14 bandits against little old me.
Oh no.
What ever shall I do.
"You cunt!" one of them called, rushing at me, brass knuckles bared.
He was... so dreadfully pathetic. His footwork was all wrong, he had his fist already reared back, his guard wide open.
I leaned to the left slightly, dodging his fist -as if it would somehow do damage to me even if it had hit-, then bringing up my knee and smashing it into his stomach.
"Language." I admonished, before stepping back and kicking the bastard right in his smug prick face.
He dropped to the ground, unconscious and probably concussed from the hit.
Good.
"Attack all at once, idiots!" Another one of them, who I noted was dressed better than the rest of the rabble, shouted. Probably a leader.
Five more charged, the rest hovering behind them, as there simply wasn't enough room inside the store for all of them to attack me as the same time.
Still, at least the ones who did attack had daggers or swords, which would prevent them from striking each other if they were intelligent about it.
This time, I didn't bother blocking or dodge as they came closer to me, stabbing at me with knives and blades, each one failing to truly accomplish anything other than annoy me.
Then again, that was also true for... pretty much everything else, actually.
"You know, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. I'm sorry, but that isn't going to happen." I reached around, picking up the two at the furthermost edges of the group, before slamming them into their friends.
I reached up, pulling their swords and daggers out of my chest, letting them drop to the ground as I did- and making sure that the wooden floor wasn't damaged, as I pretty sure Miyako and Kasai wouldn't like that.
I tap my foot against the ground, letting My Darkness crawl over the floor, silent and invisible.
When they tried to run -and they would, if they were smart-, I'd be ready for it.
I looked over to the rest of them, the entire group radiating fear, though the one I pegged as the boss was significantly less fearful than the rest of them.
I wonder why?
It's not like he had any greater a chance than they.
"Ugh." He spat in disgust. "Get out of the way you fools. Do I have to do everything myself?" He reached into his coat, slowly pulling out a...
A gun.
Huh.
Don't see many of those in this World. Wonder where he got it from?
"You realise that this isn't going to work, right?" I asked him. He just sneered, aiming in my direction with an unsteady hand.
"Die, motherfucker!" The gun kicked as it fired, sending out a cloud of black smoke that temporarily obscured his vision of me.
The bullet itself, however, hit me in the chest, piercing my cloak and sinking into my body.
It didn't make it all the way through, though, so I idly reached in and pulled it out, letting the hole it had made seal a moment later.
I let the chunk of metal roll around in my fingers, holding it up to where he could see it.
Idly, I flicked it into the air, letting the sound of metal hitting wood ring out through the oddly silent store. "I am not impressed."
"Fuck this, I'm out!" One of the bandits shouted, beginning to sprint for the door.
I glanced in his direction, letting him get to just a few feet away from the door, before My Darkness sprang out of the floor and wrapped around his ankle, tripping him and stopping him from getting out. Another though, and another tendril fell from the ceiling, grabbing his other ankle and hoisting him up, the first tendril vanishing as it did.
"Well, whatever, I'm sick of dealing with you all." I nodded.
Several more tendrils rose out of the ground, coiling dangerously in front of them. I didn't give them any time to do anything stupid, so I let the tendrils strike, quickly lashing out against the group of bandits.
Slow, untrained and unaware, there was no way that they stood even the most minor chance of escaping, my tendrils restraining them quickly and viciously. More than a few bones were broken, but I didn't care about that.
"And where do you think you're going?" I asked, not even bothering to turn towards the door, just sending a tendril out to grab the leg of the idiot who'd run outside, dragging him kicking and screaming back inside.
"I think you can all just go to time-out now, children. I hear prison is nice this time of year."
I quickly had my tendrils dip into pockets, pulling out wallets and pouches and money, liberating them of their ill gotten goods.
Satisfied, I teleported them away, one by one, into the prison a couple hundred meters from here.
I nodded, letting the tendrils fade away when the last of them disappeared, reabsorbing My Darkness once more.
I turned around, looking at Miyako and Kasai. "Are you alright Miyako-san, Kasai-san?"
Kasai was shaking like a leaf, the large, heavyset man being surprisingly timid, completely belaying his size.
Not that Miyako was any better, the young girl on the verge of crying. Her hand slowly rose, pointing at me. "Sw-sword."
My head cocked to the side. What was she..?
I looked down.
Oh.
Right, I should probably get that sword out of my back.
"Ah. Yes."
How the fuck did I forget about the sword I'd had shoved through my back?
I reached around, gripping the handle and pulling back, using my other hand to push the tip, making it a little bit easier to get out. It was still a little bit awkward, though.
I dropped it next to the other weapons, walking over to one of the shelves.
Carefully, I pulled out two bottles of Sake, before heading back over Miyako. "Just the usual."
The girl stared at me, uncomprehending.
What, had I forgotten another sword?