Stephen pulled out his binoculars and took a look.

  Outside the cave, a lot of obstacles were piled up near the entrance.

  These obstacles served as cover for them, but right now, there wasn't a soul to be seen behind them.

  Stephen looked into the cave again, but all he could make out was a bit of light.

  "You were right, Arthur. They're all holed up inside."

  Stephen put away the binoculars, drawing his Bowie Knife and Schofield Revolver. "So, what's the plan? Straight in, or do we smoke 'em out?"

  "Can you get close enough to the entrance? Plant your dynamite by the opening and then draw them out."

  Arthur looked at the box in Stephen's hands with a smile. "If you put that dynamite where I can hit it, I can take them out with a single shot."

  Arthur had absolute confidence in his shooting skills.

  Like he always said: if he wanted to, he could hit anything.

  "Good plan, leave it to me."

  Stephen lowered the brim of his hat, grabbed the box full of dynamite, and carefully moved towards the cave entrance.

  The rain was heavy, slowing Stephen's advance, but it also provided perfect cover.

  The sounds Stephen made were perfectly masked by the heavy downpour.

  Stephen moved quickly between the debris, and in no time, he had reached the mouth of the cave.

  He carefully peeked inside. A Murfree Brood member was standing guard inside the cave.

  The heavy rain seemed to have made him lazy; he was leaning comfortably against the cave wall, dozing off.

  Looks like to safely plant the dynamite, he'd have to take this guy out first.

  Stephen put down the box of dynamite, grabbed his Bowie Knife, and slowly walked towards the guy.

  Holding his breath and keeping low, Stephen tried to make as little noise as possible.

  But his shoes, completely soaked with water, still made a slight noise, and Stephen cursed inwardly.

  Sure enough, the guard seemed to have heard something. He opened his eyes and looked outside, just in time to see Stephen walking towards him.

  He jumped, opening his mouth to raise the alarm.

  Seeing this, Stephen didn't hesitate. To hell with stealth; it just wasn't for him.

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  He lunged forward, his Bowie Knife quickly slashing down at the man's neck.

  With a "schlick" sound, Stephen sliced a large gash in the guy's neck!

  He quickly caught the stinking body and gently lowered it to the ground.

  He looked into the cave again, made sure no one had seen anything, and breathed a sigh of relief.

  He hurried back to pick up the box, placing the dynamite next to the cave entrance, behind an oil lamp on the wall, then quickly retreated.

  "That was a little too close for comfort." Arthur said, looking at the somewhat disheveled Stephen with a smile.

  "Stealth sucks. Never again," Stephen complained. "I'd rather go in guns blazing."

  "Haha, save that for when you're with a lady. We got more pressing things to deal with.”

  Arthur grinned and cracked a crude joke, then raised his Springfield Rifle and fired a shot into the sky.

  "Bang!"

  As the gunshot rang out, Beaver Hollow erupted like a pot coming to a boil, filled with all sorts of chaotic sounds.

  Soon, seven or eight ragged-looking guys with various weapons charged out.

  "Shoot first, I’ll light the dynamite when the time is right," Arthur yelled to the two behind him, instantly taking out a guy with a single shot.

  Hearing that, Stephen didn't hold back, raising his two Schofield Revolvers and starting to fire at the cave entrance.

  Raphael couldn't contain himself any longer; he roared loudly and opened fire on the approaching figures.

  Eventually, he got impatient from kneeling and directly stood up to shoot, forcing Stephen to frantically pull him behind cover.

  "Remember! Staying alive is all that matters! Understand?"

  Stephen snarled at him. Only then did Raphael came to his senses. With all his strenght he nodded in agreement, "I understand."

  Under the three men's suppressive fire, more and more people gathered at the entrance, and the pressure on the three grew increasingly intense.

  Bullets flew wildly over their heads, but they had no time to take out the shooters.

  Because even more scantily clad maniacs were charging towards them with knives and axes.

  Arthur had to pull out his Schofield Revolver, prioritizing taking out the crazies about to reach them.

  Stephen peered through the gaps in the cover, looking at the guys at the entrance.

  Most of them had guns, they were likely the elite fighters.

  Some even frantically waved their arms in a desperate attempt to encourage other deranged crazies to continue their charge.

  Seeing this, Stephen shouted to Arthur: "Almost time, Arthur! It's up to you!"

  Arthur didn't hesitate. He raised his gun and fired a shot without aiming, accurately hitting the oil lamp in front of the dynamite.

  The oil lamp shattered, and a large amount of flame spread out, igniting one of the gunmen, who began to scream.

  The leader-looking guy quickly waved, signaling his men to save the guy, but it was too late.

  The flames had already ignited the dynamite.

  "Boom!"

  With a deafening explosion, nearly all the bandits near the cave entrance were wiped out!

  The powerful shockwave from the explosion even blew away several bandits who were already far away from the entrance.

  With these losses, the Murfree Brood had been dealt a heavy blow and couldn't mount an effective defense.

  Seeing this, Stephen directly charged forward with his Bowie Knife.

  Bowie Knife followed body, body followed Bowie Knife.

  As Stephen's Bowie Knife danced up and down, several bandits who barely managed to stand up were taken out one by one by Stephen.

  "Arthur, cover the entrance. Raphael, come with me."

  Stephen yelled at the still dazed Raphael while he slayed the bandits.

  Hearing Stephen's call, Raphael finally came to his senses.

  This kind of slaughter was a bit too shocking for him, someone from the relatively peaceful eastern region.

  Looking at the bodies on the ground, his legs instinctively began to weaken.

  Watching Stephen reaping the lives of these bandits like chopping melons and vegetables, a sense of fear couldn't help but well up in his heart.

  But when he thought of his captured wife and child, a surge of extraordinary courage suddenly burst forth from the depths of his heart!

  No one is a born hero; there are only poor bastards forced to action by life.

  He took a deep breath, gripped his Springfield Rifle tightly, and let out a roar from the bottom of his heart.

  Raphael was launching the strongest charge against his ridiculous fate!