"Ghoulified"?

Dare I ask what happens when you do that to people?

Hopefully we don't find out @Tom.
The 'catfight' had to start somehow after all.

@Tom & Random Witness
Something tells me we've already seen it... Remember that completely psychopathic immortal guy (can't remember his name rn) from way back when? Something tells me that he ties into this...

@Tom

Well, it didn't turn the pigs into actual ghouls. So i guess stronger people, but without the ghoulish immortality.

... I... I really love that Centipede in a trenchcoat....

I don't know why... I just do.

...45? That's way too many, even when counting everyone in the last panel.
I have a bad feeling about this...

To be fair, everyone in this group (including Winn, who left) is very good at what they do. So relative to the bandits, it's quantity AND quality.

I highly doubt that all of the prisoners are just what you can see in the front row. The way they're chained up suggests a circle, rather than a straight line.

There are 11 or 12 in the front row. If they're standing in a circle, 38 isn't an entirely implausible number.

Passion already confirmed earlier there were 40 bandits, so Neo very specifically referred to the 5 heroes + 40 bandits here.

Wait, 40 bandits + 5 heroes + Piper = 46 spiritual signatures. Looks like one bandit got away.

Wait nvm, Trenchcoat guy said OVER 45.

@Dude OVER 45 means at least 46, so the count checks out.

Dude, Piper doesn't have spirit by herself , her magic comes from her amulet.

Wasn't Malhart able to detect the royal guards just fine? Spirit detection seems to work fine on normal people too.

@Paintr

Malhart went beyond sensing spirit and used his own spirit to sense the basic signs of human life in the surrounding area.

Malhart's level of spirit control is absolute top level though.

@Strannik

The Iron Judge's magic came from his amulet, as was the case for two other high officials, but Piper Pol is part of the (magic) nobility.

While I don't recall if it has been explicitly stated, I certainly was under the impression that it was her own free magic she used, not the Mage King's via an amulet.

One argument against the "Piper does not have spirit, she uses her amulet" theory is that I don't recall Piper ever being drawn wearing an amulet - do I remember wrong?

Do all the bandits have a spirit? It doesn't seem like it, they were defeated too easily.
or they are way too incompetent, that's another posibility

45 is a pretty specific number to vaguely say it's 'over.'

Who's willing to bet Burk has no spiritual signature?

This is either going to be an epic fight...a hilariously short one...or a dramatic one.

Deliverance, Stannik:

She has magic from the Mage King, but the power is invested in her staff, instead of in an amulet.