‎A total of five carriages left the port with the Blackhands riding their horses and guarding the perimeter around the carriages, the horses that Rasmus had bought. Their destination was Araknum City, the city that was owned by the Ashenvale family. The journey would take them a whole week, meaning there would be a lot of assassination attempts to get rid of Anastasha.

‎Rasmus was listening to the current state of the Ashenvale family. With the rapid growth of the Urion businesses, the Ashenvale had lost at least five percent of their power in East Neva. With the support of two Sultans, the Urion family easily monopolized those two kingdoms, kicking the Ashenvale from their lands.

‎"What's the origin of the Urion family? It looks like they're so eager to push the Ashenvale's influence and power. As far as I know, the Ashenvale never had any major conflicts that made them look bad," Rasmus looked at Anastasha, who was reading a small piece of paper that she received from a mysterious person before she left the port.

‎"It has to do with their lineage. The Ashenvale is a descendant of the Urkman family, the founder and the first Sultan that ruled half of East Neva back then under the Great Yunas Empire," Anastasha answered, her eyes focused on the piece of paper with her stoic expression.

‎Rasmus hummed and he had read about the Great Yunas Empire back then in the Gratlan Academy's library. There were so many volumes of encyclopedia that recorded every major event that happened back then. The empire that was formed three hundred years ago and fell a hundred years ago. However, he didn't have the chance to read everything and only read half of the first volume of the encyclopedia.

‎"For the reason behind the Urion family's ambition, it's because the Urion family is also a descendant of the Urkman family. The family that fell due to the power struggle, the one who caused their fall? It was the Ashenvale," Anastasha revealed and put away the paper.

‎"So it's an act of revenge. But you're coming with me? I remembered you're quite close with the Urion family, the one you introduced me back then, Usman Urion," Rasmus furrowed his brows and looked at Anastasha, who was deep in thought.

‎"Oh, that man. He's just like me, remember? He doesn't want to be a part of the family power struggle. An outcast with a desire to live without fear of knowing that a dagger might cut their throats when they close their eyes," Anastasha answered, and finally looked at Rasmus. "Soft by choice is self-explanatory."

‎Rasmus understood the circumstances since it was a common thing in Neva and on Earth. Then he suddenly felt something was off about his surroundings that he had to look out the window. He looked out the other window to check that side as well, and it was the same. Anastasha who saw him move from one side to another, she couldn't help but ask.

"They're not assassins?" Anastasha asked, knowing that something was coming toward them.

"No, they don't have that intense killing intent," Rasmus shook his head. "There are a lot of them, too many..." He pointed out as he looked at the top of the cliffs.

"Ahh, so it's the infamous bandit group called the Scorpion Tails. The notorious bandit group around here that has been roaming around for the past five years," Anastasha answered, but her expression was too calm and too relaxed. "They're the Urion family's dogs. Sabotaging, plundering, and even killing their competitors's goods and merchants," she pointed out.

"I see, what do you want to do?" Rasmus glanced at Anastasha.

"Well, you're going to choose a side with the Ashenvale family, right? And as you know, I chose Usman over the other brother, which mean these bandits are a sore in the eye. We can just make some excuses if somehow we decided to change side temporarily that those bandits chose the wrong victims," Anastasha smiled coldly at Rasmus.

Rasmus remembered what Anastasha said that the only way to gain influence in this continent was to play on the board instead of controlling the board. He then told Erdinand, who had become his coachman to stop the carriage.

When Rasmus walked down the carriage, all the Blackhands immediately formed a formation around his carriage. They were aware of what was waiting for them when they entered the desert crevasse. It didn't take a while until a shadow appeared, and everyone looked up at the man wearing a black turban and scarf that covered his face, leaving on his eyes. One by one, more and more of them stood on the edges of the cliffs, looking down at them while they were holding scimitars and sabers.

"Get under the cliff!" Javi shouted, warning everyone.

As soon as Javi said that, big boulders of rocks were being pushed off the cliffs. Everyone ran to take cover, but Rasmus stayed still and watched the boulders fall right above him. He flicked his hand and immediately the boulders turned into tiny debris, dirtying his suit. He flicked the dust and debris off his shoulders as he looked up at the bandits' shocked expressions.

"He's a mage! Don't let him use another magic!" The bandit leader shouted as he pointed his saber at Rasmus.

All the bandits jumped down the cliffs, finding platforms for them to land on before they jumped to the lower platforms. However, they noticed how the sky suddenly turned dark, and when they looked up, they saw a black smoke that looked like a black semi-transparent cloth floating in the sky. They didn't know what it was until they saw balls of smoke descended and hit them.

The bandits tried to get rid of the smoke, and when they started to panic, the smoke entered through the gap of their masks and entered their noses and mouths. All the bandits suffocated and slipped, falling down to the ground that was at fifty meters away. They all fell on their heads, making loud cracking and snapping sounds, and died instantly without them knowing since their minds and bodies were being consumed by Rullein.

Anastasha watched the gruesome power of Rullein, sucking the soul, flesh, and organs of the bandits until they turned so skinny that they looked like skeletons with skins. She decided to get out of the carriage to look at the corpses from up close. She slowly pulled the scarf down and was terrified by the expression on the bandit's face, it looked like someone who had died from fear.

"Don't you find it weird?" Rasmus asked as he approached Rullein.

Anastasha flinched, startled by Rasmus' voice and immediately cleared her throat and stood up. She walked away from the bandit, her eyes couldn't look away from the bandit's face until she forced herself to look away and looked at Rasmus.

"Weird? What's weird?" Anastasha asked under her breath.

"These bandits," Rasmus pointed at the corpses. "They should know that you're with us. Shouldn't they let us pass here and not block us and tried to do whatever they tried to do," he pointed out.

"Hmm, that's possible, but it's also possible they're here because they have planned to plunder anyone that uses this route," Anastasha nodded in agreement. "But you're right, they should have someone in the port to inform them, and they still chose to ambush us, which is weird," she crossed her arms, thinking of the possibility that her family had something to do with this.

"Well, I don't think it matters anymore. It's not like I'm unaware that I'm being hunted, so what's the difference?" Anastasha smiled at Rasmus. "Shall we keep moving? Our journey is long, and I don't like desert in general," she unfolded her fan and fanned her neck.

Rasmus looked at the others and signaled them to get on their horses and continue the journey.