James’ face distorted into a heavy frown. He wondered if he was mistaken. Had his hearing played tricks on him? There was no way that he had just heard that fifty people would be killed, right? His frown grew more intense as the seconds ticked by. The town square was dead silent. Not a single person made a sound. In fact, judging by everyone’s expressions, they were also struggling to process the news. Eventually, a voice yelled.

“That’s madness! Why should innocent people be killed because of something they had no control over!?”

Sounds of agreement echoed throughout the crowd. Nods were exchanged. James could feel it. A rising tide of anger and indignation, rapidly building up among the entire crowd. Wrath filled the eyes of the onlookers, as well as his own. He shared their emotions. His hatred for Lohann burned hotter. What kind of madman could come up with something like this? He trembled as he clenched his fists and gritted his teeth. At that moment, he sorely regretted his lack of progress in contacting Yellowbright. Lohann was a rabid dog that needed to be put down, but they didn’t even know where he was.

We need you, Michael.

He didn’t blame his friend for following Elizabeth’s advice. He only hoped that he would finish what he was doing and quickly come back. Anxiety once again bubbled within him. His breathing became hurried. Rage burned within him, alongside outrage and disbelief. James glanced at his friends. Judging by their expressions, they felt the same.

More screams were heard, but they were cut off by the messenger’s reply. The man had a calm expression on his face.

“Of course, it is to display that actions have consequences. If you want someone to blame, blame the Monster of Bluestone Village for his barbaric actions.”

Another voice resounded.

“No, you will be the ones killing us! Why should we resent anybody else!?”

As these words were said, however, it seemed that the crowd was divided. James observed everything with attentive eyes, trying to contain his emotions and be rational. A small minority had gone silent, while the rest of the people continued to shout. Those who stayed silent were those who were considering the messenger’s words.

No, does that even make sense?

It was idiotic for Michael to be blamed when Lohann was the one killing innocent people. All resentment should be directed to the man, but he was trying to deflect it to Michael, and a few people were just foolish enough to fall for the ploy. James thought it was stupid and unthinkable, but there was no way for him to control the thoughts of others. Instead, he was lost in his thoughts. How could Lohann decide to simply kill off fifty innocent people as a response to Derek’s death?

That fucking psychopath.

James gritted his teeth. He spoke in a low voice.

“…We need to kill him.”

Truthfully, his morality from Earth had made him hesitate to follow the agreed-upon plan to kill Lohann, even though he knew it was the best course of action. However, at this moment, such morality had just disappeared. Moving forward, they would fight Lohann wholeheartedly. In the meantime, the crowd continued to get even rowdier. Anger kept building up. A few tens of dwarves surrounded the town square. It was the largest gathering of NPCs that James had seen. In the middle of it all, the messenger’s expression didn’t even change. He knew that he was safe within the Village.

James eyed him intently, trying his best not to show his killing intent. He controlled the feelings in his gaze and slightly lowered his head. The messenger descended from the wooden box. Then, he walked in the direction of the bedrooms, followed by screaming people. They stood in front of him and yelled, but under the control of the dwarves, nobody attempted to attack. The man was able to safely enter one of the rooms. With no outlet for its fury, the crowd dispersed slowly amidst curses.

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James looked at his friends. He spoke.

“Tell everyone you can not to leave the Village. In the meantime, we’ll continue working on our tasks.”

The others nodded with heavy expression. Thomas spoke in a disbelieving tone.

“I can’t believe this is what he chose to do.”

Anthony scoffed.

“We already knew he was crazy, but not that crazy.”

Dylan spoke in a fearful voice.

“When is Michael gonna be back?”

James’ voice was firm.

“We need to fulfill our roles before he returns. It is imperative. I think Yellowbright’s organization will make a move because of this announcement. I’ll watch out for it. You guys just focus on obtaining as much information as possible and warning as many people as you can.”

They nodded. James looked at the direction the messenger had headed to with a burning gaze. He felt righteous indignation, even though he didn’t consider himself to be a hero.

We’ll deal with them all.

His conviction was firm.

***

Michael sat down on the ground, cross-legged, donning a focused expression. There were only minor traces of his previous injuries, including the destroyed upper part of his robe. Around him, his mana storm raged, pressuring the ground and walls of the space. Around thirty meters in front of him, the Boss knelt with its hands joined together, as if in prayer. It had closed its eyes. Its Mana Field fought back against Michael’s. The two different mana storms made contact exactly in the middle of the room. It had been a day since this deadlock had taken shape.

Above the lizardman, mana condensed, gathering into two different masses. Michael readied himself. As the masses shot toward him, he willed for his mana to turn into a defensive layer in front of him. The orbs crashed against it, dispersing. Right afterwards, he tried to make some of his Mana Field turn into spears, aimed straight at the Boss. However, because of his lacking proficiency, he only managed to create shapes that vaguely resembled spikes after several seconds.

In the meantime, the Boss had already raised its defensive layer.

Go.

The spikes flew at the lizardman, leaving Michael’s domain and attempting to pierce through the enemy’s defense. For two long seconds, the spikes and the shield trembled fiercely. However, in the end, the spikes dispersed. Mana gathered around the lizardman. It was preparing its next attack. Michael focused.

This wasn’t just a battle of stats and Skill proficiency; it was also a contest of mana manipulation.

The mana expenditure is insane.

Mana Field had become the Skill that drained his mana the most, even more than Cleansing, which was to be expected. After all, he was forcefully creating a domain by pushing his mana outward and then manipulating it outside of his body. Even though he had some experience manipulating Mana Spheres, Shields, and Waves, this was on a completely different scale. Even with his vast mana reserves, after a whole day of using the Skill, his mana pool had decreased considerably. He narrowed his eyes.

The Boss should be running out of mana soon.

He was confident that he possessed more mana than the enemy, in spite of the Level difference between them. In fact, it was very surprising for the Boss to have lasted this long, constantly switching between attack and defense. It had changed its relaxed stance to the current one, as if to prove Michael’s suspicions. This battle would end soon.

However, Michael knew this was an opportunity to hone his mana manipulation abilities and proficiency with Mana Field, as he had over the past day. At the same time, this battle needed to end as soon as possible. He hadn’t forgotten his objective. He couldn’t wait for the Boss’ mana pool to dry up. He looked up, beholding his Mana Field. He could now see how the mana moved, its currents and rhythm.

I should be able to do it now.

He stood up and narrowed his eyes. Around him, the storm of mana roared. At several different points, from different angles, spikes took shape. The boss opened its milky-white eyes as mana coalesced into a shield around it. The spikes shot forward, pressuring the shield from multiple directions at once. Michael’s objective was simple: he was trying to find a gap in the enemy’s ability to gather its mana. Based on what he had seen from the lizardman over the past day, its control wasn’t perfect. There were points where more mana gathered compared to others. Simply put, there were weaknesses.

As the spikes tried to drill into the shield, the Boss growled. At that moment, Michael willed for the spikes to disperse. They unraveled as if they were made of water; the currents slithered over the shield, surrounding it. With a roar, two orbs of condensed mana took shape above the Boss. The shield was kept up.

Oh?

It was surprising that the Boss could still defend and attack at the same time. Was this its last-ditch effort? As the orbs reached his domain, Michael closed his eyes. His Mana Field wrapped around the orbs, as if they had just entered a swamp.

Focus.