Chapter 1032: The Bandits Who Couldn’t Die

"All right, no need to hide anymore, my brothers. Come out..."

Hundreds of armed men suddenly emerged from behind the trees on the right.

They were dressed in black, resembling ninjas from the Eastern continent.

Elina frowned when she saw them.

"Bandits?"

Freya and Evalyn were also confused. There were quite a few of them—over a thousand in total.

But their army numbered thirty thousand.

How dare those bandits show themselves?

"What’s the meaning of this?" Elina asked coldly. "Are you planning to use those people to defeat us?"

The man chuckled.

"If so, will you back down?"

Hearing the mockery in his voice, Elina snorted coldly.

"I don’t know what you mean, but since you’re asking for death, I’ll give it to you."

She raised her right hand and shouted, "Archers, raise your bows!"

The archers raised their bows and drew their arrows.

The man didn’t look scared at all. He stayed as calm as ever.

He clapped his hands again, and the bandits raised their weapons.

Without hesitation, they charged at the soldiers.

"Attack!" Elina commanded.

Whoosh!

The arrows shot into the sky before raining down on the bandits.

The bandits, who were still in midair, were struck by thousands of arrows and came crashing down like a rain of corpses.

"Is that all?" Elina sneered.

The man remained unfazed, his smile never fading.

"It’s not over yet."

Just as he said that, the dead bandits suddenly moved. They shot into the air before crashing back down.

They smiled as they raised their weapons once again.

"W-What!?"

Elina, Freya, and Evalyn were stunned by the sight.

"H-How is that possible?" Elina’s eyes widened in shock.

"Surprised?" The man laughed as he clapped his hands. "And that’s not all. I’ve got another special gift for you."

Buzz!

Four giant portals suddenly appeared behind him. A moment later, hundreds of monsters came pouring out.

The monsters were huge—some were two meters tall, others three meters, and even four meters.

The troops immediately raised their weapons.

"This is the show I’ve prepared for you. What do you think? Are you still eager to show off your arrogance, Your Highness?"

The man looked at Elina playfully.

Elina gritted her teeth in anger. She hadn’t expected the man to be this terrifying.

First, there were the bandits who couldn’t be killed, and now there was a horde of powerful monsters.

Even though she had way more troops than them, she didn’t want anyone to get hurt.

"Don’t let your anger get the best of you. In a situation like this, it’s important to stay calm."

Freya’s calm voice helped Elina regain her composure. She nodded slightly and raised her sword.

"Everyone, stay alert! There’s an obstacle ahead, but we’ll get through it!"

"Yes, Your Highness!" the soldiers replied in unison.

Elina lowered her sword and shouted, "Charge!"

She kicked her horse’s belly, sending it dashing forward.

Freya and Evalyn didn’t want to be left behind. They raised their swords and charged forward as well.

"Charge!"

The cavalry rushed forward, followed by the infantry.

The bandits and monsters weren’t about to be outdone. They charged forward as well.

The man simply smiled. He took a step back before vanishing into a gust of wind.

Slash!

Elina sliced off one of the bandits’ heads with precision. Then, she leaped from her horse and slashed at two others.

Her movements were so agile and fast that the bandits couldn’t react. But the next second, their heads suddenly reattached themselves.

They raised their weapons and attacked her.

Clang!

Elina parried their swords with her own. She shoved them aside, then kicked one of them before slashing at the other.

Whoosh!

Two bandits suddenly appeared behind her.

Elina, caught off guard, was startled.

"Danger!"

Time seemed to slow down. She wanted to dodge, but she couldn’t.

Slash!

A slash severed the heads of the two bandits.

Elina was stunned when she realized Evalyn had saved her.

"Thank you."

Evalyn simply smiled and nodded. She then leaped forward and charged toward the giant monsters.

"Hero Technique: Divine Slash!"

The Divine Sword of Luminus glowed brightly as she swung it down.

Boom!

Dozens of monsters exploded into pieces of flesh that scattered in all directions.

The soldiers who had been fighting nearby were startled and swallowed hard in unison.

"Is that the power of a hero?" one of them muttered.

"Don’t just stand there! Attack the other monsters!"

Evalyn’s shout snapped them out of their daze.

"Yes!" they replied in unison.

Meanwhile, the mages and archers attacked from the rear of the formation.

Tens of thousands of arrows and thousands of fireballs and waterballs rained down mercilessly on the monsters and bandits.

The mages who weren’t attacking cast healing spells and buffs on the soldiers on the front lines, restoring them instantly and making them even stronger than before.

On the front lines, Freya easily parried the bandits’ attacks.

"Die!"

One of the bandits leaped two meters into the air and tried to slash at her, but Freya’s sword pierced his heart first.

The bandit froze for a moment before collapsing to the ground. But unlike before, he didn’t get back up.

"Hmmm? What’s going on? Why isn’t he getting back up?"

As she pondered this, she sliced off the heads of two other bandits who were about to attack her from behind.

Unlike the previous bandit, they quickly got back up and charged at her again.

Freya attacked them once more. This time, she aimed for their chests—more specifically, their hearts.

Red blood gushed out, followed by a strange, thick blue liquid.

Surprisingly, they didn’t get back up this time.

Her eyes widened as a smile spread across her face.

"So that’s how it is—I get it."

She laughed, then shouted, "Everyone, don’t cut off their heads! Stab them in the heart!"

Hearing this, the soldiers quickly changed their strategy.

The attacks from the mages and archers brought the bandits down, and the front-line troops immediately thrust their weapons into the bandits’ chests.

The bandits screamed in pain, a stark contrast to before. And sure enough, they were no longer able to heal themselves like they had before.

"It works! Hahaha!" one of the soldiers laughed heartily.

The others smiled broadly. They turned their gazes toward the remaining bandits and grinned.

"Slaughter them all!" one soldier shouted.

"Slaughter!" the others roared.

And just like that, the bandits who had once seemed immortal were easily wiped out by the soldiers.

Half an hour later...

Thousands of bandit and monster corpses littered the ground. The four large portals that had summoned the monsters had also vanished, destroyed by Evalyn.

Elina took a deep breath and sheathed her sword.

"How many casualties?" Elina asked Freya.

"Fifty people," Freya replied coldly.

"Fifty?" Elina was shocked. "That’s a lot."

Freya could only shake her head.

"Death is inevitable. After all, those bandits and monsters were quite strong."

Elina fell silent, her expression turning somber and pale.

"This is the reality, Elina."

Freya gently patted her shoulder.

"You have to be strong."

Elina closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and slowly let it out.

"You’re right, sister. Thank you..."

It took the soldiers nearly an hour to clear away the corpses of the bandits and monsters.

They buried the fallen soldiers among the trees not far from where they were standing.

After praying for them, Elina, Freya, Evalyn, and the soldiers continued on their journey.

What they didn’t realize was that a red-haired man was watching them from a distance.

He chuckled mockingly.

"This is only the beginning. There are still many more obstacles waiting for you... Hahaha!"