An ambush

Doyen's caravan was traveling through the wilderness, seemingly as always. The area was dangerous in the first place, so the bodyguards surrounding all the wagons with their weapons drawn weren't unusual.

Actually, their wariness was more than justified with the suspicious lack of monster activity in the area, while earlier in their journey, fending off beasts was the norm.

If they really knew that something was amiss, they would turn back.

And even if they were stupid enough to try to fight back what was waiting for them, they would have more than one archer ready.

Said archer was a plain-looking platinum-haired man with a disorderly beard.

He was sitting on the driver's seat, next to Doyen Adonis herself although judging by her body language, she didn't seem she was particularly fond of that development.

However, in that case, the platinum-haired man could not have been the main reason for her disdain, as the particular bow he wielded had some eerie vibe around it.

It was made out of monster bones and tendons. The method used to create it must have been a special one as the weapon seemed to be carrying the grudge of the creature that died for the materials.

Who knows?

It might very well be a cursed one~!

Oh, the potential and allure of cursed equipment~!

How could anyone resist it?

"Ooohhhh~! I bet it prevents the user from moving in exchange for a massive increase in damage~!"

A bandit whose every inch of exposed skin was covered with scars shivered in excitement and licked his lips, hidden in the branches of a tree in the distance.

He himself was holding an unusual weapon, a longbow that appeared to be a part of a ballista, more of a siege weapon operated by a squad than something a human should or even could use.

Even though his weapon looked so impressive and was larger than him, barely staying hidden within branches, the arrows in his quiver were standard store-bought ones, making it difficult to imagine the weapon's full potential could be used.

"I call dibs on that bone bow. I had enough of this junk."

The bandit with a bow declared without taking his eyes away from the caravan in the distance approaching his position.

"It's about time you get rid of that thing. It's wasted on you."

A stouty woman with some dwarven blood in her veins sitting on the same branch as him snickered at him, reaching behind her back, taking out one of a dozen throwing spears she carried in an oversized quiver.

"You're a waste. Even without Haste, I can shoot faster than any elf."

"That's what I'm talking about, idiot. That bow isn't made for speed-oriented archery."

The scarred man scoffed and grinned mockingly at the woman, who rolled her eyes.

"Those low-lives Trevor rounded up this time better be worth it."

The scarred man's expression turned serious as he noticed the platinum-haired bowman on the first carriage shift in his place as if noticing something, prompting the comment.

"They know to wait until the caravan enters your range if that's what you want to complain about."

His companion assured lightheartedly, also keenly observing as the people and wagons pulled by Four-Eyed Goats walk right into their tra…

*thunk* x12

Without any warning or even additional hint, the platinum-haired bowman from the caravan stood up on the driver's seat and unleashed a lightning-fast volley of arrows, all aimed at the treetops where the other bandits were hidden!

"!!!"

Although their caravan hadn't entered the effective range of the bandit archers, the bandit archers were clearly within the platinum-haired bowman's range, with each projectile reaching its targets.

Although only three or four shots were lethal, all the others succeeded in at least knocking a bandit out of balance, leaving the rest to gravity, which claimed an additional two lives.

"Hiih…!"

One arrow was aimed at the stouty woman next to the scarred bandit, and she let out a panicked yelp, trying to get out of its way without falling off the tree, but her reaction wasn't fast enough!"

*THUNK*

"..."

Without a word, the scarred bandit moved his oversized bow, having the arrow strike it instead of his companion.

"Enchanted with Wind Boost. Little fucker thinks he's the hunter!"

As a green aura evaporated from the arrow stuck into his weapon, the scarred bandit let out a low growl.

"Wh-what are you do…?!"

The next moment, he threw himself on the woman, causing her to shout in agitation as both of them fell off the tree…

*WHOOSH*

"!!!"

Only for her to shut up when three consecutive enchanted arrows sped right through the spot where she was a second before.

*THUMP*

Even with the added weight, the scarred bandit landed while holding the oversized bow in one hand and the stouty woman with the other, his legs almost split and his back arched forward, but he didn't let his companion back even touch the ground.

*THUNK* *THUNK* *THUNK*

The bandit's bow-wielding arm moves seemingly independent of the rest of his body, intercepting more incoming arrows while the scarred man was straightening his back and helping the stouty woman get a foothold.

"Either a Magic Archer or worse, a Sniper, and that's only if he doesn't have a royal-type archery ability. Change of plans. Do me a favor, doll, get Trevor."

The scarred man spat to the side, glaring towards the caravan where the platinum-haired archer was picking off the already wounded bandits.

*plap*

"HFF!? YOU…! F-fine! But will you be able to hold them back without getting killed…?!"

The scarred man then affectionately smacked the stouty woman's butt, making her gaps with exasperation before nodding, nervously glancing at the troublesome situation that their ambush ended up devolving into, and asking.

*THUNK* *THUNK*

"Probably not. I mean, I'm sending off my lucky charm. Now go, or else I might actually end up dead."

"!!!"

The scarred man snickered, blocking two more arrows, and shrugged his shoulders as a send-off, greatly worrying the stouty woman.

"You're supposed to say something cool like - If you don't hurry, I'm going to finish them before you get Trevor - stupid! Here. Haste!"

The woman cried out, taking off the oversized quiver and tossing it at the scarred man's feet before using a spell on herself and dashing off.

*THUNK*

"And now we're talking."

After blocking an arrow that was aimed perfectly at his forehead, the scarred man chuckled, reaching down and picking up one of the spears and placing it on the bowstring like an arrow.

Then he straightened his back and took aim, physically unable to draw the massive bow with the span of his arms.

And then….

*SQUELCH*

…the skin on his forearms got torn apart, splashing out crimson blood as his bones, muscles, and tendons grew, elongating his upper limbs exponentially.

"..."

With that and an ice-cold look in his eyes, the scarred man overdrew the massive bow as if it were a mere feeble toy - but it wasn't even done.

As it turned out, the blood that gushed from his arms wasn't normal and began to move along the ground.

It took a mere second for it to form a magic circle that activated seemingly without any incantation, illuminating the scarred man from below with a murky red light.

"Fuck you."

*UMPH*

The scarred bandit scoffed, releasing the spear that unleashed a shockwave.

The oversized projectile knocked all the other arrows sent by the platinum-haired archer without losing even a fraction of its speed.

"...!"

The green-haired woman sitting next to the archer raised her hands, holding some kind of item, and shouted something, which seemed to engulf their wagon in a pale blue light.

*CRACK*

But the moment the tip of the spear touched it, the light broke apart like a pane of glass, and the wagon was struck…

*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM*

Ending up blown into smithereens, sending the two people riding it flying as the hellish projectile pierced right through a whole row of wagons behind it with the same effect until it got stuck in the reinforced wall of the carriage in the middle of the caravan.

The force of the spear was still so ridiculous that the carriage stood up on its back wheels - together with the pair of Four-eyed Goats pulling it - and crushed into the wagon behind it…!

"Huh…?"

The scarred bandit flinched and let out a shocked gasp as if he was the one most bewildered by what happened.

"..."

While the caravan members were scrambling about, calling out to their wounded, dying, or dead comrades, the bandit with mutated arms moved his body in a slithering motion as if testing something.

"That old fuck lied to me…! Whose body is deteriorating rapidly because it went through too many modifications?"

The scarred man's body trembled from the laughter bursting out as his expression changed into one of exhilaration and excitement as he reached down and picked up a second spear from the oversized quiver.

"I'll show Jill that she will not have to use her ability! Fuck over all of you…"

The scarred man cheered out, drawing his bow and, this time, taking aim at the one person in the caravan who could do anything to him at such a distance.

"...and then raze that monster village to the ground mysel…!"

He grinned triumphantly and…!

*SQUELCH*

"...huh…?"

His drawing arm got torn in two, with a nauseating sound, at the skinless elbow, causing him to let out a shocked cry and…

*BOOOOOOM*

"!!!"

The projectile slammed into the ground a couple of dozen feet away from the scarred man, but the explosion it caused was still so powerful that it tossed him away like a ragdoll.

"...h-huh…?"

The concussed rugged bandit sat upright, staring at his bow - or rather at his torn hand still holding onto the bowstring…

"...b-but… my body…"

He muttered, looking away from one piece of his arm only to stare at the profusely bleeding stump it was torn out of.

"...it was feeling fine… Wh-HNGH…!?"

The scarred man mumbled without being able to comprehend what happened - until an arrow enchanted with Wind Boost pierced his throat.

"...fhuck… it c…hant b…"

The struck bandit gurgled out blood but couldn't even properly say his last words.

*thunk* *THUMP*

The next arrow pierced through his left eye, and his torso slammed down as his head got nailed to the ground.