The ground beneath Ric quivered, threatening to shatter, while the trees shook violently, unable to bear the weight of the colossal footsteps.

A hundred thousand hooves stomped in unison, unleashing waves of destruction that reverberated through the very heavens.

‘Punishment of gore,’ Ric muttered as he shook himself awake, the remnants of a haunting dream lingering in his consciousness.

‘Those damn [Stampede Uxle’s] have found him,’ Ric grumbled, fighting through the pain just to turn his head to the right. There was no point in remembering those behemoths, and it had nothing to do with his incapabilities; after all, they all really looked alike.

Nevertheless, he forced his focus toward the stampede. If he could push through another mental threshold and start recalling those dumb beasts’ faces, it would prove beneficial in the long run. If not, the alternative would be to eradicate their entire species as an act of revenge.

Keeping a journal filled with names and faces felt somewhat feminine, despite its title boldly proclaiming “Revenge Diary.”

The stampede drew closer, yet the intensity did not match that of a Stampede Uxle. Ric wondered if there was even one Uxle among the numerous hooves approaching. Upon closer analysis, he understood that his danger sense had exaggerated the approaching threat. The reason became apparent when a horde of humans covered his vision.

These creatures were worse than the Uxle’s. He preferred the ‘punishment of gore’ over these at any time of the day.

A familiar voice flanked Ric from the side; the grumpy old man and the little girl from yesterday. ‘These were the ones who took Mary away.’ He summoned a hidden strength to turn his head.

To his dismay, the grumpy old man turned out to be a little girl, and the little girl was a scrawny boy in tattered clothes. At least the girl had covered herself in decent robes, stitched together with scraps of a similar shaded cloth.

To others, the hues might appear indistinguishable, blending into a fabric of similar appearance, but Ric could discern each shade with precision, a skill honed over the decades through his experiences of stealing women’s clothes.

The boy on the other hand seemed to embody the word “poor” in its entirety, almost as if he had personally terraformed it into his very being. The loathsome [Imps] appeared better off than him.

‘Wait! wasn’t he or she complaining about their hands being too weak?’ Ric wondered, scanning the children’s hands as they waved at someone, beckoning them closer.

A cherry red hue adorned the girl’s neatly trimmed nails to perfection.

‘Oh! She did not want those to be ruined. But what is a princess doing among these peasants?’ Ric pondered, intrigued by the unexpected presence of royalty among the common folk.

A single glance was sufficient for Ric to discern that everyone around him belonged to the trash of society. He acknowledged that he himself fit the bill perfectly, seamlessly blending into their ranks if not for the remnants of his royal mindset.

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Hell! Even gods didn’t possess his superior mindset.

‘Talk about bottom tier,’ Ric muttered to himself as he spotted Mary rushing toward him.

Despite having no power, status, or fortune, every creature treated her as the superior. He gritted his teeth, grappling with the frustration that made him want to roll over and die. Somehow, his bad luck followed him into the afterlife.

‘Immortality,’ he mused, ‘surely sucks.’

‘Maybe next time, I’ll be born into a world that makes more sense.’ Ric opened his eyes once again and noticed various creatures attentively listening to Mary’s commands. ‘Wait!’ He squinted his eyes, unable to place the foreboding feeling.

It’s challenging enough to get two different species under one roof, yet here they not only helped each other but also listened to a weak human.

‘What the actual fuck!’

Ric couldn’t help but gauge Mary’s power, yet no matter how many times he scanned her, he always got the same results; A smidgen of his killing intent, a human fist, an [Imps] tail, or the horse thingy’s feet—all seemed potentially lethal to her.

A Centaur stopped beside Ric, obscuring his vision, while two [Kappas] or incredibly hideous humans carried him and placed him on the Centaur’s back. Not just the humans, he also recalled centaurs having the face of a human, but this one had the visage of a horse.

‘Come to think of it, all of them are ugly as fuck.’

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Staying close to Ric healed Mary’s raspy throat within seconds. Compared to her initial experience, this felt like nothing, but the kid’s range and skill set surprised her.

Most of the crowd lost their drive halfway into the forest. Yet now, they cheered their way out.

Mary didn’t have to think twice before finding the cause. To confirm her suspicions, she also asked Debby. At first, she wasn’t sure, so Mary told her to fall behind and sense the phenomenon from a distance. Soon after, Debby came back running, after falling behind twenty meters, confirming Mary’s theory.

Ric possessed an area healing skill that improved the health of anyone within the radius.

Mary realized that area spells or domain spells were extremely rare and high-tier. One needed a spell book and extreme talent to execute such a spell. Even then, the effects are limited.

Limited in the sense that they can only address one aspect of a large area, such as healing minor cuts or stopping bleeding. They can’t accomplish both at the same time. Yet this eleven-year-old kid tackled multiple problems within a twenty-meter radius.

A quick probing proved that many had healed from minor cuts, cramps, soreness, and fatigue, and the kid wasn’t even in his top form at the moment.

Debby kept pestering Mary about the applications of her shield and wanted to spread more rumors. A quick slap shut her right up, and Mary delved deeper into her thoughts.

‘How many times must I explain myself? Can’t they see this kid is the reason behind all this?’ Mary looks at the mist receding further into the forest, actively avoiding the kid.

“Heaven-sent,” Mary whispers.

Her murky vision for the future was getting clear. She had to protect and nurture this kid until he was ready. Perhaps it’s better they spread rumors about her because from now on, she will become this kid’s shield.

A question still weighed heavily on her heart, and her intuition told her that solving this question was the key to salvation.

‘Why isn’t he healing himself?’

Mary tries to recall how healers work. ‘Healers are two types, right?’ Her memories fail her, so she turns around, attempting to spot Debby. Her knowledge of mystics is unparalleled.

‘Also, her bratty nature!’ Mary thought alongside.

Mary tried and failed to spot Debby in the crowd.

‘A big mouth, quick temper, entitled attitude, and stubborn to the bone. If Ric is anything like her, salvation will truly become a myth.’

“Wait!” Mary abruptly stops in her tracks and questions herself. “Who is Ric?”

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