliver of a chance

Like a flash, the knives went through the hearts of each of their respective owners, their weapons dripping with blood and entrails as soon as they emerged from their backs. The two bandits looked down at their open chest, still in utter disbelief at what they just witnessed before falling like a discarded puppet.

Still, the knives didn't stop at that. The floating weapons continued on to pierce through the heart and heads of the other bandits that were unfortunate enough to stand in their path. With each stab and pierce, the bandits fell to the ground either missing a head or sporting a hole through their chest.

Just like with Lisa, the battle lasted no longer than a few seconds at most.

The bandit leader didn't know what to do. He was indeed stronger than his comrades, but he knew that someone that could kill them in seconds must be a whole lot stronger than him. And for the first time in his life, the menacing bandit leader feared for his life.

Don looked at the leader without a single shred of remorse on his face, "Shall we start?"