Kate's Predicament

Elsewhere, Kate encountered trouble during her own mission. She had expected interference, but she still found this scheme troublesome. Kate's mission was to protect a small, minor-level clan that was under the manor's banner, like the Heaven clan. The clan was located next to a pond in a forest between Silver City and Reich. Although she faced some resistance as her cultivation wasn't any higher than the clan's two strongest members, with her status as a core disciple and her superior strength, she was able to gain their obedience fairly easily. However, the enemy that attacked the clan was more heinous than she imagined.

It was a group of bandits copying the style of the Black Dog Bandits and calling themselves the Green Dog Bandits. The name didn't make them seem dangerous, but there were three early Earth Realm cultivators among the bandits, so they could still threaten weak, minor-level clans. With the information that she had, Kate didn't think the bandits would be much trouble, even if she fought them by herself. Unfortunately, external enemies weren't the only threats she had to worry about. 

Before the bandits arrived, the clan had created walls and barricades out of wood and had several pairs of men on watch. The clan possessed a protection array, but it could only be used to protect one building, so they evacuated the mortals to it when the bandits attacked. Kate showed her presence on the first day and attacked the three Earth Realm cultivators among the bandits. Despite being a fresh Earth Realm cultivator, she was able to fight the three of them at the same time while maintaining an advantage. The bandits naturally hated being held back by a little girl, no matter how much of a genius she may be. However, all of them held smiles as they fought her. 

"You! Traitor!"

"You should have seen this coming from the day you stole the clan head position from me."

"I earned the approval of the previous clan head and the elders. How does that count as stealing?!"

"Because it should have been mine! If my sister hadn't fallen for you, there's no way Father would have given you that seat."

"You self-absorbed nutcase!"

While Kate was occupied by the three bandits, the Earth Realm elder of the clan severely injured the clan head with a sneak attack. Only the clan head and this elder had reached the Earth Realm among the clan members, so there was no one else who could restrain the elder. Although neither she nor her opponents were using their full strength, Kate didn't think she would lose if all four of them attacked her, but the elder was heartless. 

After dealing the final blow to the clan head, he looked down at the other clansmen from atop a sword-shaped flying artifact. Spells and angry slurs flew at him from below, but none could affect him from behind his barrier. 

"Hmph, since you've made your choice to follow a dead man, let me grant your wishes."

In an act of retribution, the elder summoned giant icicles and threw them down at the clan members.

"That crazy old bat!"

Kate tried to stop the massacre that was about to unfold, but the three bandits immediately used their full power to keep her in place.

"Don't get distracted now, girly. We might not be able to beat you, but you can't stop us from plundering this clan."

To deal with the serious bandits, Kate used the spirit-rank gauntlets that Reinhart gave her. The bandits completely focused on pinning her down, so even when Kate wanted to defeat them with a powerful attack, they gave her a wide breath and then quickly closed the distance to prevent her from escaping. All they could do was delay their defeat, but that delay would allow for more innocents to be killed in her presence.

"Ahh!"

"Save me!"

"No! Not my baby!"

Their screams of anguish made her remember the time she had learnt about what happened to the Heaven clan and the nightmares she had afterward. The screams made Kate want to rush down there, but common sense told her that her superiority could be overturned if she showed these three such an opening. Even her current strength wouldn't have been enough to change the outcome, but to let something similar happen right before her was inexcusable. 

"I didn't want to use this in case someone's watching, but there's no choice."

With a rapid expansion and then disappearance of her barrier, Kate forced the three bandits back and then focused on her right hand. She raised her hand above her head and then called for the wind.

"Wind, obey me."

A vortex of air soon appeared above her hand and violently dragged the surroundings towards it, creating a powerful gust that became obedient once it made contact with the vortex. This was a spell that she comprehended while breaking through to the Earth Realm, and she combined it with insights she gained from studying the Heavenly Wind Spell. The rushing wind was so strong that the bandits had to plant themselves to remain grounded, and right as they thought it was over, Kate unleashed her attack.

"Storm Impact!"

Like a massive explosion, the wind that Kate had gathered blew the bandits away. They had received little in terms of injuries, but now Kate had obtained the chance she was looking for. While the elder was still killing members of his clan, Kate charged at him with her fist wrapped in the leftover wind elemental energy from her spell. With a leap, she instantly left the ground, and her fist was soon found plunging through the elder.

"How...?"

Unwilling to give him another second to breathe, Kate used a spell to explode his body. Most of her self was safe from the blood scattered about, but her arm was stained red.

"You damn brat!"

When Kate landed back on the ground, the three Earth Realm bandits and the rest of the Green Dog Bandits came rushing towards her. Kate prepared to cast Storm Impact once more, but this time she focused the power of the spell so that it would do more than knock back those that it hit. With a punch, she sent the spell forward, twirling like a whirlwind. The Earth Realm bandit in the smack center of the attack could only focus on defense while the other two split apart and tried to attack her from the sides. However, before they made their attacks, they heard a sharp buzzing sound and looked back to see Kate's spell tearing into anything that blocked its path, including the Earth Realm bandit who had remained behind. It only affected enemies in its line of fire, but nothing above the feet remained of those hit. 

"Ahhh!!!"

Knowing that they absolutely couldn't afford to be hit by that attack, the two Earth Realm bandits charged at her while the rest ran away in fear. The Earth Realm bandits planned to stop her from using the spell by remaining in close range, but that was exactly what Kate wanted. She used small knives to hold one of them back and then hit the other with an uppercut. Their barriers kept them safe from injury, but not from being separated.

With a stomp that shook the ground, Kate launched off towards the Earth Realm bandit she had delayed with knives. He thought he would be safe by relying on his barrier, but in a split second, Kate's fist pierced through it, and without a chance to react, her punch landed on his chest. 

Pow!

After seeing his body pop like a bubble, the final remaining Earth Realm bandit made the decision to flee. Although he couldn't match Kate in strength, he had boots that increased his speed threefold, so he was confident in escaping.