Leo stared at the bandit who had just impaled himself on his own sword. It was a kill so stupid, so statistically improbable, that it defied logic.

Then he read the notification in his head again.

[System Notification]

[Level 10 Bandit Defeated.]

[EXP Acquired: +1500]

[Luck Bonus Applied: Critical Fumble]

[Quest progress: Bandits killed 2 /5]

'Luck Bonus?' Leo was confused for a while before it hit him.

Seraphine.

The memory of the notification he had received that night after their marathon session flashed in his mind.

[Buff Applied: Lover's Blessing]

[Effect: +10% to Luck for 48 hours.]

"Ten percent," Leo muttered, a dry laugh escaping his lips, "Just 10% helped me this much?"

"That woman really is a goddess."

He pictured her flushed, sweaty face, biting her lip as she rode him. He remembered the way she had clung to him, the way she had blessed him with her body and her heart.

"I am going to fuck you senseless when I get back," Leo promised the empty air, "I am going to make you scream my name until the guards call your lord husband."

He was just too lucky to have her. But he shook his head, clearing the lecherous thoughts. The battlefield snapped back into focus.

He checked his status.

[HP: 550 / 2000]

The smile vanished from Leo's face.

The "lucky accidental" kills were funny, but the chip damage wasn't. While he had been dodging the three stooges, they had landed a few glancing blows. A scratch here, a bruise there. It added up. He was down to a quarter of his health, and the real fight hadn't even started yet.

He looked at the three bandits circling him, the two twins and the level 8 bandit with the axe. They weren't laughing anymore. They were staring at the dead body of their comrade, their faces twisting from confusion into murderous rage. And a flicker of fear.

How can any bastard be so lucky?

"Alright," Leo growled, his eyes turning cold. The gamer who was farming XP vanished. The predator emerged, "Fun's over. Time for you all to lose your heads as well."

The Level 6 Twin on the left lunged.

He was suddenly faster than Leo expected. The jagged single edged sword in his hand whistled through the air, angled low, aimed straight for Leo's ribs.

Leo didn't have the time to dodge, so he stepped into the swing.

The timing was tight. The blade still kissed his side, slicing through his arm. A sharp, burning line of pain flared across his arm as blood immediately soaked his clothes.

[HP: 520 / 2000]

But Leo did not slow down either. He activated the active ability of his sword.

[Frost-Edge: Flash Freeze]

The blade of his longsword erupted in blinding, pale blue light, cold so intense the air around it crackled. Leo swung upward in a vicious parry, putting his full weight behind it.

CRACK.

The bandit's cheap iron single-edged met the glowing blade and shattered. The frost magic robbed the metal of all resilience, turning it brittle as glass. Shards exploded outward, several slicing into Leo's forearm and cheek like icy shrapnel.

[HP: 490 / 2000]

The bandit barely had time to register what had happened.

Leo continued the motion despite the pain, twisting his wrist, muscles screaming as he forced control back into his numb fingers. He spun the sword in his grip and drove the tip forward, teeth clenched.

SHLINK!!

The blade slid into the bandit's stomach.

"AUGHH!" the bandit screamed, eyes bulging as frost detonated inside his gut. Ice crystals bloomed violently, freezing flesh and organs solid in a heartbeat. Steam hissed from the wound as extreme cold met hot blood.

Leo ripped the sword free with a grunt. The bandit staggered back, collapsing to his knees, clutching his stomach as he retched chunks of frozen blood onto the dirt. His convulsions slowed, then stopped as the cold seized his heart.

[Level 6 Bandit Dead]

[EXP Acquired: +800 EXP]

Leo sucked in a sharp breath, pressing a hand briefly to his bleeding arm.

"Damn it hurts," he muttered.

And there were still two left.

When the bandit saw his twin brother fall, for half a heartbeat, his face went blank.

Then slowly his face began to twist. Something in him snapped.

He screamed in pure rage as he lunged forward, "YOU BASTARD!"

He didn't bother raising his spear properly. He ran at Leo in a blind frenzy, stabbing wildly, putting everything he had into speed and rage. The tip scraped Leo's armour, then sliced across his thigh as Leo twisted aside.

[HP: 450 / 2000]

Leo hissed as pain flared, but the bandit was already on him again, swinging the spear like a club, eyes bloodshot, spittle flying from his mouth.

Too close for a clean sword strike.

Too fast to disengage.

Leo reached into his belt.

The bandit saw the motion and laughed, charging straight in, "It won't work twice on me," and he closed his eyes

But instead of the spice pouch he was anticipating, Leo pulled out one of his Twin Serpent daggers, and snapped his wrist.

THWIP.

The dagger flew like a bullet and buried itself just above the bandit's knee, punching through muscle from the front with a sick, wet thud.

"GAH!"

The bandit's leg gave out mid-stride. His charge collapsed into a stumbling lunge, momentum carrying him forward as he crashed into Leo.

They hit the ground hard.

The spear skittered away.

The bandit howled, trying to crawl, trying to swing, hands clawing at Leo with desperate strength. He didn't beg. He fought, thrashing like a cornered animal.

Leo rolled, came up on one knee, and planted his boot on the man's chest.

The bandit swung blindly upward while Leo stomped down.

CRUNCH!

The heel of his boot crushed the man's throat against the ground. Cartilage collapsed. The scream cut off into a wet, choking gargle.

The bandit's hands beat weakly against Leo's leg.

Then slower.

Then not at all.

[Level 6 Bandit Dead]

[EXP Acquired: +800 EXP]

Leo stepped back, breathing hard, blood dripping from his thigh and arms.

He turned to the last one, the Level 8 bandit.

The man was shaking. He held his axe with both hands, but his knuckles were white with terror. He looked at Leo, then at the frozen corpse of one twin, then at the choking corpse of the other.

"You... you monster," the bandit stammered.

"Come here," Leo said, beckoning with a bloody finger.

The bandit screamed, a sound of pure, desperate fear, and charged. He swung the heavy axe in a blind, overhead smash, putting every ounce of his strength into killing the boy in front of him.

Leo did not try to block it. He swiftly twisted aside at the last moment.

The axe slammed into the ground where his head had been, exploding dirt and stone upward. The shockwave still rattled Leo's arms and teeth.

The bandit ripped the axe free and swung again fast with a murderous intent.

Leo barely managed to parry it, and was almost torn off his feet.

The impact jarred his bones. His sword screamed in protest as the sheer weight behind the axe shoved it aside and sent pain lancing up his arms.

[HP: 420 / 2000]

Leo staggered back, boots skidding.

'This bastard is too strong,' he realized grimly, 'I can't meet him head on.'

The bandit pressed on his advantage, roaring as he hacked again and again, forcing Leo to retreat. Each strike was a killing blow, meant to crush his bones.

Leo ducked one swing by inches.

Another grazed his shoulder, sending ripples across his body.

[HP: 390 / 2000]

Sweat was now beginning to blur his vision. But he was surviving somehow.

But the bandit was getting angry with each swing. And he was getting sloppy.

His swings were wide.

Leo waited.

The axe came down again, and Leo slipped inside the arc, letting the blade pass over his shoulder. He slashed low, his dagger slicing through the bandit's thigh.

"ARGH!"

The bandit howled but didn't stop. He backhanded the axe haft into Leo's ribs, the impact knocking the breath from his lungs and sending him sprawling.

[HP: 300 / 2000]

Leo rolled, barely avoiding the follow-up strike that split the ground.

The bandit raised the axe again, panting, blood streaming from his leg.

Leo surged up from his knee, and feinted high.

The bandit reacted instinctively, hauling the axe up to block.

Leo stepped past him, pivoting on his injured leg despite the pain, and drove his shoulder into the man's chest, just enough to throw him off balance.

The bandit stumbled.

Leo was already moving.

His sword flashed in a clean, precise arc. And the head left the shoulders before the body realized it was dead.

It rolled through the dirt and came to rest at the foot of the pine tree, and the body collapsed a heartbeat later.

[Level 8 Bandit Defeated]

[EXP Acquired: +1000 EXP]

Leo stood there for a moment, chest heaving, arms trembling from strain and blood loss.

"That," he muttered hoarsely, "was way too close."

DING!

[Quest Update: Purge the Evil!]

[Progress: 5 / 5 Elite Bandits Killed.]

[Quest Complete!]

** ** ** ** **

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.