-------------------------------------3rd person POV-------------------------------------------------

Bandits were driven away from their hunting grounds, so they tried to find a place to hide while the army finished their sweep at the dragon's road.

The dragon's road is the territory of the dragons along with the guardians left by the previous hero to prevent a continent from abusing the passage to the central island, as it is a neutral ground made to facilitate the relationship of the different continents.

However, the guardians of the dragon's road don't care about anyone living on that territory as long as they don't bother the passage to the central island, or them. They won't even care if a town is built there but as their movement causes tremors, their 'playing' causes destruction, and their temper could destroy the surrounding, it is deemed unsafe for any settlement to be created in their territory. This, other than respect, is one of the reasons that the dragon's road is created.

The only ones truly brave enough to live in the area are bandits. They choose places where the huge creatures rarely appear. They have built a society, which worked for them, albeit the risk from both the guardian monsters and the other bandits.

Once they were forced to leave those lands, they had to start their system from the start. The main thing they need is a location they can hide in, multiple escape routes in case enemies attacked them, a road frequented by potential prey to rob from, and most importantly, a place to sell their loot and buy supplies from. The first three are the easiest for them to acquire as the only problem is the location but the last one is something which they need another party's help.

The other groups need to be someone they can more or less trust and won't cheat them too much. As transactions involving them are always full of risk, they take a step back and accept that they will be overcharged and underpaid on their business deals.

Their chosen group in particular are merchant groups struggling on their business because of larger merchant groups. These are the group most likely to accept their trade as desperate people will grasp their tainted offer.

This relationship is easy for the bandits to manage, and the merchants profit more than the cheaper 'merchandise' they could resell. They are given free passage through the bandit's hunting grounds while their enemies suffer from constant targeting from the bandits. This propelled the initially desperate and needy merchant group to higher and higher heights.

When the plan for the 'compression ring' was released, only the people of power that governed their own territory were informed. Once they figured out the general idea of the plan, the large merchant groups were informed to ask for their help. The moment the plan was about to be spread to all the participants of the plan, the merchants large enough to act as part of the plan were informed. It was at this part of the plan that the merchants in league with the bandits got alarmed and informed their bandit business partners of the plan.

They have no real way to stop the progress of the plan and a half-baked attempt to sabotage it would only backfire and hasten their fall. They sought help from their bandit contacts as they went along with the plan with their loyal guards, ready for any changes that would happen.

"Keep on bombarding them and remember to target anyone who comes close to the siege weapons! We need to reduce their numbers as much as possible or we won't be able to contain them!"

As a result, the plan to lure the defenders of the region into their bandit base was made. The information about the defenders of the region was a vital point in the whole plan. The moment that the bandits know about their plan, they can easily counterattack and deal a large amount of casualties on the defenders of the region.

However, the bandits who knew the information also thought that this operation could be used to clean up the annoying new bandit group that grew arrogance bigger than their strength. They recalled their own group members and withheld the information until the last moment.

This cleaned up most of their competitor bandits and gave them the opportunity to take lead in wiping out the defenders of the region, which would bring them prestige and renown.

The moment that the information about the large group of combatants are sweeping across every direction, they put forth the plan they have concocted while waiting at the bandit base as their enemies get wiped out by the defenders of the region.

Buildings were emptied out as they weakened the structure and rigged it to collapse the moment they pulled out a key piece. They hid underneath the escape tunnels as they waited for the signal, ready to surround the defenders of the region. They also rigged the inside of their main building to cover the passage of their escape tunnels, and to be safe they set up traps all around the passage of the escape tunnels.

"Good work! Good work! Once we clean these people up, no one can stand up against us in this region. We can reap a lot of benefits. Don't worry, our trade will still continue. In fact, your business will only grow once we succeed. We will trade with you on the level of a region! Your merchant group can expand as much as you can manage! Hahahaha!!"
"Good, The risk I am taking is too big for this. I encountered a lot of opposition with these actions. I need a lot of benefits to pacify them. As long as we get a share then it would be all worth it."
"Of course you will have your share. Everyone will get a share. Hahahaha! We just need to keep this up and we will get all the shares!"
"You two, stop chatting here. We still have to wipe them out if we want those 'shares'. Keep everyone ready, we will run out of ammo soon. We will charge as soon as it runs out."
"Boss, if we do that we would still lose a lot of our people. How about we ration out the remaining ammunition and send others to get more."

*Slap*

"This large operation has constant updates to the leaders. If we delay this any longer, it would arouse suspicions. We will all charge the moment we run out of ammunition. If you want your 'shares' then you will fight for it."

*Bang* *Bang* *Bang*

*Boom* *Boom* *Boom*

“Everyone at the ready! Charge on my signal!!"

The walls of the former bandit base have crumbled down a lot. During the first few hours, screams of the defenders of the region can still be heard. However, as time went on the crumbled walls were no longer rebuilt, the attempt to destroy the siege weapons stopped, and the sparse counterattack by defenders of the region also died down.

*Bang* *Boom* *Bang*

"Boss, The ammo is about to run out!"
"Alright, everyone at the ready! Tell the people operating the siege weapons to watch out for us! Make sure the timing is good! I don't want any friendly fire or I will use them for a live fire exercise when this is done, You got that!?!?"
"Yes, boss!"

The bandits that were originally lazing about as they watch rocks rain down on their former base, but at the call of the boss, they reformed in ranks as they passed the information along to the others encircling the former bandit base.

The bombardment of the siege weapons continued nonstop and as the ammunition continued to decrease. The bombardment stopped when the ammunition entered its last few rounds, waiting for a moment to use it as a signal for the charge.

"Charge!!"
"Raaaaghhhh!!"
"Kill them!!!"

*Bang!!*

At the signal of the bandit boss, all of the siege weapons simultaneously fired. A thunderous sound echoed throughout the surrounding as it signalled the start of the charge of the bandits.