SSS SKILL: DUPLICATE

Chapter 20: Sweeping Bandits(6)

"Hihihi hahahaha!" Viper's left hand is covering his face while he is loudly laughing.

He took his hands off his face, then his expression suddenly became fierce and hideous.

"Bastaaard! How dare you act high and mighty! You damn CRIPPLE!!!" Viper furiously shouted, then he quickly moves toward Feiyu. His whole body moves closer to the ground. His whole body is clad in an aura of snake form. He is moving left and right, trying to confuse his prey. Feiyu keeps adjusting his posture based on the direction of Viper's attack.

VENOM FANG

Boom! Viper suddenly accelerated.

He instantly arrived in front of Feiyu and death touch is pointing at his neck.

Feiyu instantly moved forward to the right. His right hand grabbed Viper's hand, then he rotates his body.

WATER FLOW STYLE: SHIFT IMPACT

BOOM! Viber is thrown to the ground. All the speed and force accumulated by Viper were used on his body. A big hole appeared on the ground.

Viper coughed out blood. His organs hurt and he can't breathe.

Feiyu continues his attack. He put more aura on his right index finger.

WATER FLOW STYLE: POINT IMPACT

Feiyu used his index finger and hit the acupoints of Viper, who is still lying on the ground.

A leg and an arm of Viper suddenly swell.

Pop! The arm, leg, and chest of Viper exploded. His heart exploded inside.

The acupoint hit by Feiyu blocked the outflow of aura. The aura accumulated inside and exploded. Viper could stopped the explosion if he stopped releasing aura, but he didn't know that. It happened so fast that Viper did not even have time to curse and scream.

Feiyu is panting. It is actually hard for him to breathe because of his injury to his rib. He was just acting calm and stimulating Viper to use snake form. He needed to end the fight before his breathing problem could incapacitate him. Viper could even toy with him if his breathing problem became obvious.

Feiyu went to Viper's corpse. He took the ring from Viper's index finger. According to intelligence, the death touch is a fatal weapon. It helped Viper kill aura masters when he was still an assassin. Viper did not use it immediately before because he was longing for a hearty battle.

Although aura masters can remove poison from their system, death touch injects so much poison at once that aura masters cannot keep up with the spread of poison. When the poison of death touch spreads, it prevents the release of an aura, leaving targets defenseless and weak in front of a crazy assassin Viper. The best way to prevent it is by not letting it touch the skin.

Aura defense at peak 3rd level is very tough. Viper cannot penetrate the defense of peak 3rd level, so his targets of assassination were below this level. He needed the snake-form aura for acceleration and to increase the penetration power of death touch against the 3rd-level aura master if he is fighting head-on. Aura masters are alert. They can sense energy at a short distance. Aura masters and magicians are like light bulbs to them. It is quite difficult to get close without making them alert, unless assassins can mask their energy.

Death Touch is made by a master runesmith and a poison master. The master of Viper commissioned it to be made. The poison can be cured by many casts of detoxification magic or the intake of many detoxification potions. The magic rune for detoxification is complicated and very difficult. Only a few in the kingdom are capable of casting it quickly and are able to build the magic skill in their sea of consciousness. Feiyu is one of them. He took the pouch of Viper and took out an antidote for death touch poison.

Feiyu looks around. There are many holes and cracks.

"Aura masters and magicians must be suppressed immediately if they break the law, or else they will just cause more harm," thought Feiyu as he observes the damage caused by the fighting. He can imagine a miserable consequence if the fight happened within the city. Many ordinary people will probably be killed.

Feiyu looks at the situation in the stockade. Many bandits were killed by arrows. The archers are like killing machines. There are corpses that are burned and turned into ice. Feiyu can see the signature mark of magic arrows. The corpses are probably bandit magicians or aura users that received special attention from archers. Feiyu saw that most bandits are already kneeling and have surrendered. Only a few bandits clad in aura are still resisting. A few royal guards are protecting the rescued captives, including Calvin and his wife.

Feiyu moved toward the resisting bandits and subdued them. The aura users were killed. They all committed many heinous crimes and too dangerous to keep. They must race against time to raid more bandit dens, so he quickly helped the other guards.

"Leader, the prince arranges a healer for healing common folks near here to fool the noble's eyes in case we need healing if health potion is not enough. We need to disguise ourselves if we approach the healer tomorrow," said the adjutant, who is concerned about the swelling arm of Feiyu. Health potions can only recover 5% of health. They only have a few potions, and some of them are used on captives who are on the brink of death.

"No, we must leave in the evening. My left arm is already out of danger. The remaining bandit dens only have a 2nd level aura master, a few weak magicians, and aura users. I can kill the bandit leaders with one hand. Our action here will be noticed in a few days or even tomorrow and spread immediately. We must not let those aura users and magicians escape. Many of them are remnants of the forces of Duke George. They will always be a source of instability. They were hidden by nobles before with a hidden agenda. They took over bandit dens and are hiding behind the scene.

The prince said that making people's lives miserable is probably deliberate. The remnant force of Duke George might have bigger plans. We must remove them at all costs because it will be difficult to find them if they escape. It is our only opportunity to remove them. Leave the severely injured guard and be healed by the healer tomorrow. Eat and rest. We will leave in the evening," said Feiyu.

Feiyu ordered a guard to inform the official arranged by the prince. Feiyu and the official had a discussion. The prince had already arranged everything. Money, jewelry, foods, and people looted by the bandits will be kept in the territory of nobles trusted by the king.

Edgar especially asked Marco to convince those nobles. The nobles agreed in exchange for 10% of the bandit's loot, except for people. Rescued captives that require healing will be kept in the allies territory, but those that don't need it will return to where they came from. People who don't want to return will be arranged by the prince later, especially the women who lack the will to live. Food will be given to villages looted by the bandits, and the wealth taken from bandit dens will be mostly used for the recovery of villages and towns ravaged by bandits. Updat𝒆d fr𝒐m nov𝒆lb(i)n.c(o)m

Supply points are set up along the route of each team of royal guards. The royal guards easily destroyed many bandit dens in just a few days. Only a few bandit dens had decent resistance but still got destroyed quickly. By the time the nobles knew, only a few small bandit dens are left.

Feiyu and Dan's team escorted the bandit's loot and rescued captives to the capital. There are a few cages in the middle of the royal guards. The people in the cage are Baron Bass and his family. His close aide was captured in the bandit's den, and solid evidence was taken by guards in the baron's house. He closely cooperated with bandits. He let bandits ravage villages. He helped sell abducted women and children. He tortured women. Edgar will hang Baron Bass in the capital to scare the monkeys.