Merlin fixed his eyes on the bandit chief in front of his eyes. This other person's body was not bulky, neither did he look strong and mighty. It seemed that his physical attributes would not have been considered exceptional.

However, the truth of the matter was that this bandit's physical attributes were comparable to that of a Second-level Elemental Swordsman. This was very abnormal. Furthermore, there were also fifty bandit knights whose physical quality were similar to that of First-level Elemental Swordsmen, which was even more extraordinary.

"You're not an Elemental Swordsman, so how can you possess such great power that isn't inferior to that of an Elemental Swordsman?"

Merlin asked him directly. Old Wilson, who was standing beside him, nodded subconsciously as well. It was evident that he was also very interested in the question.

The expression of the bandit chief changed slightly. His lips squirmed, as though he wanted to speak, but he did not make a sound for a long time.

Crack.

A cluster of ice crystals immediately appeared again on the body of the bandit chief. The ice crystals enveloped him at an extremely fast pace, practically freezing his entire body. All that was left as his bald head.

As a binding spell, the power of the Frost was not great. It was far weaker than a Fireball, but still easy enough for the purposes of handling a mere bandit chief like this.

Feeling the ice crystals on his body as though it could continue spreading on to his head, the chief bandit could no longer be silent. He could only yell out, "Great Wizard, please stop, I say! Our physical attributes are exceptional due to Big Boss!"

"Big Boss?"

Merlin did not continue to unleash the Frost. Instead, he took two steps forward and said to the bandit chief, "Talk about your Big Boss's condition in detail."

The face of the bandit chief was already rather pale. His body was trembling, and although his physical attributes were exceptional, Merlin's Frost caused temperatures to plunge extremely low. Being frozen for a long period of time would still injure him.

"Big Boss came here three years ago. Back then, Second Commander, Fourth Commander and I were small-time bandits in this region, with hundreds of bandits under us. Our power was extremely small and weak. Big Boss found us and defeated all of us utterly, before becoming our Big Boss. Then, he taught us a strange posture. We cultivated according to this strange posture daily, and the quality of our physique improved very quickly."

"Then, Big Boss led us and annexed a few great groups of bandits successively. As his force swelled up, he formed the Hurricane Bandits with three, four thousand bandits. After that, Big Boss picked five hundred young bandits and taught them a strange posture. They practiced every day, and now, practically everyone can rival a First-level Elemental Swordsman."

"With such power, Big Boss's greed and ambitious heart grew as well. He was no longer satisfied with being a bandit, he even wished to take advantage of this chaotic situation in the Kingdom of Light now and conquer a few cities... But, because the numbers of our men have expanded greatly, you've also seen how our pieces of equipment, like weaponry and armor, are lagging behind. This time, we've encountered a few members of the Royal Family who only have a few hundred knights as protectors, so Big Boss has brought men to go rob those members of the Royal Family. He ordered us to come and block you, so that you wouldn't ruin Big Boss's plans."

By the time the bandit chief had finished speaking, his entire body was already shaking. His enunciation had become somewhat poor.

There were no changes to Merlin's expression, but there was a great shock in his heart. A strange posture that was able to strengthen the physical attributes of a Normie quickly, to the point where one could rival an Elemental Swordsman...

Everything about all of this was so similar to the mysterious relief sculpture he had obtained before. Merlin only had one piece of the relief sculpture, but after practicing the posture on the relief sculpture, his physical attributes were now already comparable to that of a First-level Elemental Swordsman.

"The physical attributes of these bandits can already rival those of a Second-level Elemental Swordsman. That bandit chief, how strong can he be? As strong as a Third-level, or even a Fourth-level Elemental Swordsman?"

Numerous ideas turned in Merlin's head. If that 'Big Boss' had really obtained a relief sculpture, then he should have at least three of them with him.

The postures on those relief sculptures were really frightening indeed. Merlin had never given them much thought before this, but now, he had seen the mysterious 'Big Boss' passing out knowledge on the postures on the relief sculpture.

All he had to do was to pass on one posture, and within a few months, he would be able to quickly create large numbers of powerful fighters who could rival First-level Elemental Swordsmen.

The battle just now had said it all. A lot of Old Wilson's heart and effort had been spent on his heavy armored knights; practically half of the taxes collected within the territory had been used on those heavy armored knights.

Furthermore, they had needed to undergo training often before achieving the fighting capabilities they had now.

However, although the combat power of those heavy armored knights now could be deemed terrifying, they had unexpectedly been caught at a disadvantage after encountering those bandits who had been without the slightest bit of cooperation amongst each other. If Merlin and Old Wilson had not been so overwhelmingly strong and valiant, he was afraid that those heavy armored knights would have been defeated by a mere band of fifty bandits.

The terrible aspect of the mysterious relief sculpture was manifested therein. Moreover, that mysterious Big Boss had five hundred of such bandits heeding his commands.

Many thoughts passed through Merlin's mind in the blink of an eye. Old Wilson beside him, however, did not think so much. All he heard from the bandit's mouth was the news of the Big Boss going up against the members of the Royal Family.

"Merlin, Princess Charise and the others might be in danger, I want to bring the heavy armored knights and go rescue them."

This time, Merlin did not stop him. He knew that Old Wilson had a lot of gratitude in his heart towards Prince Frederick; although Princess Charise had rejected Old Wilson's allegiance before, Old Wilson would not leave them to die now that the Princess and the others were in danger

Nevertheless, this was a good thing as well. Old Wilson would not have any ties with the Royal Family anymore if he could rescue them once!

"Father, you go first, I'll catch up after you!"

Light flashed through Merlin's eyes. The mysterious Big Boss was his target.

***

A look of despair could already be seen in Commander Mance's eyes. His entire body had been shaken so much that he was numb; despite the fact that he was a Third-level Earth Swordsman, this man before him, with the strange patterns drawn on his face and a name called Big Boss, was just too powerful.

Every time the other person brought his greatsword crashing down, it had contained terrible power. That body which did not look burly at all seemed to be filled with the strength of a ferocious beast, causing Commander Mance to feel like he could not withstand it.

An Elemental Swordsman at the peak of the Third-level! Commander Mance was aghast; this other person was able to rival a Third-level Elemental Swordsman at his peak, just by relying on the strength of his body. He had never even heard of such a thing, what more seen it.

Moreover, this mighty commander was not the only thing that was horrifying; there were also the densely packed bandits around them. Every single one of them seemed to be on par with First-level Elemental Swordsmen, and judging by their numbers, there were about four, five hundred of them.

Four, five hundred First-level Elemental Swordsmen. Such a terrifying number was difficult for Commander Mance to imagine. Even the Firebird Legion, one of the four great armies of the Kingdom of Light, had only been able to gather a thousand First-level Elemental Swordsmen during their peak.

Just like that, this bunch of bandits with broken weapons, who did not even have armor... This motley crew was able to rival half of the Firebird Legion?

Bang.

With another heavy blow, Commander Mance was shaken and thrown off by a powerful force. He fell heavily to the ground, before struggling to stand up, but his internal organs were in such pain that he felt as though they were on fire. Serious injuries had already been inflicted upon him.

As for the six hundred Firebird knights, they had long been swallowed up in the sea of people. Surrounded and attacked by the bandits, half of them had been injured and killed. Now, less than three hundred of them were left.

"We're finished..."

Commander Mance closed his eyes in pain. He had never thought that he would die in the hands of a gang of bandits.

Princess Charise's face was already a shade of ghastly white, as she watched the battle from afar. Her entire body was trembling due to fear. The situation had rapidly worsened; she had not expected that a bunch of bandits who had seemed so weak that they would not be able to withstand a blow, would be so fierce. She saw how the six hundred Firebird knights, the entire army led by Commander Mance, were about to be completely annihilated.

Princess Charise no longer had a choice. It had also been difficult for her to imagine how tragic it was to fall at the hands of bandits.

"Deputy Commander Wayne, prepare for battle, for the honor of the Firebird!"

There was a complicated mix of expressions on Princess Charise's face. She drew out her silver greatsword as well, ready to fight to the death.

Swoosh.

The remaining two hundred Firebird knights pulled out the greatswords in their hands as well and raised them up high with solemnity upon their faces.

"In the name of the knights' glory, charge!"

"In the name of the knights' glory, charge!"

"..."

All of a sudden, Princess Charise and the others heard a deafening sound rumbling from behind them; something that seemed like a black mudslide came crashing down from the mountain slope.