Chapter 126 - Neola"s Choice

Almost an hour after the battle started.

"AARGhhh…" The cry of the last Light Empire soldier was heard before he died.

"..." Lucien pulled his katana from a light soldier"s chest while everyone looked at him in silence.

Unlike L.u.s.t, who could teleport around. Lucien and Oya, despite being able to move fast, could not avoid being covered in blood after killing so many people.

In addition to the blood all over his body, Lucien"s black armor is also severely damaged. Not because he gets attacked, but because it"s not durable enough to resist his combat style.

While his boots could not withstand his fast movement and direction changes, the gauntlets broke from punching the armor of the Light Empire soldiers.

Even dirty and with broken armor, Lucien is still an incredible sight in the middle of the battlefield. His beauty always makes women breathless.

He shook his head to get some of the blood out of his hair and causing the women among the bandits to have wobbly legs. It was not known whether he is more handsome or more frightening.

"Anyway, as long as he"s on our side, I think we"re fine." Alden thought aloud and approached Lucien.

Alden was badly hurt. Some of his comrades died while no one left uninjured from the battle against the rearguard forces of the Light Empire army.

Still, he made a great effort to bow to Lucien and not for a moment look at L.u.s.t, which gave Lucien a good impression of him.

"I... We are very grateful for your help... You really... Sir?"

"Lucien. My name is Lucien. A thank you is enough." Lucien was friendly with Alden, making Neola, who was approaching them, surprised.

Alden didn"t know much about Lucien, but after saving their lives, he only has a good impression of him. "Sir, are you from Bluewind?"

"Yes, and you are the bandits who kill the common people and farmers there. That makes us…" Lucien wiped his hand on his shoulder, then shook the blood off of his hand on to the ground.

Alden made a worried expression. "Supposedly enemies. I will not deny our crimes, but we had our reason…"

"We are not enemies!! Lucien helped us... So... Lucien... You said…" Neola approached Lucien as she spoke eagerly.

Lucien continued to remove the blood from his armor and clothes with L.u.s.t"s help. "Yes, Yes. I saved you, didn"t I? Why would I protect my enemies?"

Neola and Alden sighed with relief. After seeing what Lucien"s small group could do, a Light Empire army didn"t seem too dangerous anymore.

"Where is Enzo?" Alden found it strange not to see Enzo and asked Neola. He is Enzo"s right-hand man and always follows his lead.

Neola had a slight smiled at first, but quickly changed her expression to a serious one. "Oh? He... He had a little problem and is... I"m not sure. Inside the fortress... Ok, I guess."

Alden was confused by Neola"s words, but Lucien explained what happened. "Your friend was rude to my servant, so I calmed him down."

Before Neola could speak, Alden started to apologize. "I"m so sorry, sir. My friend must have been very tense because of the attack. Who was attacked by him? I want to apologize to her too."

Alden only saw L.u.s.t and Oya beside Lucien, so he thought Lucien was talking about her, but he still asked to be sure who to ask sorry.

L.u.s.t started to laugh as Neola tried to make an angry expression. "Me! He"s talking about me!! He thinks I"m his servant."

Alden felt his head hurt. He knows how Enzo and Neola are and knows what kind of problems could have happened.

Lucien saw how tense Alden was getting. The man looked like he was going to start crying at any moment. "Let"s talk inside."

"Oya, bring our guest." Lucien turned and headed for the fortress while Oya started to drag the Captain by the leg.

"AAAAAHHHH!!! F.U.C.K!! F.U.C.K!!! TELL HER TO STOP!! PLEASE!!"

The Captain, who was knocked out, woke up when he felt Oya"s fangs pierce his leg and started screaming.

Oya didn"t care about his screaming and kept dragging him while following Lucien. The Captain"s screams gave chills to the bandits who feared Lucien more and more.

Alden and Neola looked at each other with thoughtful and concerned expressions, so he said. "He... Are we going to be okay?"

Neola sighed. "We can"t do much right now... We have to hope for the best. Let"s go."

But before they followed Lucien, they heard his voice. "Have your people loot the bodies for me. I want the weapons, armors, storage treasures... Also, recovery the crystal arrows."

Even damaged, Light Empire soldiers" equipment and belongings are extremely valuable, especially for forest bandits who only had rusty weapons and leather armor.

But what is the price of life? Alden and Neola were thrilled that their people survived what could have been their deaths or enslavement, so they would not argue with Lucien about loot.

Neola ordered her people to help the wounded bandits and loot the soldiers for Lucien while she and Alden followed him inside the fortress.

As soon as Lucien pa.s.sed through the gates of the fortress, Ghilanna jumped in front of him. "Lucien! I killed about seventy, I think... So?"

L.u.s.t quickly responded. "Sixty-eight. Your not even close to me... I killed eighty."

*ROAR*

Oya dropped the Captain"s leg and roared, causing some of the bandits to pee while some even pa.s.sed out.

Lucien patted her head as he spoke proudly. "Yes, our Oya killed about a hundred and twenty, so she deserves the praises."

Although the mama tigress is not a specialist in facial expressions, it is evident that she is happy and proud while making cute sounds while Lucien gave her pats.

"All fine, all of you were great, so everyone will receive rewards when we get back to the castle." Lucien spoke with a smile on his face.

Despite Lucien"s comforting words, Ghilanna still made an envious expression while looking at Oya.

He thought about caressing her face, but he stopped when he realized he was still very dirty from blood.

Lucien looked at Neola, who was entering the fortress. "You guys don"t have bathrooms here, right?"

Neola stopped and made a face because he thought Lucien was implying that she stank again.

Alden quickly approached Lucien while speaking in a respectful tone. "No, sir. I"m sorry, we don"t have a proper place to bathe, so we use a stream inside the cave."

Lucien made a disappointed expression. "I really need a bath... But it can"t be helped."

Then he looked at the Captain, on the floor. "Oya, rip his foot off."

"WHAT!? WAIT, WAIT!!! AAAHHHH!!!!" The Captain tried to crawl away from Oya, but the tigress quickly bit his foot hard, breaking his bone.

Although the bandits hate that Captain, most still avoided looking at the brutal scene. Many took children and younger people into the fortress for fear that they would be traumatized.

Enzo, who was recovering nearby, couldn"t help but make a face at the Captain"s situation. He understood that he was lucky that Lucien took it easy on him.

Oya finished ripping off the Captain"s foot, still with his boot and threw it up. Lucien kicked it, and everyone saw that foot fly past the clouds.

"Oh! I don"t think you"re going to get that foot back." Lucien spoke as he looked at the sky with a thoughtful expression.

"AAHH!! s.h.i.+T! s.h.i.+T!! F.U.C.K!! Why did you do that?!" The Captain tried to stop the bleeding with his hands, but it didn"t work out, so he tore off some of his clothes and used it as an improvised bandage.

Lucien looked at him and shrugged. "Because you haven"t answered my questions."

"Which questions?! You didn"t ask any questions!!!" The Captain cried out in despair. The bandits wondered if they hadn"t heard Lucien"s questions.

Lucien looked at Oya. "I asked him questions, right?"

*Roar!*

"Did you see that? She agreed with me. Do you still insist that I didn"t ask any questions?" Lucien smiled at the Captain.

"The devil! He"s the devil himself!!!" The Captain was more and more afraid of Lucien. "Ok, ok!! I will tell you everything. Just ask me what you want to know."

Lucien sat on a wooden chair while looking calmly at the Captain. "What do you want with the bandits? Where are your people going?"

"How many soldiers are with you? Who is your leader? Who sent you? What do you know about the Light Envoy?"

Staring at Oya"s fangs still covered with his blood, the Captain had no choice but to start talking. "We are here by order of the Light King to make a path to the Alliance."

"We want to use the bandits as slaves and also prevent them from getting in our way. Our army has more than ten thousand soldiers, and more are coming every day. You will all die!!"

*ROAR*

Oya did not like it when the Captain threatened her master. She jumped on him with her fangs ready.

"WAIT!! WAIT!!! I can talk more!" The Captain thought he could frighten Lucien, but he ended up p.i.s.sing himself as he tried to crawl away from Oya.

Oya approached the Captain, bringing her fangs very close to his face, then stopped. She felt Lucien"s intention and knew that the Captain is still of use to him.

Lucien approached the Captain, and he thought Lucien wanted more information. "The Light Envoy, I can tell you about-"

But the Captain was unable to finish his words because he was knocked out by Lucien"s kick on his head.

"Tie him up." Lucien gave the order, and Alden started to tie up the Captain.

Lucien wants not only more information about his sister"s current state but also general information about the Light Empire.

But he knew he couldn"t spend much time in the forest, so he would take the Captain to be interrogated by Ron in the castle.

He and his group could flee at high speed and face many soldiers, but the bandits would continue to die with each new conflict.

And Lucien did not want the bandits to die, after all. He wants to use them as his troops, so he would train them before taking them into battle, thus avoiding as many deaths as possible.

Lucien looked at Neola. "Did you hear? More soldiers will come to finish your people off."

"We can go north, close to the Alliance! We don"t need your help anymore, you devil!!!" Enzo hated it when Lucien looked at Neola, and he can"t help but complain.

"Have respect, Enzo! Lucien saved us!!" Neola spoke angrily. She thought Lucien would kill Enzo, but in fact, he did nothing.

Lucien ignored Enzo and kept looking at Neola. "I will only offer it once. Be my servant, make your people obey me, and I will guarantee a decent life for you guys."

Enzo was furious. He approached Neola limping because he was still injured. "He"s not one of us!! He"s just a spoiled stupid n.o.ble. You are my fiance, and you will obey me."

Neola didn"t know what to say while Alden shook his head with a hopeless expression. They both knew Enzo"s personality.

Although he is a good leader for his people, he is also very proud and stubborn. Accepting the leaders.h.i.+p of a stranger, especially one who humiliated him, is impossible.

Enzo continued walking towards Neola while yelling at her. She knew that the situation is very dangerous for her people. They couldn"t stay there with so many Light Empire soldiers coming.

Going to the north would also be bad because the Alliance would kill them. They weren"t welcome anywhere... But Lucien could be an option.

Lucien said he would save them, and he did. Now Lucien said that they could follow him, so Neola concluded that it would be the best for her people.

Neola looked at Lucien and nodded, making it clear she agreed with him. Enzo saw it and was even more furious.

"YOU b.i.t.c.h!! I am the leade-" Enzo approached Neola and tried to hit her, just to be thrown flying by Lucien again.

He hit the wall and fell knocked out on the ground. Lucien restrained his strength not to kill the man who is influential among the bandits.

Soon Neola would be stronger and more influential than him, Lucien will kick harder if he still caused problems.

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