Slave Harem in the Labyrinth of the Other World (LN)

Until now, the Bandit leader had both of his feet planted firmly in the ground so that he would not get pushed back by me, but then the force of his push suddenly got weaker as his feet began to move again when he tried to use his feet in order to knock me down to the ground, so I also stopped pushing and delivered a quick slash aimed at his right foot which was the closest to me, but as soon as he saw that I was aiming Durandal at his feet, he made a quick backstep to increase the distance between us as much as he needed to stay out of my blades reach. Damn it, talk about a troublesome opponent! Who would have thought that someone as simplistic as a lowly Bandit Leader was going to prove to be such a pain in the ass who not only used the power of his muscles and his bug weapon, but also a swift legwork as well?!

Will I really be able to win against an opponent like that? Well, of course I will win against him, but the question is: how? Because as things are standing right now, I think I will have no other way but to really go and bust out Overwhelming. But as I was about to activate it, I noticed that the Bandit Leaders line of sight has been drawn slightly to the right, and when I glanced there myself, I saw that it was actually because Roxanne has begun moving behind my back. If I had not known her as good I am have, I would have probably freaked out the moment when I sensed her presence behind me, because I would have surely mistake her for yet another Bandit that has suddenly joined the fray.

Yes, I almost forgot about that. I am not alone in this battle. I have Roxanne and Sherry here with me, so I am not fighting against this Bandit Leader one on one, but this encounter is actually a three versus one.

Ei!!!

Since the Bandit Leader was completely preoccupied with Roxanne who was moving behind my back, he could have never hoped to notice Sherry, who moved in from my left and thrusted her spear forward with a Spirited shout. And since the Steel Spear that Sherry was holding was at least two meters long, she managed to perform her attack from a safe distance that practically guaranteed that the Bandit Leader would not be able to retaliate against her in any way, shape or form! I was hoping that Sherrys sudden thrust would be able to pierce our opponents left side and slow him down as a result, but Bandit Leader Lv.40 blocked the attack of Sherrys Steel Spear with his sword. Even when he had the odds stacked so heavily against him, I have to give him credit for remaining much calmer than I have expected.

However, there was a gap in his defense that I can easily exploit right now. Sherry might have not pierced the Bandit Leaders body with her spear from the left, but she managed to do something that was just as good: she focused the enemys defenses and attention entirely on his left side, which mean that the other one, his right side was wide opened and defenseless, so I took my chances and thrusted Durandal forward in there!

K h h h h h g h h h. g h h h h h h h h a a a a a a a a a!!!!

Durandal breaks through the chain mail and stabs the Bandits body. I would not call it a stab right through the heart, but judging from the position where my sword pierced his body, I definitely must have damaged the area around it at worst. So now that Durandals blade if firmly embedded in his body, I twist it and rotate it around as much as possible to make sure that the maximum possible damage is going to be inflicted onto him without giving him a chance to pull the sword out or to perform any kind of counterattack.

Then, after I widened his wound, I slowly pulled Durandal out diagonally, and watched as the last Bandits body collapsed onto the ground. I was afraid for a second that Durandals blade might get stuck in the Bandits guts, but fortunately, nothing of that sort happened and the blade slid out of him as if it was buttered up, leaving the Bandits body lying prone on the ground before me.

There was no further signs of any movement coming from him, so the injury that I have inflicted upon him must have been a fatal one.

It is over.

Yes, it would seem that this is indeed over, master.

Roxanne talked to me while moving around in a more relaxed manner now that the battle has been finished with our victory.

Okay, now then..

I was about ready to move on and proceed with the exploration of the thirteenth floor now that this little incident was over, but then my ears were drawn to a peculiar sound that sounded as if someone was cutting through flesh, so I turned back to see what was that al about, and what I saw.. was that Roxanne was cutting off the left wrist of a fallen Bandit. Uhm, Roxanne? What are you doing?

Is is everyone okay? You did not get injured in this battle, did you?

Yes, I believe that both Sherry and I managed to come out of this unexpected skirmish unharmed.

That is great to hear. Also, thank you for distracting the Bandit Leader the way you did back there. That was a huge help.

Of course! If you want us to do so again, just say the word, master!

Honestly, I would have preferred them not to put themselves in such danger if they absolutely did not have to do it, but if they are offering to do so themselves, then how can I say no to their earnest pleas? But anyway, I noticed that Sherry was also doing the same thing that Roxanne was doing, but she was cutting the Bandit Leaders hand off with the tip of her spear. Honestly, what are they doing? Roxanne was even taking all of the equipment of the fallen Bandits, stripping it right off their bodies like some kind of grave robber. I mean, okay, these guys attacked us first and we killed them in self defense, so by the laws of this world we had every right to claim anything that they might have had on them as our own spoils of war, but it still made me feel somewhat bad, even more so since with these actions my intent for the two of them to have their hands clean. *Sigh*.

Ah, good. I see you have also cut off his wrist, Sherry. Good job.

Yes, Miss Roxanne!

Both of them collected the wrists of the killed Bandits and then wrapped them up in the pieces of fabric that they have tore off from the pieces of clothing that they have stripped from them. I was wondering what they were doing, but could it be.. could it be about the Bandits Intelligence Cards? After all, Intelligence Cards are placed in your left wrist, and it is a common practice to cut off the wrists of defeated Bandits and Thieves so that you could exchange their Intelligence Cards for money. And now that I a thinking about it, I already saw a handless corpse of a Bandit before, back when I was looking through the slums in Vale where that one Bandits body was dumped into the streets after he got killed by the rivalling Bandit faction.

In the next moment after Roxanne and Sherry cut off the Bandits wrists, their bodies began to sink into the floor of the Labyrinth, and they disappeared like that one after another. Were they being sunk, pulled, or perhaps eaten? In any case, their bodies have been completely gone without a trace now, and if it was not for the pieces of their equipment on the floor next to Roxanne and Sherry that they placed there after they finished stripping it off of them, then I would not have even known that a battle has taken place here. Is that how the Labyrinths are digesting people who died within them? Also, back when we found that Party that has been defeated by a Pan on the seventh floor of Vales Labyrinth, their equipment was left after they have died,

most likely because it takes much longer for a Labyrinth to process weapons and equipment than the bodies of the people. But anyway, even though their equipment was left, the same thing could not be said about their Intelligence Cards.