The command was clear, each word unwavering despite its weight. Orochi would not risk seeing whether they were friendly or not, especially while outnumbered. Right now they had the element of surprise, and it was best to take advantage of that.
Soon enough the glare of the moon reflected the glint of swords and spear tips. The group was armed and dangerous. With a final nod to Althea, the two of them began walking forward too. Best to act unsuspecting.
"Stay behind me, young master." Althea strode ahead, Orochi not too far behind. It was best not to get in her way.
Finally Orochi would be able to see a snow elf in action.
"Boss, there are some people up ahead!" A slurred voice of a drunken bandit alerted the rest of the group to the duo.
The bandits slowed upon seeing two ragged-looking strangers.
"Looks like a gal and her kid. Is she from the village?" one of the bandits with fewer teeth questioned his friend.
Kid? Orochi nearly forgot that to others, Althea probably did look like a young mother with her child. In their state it might actually look like they had come from a raided village.
The bigger man among the five stepped forward as Althea and Orochi walked hauntingly closer. Glancing down at the sand, Orochi noticed Althea was not leaving any prints, becoming weightless as she started gliding over the surface. It seemed she was ready for a fight. Orochi had no clue how strong Althea would be now that he had released her from her slave oath. Elven magic was an alien concept, and one he needed to see.
"Ooo, she's a looker. Any of you boys still hungry?" the boss growled, the fattest one among the mask-covered bandits. Clearly he had no shame in taking the larger share.
Using Insight, Orochi found that none of them were impressive.
"Althea, kill the big one and the one with the sword."
"How about it sweetie? Want to com—"
Before the man could even finish the sentence, half his head slid off his body, plopping to the sand with a dull thud, brain and all. It was as if the very air had been used to cut. The others could not even register what had happened, and truthfully neither could Orochi, his eyes unable to keep up with the blurry elf.
One moment Althea was in front. The next she was behind the quicker bandit who had drawn his sword, while the others still stared at their boss, whose lips were still moving as the rest of his body caught up with his sudden death.
None of them screamed. None of them could.
As the man on the furthest right raised his sword, Althea again cut his arm off. Orochi strained his eyes, noticing a waft of air shaped like an arc. Was she actually cutting them with the wind? The swordsman fell to his knees, screaming, blood spewing from the open wound, frozen in shock. These were clearly not experienced men, too used to preying on the weak.
Just when the others had finally caught up with the situation and turned to run, they were quickly tripped up as Althea appeared before them, making them fall on their behinds, pathetically crawling back in Orochi's direction.
"Mercy! Please, mercy!" one croaked. Toothless was the name Orochi gave him, noticing the gaps in the man's mouth.
"It's true! The Pale Lady is real! Please take him, not me!" the youngest shouted, shoving his friend back, pulling at his legs to make him stumble as the coward got to his feet and ran from Althea.
The Pale Lady was a myth from what Orochi could remember. A sea elf that had risen during the Triumvirate Rebellion, bringing carnage upon land-dwellers. These days it was told to keep children away from straying too far into the sea.
But there was no mercy from Althea. She looked wild, a harbinger of death risen from the sea, hair and face splattered with blood as she stalked her prey. Just when she was about to end their lives, Orochi raised his hand.
"Bring them to me."
That was all he needed to say. Within seconds she had the trembling pitiful men kneeling before a child half their height. At least this way Orochi could deal with them at eye level.
They really were weak. None of them were spirit users. A bunch of normies.
Orochi looked at them for a moment. In that time the two quickly realised that the elf seemed to be somehow under the child. Quietly they began begging.
"Please let us go. We have money. You can take all of it. Just please let me go."
The man began burying his forehead in the sand, making Orochi almost chuckle. Almost.
"Why would I need you to give it to me? Can't I just kill you and take it?"
The question turned them pale. The horror of the thought visibly shook them.
"How about this? Swear your loyalty to me. Make an oath to obey me. To be my servants, slaves, or whatever I choose. Then maybe I will let you live."
It was not much of a choice. It was a command.
The idea had come to Orochi while Althea was fighting. If the Eternal Oath skill was the way to get stronger, then surely he could force oaths from others to take their spirit power. Normies also had innate spirit power—hidden deep inside—they just couldn't access it like a spirit user. Though Orochi suspected it would take much longer to accumulate from normies than from spirit users, it was worth a shot.
The two glanced at each other, bewildered at first, but neither took long. Quickly they bowed and uttered oaths.
[𝙾𝚋𝚕𝚒𝚟𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝙼𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚊𝚐𝚎]
𝙲𝚘𝚗𝚍𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝙴𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚗𝚊𝚕 𝙲𝚘𝚒𝚕 𝙾𝚊𝚝𝚑 𝚖𝚎𝚝. 𝚃𝚠𝚘 𝚘𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚜 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚊𝚍𝚍𝚎𝚍. 𝙴𝚡𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚂𝚙𝚒𝚛𝚒𝚝 𝙿𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚛.
Then.
Nothing happened.
Orochi looked at Althea, confused, but she kept her eyes on the captives. She did not question why Orochi was doing this, but neither would she know the answer.
"I was sure there would be at least a little spirit power…"
The men looked at each other, fear in their eyes as they wondered what their fate would be.
"You can go," muttered Orochi, still deep in thought, wondering where it had gone wrong. Was there another condition to be met?
The bandits shakily got up, glancing between the elf and the child, then wisely turned heel and ran. Althea tensed for a moment but said nothing. If she was disturbed that Orochi had just let two pillaging bandits go, she hid it well.
Orochi was snapped out of his reverie by a sudden gasp. Looking up, he saw the two bandits fall as if their very souls had been hollowed out.
"What is this?" Althea stepped forward, one hand in front of Orochi, searching for the cause.
[𝙾𝚋𝚕𝚒𝚟𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝙼𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚊𝚐𝚎]
𝚂𝚙𝚒𝚛𝚒𝚝 𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚜𝚏𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚞𝚌𝚌𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚏𝚞𝚕.
Just like before, Orochi felt a sudden increase in his spirit power—though this time only a trickle compared to what he gained from Althea.
The dawning realisation finally hit.
"The Eternal Coil Oath can kill…"
Althea looked at him, brow arched at the unfamiliar word. "Young master…?"
(×_×)
[𝙾𝚋𝚕𝚒𝚟𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚂𝚒𝚐𝚗𝚊𝚕 𝙳𝚎𝚝𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚎𝚍]
[𝚂𝚗𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝙶𝚘𝚍 𝚂𝚢𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚖 𝙾𝚗𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚎]
…
𝙾𝚋𝚕𝚒𝚟𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝙾𝚛𝚋 𝚂𝚝𝚊𝚝𝚞𝚜
𝙷𝚘𝚜𝚝: 𝙾𝚛𝚘𝚌𝚑𝚒 𝙼𝚘𝚘𝚗-𝙱𝚘𝚛𝚗
𝙰𝚜𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝙻𝚟: 𝟷
𝙴𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚗𝚊𝚕 𝙲𝚘𝚒𝚕 𝙾𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚜: 𝟹
𝚂𝚙𝚒𝚛𝚒𝚝 𝙿𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚛: 𝙽𝚎𝚐𝚕𝚒𝚐𝚒𝚋𝚕𝚎
𝙱𝚘𝚍𝚢 𝙲𝚘𝚗𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚝𝚞𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗: 𝟸𝟶/𝟷𝟶𝟶
𝚂𝚔𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚜: 𝙽𝚞𝚕𝚕 𝙼𝚒𝚛𝚛𝚘𝚛, 𝚂𝚑𝚎𝚍𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝙸𝚗𝚜𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝, 𝚂𝚗𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚂𝚎𝚗𝚜𝚎, 𝙴𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚗𝚊𝚕 𝙾𝚊𝚝𝚑 𝙲𝚘𝚒𝚕
𝙳𝚊𝚒𝚕𝚢 𝙼𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝙵𝚎𝚎: 𝙰 𝚕𝚒𝚏𝚎.