Chapter 145: Chapter 144: Midnight Marauders

Bandit hunt, bandit hunt, bandit hunt! We're on a bandit hunt! Why are we on a bandit hunt? Because bandit hunt! It's good for the local economy. However, not only are we on a bandit hunt, we're on a midnight bandit hunt! It's pitch black, the bandits are half asleep, and the Captain and I are on a bandit hunt! Just your average, everyday best friend hangout slash bachelor party activity. 

Look, it's my first time being a Best Man. I have no idea how these bachelor parties go… actually, it's my first wedding, too. Actually, I've never been to a wedding, and my first is a marathon spanning 3 days with so many different families coming in. I'm so glad I'm not doing the catering. My Extra Hands are. 

These Extra Hands are very, very useful. So useful, in fact, I've already shadow-cloned it a bunch and gave them to my sisters to make them even more terrifyingly efficient. We haven't given a shadow copy to Madeleine yet, since we kind of want an edge over her if we ever have a Madeleine tournament. I know that we will eventually have a "Shadow Clone Partners" tournament, but I'd rather take part in the Madeleine tournament… assuming that's a thing. I want to show off my hands and the cool martial arts Captain taught me. 

Speaking of the Captain, he's currently kicking the ass of some bandits right now. Punching, kicking, headbutting, it's amazing how effective he is in a fight without weaponry. He was kind of annoyed he had to be outside when it was so late, but looking at how happy he is beating up bandits, I made the right call. Man, it'd be bad if he disliked it cause this is all I had planned. As I said, it's my first time.

This whole operation was supposed to be a team effort, but I don't want to parade all over the Captain's fun, and also, fighting random bandit mooks is boring. I'm just sitting here, barely paying attention, and none of them can even ambush me properly. The only bright side is that I have a wedding gift now! A tied-up bandit. She's cute looking, so I'm sure one of the lucky people getting married will like it. If not… I guess I could give her to the guild to get her bounty. It's probably only two silver, though.

I continued watching the Captain fight off the bandit masses when he suddenly disappeared. That's… not good. "The maid in the bushes. You can come out now."

That's very inviting. I think I'll follow through. I calmly walk out of the bushes, creating a bunch of floating hands to carry the tied-up bandit next to me. So I'm surrounded by… let me count… I think it's roughly twenty bandits, with a really important-looking bandit in the middle. He looks important because his hands have rings. Shiny rings. I like them.

"Hmm… pristine condition. You would sell for a lot on the market. Will you yield?"

'Do I get a cookie if I yield?'

"Obviously not. We have you outnumbered, your master got hit by my ability, and evidently, you're weak. Just give up."

'You underestimate my power.'

"Fine. Get her, boys." 

The 20 or so bandits charged at me, wielding different weapons. This is… too easy. I tap the ground, spreading my shadow and making weapons made out of darkness rise out of it into the many hands I conjured up using my gloves. The bandits momentarily stop their charge, surprised at the development, before continuing after a yell from their leader. The hands quickly disarm the bandits and their flimsy weapons before knocking them out. Didn't even last a minute. Disappointing.

"Maybe I did underestimate you, but you can do nothing against my po-" I sink into the shadows, jumping out of his with quite the height, and kick him right in the head, taking him out immediately. That was easy. But where's the Captain? Clearly, this bandit leader has a Sacred Power, so maybe if I look into his eyes, I'll see what happened to the Captain. I turn the bandit's body over and open his eyes. What a dull brown.

Isolate You can isolate things. You are reading story Side Note at novel35.com Side Note: Isolation can do things to a man.

That sounds bad for the Captain. Can isolation really do things to a man? I've got to save him… but how? Is there a manual as to how to reverse it on his body? Let me check. Going through his pockets, going through his shirt, checking under his tongue, absolutely nothing to be found… shit. I guess, haa… I don't want to do it, but I have no other choice.

I tap my foot, sending a message through the Shadowrealm to a certain sister. The Rulebreaker. She better not make me wai-

"Yo yo yo, what up Sea Sistah! What's handing?"

'I need help.'

"Pfft… I've already read ahead, and I know what I have to do. By the way, they cut off your monologue about me, which sucks. What exactly do you think about me?"

'If you help me, I'll tell you.'

"Sure thing, buckaroo!" She snaps her fingers towards an empty area nearby, revealing the Captain, who looked ready to beat someone up. Did he even know he was iso- "I don't care about your inner monologue about him. Quick, do the one about me."

'Fine.' The Rulebreaker is… I guess an anno-

---

Character profile: Allein

Sacred power: Isolate

Amount of people put into isolation: 73

Description: The cruel isolator. Allein is just your generic, power-hungry, bloodthirsty, sadistic, very willing to steal candy from a baby, thieving bandit that's found plentiful in Mendass. What makes him stand apart from other bandits is that no one has ever found the bodies of his victims, making him a lot harder to prosecute. Even more interesting is that when put under investigation with the "Kill Counter", his body count comes out as 0. No one knows how he did it.

Chapter namesake: Midnight Marauders by Fat Freddy's Drop