“Huh?”

The confusion wore on her face.

*Cloud clears

“!!!”

Much more so when the cloud cleared and she realized laid at the man’s feet was the crushed skull of the Alpha!!!

“…I’ll take it from here…”

His words rang cold, empty of emotion or heroic intent. They were what they were. Just words.

Moments before another tragic disaster…

Arteus had arrived to the scene.

And just on time!

“…”

-A Short While Later-

As the wolves lay on the white snow, painting it crimson with their abnormally thick blood.

Lilly sat there watching… ogling them.

Scanning their heavily fractured and destroyed bodies.

“…is- is it really over?”

The expression on her face told the whole story, she was safe… for now

*Sighs

As the energy left her body Lilly gave a great big sigh of relief and fell back to the snow.

Breathing heavily while she kept a keen eye on their saviour.

The grey-haired protector who just stood still watching the wolves. His eyes sombre and unchanging.

It was hard to grasp what could be going on in his head.

“…”

“…TCH!...”

*Heavy breathing

“So, it seems that little runt survived again.”

The words came suddenly, instantly drawing Lilly’s attention forward. And to her little sister and grandmother who now sat at a tree a couple paces right from where she first lay.

“Granny!!!”

The girl shouted half in panic and half in relief, promptly bouncing back to her feet and running to her.

*Heavy breathing

“Tch! Am fine save your breath…”

With a wave of the hand, the old lady bitterly waved her granddaughter off.

“Even so…--”

“--…Are there any other survivors?”

Arteus interrupted, cutting Lilly off instantly and changing the atmosphere of the whole area.

His words hung heavy when they were delivered. Holding no emotion whatsoever, the previously relieved atmosphere was all but replaced with a tense one.

“HEH… wouldn’t you like to know.”

The old lady scoffed…

“Sure, there are, but look around you, those losers are the reason we’re out here in the first place.

A cheeky grin and she gestured to her siblings and the corpses that lay just ahead of them.

“…”

“Take me to them.”

“Why? So, you can break their bones like you did these wolves??”

“...Granny...”

“Stay out of this Lilly, you don’t know what this boy is capable of.”

One short snap later and silence befell the area.

The tension so thick it’d make the sharpest blade look blunt as it tried to cut through it.

Stolen novel; please report.

“…And if my answer is, yes?...”

“Then mine is no.”

“…Well not like I could do anything to stop you from forcing these little ones to tell you, given the state that I’m in that is…”

The old lady grinned dryly gesturing to her legs… and with a slow turn to her. Arteus appraised the situation.

Three women and of the three the grandmother was by far the one with the most injuries. Missing both her legs.

The left one torn off from the knee down and the right, the upper thigh.

Whatever happened to this trio before Art got here, they had been through a lot.

This drew Art to the scenes at red square, prompting him to, for the first time since he got back to the village, feel sympathetic for everyone else in Barley.

He wasn’t the only one going through the motions.

*Heavy breathing

“Heh. Since you’re here I take it, your old lay is safe too, right?”

“Tsk. Good! That makes one less rodent to worry about then huh? … Hehe.”

The words caused a subtle flinch in Arteus. One that the old lady immediately caught notice of.

“…”

*Cold sweat

“Or is she…”

Without a second thought Arteus turned back. And slowly started to make for the old lady.

His steps in the snow, humble but carrying the unease of his unidentifiable intentions.

Had the old woman’s remarks gotten to him?

He was used to hearing people call his mother names all his life, but today was different.

He had just lost Hanna. And without a chance to say his farewells.

He was privy to retaliation this time. I mean, the world was ending did it really even matter if he killed a couple of people? People who’d treated his mother terribly at that.

Yes, he was within his rights to hurt them.

So, he approached the old woman with a slow uneasy tension in the air… and then…

“HM! --”

“--…huh? Gracie??.. Ah.”

“Hm!”

The two granddaughters to the old woman stood quick ahead of her. Raising their arms to create a barrier between her and Arteus.

“I don’t know what your game is… but if you intend to hurt my grandmother, I’ll end you right here.”

“HMPH!”

Lilly, full of conviction declared in front of Arteus. Whose sombre eyes strayed to her slow, before turning to her younger sibling.

The conviction on Gracie’s face held strong too, and that’s despite her being much more visibly afraid than her older sister.

“…”

“…hm…”

“haha…haha--“

“--HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!...”

And with a great big laugh, the old woman erased the tense atmosphere immediately…

“HAHAHA….”

“That’s it…”

“I see…”

“So that little rodent is dead…”

“So, you’ve left us first...Huh…”

“Hannah.”

She sobbed… tears flowing uncontrollably as she held a great big grin on her face. The shake in her shoulders being eventually carried to the rest of her body…

This was much more than sparing a tear for the dead… this was mourning a dear friend…

“AH… Granny.”

“Grandma!!!”

Lilly and her sibling rushed to their grandmother’s side, clearly taken aback by her sudden outburst.

“*sniffles… am fine!... *sniffles… am fine get away from me!”

She waved her grandchildren away as Arteus stood over them… watching with cold, sombre eyes.

“*sniffles… TCH!... what are you looking at you little runt!”

“Don’t you have anything better to do?!”

Wiping the overflowing tears and mucus from her face she snapped at Arteus who stood unchanging.

“…”

“No.”

His declaration was subtle… taking a sit in the snow directly opposite her.

“*sniffles…”

“FUCK…*sniffles…”

-Some Time Later-

“*sniffles… *sniffles…”

“What are the Gods thinking dealing us such a cruel fate.”

The sniffling old woman complained as her grandchild sat by her sombrely…

“You’d think I’d be dead by now, but no. I should watch everyone else’s lights go out first, and all before they’ve lived full lives…”

“If these are the punishments of the Gods, I dread to think about what those bastards have in stall for me in Under-realm.”

“Granny!”

“What?!”

Lilly snapped at her grandmother when her tantrum induced words trailed just a little too uncomfortable for her.

“…”

“So?”

Arteus mumbled softly under his breath watching the family.

“What?... *sniffles”

“Will you take me to the rest of the survivors?...”

“Millie.”

The boy’s words came out softly as he and the old lady stared at each other for an uncomfortable second.

“…Tch!... Ofcourse I will! That was always the plan.”

“Girls…”

Millie snapped back at Arteus, her grandchildren helping her up. The older sibling eventually putting her on her back.

Just as Arteus had said, this old bitter woman was indeed Millie.

The owner of the Red Square and an elder of the village.

Formerly the village chief, she retired the seat to her son who vacated it for his brother after an untimely death.

She was one of the most important people in Barley.

And although her current appearance left her looking somewhat meagre… the strength in her voice and shine of her unfading blue eyes still commanded the respect of the village and everyone she came in contact with.

She was authority itself even now in her old age.

Arteus watched silently as Millie issued orders to her daughters as if her life was in no immediate danger and with it came a rustle in the bushes behind.

A short look back, turning only his eyes to not draw attention to himself… Art caught the silhouette of someone… of something…

Perched in the snow… watching intently as the group prepared to head out.

Was it another beast?

He pondered cautiously…

Whatever it was, it seemed to have no intention of approaching right now.

Even so something about this particular set of eyes struck him as peculiar…

That gaze… it didn’t feel new at all.

He had been followed by a number of eyes on his way back to the village but he could, almost right away, tell immediately if it was a beast or a human when he was being stalked by them. Even when he was tailed by muchly intelligent fleur deer.

This one felt different, recent… but not hostile… or was it hiding its bloodlust?

He couldn’t tell…

All he knew was whatever or whoever this was, they had been with him today. Not just now but possibly all day long.

*Rustle…

Almost in conjunction with his realization, his stalker left.

Completely vanishing from where they were perched and extinguishing their presence, as if aware that they had been spotted.

“…hm”

Arteus exclaimed consciously, turning his focus back ahead to Millie and her grandchildren.

“Well…”

“What are you waiting for kid.”

“Let’s go meet the rest of the idiots who refused to play dead for the God’s.”

Millie snarled bitterly from her granddaughter’s back, looking ahead in the direction of the Red-square.

*deep breath

And with a short but deep breath to recompose himself. The boy pulled himself from the snow…

Looks like it was time for him to meet the other survivors.

Time for him to move on from the scenes that governed the day so far...

And to prepare himself for the drama that the residents of Barley still had in stall for him.

“…”

“…”

-To Be Continued-