Death… And Me

The bandit didn't waste time before saying.

"I'll say anything, please don't kill me!"

Luina, Oritis, and Rolim nodded, satisfied. That's what they wanted to hear. However, Rean just shook his head. Luina's group got puzzled by that, but they just waited to listen to what Roan had to say.

Roan smiled after hearing that too. However, he shook his head as well in the end. He then put his hand on one of the man's injuries and channeled his Dark Element. Immediately, the bandit's expression changed.

"Ahhhrg!"

Dark Element destroys Life Energy, and Roan was making it circulate the guy's body. Because Roan had already destroyed his dantian, he is nothing more than an ordinary person now. He simply had no way of resisting it. Having one's own Life Energy attacked like that was more painful than any injury Roan could ever afflict him.

Roan then used his Spiritual Energy to Seal the man's mouth. So even though it was open, no one could hear anything. Roan didn't care about his suffering, though.

"I guess you misunderstood my intentions here. Doesn't matter what you say, you will die. How many innocent people have you killed because of your greed before? There is no way I could let you go after that. At the moment, you only have two options. Die a swift death, which I strongly recommend, or a long and torturous one, I wouldn't go for that, though. Tell me what we want, and I can give you the first option. Otherwise, well, I guess you know what will happen."

Luina's group were frightened by what they saw. The way the man was contorting and his expression showed that he is having the most painful experience in his life. Luina had killed quite a few of the bandits, her companions too. However, even they couldn't look at what Roan was doing and turned their head away. Cruelty was far from being enough to describe that Roan's actions.

In the end, Luina couldn't help but ask.

"Ar-Are you going too far?"

Roan stopped his actions and looked at Luina, puzzled.

"How many people do you think he killed in these roads so far? No, I guess this is not enough to convince you. Let me change my question. How many women had he raped and then killed in these roads before? Chances are that some of them are still in their nest, being treated like sex dolls. Do you really think I'm going too far?"

Luina's expression changed after hearing what Roan said. 

"Are you sure he did such things, though?"

Roan smiled as he channeled his Dark Elements into the man again.

"Tell me how many girls have your group raped since you joined them. There is no need for real numbers. Just an estimative is enough."

The man couldn't even think straight as his inaudible scream came out. Finally, he seemed to start moving his mouth as if trying to say something. Roan dispelled the Spiritual Energy on the man's mouth after that.

"Ahhhh! Hundreds, maybe over a thousand. Kill me! Kill meeee! Ahhhh!"

Roan then sealed his mouth again as he looked at Luina with the same smile.

"If you want, I can ask him how they did each time."

Luina's expression changed completely. It was apparent she wanted to cut the bandit in a thousand pieces right now. Still, she took a deep breath before saying.

"Do what you have to."

She then turned around and left. 

Rean's expression didn't change even a bit. He already knew what type of person Roan is. He wouldn't go this far unless he was sure about his actions.

Finally, Roan changed his questions and began to inquire about the other bandit groups. Obviously, he did that while channeling his Dark Element into the man's body. He showed no mercy whatsoever, nor did the smile on his face disappear. That only made the man feel even more dread, though.

In the end, he confessed everything as fast as he could. He just wanted to die already. After Roan committed everything to mind, he swiftly cut the man's head.

Orits, who didn't leave, couldn't help but ask.

"Are you sure he didn't lie?"

Roan, now back to his deadpan expression, just nodded, not bothering to answer. How many tortures had he seen in his previous life (or death?) as death? He could tell with a glance that the man wasn't lying. The simple idea that lying could extend his pain even longer wiped out any thoughts of doing so from the bandit's head.

He then joined Luina, who was waiting in the distance. In the end, he decided to give her and the other two Lagan Sect Disciples a piece of advice. After all, they did a good job during the attack, in his opinion.

"First, throw away your overproud self. If not for Rean and me, your group would have charged directly inside the bandits' net. Second, stop being naive. Although I won't say that all bandits are rotten like that last one, I won't stop to think whether they are good or not. Wake up, girl. You aren't a kid anymore."

Luina narrowed her eyes, but she couldn't bring herself to refuse Roan's words. His actions proved that he was right, that's all that mattered.

Roan's question showed all the other group's locations. From what he found out, they only have two days to get rid of all the bandits. That's because the bandits' group should reunite after that. Once they notice that other groups didn't return, they will immediately understand what happened. After that, they will promptly cease their activities and spread. It won't be before a few months before they join together again. They have to finish everyone before that.

Roan then pointed in the map. He showed the location of the big groups and the small ones. From the groups' division, it was evident that their leader wasn't just brawn and no brains. He made it so that the small groups would act as scouts for the big ones. The small group they annihilated was one of the small ones.

The small groups were located in advantage positions where they had a fair vision of the roads. If the City Guards came passing in, they would immediately retreat and inform the big groups to withdraw into the forest. That's also why the City Guards couldn't get rid of them by themselves. They couldn't hide their numbers. Also, if a merchant caravan passed by the small groups and it was too hard to deal with, they would be able to inform the big ones and then organize a joint attack.

The location where the big groups were located also showed that they knew how to operate. It would give them the most significant terrain advantage, which proved beneficial even when many enemies were present.

Everyone nodded after Roan finished his words. Luina then looked at the sun high in the sky before saying.

"We only have two days, so we should move out now before we run out of time."

Roan smiled before shooking his head.

"No, we will wait for the night time."

Rean didn't say anything. As they had agreed before, any combat-related strategy was up to Roan. However, Luina and the other two narrowed their eyes.

"I understand that you want to take them while sleeping. However, it will be hard for our side to act during night time too. Besides, they know the land better than us and will definitely set up several traps after they retreat to their nest to rest."

Roan shrugged his shoulders.

"That's something for me to worry about. You just need to follow my words."