Tang Shaoyang picked up his pace while expanding his sight through the Spirit Eyes. He knew what happened but he wanted to know the situation in the village. Smoke billowed from the field around the village, and screams and cries filled the air. Laughter mixed into the scream followed by more curses.𝓞𝗏𝗅𝒩xt.𝗇𝓔t

The village was attacked by the players, and they slaughtered the people without discrimination; elders, women, and children were killed. In the middle of the village, a boy fought for his life as he managed to land his sword on one of the raiders. However, the boy was quickly subdued by someone much stronger than him. Tang Shaoyang saw everything through the Spirit Eyes, and he recognized the raider’s banner, Virandal Empire.

The bad blood between them continued, and it seemed someone else tipped out his hiding spot to them. Tang Shaoyang stopped his advance, signaling the others to stop as well.

“What? Are you not going to save them!?” Zowen raised her voice slightly. There was a small attachment to the village with how they treated her. On top of that, the village was where she had social interaction with other people for the first time after the resurrection. She believed that she was strong enough to save the villagers, so she was a little bit angry that Tang Shaoyang stopped her.

Tang Shaoyang shook his head, “There’s no one for you to save. They all died.” The only survivor was Areth, and it seemed the Virandal Empire wanted to use Areth to lure him out. They should know it was his doing to help Areth, so they would not kill the boy for the time being.

The Lightning Magus stopped her track, looking in the direction where the smoke was. She looked gloomy and mixed with fury, clenching the staff tighter. But she managed to calm herself down and think rationally. She turned toward Tang Shaoyang and asked, “What do you want to do?”

“If it’s another faction instead of the Virandal Empire, I will not interfere. They come for me, and I feel ** for the villages to suffer because of me, so we are going to wipe them out.” Tang Shaoyang made the decision. It left him with a bad aftertaste, knowing the villager died because of him.

He summoned the Skelly Family and also the Skeleton Soldiers. This would be the first operation of the Skeleton Army.

“They come prepared. I detected they have more people outside the village, but their leaders are inside the village right now. The Skeleton Army will deal with the people outside the village, and I will deal with the leaders of this group.” Tang Shaoyang shared his plan with Rosalie, “You will follow the skeleton.”

“But why? We should help you instead.” Zowen and Rosalie did not agree that Tang Shaoyang fought by himself.

He shook his head, “Fifteen Primordial Ranks and Thirty Myth Ranks. I don’t think you guys can help me in this fight.” He then shot a glance at Zowen, “If you can’t agree with the plan, then we have to retreat.”

“Alright,” Zowen nodded.

Tang Shaoyang then shared the location of the Virandal Empire that was stationed outside the village, letting Skelly1 lead his army with his own strategy. He would not involve himself with the skeleton since this would be a stage for them to prove that the skeleton army project was not a waste.

*** ***

Areth stared at the man with the black armor, anger, and grief were reflected in his eyes. The man broke his hand and leg, leaving him powerless to fight back. If a stare could murder the man, the armored man would probably die.

The black-armored man was holding Areth’s hair, hanging the boy’s body in the air. Blood dripped out from his nose, his lips cracked as blood dripped out, and a few front teeth were missing. His arms and legs were dangling powerlessly, and his left arm was crooked in the direction it was not supposed to. Despite all of that, Areth did not cry, there were no tears but fury. Fury had taken over the boy, angry at the man who slaughtered the villagers, and angry at himself for not being able to protect the villagers.

“Tch, you are quite annoying.” The black-armored guy extended his hand to his subordinate, “Give me your knife.”

As soon as he received the knife, he pushed Areth’s face to the ground, placing the cold knife on the boy’s right ear, “You better answer me. Where are the people who help you to level up? I will cut your ear if you don’t give me a satisfactory answer in ten seconds!”

“You better kill me! You better kill me! Or else I am going to kill you, your family, everyone who is related to you!” Areth growled.

The threat incited laughter from the other black-armored people. It was funny for someone who had not reached an Epic Rank to threaten them. They took it as a funny joke.

“Wrong answer!” The knife sliced through the right ear. The ear flopped as the blood spurted out, and the black-armored man pressed the sliced-off ear, amplifying the pain.

Areth’s body shook for the pain, grunting, enduring the pain, but he did not scream or cry. The boy knew that if he cried or screamed, that would just satisfy these murderers.

“Come on! Just say it already, and I will send you off painlessly. Why are you so stubborn?” The black-armored man was frustrated by Areth’s tenacity. He smashed Areth’s head to the ground a few times, causing his head to bleed.

“Tch, boy, why don’t you just tell him where I go?” A familiar voice entered Areth’s ears, and the voice shocked the black-armored man and the others. He turned around, and he was greeted by a kick. The kick landed on the face, pinning the black-armored man’s head to the ground.

Plop!

The head popped out as blood splattered and the brain parts scattered around. In a single step, the group became leaderless. What caught them off guard was that they did not sense the incoming enemy. Before the others could react, screams rang in the air. The Slayer Blades pierced everyone who was unprepared.