The very next morning, the village is bustling with life. Not the same old village since bunt down houses and a giant crater could be seen. Blood could be seen spattered against the ground and on houses. Pieces of body parts such as hands, chest, and even heads could be found near the giant crater. Bodies of villagers is massive compare to the other side which suffered a few casualties.

Outside the villiage lies a camp or more accurately an execution ground for the remaining ones who been caught or surrendered. Gunshot could be heard from a mile away. Bodies of the dead form into a small mountain. A battalion, split into platoons and went in different ways to collect the remaining villagers that are hiding.

Villagers that somehow with luck or a miracle managed to escape through the gaps of Holy Knights. Some are hiding in the forest with great covers of vegetation. A few jumped into the open field of tall grass hiding.

Ever since the commotion yesterday, Jayden Sutton have been up all night patrolling at the near the edge of the forest. Jayden is a rugid man covered in dirty tattered clothes. Yesterday when gunshot was heard, the boss wants more patrols out. His brothers wants to pitch in but none can do at their current conditions. Two days ago they attack a small village hoping to get "resources". When they attack, they were all expecting an easy time. But due to their surprise, the villigers fought back with guns and anything that they could grab like a pitchfork. After the attack, they grab what they could find even their "resources". His brothers all suffer stab wounds and bullet injuries. Some could hardly walk and most couldn't even feed themselves. Luckily, a few of his brothers who have medical skills stayed back and watch the base. Since then, those who got medical skills been working without rest and a few that recovers need to go watch and guard their "resources".

Jayden patrolling near the edge of the forest with caution happens to stumble upon footprints. Such signs is no big deal since it was a common sight since yesterday but this one was unusual. A trail of blood and it didn't look like a small injury. Seeing such good news made him chucked to himself and start stalking the tracks. Moving through the forest quickly and quietly.

He stumbles upon the results of the tracks. At the end of the track was a corpse of an adult man holding onto a hunting rifle. Sneaking up to the corpse, he jumped and pin down the dead body. Immediately the body struggled but with an injured arm and broken leg he didn't last long. In a last attempt he tried to yell. Before his voice could be heard, Jayden puts his hand over the guy's mouth and pulled out his dagger from his waist. Upon seeing the dagger, the guy starts to struggled again and even made an attempt to use his rifle. Jayden brings the knife up to the guy's neck and slit his throat. Blood started to oozed out. After a few second, the guy stops struggling. Jayden wipes the blood away with the dead man's clothes and sheathe his dagger.

"That rifle look really good. Imma use it now that your dead. Hopefully you left some clips for me."

Jayden check the dead body all over and only manage to found two clip left. Taking his time to load the rifle, he just realized that there was even more footprints. Just like before, he follows the track and slowly made his way though the thick vegetation.

____________________________________________

All tired and out of breath, the three sat down on a dead tree and rest. Amalia and her mother sat close togethor while Youngmin was about two feet away from. Amalia hug her mother and looked at her with a depressed expression.

"Mommy, will Daddy be back?"

"He will. He's a very sneaky man when he was younger. Any problems that he ever gotten into, he always managed to come out fine."

As the two were talking, Youngmin asked a question that had been on his mind for a while.

"Ma'am, do you know why they attack our village?"

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"..."

Feeling the silence in the air, he changed the subject.

"I'm getting hungry. I wonder if there's any berries near-"

"For such a young boy, you sure are interested in adult business.

The mother said while looking at Youngmin. Upon hearing that, Youngmin seem surprised.

"It's been on my mind for a while that's all.

Youngmin stared into the sky as if remembering something from the past.

"My father once told me that information is the key to victory."

"Your father have always been like that. He was actually a major role once in my times."

As she finished her sentence, there was an awkward silence for a while. Youngmin wanted to know more but couldn't bring himself to say anything. Amalia ended the silence by giving out a loud yawn. The mother jokingly said.

"Looks like someone need a nap."

"I'll go and scout ahead. While I'm at it, I will try to gather berries for us three."

As if on cue, a loud bang was heard. A projectile flew itself right into Youngmin. Youngmin immediately fell to the ground.

"Put your hands up lady. I got my rifle pointed at you two. If you dont, wanna die then do exactly as i said."

Amalia who got startled by the gunshot was now wide awake and rise her hands up. The mother slowly put her hands up as if trying to buy time.

Youngmin emerges from the shadows and jumped at the enemy's back. Upon receiving the impact the enemy staggered and lost his balance. Before he could process what happen in his mind, Youngmin wrap his arms around the guy's neck and put him in a headlock. The mother said in a very serious face.

"Vice versa now that the situation had change."

Seeing that the situation was now under control, Amalia's mother run toward the man thats pinned down. She then give a good kick straight to the gut. The guy groaned at the pain.

"Good thing you set up that clone of yours before hand."

Amalia's mother give Youngmin a thumbs up.

"You need to thank my father instead. He warned me about the bandits a few days ago and was planning on dealing with them."

The mother return her point of focus back to the bandit.

"I'm going to make you spill everything you know or there will be something else spilling."

The bandit lifted his head and match her gaze.

"Fine. There's nothing I can do now. But I'll let you know that I won't let this slide."

For almost an hour, Amalia's mother starts to interrogate the bandit with questions like where they located and his name. The bandit didn't resist and comply to all questions. His name is Jaydon Sutton and he was on patrol all night due to the gunshots from yesterday. The base is in a cave located next to a river.

Youngmin who was on guard, heard movements in the forest. He creates a clone of himself with magic and disappear into the darkness.

Back over at where the interrogation is happening, a few feet away was Amalia who got bored and decided to draw in the dirt with a stick. Her mother on the other hand was preoccupied with interrogation to hear the sound of footprints coming from the trees. By the time she actually noticed it, it was too late.

Surrounding both the mother and Amalia was a group of bandits. All of them appears injured in one way or another. Yet the bandits didn't show signs of discomfort or pain. One bandit who took a while to show himself was dragging a young boy. He then threw the boy into the circle of bandits. Amalia look down to see the identity of the boy. Youngmin face shows up and if you look closer, he got bruises all over his body. Amalia's mother immediately ran toward Youngmin and took both the kids into her chest.

The man, that was dragging Youngmin, walked closer and closer to them. With a rifle in his hand, he swing the butt down on her mother who dropped right away. The last thing Amalia saw was a bright blue light coming from the man's finger who pressed it against her forehead. After that, she fell into a deep sleep.