Tap! Tap! Tap!

Somewhere deep in the forest, several dins of people moving echoed through the vicinity. An army of nearly thirty people could be seen making their way through the woods, each of them holding a different type of weapon.

"Commander Wander, we are about to enter the lands of the Cezar Kingdom. Should we abandon this mission and come back?" asked one of the soldiers.

"King Adriel has clearly said that we should search the entire territory of the kingdom including the borders. It's extremely important to him, and I won't tolerate anyone neglecting the mission!" Wander replied while an ominous aura underneath his dark armor.

"Commander! There's something up ahead!" one of the soldiers remarked after noticing a few huts appearing in front.

"What is that? A village?" asked one of the beefier soldiers, "But if I remember correctly, there shouldn't be any villages in this area at all..."

"Everyone! That monster has probably stopped here! Check everything!" Wander shouted loudly as he smiled inwardly, already anticipating the wealth he would gain after bringing the monster back to the kingdom.

-"What the hell?"

-"Shh... be quiet."

-"Mom, where are you?"

All the villagers stopped after seeing almost thirty soldiers come into view. The warriors looked intimidating and scary, unlike Cale who came into the village with a fluffy face.

"Good evening, brave warriors," Aran stepped forward, his face covered in sweat, "What made you come to our little village?"

"Have any of you seen a person in similar armor nearby? He's a criminal who escaped from the Romulus Kingdom," the brawny man in the front asked coldly.

Hearing his words, Aran's breathing instantly sped up. He clearly understood that they were looking for Cale, but he simply couldn't answer. Even if Cale was a criminal, he had been extremely kind and generous, making it simply difficult to betray such a person.

"Unfortunately, we haven't seen anyone like that before," Nok said after seeing his struggling father.

"Then you don't mind if we look around the village, do you?" Wander said coldly and without waiting for a reply, he signaled everyone to move. Soldiers instantly launched into each hut and carefully searched every section.

Various materials, clothes, and even tables flew out of the windows as all the villagers looked at this scene with frightened eyes. Some of them also knew what the warriors were looking for, but after seeing Nok coldly glancing around, their mouths closed on their own.

"Nothing..." all the warriors said in sync after coming back, their heads slightly tilted down.

"Tch!" Warden let out an annoyed sound. Now that they hadn't found anything in this village, there was nothing they could do but return to the kingdom empty-handed. With his gaze filling up with rage, Warden looked at the villagers who were standing close to each other, some of whom were even trembling.

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'Oh...' All the anger in Warden's eyes disappeared when he saw a beautiful woman standing in the back row of the crowd. Although she looked young, it only made her seem purer.

"You!" Aran called out, pointing at Layla, "Come here!"

"Huh?" Layla emitted a confused sound as she took a step back.

"Sir, please don't mind her. If you need anything, I can take care of it for you personally," Aran said in a concerned voice.

"I don't anything from you, silly old man! Bring the girl to me!" Wander was getting more and more impatient.

"Please, Sir....Just take me" Aran dropped to his knees, hoping the warrior would go away after seeing his sincerity.

"Shut up!" Warden kicked the old man in the face as blood splattered on the ground. Everyone immediately backed away in shock while Nok rushed to his father's aid.

"What the hell are you doing!" Nok was extremely angry after seeing his own father lying on the ground with a few teeth missing. Without even a doubt in his heart, Nok attacked the warrior.

Bang! Bang!

Before he could leave a scratch on Wander's helmet, two other soldiers stepped forward and immediately landed several blows on Nok, sending him flying a few feet away.

"What an ungrateful group. All of you should already consider yourselves lucky that I even set foot in this smelly village," Warden said in an exasperated tone, "This village needs to be cleansed. Kill everyone except that girl!"

As soon as the words befell the villagers, they all took a step back in sync, their whole bodies shivering.

"Run everyone!" Aran, who was still struggling to stand up, roared in a hoarse voice. No one doubted Aran's words, or rather, they didn't even bother listening, beginning to run away from the scene with the children in their hands.

Thud!

"You'll be the first!" Warden was about to finish off the unconscious Nok, but a sudden hit on the back of his helmet forced him to stop. Turning around, Warden saw a few youths, Leo in particular, throwing medium-sized rocks at him.

"Don't touch my father!" Leo threw a few more stones at Warden, but unexpectedly, not a single one landed on the warrior.

"Should we take care of them?" one of the soldiers asked.

"No need, I'll have some fun with them myself," Warden replied nonchalantly before adding, "Kill everyone in the village and bring the girl back to me."

- "As you command."

No one bothered to protest the commander's words, some of them even licked their lips at the sight of the running women.

Thud! Thud!

Leo threw more stones at Warden, and though some of them hit the target, they didn't even leave a dent in his armor.

"I don't like kids, especially the ones who try to act like some kind of superheroes," Warden began to casually walk forward, ignoring the rocks flying at him.

"Leo...I'm scared," one of the teens next to Leo said as his body shook. Subconsciously, he stepped backward.

"Don't worry everyone, I'll defeat him on my own," Leo marched forth, taking even more rocks in his arms.

"We're sorry, Leo" Although all of them honestly regretted running away like that, they couldn't help but feel frightened at the sight of the approaching warrior.

"What are you going to do now? All your friends are already gone," Warden said in a mischievous voice before quickly closing the distance to the boy. Without bothering to hear Leo's response, Warden grabbed him by the neck.

"Let me go!!!" Leo tried to escape Warden's clutches, but all efforts were in vain.

"You're such an annoying child. Should I teach you a long-life lesson?" Warden smiled brightly under his helmet before glancing at the wooden doll in the distance.

"This is going to be so much fun" After closing the distance to the figure, Warden tied Leo tightly around it. Ignoring Leo's shouts, Warden promptly collected all the rocks he could find in the perimeter.

Bang! Bang!

With a wide grin on his face, Warden began throwing the rocks at the pitful boy, ignoring the shouts of the old man.

-

After ten minutes, all the soldiers returned from their hunt, each of them having satisfied grins on their faces. One of the soldiers was carrying the motionless girl in his hands as Warden immediately licked his lips.

"Layla!!!" Leo shouted after seeing the girl being thrown to the ground. Though most of his body was already soaked in blood and covered in bruises, Leo was still trying to free himself from the ropes.

"I see you're having a lot of fun here," one of the soldiers chuckled after seeing Leo stuck to the dummy.

"The fun hasn't started yet," Warden's eyebrows raised from the inexplicable smile on his face.

"Don't you dare look anywhere else, kid! This is just the beginning!" shouted Warden as saliva dripped from his mouth.