Chapter 3

In the desert lay a small hill where there were several groups of people hanging around. In the center was the Elreon and Pallidus along with his company.

The sinners around them were sitting down whispering and were clearly talking about the events that conspired a few days ago in the battle against Realis. They even gave him a nickname, the Sinner of Execution. Tigris and his friends were shifting uncomfortably as they were somewhat related to the person of the topic.

“Let’s have a proper introduction shall we? As I have mentioned before I am the head of this group. We were once part of a settlement called Avarice Port placed at the edge of a large sulfur lake. That place was ransacked and we were forced to relocate to another place however we were troubled by the local’s forces here which were Cyrus’ army.” Elreon spoke solemnly when he mentioned about his home.

“As for me you can call me Pallidus, the other three with me are acquaintances. I came from a vast empty plot of the desert and have not had any contact with any form of civilization.” Pallidus stretched out a hand and had it shaken by Elreon.

“Seems like you need to know about this land. Cyrus is the current ruler of Harrow’s Desolation which is the area we’re in. It stretches for several thousands of kilometers of pure desert with a few hills here and there. As far as I know from other sources, he is currently at the Early Sovereign stage which is near the beginning of the 4th class.” Elreon continued

Pallidus listened attentively and knowing that as long as he did not meet a fellow 6th class, he was confident in taking down anyone unscathed. Regarding the terrain, he remembered that he received a map fragment. He pulled it out of his inventory.

“Can you tell me where this is?” Pallidus asked as he handed the fragment to Elreon.

Elreon took a moment looking at the contents and his eyebrows furrowed. He shakes his head a couple of times.

“It’s nowhere near here as far as I’m concerned. This piece seems very unfamiliar to me but then again I have not ventured to other locations. It could be adjacent to the other territories nearby.” Elreon answered while handing back the fragment which resulted in a disappointed look on Pallidus as he could not gain any information on it.

“Will keep that in mind then. As thanks, you should take this with you, got it from killing the commander.” Pallidus took out Realis’ claymore by the blade and facing the hilt towards Elreon.

Elreon shook his head “You killed him. It belongs to you.”

“Don’t worry about it. I have other weapons at disposal.” Pallidus placed the hilt closer to Elreon.

“Then if you insist I shall take it.” Elreon equipped it and saw the buffs on the weapon making him astonished for a moment before sending it into his inventory. Elreon seemed very satisfied with the gift and see what he could to return his kindness not only from the sword but as well as saving his group from demise.

“What is the fighting strength of your group if you don’t mind me asking.” Pallidus did not have a purpose originally but now that he has one he may as well build upon it by expanding his influence and creating an army. This way he would have access to more information regarding the status of Harrow’s Desolation.

“We originally had 50 sinners in our group but ever since the fight, we lost a considerable amount. Currently, we have 20 class 1 warriors and a small elite force of 6 class 2. I myself is just a step away from class 3. Although I am not much of a warrior I am a blacksmith but as you can see there are not any metals nearby much less a forge to work with.” Elreon explained resulting only 27 survivors from the encounter with Realis’ company.

“Alright, we’ll first have all your class 1s reach class 2s with you reaching class 3. The others can reach the peak of their class. During this time we’ll send out groups of four to hunt and recruit other sinners. For now, we’ll focus on strengthening our group.” Pallidus planned out and attracted the attention of the class 1s as they have been at a bottleneck for quite some time. The idea of having many class 2s in one spot was exciting. However, this sparked a curiosity in Elreon.

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

“I really appreciate the help but I know we requested for your protection but why? What is the purpose of this?” Elreon asked.

“I’ll be transparent with you. The first reason is to make my job easier as you will have a higher survival rate in these lands. The second reason… Is to destroy the demon’s stronghold.” Pallidus could just start traveling to the fortress and slaughter the entire army himself but he needed to give the group proper battle experience and perhaps test out military formations. Also, he would need the demons to be wary of sinners making the possibility of meeting others higher.

“Destroy the stronghold? This is a very risky move. Even if we do reach the levels you promised we still won’t have enough firepower to decimate them. We’ll also have to consider the casualties. Not only that we would also catch the attention of other small territories once they find out that Cyrus is gone if we do manage to defeat him.” Elreon was okay with his first reason but the second was absurd to him. Almost like a pipe dream. He knew the forces of Cyrus were not to be trifled with.

“Don’t worry about it. I have the strength to handle him.” Pallidus exerted a bit of his strength around the peak of 4th class.

“My god.. Peak Sovereign? With this amount of strength you can definitely handle Cyrus.” Elreon was shocked that there was such a powerful being in front of him. He recomposed himself and felt more confident in rebuilding his settlement.

“I’ll let you organize your group as you know them best. Start with patrols and scouting parties.” Pallidus left to meet Tigris and his group and told them about the situation.

“We’ll help out!” Ivara seemed to be very excited at the idea of a new settlement and perhaps it won’t be destroyed by the demons.

“You can count us in. With your strength, I have no doubts that we will rise.” Tigris said with confidence and Izaro nodded in agreement.

-----------

Several weeks later

The settlement was flowing with people and small buildings made out of wood were made. Ever since Pallidus laid out the plan, Elreon was constantly busy at trying to improve the settlement and he knew very well that they needed a strong foundation as fast as possible in order to grow.

They called this place The Intrepid Sinners. Over a few weeks, they found vagrants, those that have not reached class 1, and helped them gain strength while implementing them in their group. With Pallidus’ strength and protection, their population turned from 31 sinners to 100. Almost all of them at least had the strength of class 1 and some have reached class 2 while Elreon broke through to the 3rd.

Pallidus helped Tigris and his friends reached the peak of Class 3 with the cores he received from Elreon. He slowly let them absorb the energy and had them spar against him as training resulting in an increase in their stats.

“Pallidus?” Ivara turned her gaze to him as he made an expression of hostility.

“There’s a demon approaching. Very fast but seems to be weak.” Pallidus reported he sensed that the demon had no bloodlust but he remained cautious.

Ivara squinted her eyes and then narrowed as she recognized it.

“Shoot it!” Ivara yelled and urged “It’s a scout from Cyrus’ army! We can’t let it any closer!”

“A scout? Seems like he has caught on with the decreasing numbers of sinners on the field.” Pallidus materialized a red bow and a black spear he used previously in the fight with Realis. He pulled the string back and used the spear as an arrow and released.

The arrow hit its mark, a blast came out of it eliminating the advancing demon.

Elreon and a couple of guards arrived due to the blast catching everyone’s attention.

“What happened? What was the large blast?” Elreon asked as he had only seen Pallidus destroying his enemies with a spear.

“It was a scout from Cyrus. He has discovered our location and is most likely going to come here.” Tigris answered.

Elreon frowned and furrowed his eyebrows. He had an idea of Cyrus’ strength and the influence he possesses on the demons. Cyrus should have numerous armies and squads patrolling. For him to send a single scout meant…

“Light surveillance.” Pallidus finished Elreon’s thought.

“Light surveillance?” Tigris repeated with a inquisitive look.

“The settlement isn’t Cyrus’ target. He most likely thinks that a small group of sinners isn’t much of a threat.” Elreon turned to look at Pallidus “It seems Cyrus considers you a dangerous threat and a powerful assailant.”

“He is irrelevant.” Pallidus said with so much confidence that you could almost call it arrogant. “As long as there are people here, I will not fall nor will I break.”

Elreon stared at Pallidus for some time. The pale man in rags still, truly had overwhelming strength and he was confident in taking on Cyrus. Despite knowing this, he was worried that something unexpected will happen.

Pallidus was a beacon of hope for the sinners as they were tired of being killed over and over again. When a sinner was killed, he would have to start over from the beginning at level 1 in a random location in the realm. Not only that they would also slowly lose memories of their time. Under such harsh circumstances, it was considered lucky to even reach class 1.

The Sinner of Execution governed over the haven he created for stray sinners where they could grow strong without being hunted non-stop everyday. Elreon had an idea of what Pallidus was like. If there was something that could benefit them he would immediately take the chance. If push comes to shove he will do what is needed to be done.

“Elreon, I want you to prepare the sinners.” Pallidus said as he broke the train of thought in Elreon.

“Prepare? Prepare for what?” Elreon asked even though he knew the answer.

“For battle.”