Berserk: The Prophet

Green and his companions cautiously made their way through the increasingly dense pine forest. The surroundings were eerily quiet, with only the occasional cawing of crows.

"Ping!" "Pfft!"

The faint metallic clanging reached Green's ears.

"Stop! Listen, can you hear the sound of weapons clashing?"

Everyone immediately stopped and listened intently. Sure enough, the faint metallic clanging and occasional muffled groans came intermittently from the depths of the woods, suggesting that the conflict involved no more than ten people.

"Let's go check it out."

Green took the lead and went to the source of the sound, followed closely by the others, trying their best to keep quiet in order to conceal their movements.

......

With their food supplies running low, Bibin bid farewell to his mother in the morning, preparing to carry a basket of coal to the town at the foot of the mountain to exchange for some food. After instructing his mother not to respond to any strangers who came to the house, Bibin packed his clothes and locked the door.

As for self-defense, he only took his father's spare pickaxe, which was just enough to give him some leverage.

It wasn't until the afternoon that Bibin reached the edge of Landier. He estimated that he wouldn't be able to reach the foot of the Landier Mountains until tomorrow morning at the earliest, before heading to the town in southern Baldian.

Actually, there is a relatively flat road from Landir to Baldian, but it is a dirt road. When it rains or snows, the road becomes slippery, and no matter how easy the uphill road is, it still has an incline. Moreover, it takes a long detour to get there, which would take at least four or five days.

Aside from caravans traveling to and from Landir, almost no one uses that road. Moreover, unless they are desperate to survive or have to live in Landir due to their supervisory duties, almost no Baldians would go to Landir. And those who have settled in Landir rarely move out, so very few people know about this road.

Ever since lunch, Bibin has felt like someone is following him. At first, it seemed like there were only two or three people, who would hide again when they got too close. But somehow, the number gradually increased.

The frequent footsteps pounded on the snow and dead wood, making a deep, resonant sound. The sound grew closer and closer, forcing Bibin to grip his pickaxe tightly, stop, and place the basket of coal he was carrying on the ground.

Bibin looked around warily and shouted, "Who's there? Come out! What are you doing following me like that?"

Silence reigned all around, broken only by the howling wind that rustled the branches. But Bibin could sense that those hidden in the shadows hadn't left; they seemed to be waiting for something.

Suddenly, a group of people, about a dozen in total, rushed out from all directions of the woods and surrounded Bibin.

These people were dressed in rags, their eyes filled with greed and ferocity. They carried various crude weapons, including wooden sticks, rusty daggers, and even simple spears made from crooked, long branches.

"Kid, hand over everything you can eat!" a tall, thin man with a stubble-covered face and drooling mouth said menacingly.

The group stared intently at young Bibin, their eyes like those of hungry wolves who hadn't had a full meal in a long time.

Bibin's heart skipped a beat. Looking at the group of men who looked like wolves and tigers, he subconsciously gripped the pickaxe in his hand and calmly replied loudly, "I don't have much food on me, just this little bit of coal. If you want it, take it. Don't make things difficult for me!"

The tall, thin man sneered, "Coal? What would we need that junk for! You little brat, don't think you can get away with this. I saw it all. You're definitely hiding food on you. If you don't hand it over, don't blame us for being impolite!" As he spoke, he waved the spiked wooden stick in his hand, his gesture full of taunts.

Bibin frowned; he knew these people wouldn't let him go easily. At that moment, he quickly considered his options, his eyes constantly scanning the surrounding environment and the enemy's positions, trying to find an opportunity to escape.

But the other side was clearly a group of desperate criminals, blinded by hunger, and they swarmed at Bibin when they saw that he did not give up resisting.

Bibin's narrowed eyes widened in anger. This person had driven him into a corner, so he couldn't be blamed!

A bloody battle ensued.

Although Bibin was not yet ten years old and came from a miner's family, he was already 1.6 meters tall and had a particularly sturdy build because he often did manual labor with his father and was the only child in the family.

"drink--!!"

With that single swing of the pickaxe, several famished and unsteady convicts were instantly killed. Blood splattered everywhere. Before he could even be surprised that he had killed someone, Bibin raised his pickaxe to block the attacks of the others.

Bibin's fierce resistance instantly heightened the tension. Although the convicts were taken aback by Bibin's bravery, hunger and greed drove them to continue their attack.

Green and the others watched closely from the sidelines. Jacob couldn't help but whisper, "This kid is quite brave, but there are too many of them. He'll be in danger if this continues."

Green nodded. "Yes, we can't wait any longer. Let's make our move. Black-armored archer, get ready!!"

As Green finished speaking, ten black-armored archers appeared from the hilltop, nocking their bows and aiming at the bandits in perfect unison.

“Shoot!!”

With a flick of his right hand, Green fired ten arrows that pierced the vital points of the ten bandits without missing a single shot, killing them instantly and without wasting a single bullet.

The chaotic battle instantly quieted down as the bandits fell.

Bibin stared blankly at the corpses with their heads pierced through. Such superb archery skills would have been impossible to react to if they had been aimed at him.

The enemy was completely wiped out, and Green and the others emerged from behind the hill. "Are you alright?"

When Bibin came to his senses, he felt a wave of fear, but he was mostly grateful for Green and the others' timely intervention.

"Thank you for saving me," Bibin said sincerely, his eyes filled with gratitude.

Green waved his hand. "It's nothing. When you encounter something like this while traveling, you should lend a hand if you can. How did you end up here alone and run into these bandits?"

Bibin sighed and explained that his family's food supplies were running low and that he planned to use the coal to exchange for some food in town.

“I see. On my way here, a group of farmers came to a mountain village and were planning to build a road to facilitate their grain business. You can go there and ask them if they need coal, since grain is in short supply everywhere these days.”

Green pointed out a road to Demacia Village to the boy who looked a few years older than himself.

Bibin's eyes lit up, and he gripped his pickaxe, bowing deeply in gratitude: "Thank you! If it weren't for you, I'm afraid I wouldn't even be able to keep this basket of coal."

“It’s alright, you can go with my subordinate. You’ll have someone to look after you along the way.” Green sent out a black-armored archer to complete the task.

"This... I am extremely grateful, sir." Bibin looked at Green, who was a head shorter than him, and suddenly became curious. At such a young age, having so many well-armed attendants, he must be a young master from some noble family.

“I don’t care about such formalities. You should hurry up and get there before dark. Don’t worry your mother.” Green urged, seemingly seeing through Bibin’s thoughts.

Bibin nodded, slung his coal basket back over his shoulder, and followed the black-armored archer as they turned and left.