With a swift, aggressive motion, the first bandit charged at Louis, raising his sword in a deadly lunge. Louis stood stationary, without making any movement, until the last moment where his sword snapped into position, its tip hovering mere inches from the bandit's exposed throat. Before the bandit could even register the danger, he impaled himself on Louis' sword, his life extinguished in an instant.

  The remaining bandits halted their charge, exchanging uneasy glances. A few snickered, their mocking tones laced with a mix of awe and fear, "What a dumbass, huh? Ran right into the sword!"

  The second bandit, furious at the first's demise, launched toward Louis with a battlecry, "Ahhh!"

  A sense of consolation surged through the siblings' little bodies as Louis dispatched the first bandit and engaged the second. They all silently thought, "Looks like we're saved!"

  The second bandit, angered by his fallen comrade, approached Louis furiously, his spear arcing through the air in a wide, powerful swing. With a precise, economical movement, Louis retreated one step, narrowly avoiding the spear's deadly tip by a hair's width. Then, the bandit unleashed a flurry of three successive swings, each met by Louis' calculated, one-step retreat, maintaining a safe distance expertly. Growing impatient, the bandit took an extra-wide step forward in an attempt to land a sure hit, as he barked, "Die!" Seizing the chance, in a lightning-fast counter, Louis sprang forward, seizing the spear shaft and yanking it toward himself decisively. Carried by the sudden pull of his spear, the bandit's momentum carried him forward, losing his balance and tumbling forward in an uncontrolled sprawl. Louis' sword then swiftly sliced through the bandit's throat.

  Louis possessed neither remarkable speed nor exceptional strength, and his weapon of choice was a humble, unassuming long sword. Despite having dispatched two bandits, his victories appeared to attribute more to the improvidence of his opponents rather than the swordsman's own prowess. Emboldened by Louis' unassuming appearance, one of the bandits exclaimed, "We attack together!" The rest of the bandits then charged at Louis. The sudden loss of their comrades had a sobering effect on the remaining bandits, who now approached Louis with heightened caution.

  The third bandit lunged forward, his sword flashing in a swift, horizontal slash. At the last split-second, Louis subtly inclined his head back, deftly evading the slash by a whisper of distance, and in the same breath, countered with a swift, decisive slash that struck true at the bandit's throat.

  Meanwhile, the forth bandit, positioning himself on Louis' right flank, unleashed a mighty, two-handed swing of his gigantic ax, aiming squarely for Louis' midsection.

  From Louis' left flank, the fifth bandit unleashed Phantom Blade School's Dashing Thrust, the swift, ghostly motion aiming to catch the master off guard. With a silky, fluid motion, Louis deftly sidestepped to his left, narrowly evading the Dashing Thrust by the slimmest of margins, and in the very same heartbeat, he countered with a swift, precise stab into the bandit's exposed neck – an action that echoed Nathan's exploits against Rudy and the man at the elite school's lobby.

  "That's my move!" Nathan thought in astonishment.

  With the side step earlier, Louis had economically evaded the giant ax’s swing on his right. In the fleeting instant before the ax's momentum dissipated, Louis turned his head to face the bandit, took one fluid step forward and slammed onto the ax's broad head with his foot, pummeling it into the ground. The bandit immediately attempted to regain his composure from the fallen ax. However, in a seamless, unbroken flow, with one foot on the ax, Louis rotated 180 degrees while sliding forward, and using the momentum from the rotation, his sword flashed across the bandit's exposed throat.

  In just several seconds, Louis had already finished off five bandits. The sixth and seventh bandits, now exercising greater caution, synchronized their approach, merging their shields through the Divine Spell: Spiked Phalanx. As one, they charged toward Louis, their shield wall presenting a formidable, unified wall of stone that could both stab and crush. As the bandits' combined shield wall was about to make contact, Louis dropped into a crouch, simultaneously sprinting backward with a burst of speed that perfectly matched the bandits' advance. In a lightning-fast strike, Louis sliced through the bandits' unprotected feet, which were exposed beneath their shield wall. The bandits' anguished screams pierced the air as they tumbled to the ground by their momentum. As the bandits' backs lay exposed, Louis swiftly delivered two fatal stabs into their hearts, ending their lives mercilessly.

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  Following the demise of seven bandits within seconds, Louis' prowess finally gained the group’s attention, bringing their assault to an abrupt halt. With their eyes widening in panic, many bandits shifted backward, their fearful gazes darting toward their leader. Others cast uneasy glances at the newly formed, imposing Stone Wall, now blocking their escape route.

  "Divine Spell: Sink!" the bandit leader's aide attempted to remove the Stone Wall from their path. But the spell failed to counter Louis' steady stream of Mana, which continuously reinforced the wall, preventing its demolition.

  "You're all useless," the bandit leader said with disdain before invoking the spells, "Divine Spells: Iron Wall, Enhanced Strength, Stoneskin, Reinforced Blade." The leader, a grizzled man in his forties, stood out with his polished, earth-toned leather armor, which seemed brand new and untouched by any battles. A compact buckler adorned his left arm, and he firmly grasped a sturdy, pristine two-handed long spear. As he readied a battle stance, the leader sneered, "Now, let me show you how it's done."

  Noticing some bandits casting furtive glances at the trees to their side, Louis deduced that they were considering a forest escape should their leader falter. "Divine Spell: Stone Wall," the swordsman promptly blockaded their last escape route. Now, their only way out led directly through Louis, a path that seemed increasingly daunting.

  The bandit leader's fighting stance put his spear's sharp tip pointing menacingly at Louis' chest. As his eyes widened with intense focus, striding with calculated steps, the bandit slowly and cautiously advanced toward Louis. At the same time, Louis walked toward the bandit leader, mirroring him with his battle stance, and pointed his sword forward. However, the spear's considerable length gave its wielder a substantial reach advantage over Louis' sword. The instant Louis breached the bandit leader's strike zone, the leader sprang into action, unleashing a swift, precise thrust that hurtled the spear directly toward Louis' chest. In a fluid, economical motion, Louis smoothly retreated a single step, adroitly avoiding the spear's lethal path.

  One might wonder, given that a thrust is generally faster than a step, how Louis managed to dodge the attack with such ease. Nathan noticed that the key lay in Louis' anticipatory movement: he had initiated his step back before the bandit leader even began to thrust.

  As smoothly as he stepped back, Louis fluidly regained his ground, moving forward and back into the bandit leader's attack range. This time, however, without any provocation from the bandit leader, Louis promptly retreated once again.

  Evidently, Louis relied on no precognitive abilities or foresight into the future. Instead, the master employed an unpredictable footwork, rapidly alternating between sidesteps, advances, and retreats, entering and exiting the periphery of the bandit's strike zone in a seemingly chaotic randomness.

  The bandit leader launched a series of attacks, meticulously timing each strike to coincide with Louis' brief, tantalizing forays into his strike zone. As Enhanced Strength augmented his power, the bandit leader's swings tore through the air with unbridled ferocity, generating turbulent whirlwinds that the siblings, seated at a distance, could feel distinctly. Yet, to the bandit leader's mounting frustration, each swing sliced through the empty air, consistently falling just shy of his mark by a hair's breadth. "Just as I suspected," the bandit leader mused, his thoughts laced with a growing sense of trepidation, "he's not moving randomly; rather, his actions are guided by astute observation and a wealth of experience." As this realization set in, the bandit leader's attacks became increasingly cautious, his strikes fewer and farther apart under Louis' all-seeing, discerning gaze.

  In a sudden, swift motion during the bandit's next attack, Louis raised his sword horizontally, using its tip to deflect the spear's tip aside. With a hint of a smirk, Louis goaded the leader, "Hey, you scared?" The bandit leader, however, grew increasingly wary, his unease fueled by the escalating threat. The leader resisted Louis' taunts, instead focusing on swiftly repositioning his spear, its tip once again stopped in front of Louis' chest, preventing the swordsman's approach.

  "Nice form," Louis commented, "You have a good master."

  Thanks to the spear's longer reach and the leader's diligent pointing at Louis' chest, the sword-master seemed to be stopped at bay.