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Chapter 29 - The Weight of a Human Life

The wind howled through the forest, making the trees sway as if in a violent dance. Leaves scattered across the ground, silent witnesses to the battle unfolding between Rian and the Bandit Boss—a former adventurer, an Epic-tier hero of a region now fallen to villainy.

Rian braced himself, his sword held firm to parry the full-forced blow from the boss's long-handled axe. The weapon descended with the speed of a lightning strike. The moment Rian's blade met the axe, his eyes shot wide in disbelief. The sheer force of the impact was overwhelming, a tidal wave of raw power that sent him hurtling backward until his body slammed hard against a tree.

His new, resilient physique absorbed most of the shock. A year ago, a hit like that would have shattered his bones. Now, it only forced a sharp cough from his lungs. He glanced behind him; the tree bark was deeply cracked from the force of his impact.

"This is insane… his strength is monstrous," Rian gasped, his mind reeling. "Is this what Gramps's power was like when he was serious? Is this what I would have faced if he ever truly fought me?" He compared the bandit to his mentor, imagining this was the kind of force Bebegig would unleash. But Rian had never truly received a serious blow from his master. What he perceived as overwhelming power was, in truth, only a minuscule fraction of Bebegig's real strength—a fact he remained blissfully unaware of.

Rian pushed himself off the tree, his muscles screaming in protest. Before he could even launch a counter-attack, the Bandit Boss was on him again, a blur of motion. The axe was already swinging, this time from the right, a wide, horizontal arc like a lumberjack felling a mighty oak. Rian had no time to dodge. He raised his sword to block, and once again, the crushing force sent him flying, this time into another tree on his left.

"This is crazy, absolutely crazy!" he thought, his mind racing as he flew through the air. "He's not giving me a single opening! How can I fight back if this keeps up?" The relentless assault was suffocating, pressing down on him with a weight he had only ever associated with his master.

He observed, his mind working furiously even as his body was battered. With every block, he noticed a pattern. The sequence was always the same: a powerful slash, he would parry, get thrown back, the boss would close the distance instantly, and the cycle would repeat. Over and over again.

"Is this all he has?" Rian wondered, analyzing each attack. "Even though I can't fight back, isn't this just the same combo on a loop?"

"But the strange thing is," he muttered to himself, a thread of confusion weaving through his panic, "none of his attacks are enough to seriously injure me. They hurt, sure, but they don't cause any deep wounds. Why? It's like he's strong enough to keep me on the defensive forever, but not strong enough to finish me."

After being thrown back for the tenth time, a plan began to form in the chaos. "All I've done is block and get knocked away. The next attack… I won't block. I'll dodge. And then, I'll strike back."

Elsewhere in the village, the battle raged on. The Chieftain was locked in a duel with a burly, powerful bandit. The two were evenly matched; the bandit's immense strength was offset by his slow, ponderous attacks, allowing the more agile chieftain to hold his ground.

The scene shifted to Catty. Her opponent was a man with a slayer's scarf wrapped around his shoulders and neck, a magic caster. A shimmering shield of fire enveloped his body, protecting him from any close-range attacks. In his hand, he held a magic staff, and around his neck was a yellow adventurer's necklace, similar to the boss's, but of a different color.

Catty was a blur of motion, leaping in every direction to avoid the fireballs hurtling toward her. The smell of scorched fabric filled the air as one of the attacks grazed her shoulder, but it didn't slow her down. Suddenly, an arrow whistled through the air, piercing the bandit's fire shield. The mage dodged just in time.

"Catty, be careful!" Livi's voice called out from a distance. He was perched on a rooftop, providing support with his bow. "He's a former adventurer! See the yellow necklace? He's likely a Grandmaster-tier, as strong as a commander!"

"Got it, Livi! Thanks for the info!" Catty called back, her mind racing as she dodged another volley of fire. "If Rian were here, he'd have some clever trick to beat this guy. But what can I do? I'm a close-range fighter, and I can't get near him with that fire shield."

Livi remained focused, his arrows flying with deadly precision. He picked off bandits trying to flank the village defenders, each shot guided by his wind magic. He saw the Chieftain nearly take a blow to the head from his opponent. In an instant, an arrow sprouted from the bandit's shoulder, causing his attack to go wide.

"Thank you, son!" the Chieftain roared in Livi's direction. Livi offered a quick smile before turning his attention to another part of the battlefield.

Catty was still running, dodging, her mind desperately searching for a solution. From the corner of her eye, she saw Rian being thrown against tree after tree. "Rian… I'm sorry I can't help you yet. I'm having my own trouble here," she murmured, a knot of worry tightening in her stomach.

Back with Rian, the next attack was coming. The boss was in front of him, axe raised. "This is it. Time to dodge," he whispered. He focused his mana into his legs, adding a spring-like burst of wind magic. He shot upwards, flipping in mid-air and landing softly behind the Bandit Boss.

"I knew it," Rian thought, a grim smile on his face. "His attack pattern is exactly like a woodcutter's. A slash from the right, a slash from the left, a downward chop… but he has trouble attacking upwards."

Without missing a beat, the boss spun, swinging his axe in a reverse arc aimed right where Rian now stood. "And there's the predictable follow-up," Rian said, a smirk of satisfaction on his lips. "If this were Gramps, he never would have done something so obvious. Turns out this guy is all muscle and no brain." A wave of regret washed over him for ever comparing this brute to Bebegig.

"So, the conclusion is simple," Rian strategized. "I can't block his attacks because his raw power will just send me flying. The solution is to dodge and counter."

He ducked under the next swing, the wind from the axe whistling over his head. In that single opening, he lunged forward and slashed his sword across the back of the boss's leg before retreating.

The cut wasn't fatal, but it sliced through muscle and tendon. "Grrrr!" the boss growled, a sound of pure frustration.

"That should slow him down," Rian muttered, creating distance and preparing his next move. He now had the advantage. He could win this. But as he prepared to press his attack, a new, unexpected thought stopped him cold.

"Am I allowed to kill a human? Goddess Bodas… is it okay for me to kill another person? Even a cruel one who tortures other humans?"

He didn't know if he should kill the bandit or merely incapacitate him. If he let him live, what would happen? Rian hesitated, suddenly paralyzed by the choice. In the brutal reality of this world, he knew that if he didn't kill the man before him, it would be Rian himself who would be killed.

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