Chapter 415: 393 Maple Pro Lead
"————"
Silence.
It was as if even time had stopped flowing; the moment Motte fell with a heavy thud, everything went deathly silent as though someone had severed all sound, casting a terrifying hush over the scene.
The bandits, bound by magic, all looked towards Motte with faces stricken with horror, their gazes fixated on the youth whose finger, still crackling with electric light, had pointed in Motte’s direction, their desires and violence rapidly being replaced by fear.
"So, so powerful..."
Even Langer shuddered after witnessing this scene.
As the leader of the bandits, Motte was actually quite strong; otherwise, Langer wouldn’t have been completely powerless against him.
While Langer was well aware that he wasn’t a great person, within the viscountcy of the Alisier family, his strength was considerable, earning him a position as a companion to the viscount’s daughter.
This time, when venturing out to this territory, the reason the Alisier family didn’t provide their young miss with guards and knights was firstly due to her own request, as she had left without her father’s consent and hurriedly only brought one companion almost as if she were sneaking away. Secondly, she felt that with Langer’s strength, even if he was alone, he would be fully capable of protecting her.
However, reality proved that they were both blissfully ignorant.
Admittedly, Langer was among the best within the Alisier territory, but after all, that was merely a viscountcy.
What kind of experts could emerge from a minor noble’s domain?
Langer was considered tall among the short, and if thrown into a world like that of the Overlord, he might become one of the few strong humans, at least mingling in a position similar to that of Gejiev and Brian wouldn’t be difficult. But in a world like Akasha Continent, where even Level 5 swordsmen might appear at any time, he wouldn’t even qualify to be a knight in a grand noble’s house due to insufficient strength.
Take, for example, the Fransel family’s Order of Knights; every knight within it was Level 3 to Level 4 swordsman. In the world of the Overlord, this was undeniably the domain of heroes or even the domain of the abnormal. Yet in this world, they were merely capable of being knights under the banner of a grand noble’s house.
Langer wasn’t even up to this standard, so naturally, his fate was sealed upon entering this chaotic territory; unable to fend off a few bandits, he was cut down and left lying on the ground.
Motte had become the leader of these bandits, and his strength was probably not far behind that of a regular knight of a grand noble’s house.
The result was that he was so easily dealt with, making it impossible for Langer not to feel a shiver run down his spine.
"Even Mr. Merlius couldn’t have done something like this, could he?"
Remembering the strongest magician of the Alisier family domain, whom even the lord and all the young ladies and young masters had to respectfully address as "Mister," Langer thought that even he couldn’t, like this young man, simply emit a bolt of lightning from his fingertip and effortlessly slay a bandit leader whose strength was comparable to a regular knight of a grand noble’s house.
"Who is he?"
In the end, that was all Langer had time to wonder before his eyes widened in disbelief.
Because an even more incredible scene unfolded before him.
"[Banshee Scream]."
After defeating Motte and withdrawing his hand that had summoned thunder and lightning, the youth immediately cast another spell.
It was an exceedingly fearsome spell; as soon as it was released, a piercing scream spread all around.
Hearing that sound, Langer felt for a moment as if his heart was being crushed, his soul frozen, and all the warmth in his body rapidly fading away, transforming him gradually into a lifeless corpse.
Fortunately, it seemed the other party was deliberately controlling the range of the spell’s effects, allowing the ghastly wailing to only echo within a radius of a dozen meters or so, sparing Langer and Liz, affecting only the bandits around them.
Thus, the end came for the terrified bandits.
"Thud..." "Thud..." "Thud..." "Thud..." "Thud..."
With each dull thump of bodies hitting the ground, the bandits collapsed with expressions of horror frozen on their faces, robbed of breath.
What happened...!?
Langer wanted to shout just like that, but his instincts, quicker than his muddled thoughts, informed him of the current situation.
It was actually quite simple.
Those bandits, they were dead.
Every single one of them, without exception, was dead.
And that was to be expected.
"An area-of-effect death spell sure is convenient and useful. Even for someone like me who doesn’t have the special ability to enhance the effectiveness of death spells, it’s only practical against opponents far weaker than myself, but it does save me a lot of trouble," the youth said, standing amidst a pile of bandits’ corpses, muttering words that were incomprehensible to those around him.
Not only did Langer not understand these words, but the excessively beautiful girl beside the youth also couldn’t comprehend them.
However, this did not prevent the girl from adoring the young man.
"Master is so amazing, it feels like he’s become even more powerful than before," she said, her eyes sparkling as she looked at the youth, her gaze starkly different from her previous pitiful expression, easily revealing her profound admiration for him.
This made Langer unable to help but feel a twinge of jealousy towards the young man, even though to him the youth had now become synonymous with the word "terrifying."
In response, the young man simply smiled at the girl, appearing utterly accustomed and nonchalant about being adored by such a beautiful girl.
Then, the youth turned his gaze towards Langer.
Langer’s heart clenched involuntarily.
If the other party harbored any ill will towards them, they would undoubtedly not be spared.
Gel could not help but tense up when he realized this.
Thankfully, the worst-case scenario he had imagined did not happen.
"Are you hurt?"
The young man took a step forward and came up to Gel, his brows furrowing as he looked at the bloodied figure before him.
"For injuries of this level, there shouldn’t be a need to use either ’Great Healing’ or ’Serious Injury Healing,’ right?"
Having said that, the young man extended his hand towards Gel.
"’Moderate Injury Healing.’"
From the palm of the young man’s hand, a gentle glow emerged, shining upon Gel.
"Huh?"
To Gel’s surprise, he found the pain in his body rapidly receding, and the bloody wounds healing at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Before long, Gel’s wounds were all healed.
The glow from the young man’s hand then vanished.
"All right, get up."
The young man’s calm voice and his indifferent eyes compelled Gel to comply involuntarily.
"Tha— Thank you for your help, esteemed magician sir."
Gel quickly bowed deeply to the young man, his tone becoming supremely respectful.
Joking aside, this was a magician who could easily deal with a band of nearly a hundred thieves and heal someone’s injuries effortlessly.
Gel had to maintain respect for Mr. Merlius of the Alisier family, so it went without saying that even more respect was due to this young magician, who was more mysterious and powerful than Mr. Merlius. If he were to be disrespectful, it wouldn’t be surprising if he ended up like those robbers, lying breathless on the ground.
Moreover, since the young man had saved him, it was both reasonable and proper for Gel to express his gratitude so respectfully.
"There’s no need for such formality." The young man looked at Gel and, with a faint smile amidst Gel’s nervous gaze, said, "In this situation, it’s clear who needs to be dealt with and who needs help."
"So you don’t need to be nervous, I just did it casually, and by the way, I have some things I’d like to ask you about."
"What do you think? Is it convenient for you?"
Despite the young man’s inquiry not conveying much kindness, there was no malice in it either.
This slightly reassured Gel, who hastened to speak.
"If it’s not too much trouble for you, please allow me to be of service."
If salvation came at such a small price, he was indeed most fortunate.
"Very good." The young man nodded in satisfaction and asked, "What’s your name?"
"My name is Gel, a servant from the nearby Viscount Alisier’s house." Gel performed a knightly gesture toward the young man and respectfully inquired, "How should I address you, sir?"
The young man was straightforward.
"You can just call me Reiger."
...
The person who appeared here with Liz, was naturally Reiger, who had just returned from the world of the Overlord after completing a Dimensional Travel a few days ago.
As soon as he returned, Reiger set off on a journey with Liz, as they had previously agreed.
The farewells to Yuri had already taken place, and the preparations for the journey had been completed during Reiger’s Dimensional Travel. Therefore, without any hesitation, Reiger left the royal capital with Liz in a carriage, under the watchful eyes of Yuri, Marilyn, Ai En, Ian, Mistis, and Isu.
The two of them first spent a day traveling to Trentia, then took a ship from there. After about four days and nights, they proceeded toward the direction of the Neutral City of Xinye. After disembarking in this territory, they switched to a carriage once more.
This place was the closest to the Neutral Zone where Neutral City Xinye was located, the border territory of the Ginas Kingdom—Maple Prose territory.
The grand canal that spanned the entire Ginas Kingdom ended in this territory. Beyond it lay no more of the kingdom’s land. Thus, to reach the Neutral Zone sandwiched between Ginas Kingdom and Leiblu Kingdom, heading towards Xinye, one had to pass through Maple Prose territory.
Yet Maple Prose territory was known as the most chaotic and darkest territory within Ginas Kingdom.
The reason for this was simple.
"Because of the continuous warfare between Ginas Kingdom and Leiblu Kingdom, many issues have arisen in Maple Prose territory, which is closest to Leiblu Kingdom."
"Here, there are refugees who suffer from the war, unable to eat their fill or stay warm each day."
"Here, there are thieves rampant, people who have lost everything and been forced onto the path of crime during the turmoil of war."
"Furthermore, since the lord here is the Border Guardian Sword Saint, who is always busy with repelling external threats at the borders, his management of the territory isn’t as perfect as in other places."
"Various reasons have led Maple Prose territory to become the most tumultuous region at the borders, extremely dangerous."
These were the things Yuri had told Reiger before they left the Franzer house.
Now, Reiger was experiencing it firsthand.
Experiencing the chaos of this place.