Riven suddenly roared. In response the starlight in his body seemed to shine even more brightly as it flowed towards his arms.
There was a loud bang in the air as he punched forward.
Crack!
The force immediately dispersed throughout the blade of the axe. The bloody aura completely dissipated as the metal crumbled to the ground.
Ashgrave, who received the brunt force of Riven's attack, was also flung away.
Sliding across the dirt, he finally stopped by his horse. Looking at his bloodied hands and feeling the pain that was coursing through his entire body, this experienced bandit leader only said one thing.
"Run!"
It seemed no one at the scene had expected such a decisive retreat. The only three remaining members of the Iron Howl looked at each other on their horses and then immediately began riding away in different directions. Ashgrave at this point had already disappeared into the woods.
Riven looked at the dust that was flung up by the horses and was a little stunned. Huh? What happened to martial ethics? What happened to revenge?
His thoughts were interrupted by a heartbreaking cry that resounded:
"Ahhh, my booze money!!"
The tall woman finally reacted at this point.
"Aunt-master calm down, let's quickly chase them, otherwise we won't get the reward."
Hearing about the reward the tall woman finally calmed down, "Dammit, we wasted so much time just for that shitty reward. Those guys better not run far!"
She quickly got on the horse and chased in the direction of the two people, while leaving the other horse to Riven, "You're weak, go after the other guy and then we'll both deal with Ashgrave, he should be exhausted right now so he can't go far."
It seems as though they had always known they were being followed. The supposed ambush was actually a trap but now some rats had escaped the cage.
Meanwhile, Ashgrave had abandoned his horse at some point. He didn't know if those two people would follow him or not, but he was severely injured right now and he needed to recuperate and hide.
He staggered through the woods while trying to bandage his wounds. Up ahead was the main road with the busy tavern, he thought that he could hide amongst them and then contact his people to bring him away.
However, when he reached the edge of the woods and looked out he was surprised to see that the road was almost completely deserted. Even at this time people were running away.
Ashgrave hid behind some empty abandoned caravans and pulled a person in who was running away. Covering the man's mouth he spoke in a rough voice with a sharp glint in his eyes.
"Don't make any extra noises or I'll kill you right now."
The man nodded weakly.
"Good. Now tell me what happened, why are you all running away?"
Ashgrave let go of his palm covering the man's mouth but a dagger was placed on his neck, ready to stab him if there were any unnecessary actions.
"Sir, I don't know the details. The tavern keeper just said that bandits were coming and that we all needed to run away. We didn't believe him at first but then we heard sounds of fighting in the distance…"
"The tavern keeper?" Ashgrave's eyes narrowed. There was a sense of fear rising in his heart. Did they already know he was coming? Was it a trap?
"Sir, sir, please let me -"
The man began begging but before he could say anymore a dagger plunged into his neck.
Ashgrave kicked away the body that was growing cold in arms and turned toward the tavern. There was a fat man still standing escorting people away.
The tavern keeper was nervous. He had done his best to warn everyone.
Seeing that everything was emptied and taken away, he glanced toward the road again but he couldn't find the beggar anymore. The tavern keeper shook his head and was about to leave when he felt something pulling him from behind.
He slammed onto the ground heavily.
A strange man with a grotesque face was standing above him with a bloodied blade in his hand.
"I'm going to ask you once, how did you know that bandits were coming?"
The tavern keeper's eyes shook.
"You are Ashgrave?!"
"Good, you know who I am. That'll make this easier. If you want to keep your life, answer my question honestly."
"I- I, two people from before, after they finished their meal they told me that the Iron Howl was coming and that everyone should evacuate. They said they were from the Vale family so I could trust them."
The man whimpered out a reply.
"So you didn't know before they told you?"
"Yes, lord, I had no idea. Please don't kill me, I have young children at home!" The man cried.
The tavern keeper then saw that the bandit leader in front of him had a wide grin on his face and his eyes flashed with a ferocious light.
Just as the tavern keeper clenched his heart in fear, a large shadow appeared in his eyes and he heard a soft swish!
The body of the bandit leader fell limply against his body.
After a few moments, the tavern keeper hurriedly pushed the corpse away from and stood up in fear. The smell of blood was everywhere and his clothes were soaked. He looked around the empty tavern but there was no one else there.
"Thank you honourable sir for saving me! Thank you!" The tavern keeper spoke into the empty air with tears in his eyes.
"Leave." The emotionless voice seems to come from everywhere and nowhere at the same time.
The tavern keeper didn't need any further instruction as he went down the road breathlessly. Many of the things in his pockets fell onto the ground but he paid it no mind as ran for his life.
A short while after he left, a figure appeared in the tavern.
Kieran removed the black scarf that covered his face and said casually:
"I have returned the favour."