Chapter 47: Road to Macedonia - II

Raising his sword into the sky, Merlin chanted once more before he swung his blade down on the last bandit. Heavy strike activated, he received the notification for it as his blade cleaved through the bandit's shoulder and the stagger effect triggered.

"More incoming!" One of the mercenaries yelled out, causing Merlin's gaze to snap towards the path they had just travelled.

There he saw two of the bandits limping towards them with their weapons drawn, the third bandit was nowhere to be seen. They were quickly closing the distance, causing Merlin to rush.

Merlin tried to pull his cleaver from the bandit's shoulder but wasn't able to, the blade was wedged in the bandit. He struggled with the blade for a few seconds before giving up, he let go of the cleaver and instead unsheathed his gladius, cleaving the bandit's head off with one swift motion.

「Highway Bandits remaining: 3」

Feeling frustrated, Merlin grabbed the hilt of the cleaver and briefly chanted, causing the cleaver to fade away, being sent back into his inventory. Merlin leapt off the cart and sprinted towards the other two bandits.

The two bandits readied their blades, both entering defensive stances as Merlin entered combat range. Moments before he struck, a bolt flung out from the treeline, embedding itself in Merlin's calf.

Suddenly losing his balance, Merlin fell forward, his momentum dragging him along the road as his bare skin was ravaged by the rough pavement. The intense stinging sensation pulsing through his body was drowning out any command to move, giving the two bandits an opportunity to strike back.

"Open inventory." Merlin chanted as a chipped blade was thrust into his upper thigh.

The second bandit was greedier, he took his time limping towards Merlin's upper body rather than taking the easy strike to his legs. As he raised his blade to strike, a dagger impaled itself into his chest, causing him to stagger backwards.

Merlin pushed himself off the ground, deflecting another sword strike with his shield. The distinct whistle of a bolt flying through the air caught his attention now that he was paying attention for it. When he noticed the faint glint of a bolt flying towards him, he ducked out of the flight path, successfully avoiding it.

Raising the gladius above his head, he struck down on the bandit who had stabbed him in the leg. The bandit raised his sword to block the strike, but as he did, the edge of a shield was thrust into his face, sending him stumbling back. Taking advantage of the situation, Merlin swung his blade, cleaving a deep gash in the bandit's torso.

The bandit was clearly in pain, but it wasn't enough damage to kill him. Merlin thrust his blade towards the bandit's chest, but it was parried away by the bandit with a dagger in his chest.

Another bolt tore through the air, but it was from the same location so Merlin could avoid it with ease. Taking a step back allowed both bandits to regain their composure, the bandit with the knife in his chest ripped the blade out and began using it as an offhanded weapon.

Merlin limped forward, chanting as he closed the distance to the bandit he was close to killing. He swung his blade down once more, forcing the bandit to block, and then thrust his empty hand towards the bandit.

Expecting a repeat of the previous move, the bandit took his spare hand from the sword and braced himself to take the shield's impact. But Merlin had unexpectedly grabbed hold of his clothing rather than throw a punch. Confusion arose in his mind, until Merlin completed his chant, and the word "ignite" echoed in his mind.

Suddenly a small flame erupted on the man's sleeve, threatening to spread if it wasn't put out immediately. The bandit broke the stalemate, choosing to back away and deal with the sudden fire than continue the fight.

With one bandit distracted, Merlin's attention snapped back to the other bandit, who at this point had snuck behind him and was preparing a devastating downward swing. Merlin threw himself forward, causing him to hit the ground and tumble, but these few scrapes were a preferred alternative to having his back cleaved open.

"Open inventory" he chanted, causing an inventory window to appear. He reached inside, pulling out a handful of sling bullets.

The bandit rushed forward, his blade recklessly thrust towards Merlin's chest, who knocked it aside with ease. Seemingly expecting such an event to occur, the bandit was already prepared with Merlin's dagger in the other hand, already attempting to take Merlin's life.

Easily blocking the dagger with his shield, Merlin shoved the bandit back and thrust his blade into the bandit's side simultaneously, causing him to cry out in pain. The whistle of yet another bolt reached Merlin's ears, although this time the bolt was behind him, as he turned his back to the shooter.

He ripped his blade from the bandit's body and dove to the side, a bolt flew past his upper thigh, hitting the bandit in the lower stomach.

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"Friendly fire, what a way to go." Merlin retorted as a notification appeared before him.

「Highway Bandits remaining: 2」

The bandit who Merlin had set alight was still frantically trying to put out the flames, and had only just successfully ripped his sleeve off, now throwing it to the ground. His forearm appeared to be severely blistered.

The bandit turned to face Merlin once more, but he was swiftly met with a handful of sling bullets pelting his face, followed by a blade thrust through his heart, a quick execution before he could even react.

「Highway Bandits remaining: 1」

Merlin heard a rustle in the bushes, followed by the faint footfall that grew ever quiet, indicating that the crossbowman was fleeing.

"You've been a real pain, and now you're running away..." Merlin mocked as he dashed into the treeline, following the sound of the last bandit, "Come back here, coward!"

The footsteps grew more frantic as Merlin closed the distance. Even with a damaged leg, he could still catch up, meaning the bandit had most likely sustained some form of leg injury after falling from their horse.

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A few moments later, the sight of a man scrambling away with all his might filled Merlin's view, but all he could see was an easy target, the man left his back unguarded. With a single strike, Merlin's blade pierced through the bandit's chest, pinning him to the forest floor.

It was only now that Merlin realised he didn't have his dagger to deal the finishing blow, he left it on the bandit's corpse. Now resorting to strikes with his fist once more, he bashed his shield against the helpless man's skull repeatedly. Blood splattered all over him but he paid no mind to it, until eventually the man was dead.

「You have completed the quest, "Clear the route to Macedonia", visit the mercenary guild to receive your rewards.」

Merlin ripped his blade from the bandit's corpse and then checked the area near the corpse for any loot drops, to which he found nothing. Disappointed, he now made his way back towards the road, unsure of how far into the forest he ran.

It wasn't long until he breached the forest path, his mercenary companions seemed terrified as he appeared before them, now covered in blood.

Merlin collected his dagger, sending it back into his inventory, before searching the area for loot. Out of the six highway bandits, only one had dropped loot, which was just a single silver coin.

The envoy, with assistance from the two mercenaries, managed to get the wagon back onto the road and were waiting for the fight to end so that they could continue. Merlin cast cleanse on himself before entering the wagon, the various sources of blood were magically stripped from his body before vanishing.

As the wagon continued on its journey, the scenery opened up from a forest to yet another open plains, albeit with various rivers and streams interrupting the landscape, and a large walled city clearly visible in the distance.

The large walls grew larger as the distance between the party and Macedonia shrunk, until eventually the wagon was stopped at a large portcullis gate, standing on either side of the gate were what looked to be two heavily armoured knights.

The envoy flashing the strange snake symbol was all it took for the knight to start speaking with him respectfully, and mere moments later they were all led inside with a smile.

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Inside the walls was a perfect looking Victorian era city, the architecture had no Greek or Roman influence to be seen, unlike the last town and village. From what Merlin could see, the housing was all tightly-packed brick buildings with fancy wrought iron fencing and the streets were clean and nicely paved, illuminated by large lamps featuring an eerie spectral flame.

"Welcome to Macedonia, it'll take us a few more minutes to reach our destination." The envoy announced, but nobody in the cart seemed to pay him any attention, Merlin was too busy admiring his surroundings and the two mercenaries were distracting themselves while hoping the quest would end faster.

Eventually the wagon stopped in front of a walled off area, the gate of which sported the familiar snake logo.

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