Is that a Wisp?

At the start, there were forty bandits and three Yin Beasts. The bandit boss had brought over all his men in this dangerous operation. After all, they were facing a Yin Beast. Taking even one down needed a group of soldiers at the very least.

With that, he didn't have the leeway to leave anyone behind in their headquarters. Well, there was also the fact that he had a use for the Yin Beast corpses to further his plans.

Thus, he had brought them all. There was also the trust factor to account for in this. He didn't trust any bandit to leave them behind in the headquarters during his absence. He had a lot of valuables there that he didn't wish for anyone to come across.

They were a secret only known to him. Due to that, he brought everyone with him on this journey to annihilate their threat.

Ten minutes since the start of the high-pitched battle, a Yin Beast was killed. Fourteen bandits paid their lives to do that.

Thirty minutes into the battle, the second Yin Beast died. However, this time, only ten bandits remained alive. They were already hoping to escape.

Unfortunately for them, the bandit boss constantly warned them that escape wasn't an option. The Yin Beast was specialized in tracking, and that it would track them down and kill them before dawn.

And since he himself was still giving his all in the fight, the remaining bandits could only grit their teeth and throw themselves at the final Yin Beast.

As both sides were exhausted, the battle was no longer high-pitched. The Yin Beast minimized its movements, only evading when necessary to use its injuries to claim a life.

"It's on its last legs. Don't lunge to attack. Maintain your distance and target its legs first," the bandit boss shouted, acting like he was lunging with his scimitar to throw the Yin Beast into reacting.

When it reacted to target him, the remaining bandits took the opportunity to attack it, riddling it with more injuries.

However, it seemed that was its actual plan as the Yin Beast suddenly grabbed hold of a spear and wielded it like a human. It had learned the method to do so during the fight, watching their attacks.

Grabbing the spear, it thrust the tip into a bandit's neck, pulling it out to make a wide sweep, making a gash on the faces of three more bandits.

As the four injured bandits flinched at the attacks, it leaped into the air, breaking the spear into two to defend against the bandit boss's scimitar, unleashing a backhanded kick onto a bandit that sneaked up on it.

The kick caused him to cough up blood, kneeling on the ground in exhaustion as he was riddled with injuries.

'Damn it. Five people were incapacitated in this attack.' The bandit boss grunted, increasing the force he exerted in the scimitar to cut into the spear shaft and make a long gash on the Yin Beast's shoulder.

"Arrrggghhh!" he shouted, intending to lodge the scimitar deeper into it when the Yin Beast roared in response, biting the head of a nearby bandit, ripping it apart before crunching it a bit. It then spat it onto his face, blanketing his senses, using the chance to plunge its claws into his chest.

"Gah!" As the bandit boss grunted in response, the Yin Beast shuddered. Surprisingly, two bandits had rammed up a sword each through its back, making use of the wounds it had sustained.

All the bandits that were still able to move rushed in to target it, plunging their weapons into it.

Unfortunately, the Yin Beast didn't die yet, displaying exceptional vitality as its claws slashed forth, targeting their necks. It was no longer a dogfight but one where the two parties bit into each other.

"Groorrr…" The Yin Beast weakly growled as its voice lost all signs of life. As for the bandits, they were all bleeding, clutching their wounds, trying to stop the blood from flowing but lacking the strength to do so.

At this time, Krune arrived at the battlefield, alarming the bandits as he smiled at them before pocketing the Nightmare Core in his pocket. With the Yin Beasts dead, he didn't have to worry about them targeting him first. He held the Cloud Whale in his hand, pointing it at the closest bandit.

Air Needle!

He killed all the bandits, double-checking once before condensing the Cloud Whale around the Nightmare Core, causing it to hover on the ground before beginning to suck up all the blood.

Even though the blood of the humans had mixed with the Yin Beasts on the ground, they were all sucked into the nightmare Core without problem, suddenly causing a whirring sound as everything was automatically absorbed by it.

Krune watched the scene solemnly, shuddering after an hour had passed, noticing that there wasn't even an ounce of blood in his vicinity. The corpses of both the humans and Yin Beasts were now bone dry.

Krune then crouched before a Yin Beast's corpse, noticing that its teeth, claws, and eyeballs still retained their luster, not being damaged in the slightest even after the rest of its body looked like it had aged considerably.

With that, he extracted them from the three corpses, placed them in a bag that he made using the clothes of a bandit, and then began to walk in the direction of the bandit headquarters.

After more than two hours of walking, Krune was completely exhausted. In any case, he finally arrived at the bandit headquarters.

It wasn't a building but rather a cave that had formed naturally within a hill. It almost formed a tiny labyrinth with countless small caves attached to it.

So, it naturally formed a place where they could live. At present, there were no sentries placed here, as everyone had died.

The bandits had no worry that the villagers would try to enter their den. After all, only if they had a death wish would they dare to do so.

Despite it being empty, Krune was still alert, cautiously entering the place as he relied on his echolocation to sense around. He looked through the caves, finally arriving at a discrete location, the most guarded of them all.

And upon opening the door, Krune was alarmed, saying with a hint of surprise in his tone, "So, this is your secret."