Chapter 92: Lynn’s Rescue

POV Eliza

“Get ready for battle.” <Leader>

I crept swiftly around the group until I could take aim at the second lamp. Then I shot it with a second Air Bolt. After the impact, it suddenly became much darker around the bandits.

“Damn, I can't see anything anymore.” <Bandit1>

“Did anyone see where the attack came from?” <Bandit2>

“What should we do, boss?” <Bandit3>

“Keep calm. They can't see us any more than we can see each other. Anyone who comes from the outside must be an enemy.” <Leader>

I planned to use some psychological warfare. I remembered from the news from Earth that morale was important in crisis situations and if I could shatter that and create fear at the same time, some of the bandits would lose their nerve and be easy prey. I also cast the tried and tested dark spell Amplify Emotions on some of the simple bandits, which made them even more restless. Then I cast a previously neglected spell on one of the guards, Gust of Wind. It caused him to lose his balance and cried out. I immediately moved away from my position to the other side. One of the bandits lost his nerve after the shout, dropped everything and ran into the forest. As he ran in my direction, I intercepted him and stabbed him with the dagger. I tried to hit him in the knee joint, causing him to fall to the ground screaming. Due to the fall, he hit his head hartly on a stone. He immediately died and didn't suffer unnecessarily.

“They have mages with them. We're all going to die! They've already got Poi.” <Bandit>

“Be quiet, damn it. We're easy targets like this.” <Leader>

I shot the next Air Bolt at a bandit and right after that on another one. One of those hit also ran into the forest in panic. I had to chase him, so I ran after him. In his panic, he tripped over a root and fell down. He immediately started flailing his arms, which prevented me from reaching a vital point. So I stabbed him in the stomach. Unfortunately, he grabbed his dagger in the meantime and rammed it into my leg. I groaned in pain, but stabbed him again myself. That was enough to make him lose consciousness. I became increasingly aware of the smell of blood. I left him lying there, assuming that he would die from blood loss.

I pulled the dagger out of my leg and dropped it. Thanks to my resistance to pain and my regeneration, the pain subsided quite quickly. But I limped for a few more minutes and walked in an arc around the group again. As I approached the group, I noticed that they had slowly started to move. The leader had probably realized that they had no chance if they waited here in the forest in the dark. But they were slow because of the darkness and even slower because of the prisoners.

I went around them again and waited. I prepared a spell that I wanted to see in action and want to tried out. It was the eponymous spell of dark magic, darkness. Depending on the level, a certain area was darkened. This should make your vision even worse. The spell had no effect on me because I was the caster. As soon as all the bandits were near me, I finished casting the spell. The faint starlight through the clouds was almost completely swallowed up.

“What's going on now? Why has it suddenly become even darker? I can't see the hand in front of my eyes!” <Bandit>

“Damn, what kind of magic is that? I've never heard of it. Stay calm, guys." <Leader>

The bandits' morale was at an all-time low. It wouldn't take much and they would all flee. I planned to attack directly now. I wanted to immobilize them all, but to do that I would have to cut the tendons in their knees. I renewed my agility and speed spells and rushed forward. I was able to take down one of them directly.

“Argh. Help, we're under direct attack.” <Bandits>

“How many attackers are there? Report.” <Leader>

Before the bandits could respond, I had managed to bring a second one to the ground. The other armed men hit the air at random. One of them accidentally hit another bandit.

“There's one here.”

“Here too.”

“They're coming from behind too.”

“Crap. You're doing this, guys.” <Leader>

With the leader's words, something happened that I hadn't expected. The leader abandoned his men and tried to flee. Since the others were just small fry and he was the head of the gang, I had to confront him. I hoped the others wouldn't get up to any mischief with the prisoners in the meantime.

“Guys, our boss has escaped. Run for your lives.” <Bandits>

It looks like my fears were unfounded. I sensed with my Sense Presence skill that they were all running away. But I had to take care of the leader first and ran after him. He showed little regard for himself and his equipment as he stumbled through the forest and undergrowth. I was much faster and went around him. As soon as he was level with me, I stabbed him at knee height. Unfortunately, I missed the string and only hit him in the calf. Then he faced me for the fight.

“You'll pay dearly for attacking me, little sausage. Die!” <Leader>

Although I estimated that the leader was more experienced than me in terms of level and fighting skills, I had surprisingly few problems against him. The darkness reduced his fighting power more than I had expected. I realized more and more that my nightvision was an invaluable advantage when the circumstances were right. However, the leader was tough and wore metal armor under his clothes. This meant I hit frequently but did little damage. So it took me over 10 minutes to finally defeat him. Unfortunately, he didn't give up, so I accidentally killed it in the end. I then searched him, breathing heavily, and found an old soldier's badge with his name and rank. Apparently he was a former soldier before he became a bandit. But that also explained his experience in fighting and leading people. Other loot I found included a surprisingly large amount of money was a bag of jewelry. The former could hardly be assigned to an owner, but the jewels could probably be returned to their original owners.

I returned to the place from which the bandits had fled, leaving the two prisoners behind. I felt no more presence from the remaining bandits. They got away. By the time I reached them, the effect of the darkness had worn off. I also saw that they were not only tied up, but also wearing blindfolds and gags. One of them seemed to have heard me because she raised her head. I approached her and cut her handcuffs. I did the same to the other prisoner. During this time, the first prisoner took off her mouth gag and blindfold. When she saw me, she widened her eyes.

“Eliza?” <Lynn>