Rise of the Horde

274 Chapter 27Many of the new bloods who joined the group of Commander Lastam became displeased after being told by the runners to gather in the center of town and abandon looting the town for its available treasures. “We deserved the right to loot! We risked our lives for this chance!” a man with a thick beard and unkempt hair yelled while ignoring the command as he continued to break into buildings that he suspected to contain loot. The members of his group followed after his lead and they went on looting, they felt that their leader was right. Their real purpose wasn’t really to join the hounds but the chance to gain loot from the territory of Baron Masud which is why they tagged along with them.

Lishtal passed by the area and noticed that some groups still continued to loot the town and ignored the order that was given to them by the messengers that he had arranged. Atop his steed, his face darkened as the men continued on plundering after seeing his face, “What the heck are you guys doing! Didn’t you hear the instruction of the commander!” his shout filled with anger managed to halt the current pillaging.

“Ignore him… continue…” a rather stout man with burly arms waved his hands for his members to continue. He went towards where Lishtal was at who was looking at him and his members with rage, he stood in front of the man atop his steed and crossed his hands across his chest after letting the head of his axe rest on the ground with the far end of its handle resting on his thigh. The second in command of the king’s hounds muttered to himself “Fools…” while unsheathing his blade and pointed it towards the leader of the group.

“I hope you don’t regret this Atef.”

“Hah! What is there to regret? We are bandits! Wild and free! We are not like you guys…We are no dogs!” Atef mocked him and his right hand went down to the handle of his axe and picked it up. He spat on the ground and waved for his boys to come over to teach this mutt a good lesson. The members of Atef’s group stopped whatever they were doing and headed towards their leader to backed him up while having their own weapons at the ready.

Lishtal frowned after seeing that the lowly bandits were going to gang up on him and make use of their numbers against him, “Are you guys sure about this? Attacking the second in command of the hounds? There will be no place for you to hide for the hounds will hunt you down and so will be your families.” His words seemed to have some effect as some of the members of Atef’s group halted in their tracks, surely having second thoughts of the risk that they are going to take.

Atef took a glimpse behind him and saw some of his men rooted to the ground with hesitation after being warned of the risk in attacking Lishtal. He turned to look at their foe and saw his smug grin which made his blood boil as he wanted to smack that face of his so bad. Atef himself knew that he was no much against him in a fair fight which is why he called for his men to aid him in the fight. “Don’t listen to him! After we settle things with him, we leave this crumbling kingdom… There is no possibility for them to reach their claws in distant places that is outside of the borders. And with the loot that we are going to possess, we can live like nobles and along with it is the prestige of taking the head of second in command of the Ereian Bloodhounds which is enough for us to boast in a lifetime.” He tried to win over his hesitating members.

“That’s right! That’s right! They have no power outside the borders of the kingdom.” Only one member supported the words of their leader at first but after a few moments, more and more of them supported their boss.

Atef had a proud smile on his face after hearing the support of almost all his men as he stared at Lishtal who had his smug grin erased from his face and replaced by a worried look. “You can’t divide us! We are all brothers who will die for each other.” He tried to gain the admiration of his members and those who belonged to other groups who were watching the show with interest as they waited for it to devolve into a bloody fight. They were waiting for the outcome as they would base their decisions on the result of the conflict as they too also wanted to continue seeking fortunes in the town but feared that they might be singled out by the hounds and taken down.

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Lishtal knew that things were not going well for their side as he only had less than twenty members of the hounds with him while Atef and his group were close to a hundred in numbers. He knew that with his Fourth Realm of Power combat prowess, it would be farfetched for him to go up against more than fifty people at the same time even if they didn’t awaken their battle energy. “Inform the commander…” he whispered to the weakest in their group and seek aid from their leader in putting these rowdy bandits in their place since he knew that if they can’t put them in their rightful place, such events would occur frequently in the future.

The battle energy of Lishtal surged as he tried to frighten their foes and make them realized that they aren’t dealing with an average person and upon noticing their leader’s rising aura, the hounds who had also awakened their battle energy did the same. Atef who stood in front of them felt the brunt of their battle energies as he too released his very own to protect himself and some of his members who also awakened their battle energies came forward and stood by him and released their own battle energies. Their individual combat prowess was weaker compared to the hounds but they were using quantity against the quality of their foes. Those who were spectating the battle felt the clash of battle energies and they began shouting cheers to root for the one who they think would win the upcoming fight and also to add more fuel to the flame of the ongoing contest while gamblers began betting on their favorites to win the battle and started seeking for someone to bet against.