The forest held its breath. Rian's face, which had moments ago been alight with the relief of discovering his opponent's weakness, was now a mask of profound confusion. He stood still, his sword lowered, not launching a single attack.
The Bandit Boss, still reeling from the unexpected leg wound, pushed himself up, his face contorted with rage and disbelief. "Hey, you bastard! Are you playing games with me?" he roared, his voice echoing through the trees. "All this time, you've done nothing but dodge and parry, getting thrown around like a toy, and now you just stand there? Are you looking down on me?!"
"I don't know," Rian answered, his voice startlingly honest as he deftly sidestepped another clumsy, rage-fueled swing from the boss. "I don't know if I should kill you or just incapacitate you."
The bandit froze for a second, then let out a bark of derisive laughter. "You fool! Still thinking about something so pointless in the middle of a fight? You naive little boy! You don't deserve to live in this world!" He grinned, a cruel, predatory expression. "If you can't bring yourself to kill me, then I'll gladly kill you!"
As the bandit charged again, Rian's mind flashed back to his previous life, to the countless hero comics he had devoured. He tried to recall a single panel, a single storyline where the hero he admired had deliberately killed another human being. He couldn't. The stories were always about slaying monsters, hunting beasts, fighting demons, and defeating the Demon King. Then, the story would end. The complex, messy reality of dealing with a human adversary was never part of that clean, heroic fantasy.
"He's right… I can't kill a person," Rian murmured to himself, his resolve hardening. He dodged another wild swing. "There must be a reason. A reason he went from being an adventurer, a hero, to a criminal like this."
His continued evasion only fueled the boss's fury. The man let out a guttural roar, and a violent, fiery red aura exploded from his body. He poured every last drop of his mana into his muscles, his speed increasing dramatically as flames seemed to lick at his skin. He became a blur of brutal, desperate attacks.
But it was useless. No matter how fast he moved, Rian had already memorized his simple, predictable patterns. With a sigh, Rian decided to end it. He focused his mana into his hands, spun his sword around so he was holding it by the blade, and with a burst of wind-enhanced speed, he closed the distance. He drove the heavy pommel of his sword deep into the bandit's stomach.
The impact was like a cannonball strike. The boss was launched backward, slamming into a massive tree with enough force to shatter its trunk. He didn't stop there. His body continued its trajectory, crashing through the splintered wood and hitting another tree behind it, which toppled over with a groan. The Bandit Boss's eyes went wide with shock as a torrent of blood spewed from his mouth.
He struggled to stand, his body broken. In a flash, Rian was on him, repaying the earlier treatment in kind. But instead of a weapon, Rian used only his feet. A kick from the right, then the left. The bandit managed to block with his muscular arms, but the force still sent him flying, crashing through one tree and then another. Rian repeated the process again and again, a relentless, non-lethal assault, until the Bandit Boss lay still, unable to move, but alive. Rian checked his pulse; he was unconscious, but there were no signs of death.
Across the battlefield, Catty was still locked in her own desperate dance, nimbly avoiding the fire mage's relentless attacks.
"Wind?" she thought, feeling a sudden gust that wasn't her own. She noticed the bandit's protective fire shield wavering, pushed and pulled by the breeze. An idea sparked.
Catty focused her mana into the ancestral scythe, and a green aura flared to life along its shaft. A vortex of wind began to spin around the crescent blade, humming like a chainsaw. She remembered Rian's words from their training: "You just have to imagine the magic after focusing your mana on an object."
"I'll imagine the wind at the tip of my scythe blasting toward him," Catty whispered.
She channeled her will into the weapon and swung it in a wide, powerful arc. A crescent-shaped blade of pure, compressed wind shot from the scythe. It slammed into the fire mage's shield, disrupting the flames and creating the perfect opening for a close-range assault.
Catty dashed forward, unleashing a continuous barrage of wind blades. They weren't sharp enough to cut, but the concussive force kept the fire shield in disarray. Seizing her chance, she closed the distance and slashed with the physical blade of her scythe. It connected with the bandit's arm, severing it cleanly at the elbow. Blood erupted from the stump.
The bandit screamed in agony. In a final, desperate act, he gathered all his remaining power, conjuring a massive fireball in front of him.
"This is bad! I won't have time to dodge!" Catty thought, her eyes wide with panic.
But before the mage could unleash the spell, a shadow appeared behind him. Rian. He brought the pommel of his sword down hard on the back of the bandit's neck, knocking him unconscious instantly. Rian then tore a strip of cloth from the bandit's own slayer scarf, tightly binding the severed arm to staunch the bleeding. He placed a hand over the wound, channeling a soft, inconspicuous pulse of Heal to stop the hemorrhaging.
"Rian!" Catty gasped, a mix of relief and confusion on her face. "Thank you… but why did you save him? Why didn't you just kill him?"
"Let him be," Rian said with a gentle smile. "Give him a fitting punishment, and hope he uses his second chance to repent." He reached out and gently stroked her head. "You did a great job, Catty."
Catty's ears drooped, and her tail began to wag furiously. A deep blush colored her cheeks as she melted under his touch, looking for all the world like a contented cat.
Elsewhere, the last of the fighting was ending. An arrow from Livi struck the shoulder of the chieftain's opponent, creating an opening for the old lion to land the final blow. The battle was over. Of the dozens of bandits who had attacked, only the two necklace-wearing leaders remained, now bound and helpless before the chieftain. Miraculously, not a single villager had died.
A cheer erupted from the gathered people, a wave of relief and victory washing over them.
"We did it! You all fought bravely!" the chieftain roared to his people. "To defend our home without a single loss is a great achievement for our village!" His gaze then found Rian. "And it is all thanks to Sir Rian, who captured the leader of these villains. I will deliver a just punishment in front of you all—death by beheading!"
Rian stepped forward. "Chieftain," he asked calmly, "besides execution, are there any other options?"
"For those who dare disturb the peace of this village, there is no punishment but death," the chief said sternly. "We could take them to the kingdom and let them decide a punishment, but we have no obligation to do so, and more importantly, no one to escort them there."
"If I may," Rian proposed, "allow me to take custody of these two. I need to get to the kingdom of Fulakmi, but I don't know the way. Perhaps they could serve as my guides?"
The chieftain looked at Rian, then at the bound prisoners, and finally nodded, granting a special exception.
"We entrust them to you, son," he said. "Thank you for everything. For mentoring Livi, for saving our home. You are this village's hero. Please, come back anytime. Our doors will always be open to you."
The villagers echoed his sentiment, their voices rising in a chorus. "Our hero! Hero of our village!"
Rian blushed, bowing his head in thanks. He and Catty would leave the next morning. He found Livi and placed a firm hand on his shoulder.
"Livi, you will stay here. I'm entrusting the safety of this village to you. If you break our promise, I will come back and deal with you myself. Understand?"
"Yes, sir," Livi said, his voice filled with sincere gratitude. "I will do it with pleasure."