The Psychopathic Beast Emperor-Chapter 96: The Classical Bandit Group

The carriage moved undisturbed when suddenly Bahamut moved. His right hand shot forward, catching a small, round object right in front of Exildra’s face. The sudden movement surprised the others, but before they could react, the object exploded in Bahamut’s face, releasing blinding smoke in the carriage. How the object entered the carriage in the first place was equally unknown, but they didn’t have time to find out.

The carriage stopped abruptly as everyone quickly got out with some difficulty. But they were ambushed. On the trees, around them, everywhere was filled with people in rugged clothes with their faces covered. They wielded various weapons: bows and arrows, rugged swords, spears, clubs, crossbows... They came prepared.

"To think we failed to draw you into the pit..." a deep voice sounded in their ears, prompting them to turn towards it. A tall, muscular man with a scar across his face, wearing heavy rusty armor, appeared out of the clearing. He held a...

’Is that a gun? A freaking revolver?!’ Bahamut’s eyes widened in shock behind his blindfold.

"But it doesn’t matter... We will kill all the men, take all your possessions, and take the women for ourselves. For I, Dick, have spoken!" the man, now known as Dick, proclaimed with his weapon, the revolver raised high, making his fellow bandits shriek in joy. The bandit’s proclamation echoed through the clearing, feeding on the tension like dry wood on flame.

For a moment, everything was still, until...

Bahamut tilted his head in mock confusion, a dark smirk playing at his lips.

"Dick?" he asked in a mocking tone. "Like as in the Dick?"

There was absolute silence as Dick began to shake, his earlier confident expression twisting.

A few bandits snorted before they could stop themselves.

Veins bulged along his scarred temple as the realization hit him in full force.

"You!" he roared, rage detonating in his chest. "KILL HIM!"

The revolver in his hand moved, but Bahamut was already moving. The shot tore through the space where his head had been an instant earlier, shattering the bark behind him. He twisted aside smoothly, his shirt fluttering, while Apollonia surged forward in the same breath, her wings snapping open in a flash of white and gold.

"Engage," she said coldly.

The forest exploded into motion, bringing chaos everywhere. Arrows rained down from the trees. Sel stepped forward, his eyes flashing a dull green as a bow and arrow appeared in his hand, surprising the archers.

What rang through their heads was, "Storage Ring!"

He then jumped high, shooting up with such a force that the shockwave generated hit some of the bandits on the ground. Three arrows were swiftly locked in the bow. He stretched while in the mid-jump and released the string. The arrows flew with the force of sniper bullets, hitting three bandit archers. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

One hit the ground hard, falling headfirst onto the ground, breaking his neck and dying in the process.

Another didn’t even make a sound. He just fell into the bush behind him. The last was a headshot, his expression showing shock and confusion. He didn’t know how he’d died.

Exildra drew a dagger and moved like wind through tall grass. A bandit rushed her with a spear... she stepped inside the reach and cut once. He fell before he understood that his neck had been cut.

Rakia raised her hands, her voice steady. The ground trembled as stone spines erupted beneath two charging bandits, impaling them mid-stride. She exhaled, already shifting her focus to the next threat.

Bahamut vanished... moving so fast that he appeared to be teleporting. If anyone could see his feet, they would realize that his legs were transformed into white lion-like feet. His boots were placed somewhere safe... probably.

He appeared behind a swordsman, struck once, and the man crumpled. A club came swinging from the side... Bahamut caught the wrist, twisted, and sent the bandit crashing into a tree hard enough to knock him out cold, leaving his twisted hand limp in Bahamut’s hand. His arm had been ripped off!

An arrow flew, heading straight towards Bahamut’s head. He twisted sharply and caught it, turned around, and threw it back with a forceful swing. The arrow found its mark... a lady bandit. It hit her chest and blew it up along with the top of the tree with a loud explosive sound that chilled the still alive archers to the soul. Even some were caught in the explosion, dying along with the bandit.

Just then, a scream cut through the chaos.

Ren.

The small bunny landed on the ground... lightly and changed. His fur rippled as his bones stretched. In a blind, Ren stood nearly five feet tall, with muscles packed beneath thick white fur, his eyes glowing sharply with feral delight. He lunged, the earth cracking and caving in under his feet.

One bandit was taken off his feet, exploding into bloody mist just from the shockwave. Another was slammed headfirst into a rock, his head bursting like a watermelon, brain matter and blood splattering everywhere.

The adventurers of the Black Jaws stared, frozen in shock.

"What... what are they?" Tom whispered.

Dick snarled, backing up as Apollonia advanced on him. He fired again and again, the bullets shooting out with loud sounds.

She didn’t dodge.

The bullets struck the air in front of her and stopped, crushed flat against an invisible barrier. Her eyes glowed faintly as she lifted a hand.

"You chose the wrong prey," she said.

In a single breath, she crossed the distance. Her wing swept out, a blade of light forming along its edge. Dick raised the revolver... but he was too slow.

The strike passed through him cleanly. He froze, his eyes wide, and collapsed in two pieces, his armor clattering uselessly to the ground.

The remaining bandits broke after seeing most of their members die along with their leaders. They stopped attacking abruptly and ran. But they didn’t get.

Bahamut and Ren exchanged glances and shot after them. Rakia raised her hands, causing the earth to turn to mud. Bahamut and Ren reached them, picked them out like chicken. Bahamut’s hands transformed into claws as he sliced heads off. Ren chased down, laughing in terrifying enthusiasm.

Minutes later, the forest was quiet again. Twenty-one bandits lay dead or beyond dead among the trees and bushes. The Black Jaws stood in stunned silence, their weapons lowered, and their faces pale.

Van finally swallowed, "I... see why the pit trap failed."

Bahamut adjusted his stance. Apollonia folded her wings and turned towards the group. Ren hopped back to Bahamut’s side, shrank back to his usual size, and hopped onto his shoulder, while yawning.

Sel landed on the carriage, his bow and arrow nowhere to be found. He held a pair of boots, which he threw at Bahamut.

"Watch where you throw your boots next time," Sel said with narrowed eyes, but Bahamut just smiled back.

"Tch!"

The Black Jaws wasted no time. They spread out efficiently, flipping bodies, checking belts, boots, and pouches. Coins clinked.. A few low whistles sounded when someone found something valuable. Bandits survived by stealing, and they died with the proof of it on them.

Bahamut ignored most of it. He walked toward the body, split cleanly in two.

Dick’s upper half lay twisted against a tree root, with one arm still stiff, his fingers locked around his weapon. Bahamut crouched and carefully pried it loose.

The revolver was old, but not crude.

Its frame was dark steel, worn smooth in places by constant use. The cylinder was thick and heavy, built to handle strong recoil, with faint runic etchings circling its edge, functional rather than decorative. The grip was wrapped in cracked black leather, molded perfectly to a human hand, stained darker where sweat and blood had soaked in over time.

The barrel was slightly longer than most handguns, reinforced near the muzzle, suggesting it was made for power over elegance. Scratches and nicks marked it all over, each one telling a story of poor maintenance and frequent violence.

Bahamut turned it once in his hand, testing the weight.

"To think I would meet guns here... Just what is this world hiding?" he muttered as he got up and slipped the gun away. Ren just watched this with a bored expression, not even bothering to ask what he would be doing with it.

After the search, they gathered back into the carriage. Apollonia used her wings to flap out the lingering smoke in the carriage, and they were on their way towards where their real mission would take place.

...

The carriage rolled on until the forest finally thinned, opening into a wide valley carved by time and wind. Jagged rocks framed the path, and tall grass bent low as if pressed down by something unseen.

Van pointed north, toward the rising land ahead. "Up that valley. See the hill at the far end? That’s where Farronhold is."

The group followed his gesture. A lone hill rose beyond the winding valley, its silhouette dark against the sky.

"That will be enough," Apollonia said as she got down, followed by the others.

Van hesitated, then offered a small pouch. "Your share of the spoils... You earned more than that, honestly."

"Keep it," Bahamut shook his head, plucking his hair from Ren’s jaws.

The rest echoed him, surprising the Black Jaws.

Van studied them for a moment, then laughed under his breath. "Figures."

They shook hands, offered farewells, and went their ways.

"I feel like we will meet them again. Sooner or later," Exildra said with a smile, not knowing just how true her statement was.

They moved forward, heading uphill toward Farronhold, the silence growing heavier with every step.