Encountering Bandits Again

Although Starlight had imagined many times what a truly large city would look like, he was still deeply shaken by the sight before him.

At this moment, he felt an unprecedented sense of excitement and curiosity, his heart filled with longing and expectation for the unknown.

Seeing the boy's mouth slightly agape in shock, Tara couldn't help but laugh happily. But before he could get more than a few chuckles out, he noticed something abnormal ahead.

On the main road in the distance, a large group of people holding weapons stood in a dense crowd. A rough count put them at several hundred, completely blocking the road ahead.

“What's going on? Is it a check by the city defense force? But looking at the equipment... it doesn't quite look like it.”

Tara muttered in a low, puzzled voice, waving to the driver to signal the caravan to stop. He then motioned for one of his attendants to ride forward and see what was happening.

“Why have we suddenly stopped?” Starlight had just snapped out of his shock when he realized the caravan had come to a halt. The crowd several hundred meters away looked suspicious no matter how he viewed them.

Noticing Starlight’s furrowed brow, Tara quickly comforted him, “It’s fine. It might just be a minor issue. I’ve already sent someone to inquire. Just wait a moment.”

However, the development of events clearly exceeded his expectations.

Just then, the attendant who had been sent reached the vicinity of the armed group. Before Tara or Starlight could react, the attendant was run through by a spear and thrown straight off his horse.

“Xiao Qi!” Witnessing this bloody scene, Tara couldn't help but roar. But this roar was like a drop of oil in boiling water, instantly causing the crowd blocking the road to turn their heads in unison, their gazes burning as they looked this way.

The crowd that had knocked Xiao Qi off his horse became as restless as a disturbed ants' nest, instantly surging and beginning to charge toward the caravan.

As they left their original positions, Starlight noticed dozens of people lying haphazardly on the ground where they had stood. Blood had stained the entire road bright red.

“It’s a bandit group! Retreat, quickly!” Realizing what was happening, Tara shouted to those behind him. The entire caravan immediately became tense, hurriedly turning the wagons around while someone fired a sparking arrow into the sky.

The red arrow rose to a height of a hundred meters before bursting into a brilliant firework that lingered in the air for a long time.

This was the universal distress signal used by caravans on the continent. In this place, only a few kilometers from the Violet City-State, it would certainly attract attention from within the city.

If all went as expected, reinforcements would arrive soon. Their current task was to withstand the bandits' attack during this time.

“How do they dare! In a place so close to the city-state!” Tara was both shocked and furious. He never expected such a large bandit force to appear in a place like this, completely disregarding the laws of the Violet City-State.

But the bandits did not slow down because of his shock and anger. The distance of several hundred meters was covered in an instant. Before the caravan could even finish turning around, they had already arrived nearby.

Starlight took off his backpack and leaped down from the wagon, standing at the front of the caravan with the guards. He signaled Tara to leave quickly.

After landing, he immediately pressed both hands to the ground. Dense rock spikes instantly rose from the ground ahead, causing the bandits who had rushed close to howl in pain, forcing them to slow down.

The effect of this move was immediate, serving as a significant harassment to the enemy's advance.

But this only slightly affected their speed. After all, the number of bandits was nearly ten times that of the entire caravan.

On the caravan's side, including the guards and excluding the few protecting Tara, there were barely twenty people capable of fighting. In terms of numbers, they simply couldn't compare.

While the bandits were slowed by the rock spikes, Starlight didn't stop. He waved his hand, summoning a spring of clear water in the air. The sudden flow of water drenched the bandits rushing in front of him to the bone.

Before the bandits could react, the water on them began to condense rapidly. Within a few seconds, several people were encased in frost, turning into blocks of ice and falling to the ground.

But this only stopped the actions of dozens of people, while there were hundreds of bandits charging forward. At this moment, Starlight’s weakness was exposed.

Despite his mastery of various counter-measures and powerful mana control, he had ultimately never learned any large-scale spells. Facing the dense charge of bandits forming a human wall, he couldn't utilize his advantage in speed at all.

In this situation, it wasn't difficult for him to ensure his own safety, but he felt somewhat inadequate when it came to helping protect the entire caravan. He could only pray they would move faster to evacuate this dangerous place.

Just then, a scene appeared that made Starlight feel something was wrong. The bandits blocked by magic actually ignored their fallen companions, stepping over their bodies to continue their charge.

This was completely different from the thieves he had encountered a few days ago. Those thieves would at least rescue companions who still had the ability to move. These people, however, seemed to have no regard for the life or death of their comrades.

Starlight’s magic had only temporarily incapacitated them, but if hundreds of people were allowed to trample over them, the fate of those individuals would be unpredictable.

While he was feeling surprised, the first wave of bandits had already reached him, clashing with the caravan's guards.

For a caravan traveling across the continent, guards are an indispensable and vital part. Tara, an old hand in the business, naturally knew this well, so the guards he hired were at least skilled fighters at the middle-tier or even high-tier Swordsman level.

This was the source of his confidence in traveling the world with only dozens of people. Although there were no super-powerful figures in the team, the strength of these guards was by no means comparable to these bandits of varying skill levels.

These twenty-odd guards were now forcefully blocking the advance of nearly a hundred bandits, but they immediately fell into a sea-like encirclement.

“Don't get distracted, watch the sky!”

Just as Starlight pierced several opponents in front of him with light cones and intended to help the guards, Noah’s calm voice came from his waist.

Hearing this, he quickly retreated a few steps and looked up. The sky was filled with dense black dots; the bandits in the rear had actually fired a volley of arrows into the sky.

Due to the clamor of the melee involving over a hundred people in front of them, the sound of the bows being fired was completely masked. If not for Noah’s timely reminder, this sneak attack would have surely caused heavy casualties.

“They’re using crossbows like this? Aren't they afraid of hitting their own people!” Starlight cried out. Then, as he had done before, he threw several fireballs toward the sky. The fireballs exploded upon contact with the falling arrows, neutralizing most of the attack.

As he had said, even his magic couldn't completely offset the dense attack of over a hundred arrows. Those arrows that weren't blocked still fell indiscriminately onto the people locked in combat.

Several bandits were struck directly by the falling arrows and fell to the ground, while those who weren't hit continued to surge forward as if they didn't realize what had happened.

In contrast, because the caravan's guards wore leather half-armor, only three were hit in unprotected thighs and arms. The injuries weren't severe and didn't significantly affect their combat capability.

“The state of these bandits is wrong. They are likely being controlled. Starlight, quickly pull out of the fight and find the mastermind behind this, otherwise everyone here will die!” Noah’s voice came again. Drawing on Carlos’s years of experience, he had already noticed the abnormality of these opponents.

His words were almost drowned out by the roars of the crowd; no one except Starlight nearby noticed.

“Find a high vantage point and observe the situation!”

Hearing Noah’s reminder, Starlight immediately understood. With a flash, he broke free from the entanglement of the bandits in front of him and rushed toward a nearby large tree. With the help of wind elements, he leaped to the top of the tree in a few steps.

The moment he stepped onto the treetop, Starlight felt an invisible pulse emanate from Noah at his waist.