As soon as Daneel reached the rock, the man with the bald patch leaped from on top of it and landed on the ground, 5 feet away from Daneel.
This entire section was devoid of any bandits, as if it was reserved for those who were foolish enough to challenge the leader- and Exalted Human.
Laughing lightly, Skylar cracked his neck from side to side and said, "It will be nice to get some punching practice in before the Gathering so that I'm fired up to take on the others. Which body part do you want to be broken now, Vincent? A leg, maybe? I told you to stop being so dumb."
Vincent: the new addition to this bandit group, had always been an odd one out.
Bandits had a very particular prejudice against those who hadn't lived similar lives as them. They actively shunned any and all people who had a decent upbringing and past, unlike theirs which was filled with darkness and blood.
Hence, when Vincent, the drunkard who was an Eminent Mage had joined the group with a spotless face and clean looks, everyone had come to the conclusion that no one would fraternize with him.
Vincent had liked nothing better. Clearly, there was a reason that he drunk himself silly every day, but he held it close to heart. His only goal was to defeat the leader and take his post, as it looked like he had some sort of objective to complete after achieving that.
Only, his dedication to that objective wasn't very high, as he could usually be found passed out in a pool of his own piss beside the bar area.
He was known for his antics of challenging the leader in drunken hazes, which always resulted in him losing the functioning of a body part until he got it healed. The leader still valued him as he was, after all, an Eminent Mage who got stuff done even though he was drunk, so that was why he hadn't killed him and allowed this to happen.
Hence, the moment he reached the leader and brandished his fists while waving from side to side as if he were a leaf that would blow away at any second, it became clear that everyone was in for a show.
Only, no one could have expected that this show would be so much more electrifying than they could think.
Without showing much caution, the leader lunged forward with a punch aimed at the drunkard's head to incapacitate him, so that he could safely dump him to the ground before having his way with him.
Yet, the moment his fist was going to connect with the mop of hair of the drunk man, he felt that something was wrong.
Shing!
A blade of metal appeared at lightning speed in the hand of the drunkard who had seemed to be only half in control of his wits till now, and as it shone in the light being cast onto the scene by the lamps on the walls, the man's eyes shone along with them.
This…speed of spellcasting! An Exalted Human!
As the bandits and the leader all realized it at the same moment, a smooth uppercut sent the magic blade in the direction of the leader's heart.
Yet, just before it connected, a barrier came into being that deflected it and allowed a moment of reprieve for the leader, who hastily stepped back with extreme, mind-numbing shock on his face.
"No, leader!"
Only, the moment he did, screams echoed from the watching bandits.
Even as he wondered why that was the case, Skylar heard a horrifying sound in his ears.
Ting! Ting! Ting! Ting!
As a bandit, and an Exalted Mage bandit, at that, he had procured all the barrier trinkets he could, which he wore on his body at all times. At any moment of time, anyone would require 10 strikes to kill him, as the first 9 would all be blocked by the barriers.
And what he was hearing…was the sound of successive barriers breaking, one by one.
As he turned around in an attempt to see who or what the culprit was, he felt like rubbing his eyes.
At some point, a bevy of floating knives had come into being, each of which was neatly arranged with a little bit of distance between each of them so that they could successively break each barrier.
And he…had stepped right into them by stepping back.
In the only instant of time he had before he met certain death, Skylar cast a teleportation spell to leave this dangerous place.
Only, as he saw even this thwarted, he felt like sitting down on the ground and crying with frustration.
Even a damn anti-teleportation trinket had been activated by his opponent.
It was as if…he had started a choreographed dance, with each step perfectly under the control of the choreographer, who was his opponent, who had somehow taught him the steps and was making him follow them without his own knowledge.
That was the all the time he had had, so, a moment later, a knife smoothly entered his brain and exited through his Mageroot, granting him a swift death.
As for the last thought he had before dying…it was that he honestly wanted to clap at this performance, as it looked just so magical and perfect, albeit in a diabolical and bloody way.
As shocked silence spread throughout the room, Daneel, who was in the form of Vincent, straightened his back which had been hunched.
The drunken demeanor was finally gone, replaced by the arrogance of one whose scheme had just worked.
He was wearing the dirty, ragged, stinking clothes of a bandit for whom hygiene was the last priority, but still, at this moment, he let a hint of the aura that had awed the entire continent, itself, spread, which made the watching bandits' minds go blank.
Walking forward to the dead body of the man with the bald patch who had been the leader up until now, Daneel spit in his face, before flicking his finger and making a simple, wooden transparent casket appear.
The body floated into the casket, which was made to stand horizontally, displaying the face of the previous leader whose forehead was marred by a horizontal, bloody hole, through which his brain matter could be seen.
This chilling scene drilled it into the minds of all those watching, more than anything else.
Daneel had already figured out that as with normal people, the key to making these cold, bloodthirsty follow him instantly was theatrics.
Jaw-dropped, body-shattering theatrics that would result in them having no choice but cheer for him, lest he kill them all, too, in this exact way.
Of course, he had had to step stuff up a notch, and as the first cheer sounded, he smiled, knowing that it had worked.
"H-He did it! He told me he would, but I never believed it! He broke through and killed the leader!"
Saying so, this bandit who had managed to recover first and see the opportunity hurried forward to become the 'spokesman' of the leader, which was another important job.
Daneel was already floating in the air, and as this bandit reached the spot on the ground in front of him, he shouted, "Everyone, cheer for our new leader, Vincent! He will definitely lead us to many, many riches and women! Ha ha!"
With the visage of the previous leader clearly showing them what fate they would be subject to if they didn't support their new leader, the hundreds of bandits in the lair started to cheer, which made Daneel's smile broaden.
No matter how many times he experienced, this feeling of making a crowd turn in his direction through his actions…was something that would always make him feel very, very happy.
The cheering continued for a few moments, after which Daneel raised a hand and slashed the air, as a signal for it to stop.
Raising his hand and making a bottle of the costliest wine available, which was reserved for the reader, float to his hand, he threw his head back and chugged it all in one go.
When he was done, he wiped his mouth and said a single word.
"Drink."
With the raucousness returning, the cavern of bandits returned to their revelry.
This was, in fact, a common occurrence in smaller bandit groups, and they had all seen it before. The only reason they had been so awed now was that they had never been witness to such a smooth kill. Usually, there would only be messy attempts which were nowhere near as exciting to look at.
His first object accomplished, Daneel walked to the back of the the flat rock, where a table had been hewn out of a boulder.
On this table, there were the familiar three trinkets used by the man with the bald patch before, along with a fourth one. One of the three was flashing, indicating that there was a message.
The moment he touched it, that gruff voice said, "Skylar, are you done with the battles? There were only a few pesky brats here. I wanted to discuss something with you. Why don't we ally together and push that newcomer out? We can do whatever we wish, then. The safest thing would be to leave! We can definitely get a foothold elsewhere, especially if we work together."
In a nonchalant tone, Daneel replied, "Skylar is no longer with us. I'm Vincent."
This was followed by a few moments of silence, after which a laugh was heard through the trinket.
"Great! Congratulations! I always hated that that bald bastard anyway. Now then, Vincent. The offer still stands."
The hypocrisy of this man was something that could only be marveled at.
Shaking his head, Daneel said, "I'll make a decision during the Gathering. If I'm with you, you'll know."
"Sure, take your time! Again, congratulations!"
As the voice faded away, Daneel chuckled and waited for the Gathering to start.
He had spent yesterday doing some investigations, and some very interesting stuff had turned up.
The Gathering began exactly 9 minutes later, and as Daneel silenced the cavern again, he changed the mode of the last trinket to 'loudspeaker', which allowed all the bandits to listen.
"The Gathering has begun. I am Asher, the same bandit who hosted the last Gathering, too. Almost all bandit groups are in attendance, along with the three leaders who were elected last time. Today's agenda: the future plan of the alliance, now that the train system between Lanthanor and Eldinor can no longer be delayed. But first, before that, we have Vincent, who has taken over Skylar's place. By virtue of showing his power, he has inherited the alliance leader place of his predecessor. As such, a fresh vote can now be called, but personally, I urge you all not to let this happen, as time is precious. Now, then. Do any of you three want to call for a vote? Even if one of you wants to, it will be done."
The person who spoke had a surprisingly deep voice, which garnered the utmost attention of all those listening.
The garbled voice answered first.
"I pass."
The gruff voice followed.
"I pass."
Only, when it was the turn of the last leader who had newly ascended to his post, only silence was heard through the display trinket.
"Mr. Vincent, we are waiting for your answer."
As annoyed murmurs started to sound in many bandit groups who were listening, the new leader made a statement that made almost everyone rub their ears and wonder if they had heard right.
"I call for a vote. I have no intention of sharing this leadership with someone like Riordan. I propose that he be stripped, and I encourage all those who are under him to come under me."
Even the bandits in front of Daneel were shocked.
This drunkard hadn't been the leader for even an hour, and he was already creating so much trouble?
With fury clearly visible in his voice, Riordan, the third leader, asked, "And why is that?"
Daneel answered in a merry voice.
"Oh, I thought you would never ask, Riordan. I recently came across some very interesting news…you see, I could never have guessed that your real name is John Burrows. Everyone, let me tell you a bit about John Burrows. He was born in the massive family estate of the esteemed Burrows family in the Kingdom of Arafell. For his schooling, he went to Lanthanor to attend a private academy for the rich. His parents have a real nice marriage, and he even visits them occasionally. In fact, that was where he was last night. And why did he become a bandit, you ask? Of course, to exploit you all and earn money on your blood which will sustain the rich lifestyle of the Burrows! Now, as someone who grew up in the slums, I think I can speak for everyone listening when I say that I WILL NOT stand for Mr. Richie Rich here continuing to exploit us, just like all those arseholes who did the same thing all our lives and drove us into this life. Well, that's my thought, at least. Who's with me?"