As screams from both sides tore through the air, I felt a feeling welling up within me. I quickly fought it down, not wanting to let the guilt overwhelm me. Wait, now that I thought about it, it didn't truly feel like guilt. Rather, it was something new that I wasn't familiar with.

The Players and village soldiers were slowly overwhelming the royal army, having overcome their initial fear of Levius's appearance. I guess they figured that since he was decimating the royal army, he was on our side.

Levius's clones were easily holding their own, moving through the flooded terrain with ease. The four of them were a whirlwind of destruction, their movements almost dance-like as they carved a bloody path through the enemy ranks. I felt bad for the royal army, but the villagers wouldn't have stood a chance against them.

I found myself watching the specter with a mixture of fascination and horror. It was unsettling to think that I had summoned him, that I now had some kind of control over him after having to fight for my life against him.

"Hey! Did you summon that thing?"

I turned to see Rhys running up to me, a perplexed smile on his face. Behind, I saw Vella throw out restrictive magic, seemingly hesitant to actually harm the royal soldiers.

"Er, yeah, don't worry. He's on our side."

Rhys didn't look convinced, but since Levius wasn't harming the Players or villagers, he let it slide, returning to the battlefield with fists covered in crackling black energy.

The battle raged on around us, the screams of the wounded and dying filling the air. Despite my reservations about Levius's presence, I couldn't deny that he was making a difference. His clones moved with an almost supernatural grace, their icy armor reflecting the bloody battleground around them. They weaved in and out of the flooded terrain, always seeming to be one step ahead of the confused and frightened soldiers of the royal army.

"The adventurers from another world have summoned a powerful creature to our aid!" Someone cried out in awe, their voice carrying over the sounds of battle. I cringed inwardly at the words, but the sight of Levius's clones cleaving through the royal army with ease was hard to ignore.

"Perhaps the village lord may not need until sunrise to bring us prosperity," Another village soldier chimed in, his voice laced with hope. "With this creature's help, we might be able to turn the tide of the battle."

"Still your tongue, soldier. The village lord's ritual is far more important than an otherworlder's creature."

As I wondered just how important this village lord and his ritual could be, a victorious roar came from the villagers on the frontlines. I glanced in their direction, seeing the severely thinned forces of the royal army retreat into the forest.

Levius and his clones disappeared in a splash of water, reappearing at my side. "Well, that was rather exciting," he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "Is there nothing else for me to fight? How about you and I fight again, Immortal?"

"Don't joke about that," I replied, shaking my head. "You nearly killed me. I'm not about to risk my life again just for fun."

"If only the strange forces that bound me weren't restrictive..."

Tommy jogged up to me while I was contemplating dismissing Levius, a mixture of concern and relief in his eyes. "Hey Luke... is that guy dangerous?"

"Not for the moment, no," I shook my head, warning Levius with a glare. The boss specter shrugged with a grin. "Anyway, looks like we cleared the first quest."

"Yeah, we- wait a minute, no we didn't."

"Huh?" I checked the quest again.

[Village of the Wicked]

[Quest: Defend against or eliminate all enemies before sunrise.]

[Time Remaining: 00:03:57]

[Upon failure, receive another quest.]

"What the hell? Are there more enemies we missed?" I muttered to Tommy. "Did it register Levius as an enemy?"

"I don't know," Tommy replied, frowning. "I didn't see any more enemies around, but..." He trailed off, looking back at the battlefield full of corpses, then back to me.

Some of the other Players began to notice the unchanged quest as well, warily gazing around for an answer. Before we could question it any further, another round of cheers erupted from the villagers. We all turned to see a regal man surrounded by two guards marching toward us from the village center.

The man was decorated with ornate robes and jewelry, marking him as the village lord. He stopped before us and raised his hand, gesturing for silence. The din of battle faded as the villagers and Players alike turned their attention to him. The two guards next to him were large and muscular, their expressions grim and determined. I could tell they were pretty strong.

"I'm guessing that's the village lord or whatever..." Tommy murmured.

Levius and his clones grinned, tensing as they prepared to leap at the village lord and his guards, but I hurriedly stopped them with a hand.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" I quietly hissed at him. All four of them stared back at me with a confused look.

"I thought you ordered me to eliminate all who wore distinguished attire."

"Yeah, and they're all gone now! That guy is this village's leader, so that means he's not to be killed."

The original Levius tilted his head. "But... I sense a danger to him. He's quite powerful."

"Makes sense if you're trying to run a village!" I began to grow exasperated with Levius. "If you can't hold back, then I don't really need you right now."

For a split second, I really thought that Levius and his clones would turn on me instead. Finally, all four of them shrugged in unison, backing away. "Don't say I didn't warn you, Immortal."

"Heroes of another world," the village lord boomed before I could make a retort, "I offer my utmost gratitude to you all. You have saved us from a terrible fate. It is no exaggeration to say that I speak for the entire village when I say that we will not soon forget your bravery this night." There was a round of applause from the villagers, and the village lord continued, "The kingdom's royal army would have finally ended our suffering, but you have proven to be our true saviors."

A feeling of unease began to stir within me as I digested Levius's words.

"I can't help but think that we might be thrown a celebration," Tommy whispered to me.

"I wouldn't get too comfortable with that thought," I said slowly, my voice barely above a whisper. "The quest isn't over yet, and we still don't know what the village lord is planning with that ritual of his. There might be more to it than any of us realize."

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

Tommy stiffened. "Hey, you don't think that–"

"To thank you adventurers from another realm, please accept this trinket of my people's gratitude," the village lord announced, holding out a small, ornate box. "Inside, you shall find a single jewel, each representing one of our village's most precious resources: gold, food, or knowledge. Whichever you choose, it is yours to keep."

Nearly every villager within the crowd of Players pulled out a similar box, offering it to us. The uneasy feeling in my stomach grew stronger as the Players hesitantly accepted the reward. Tommy was about to reach for his when I stopped him with a hand.

"Wait," I said quietly. "Let's think about this. The village lord just said these were the most precious resources of the village. Why give them up to people you've just met?"

Tommy frowned, considering my words. "Maybe it's a test? To see if we're worthy or something?"

The villagers offering their trinkets to us looked more like a plea than a gift. They were trusting us with their most precious resources, and I didn't think they would do that so easily. Something about this whole situation felt off, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it.

"Dude, it can't be that bad," Tommy said, shaking his head and reaching his hand out. "Let's just take the gift. Maybe it'll help with the next part of the quest–"

[Player!!]

Thanks to my Speed stat, I was able to yank Tommy up into the air as the villagers who offered the box to us lunged forward with wicked daggers, thrusting into empty air. Below us, Players screamed as they were suddenly attacked by the very villages they helped defend.

"What the fuck?!" Tommy yelled out, watching as the Players began to fight back against the village. "Why did they attack us?"

I wanted to punch myself. "Because they were the enemy all along!"

I flew the both of us over to an empty alleyway, setting Tommy down as I turned back to the fight at the village entrance. Levius, without any prompting, had quickly joined in, his clones beginning to cut down the village population. However, the two guards next to the village lord reacted to his presence, both of them able to handle two Levius clones each.

"Oh fuck..." I whispered, checking the guards' stats that were suddenly accessible.

[Name: Right/Left Hand of Uri | Level: 30]

[Health: 150000 | Strength: 50000]

[Speed: 50000 | Magic: 250000]

[Description: Twin guards that serve the village lord, they are not of human nature, growing stronger with every death in their presence.]

[Notice: Stats have been halved.]

No wonder Levius and his clones were struggling. He had cut their stats in half and they were still much faster than he was, even with the Flooded Kingdom still active.

"I'll leave the guards to you, then?" Tommy took out two impressive-looking swords from his Inventory, already adapting to the scene. "Don't die on me, bro."

"That's not something I should be getting told," I replied dryly, in spite of the situation.

I zipped forward to help Levius, but it was too late. The twin guards fired a combination of lightning and rain, striking the boss specters with a surefire explosion.

As Levius and his clones roared in pain before disappearing into ashes, I took advantage of the moment, dodging the electrified rain and leaping towards the two guards. They never had a chance to react.

For a split second, I hesitated. With one swing of my Soultaker, I could easily kill these two guys without another thought. And why shouldn't I? This was just a dungeon, so there's no real connection to the world I came from. Shouldn't I treat these people as game mobs?

No, that wasn't the real issue that I pretended was weighing on my mind. Closing my eyes as I swung, my blade cleaved through the guards like butter. The guilt that I desperately hoped would fill me right after slaying them with a sickening squelch never came. Instead, a sense of power and delight flowed through me when I reopened my eyes.

The Soultaker shivered in my hands, as if picking up on the subtle change in my emotions. "Oh... so that's your true nature..."

[??? What's the sadist sword talking about?]

"Nothing," I gritted my teeth and directed my attention towards the village lord, who was unnaturally calm despite the slaughter of his people.

[You obtained Right Hand of Uri's Lightning Bolt Skill.]

[You obtained Left Hand of Uri's Rainfall Skill.]

While I was ecstatic at gaining two new skills, it didn't help with the strange feeling in my chest that threatened to overtake me.

I continued on, reluctant at first to massacre the villagers, but gradually falling into an ease, mindlessly cutting them down as if I were killing low-leveled monsters. The Soultaker seemed pleased, almost pervertedly excited, as I drew closer to the village lord, who took notice of me.

"What a waste..." the village lord finally spoke, his voice eerily calm. "You could have been useful..."

"What do you mean?" I asked, though I already had an inkling of the answer. With a dungeon name like Village of the Wicked, I should've expected this kind of twist.

Compared to the few numbers of the villagers, the Players suffered minimal losses, with only a handful of deaths on our side. The remaining forces grouped up around the village lord, gazing at us with a mixture of hatred and fear.

The village lord surveyed the scene with a satisfied smirk, then turned to face us. "You see, 'heroes', you have successfully defended this village from imminent destruction and allowed us to begin with the ritual."

I rushed forth with my Speed, but the villagers were tightly packed, giving me no opening to get to the lord. I flew up, aiming my palm at him from above to no avail as the villagers sheltered him from any harm. Fuck. I already crossed the line at this point, so I might as well go all the way.

Before I could use a skill, I heard a snap, and the remaining villagers suddenly collapsed. I blinked in surprise, hovering in the air as the other Players were also shocked at the development. In the middle stood the village lord, his eyes glowing with an eerie red light.

[Name: Village Lord Uri | Level: 30]

[Health: 1000 | Strength: 500]

[Speed: 250 | Magic: 250000]

[Description: The sinister leader of a cult. Not much is known about this figure.]

I immediately sent out a torrent of Reaps, not wanting him to do whatever it was he planned to do. Once again, I was too late to stop him as a blood-red haze began to rise up from the ground. The shadowy spears shattered harmlessly against his body as Uri gazed up at me with a chilling smirk.

The Players down below followed my lead, charging at the village lord or throwing their skills at him. Whatever reservations we had towards killing our own kind, they were now gone as Uri didn't seem like a human anymore.

The red haze acted as some sort of barrier as nothing could pass to get to Uri himself. We could only watch helplessly.

Uri laughed, his voice carrying an eerie echo through the village. "Foolish mortals, you have no idea what you're dealing with!" The red haze intensified, appearing to stem directly from every corpse on the battlefield, royal soldiers and villagers alike. "With the souls of the dead you otherworlders have provided me with, I call forth the demon who will raze this world to the ground!"

[System alert: Main quest failed. New quest has been added.]

[Village of the Wicked]

[Quest: Defeat the enemy.]

[Time Remaining: 00:03:15]

Ah, shit. The red haze grew thicker, obscuring our vision, as if the very air had become tainted with the essence of death. It became tightly packed and condensed into a slender figure. With a sickening pop, the demon was fully formed. Or rather, demoness.

Her body was human-like, with pale, almost translucent skin, but her features were twisted and monstrous. Her eyes were void of any semblance of life, replaced by two glowing red orbs that seemed to sear into my very soul. Her long, flowing hair was black as night, and adorned with bones and skulls. She wore a tattered dress made of what seemed to be the flesh of the damned, stitched together with thread made from their eyeballs. Around her waist was a belt made of bones and teeth, and from it hung a massive, jagged scythe that pulsed with an unholy light.

[Name: Demon Lord Skalyt | Level: 3000]

[Health: 1500000 | Strength: 1000000]

[Speed: 250000 | Magic: 350000]

[Description: One of the seven demon lords of Hell, Skalyt revels in war and death. All who face her never live to tell the tale.]

****

[Updating…]

[Skills]

[Lightning Bolt 1280/1280]

[Damage: 100 (+100000) | Paralysis Chance: 5% | Paralysis Duration: 100000 seconds | Cooldown: 0 seconds]

[Description: Allows user to call forth a bolt of electricity. Slight chance of paralyzing the opponent.]

[Rainfall 1280/1280]

[Speed Boost: 5% | Boost Duration: 100000 seconds | Duration: 100000 seconds | Cooldown: 1x (24 hours)]

[Description: Allows user to call forth a rain, boosting the caster and their allies’ speed slightly.]

[Items]

[Soultaker (1125689)] +23