Leaving Johan’s group to deal with the goblins and the Orc, who were now cornered, Kael pushed his legs to their limit and sprinted through the dark forest toward the southern village.
His uneasiness continued to grow. He knew all too well that if the Dark Mage followers succeeded in completing their sacrificial ritual, the consequences would pose a tremendous threat to the entire region.
After exhausting his stamina and running at full speed for ten straight minutes, the trees ahead of him suddenly began to thin out. The settlement of the southern village finally came into view. However, above the village, a blood-red magic circle slowly rotated in the sky, radiating a chilling, oppressive aura.
Down below, the slaughter was still underway. However, the Dark Mages seemed to have encountered considerable resistance. The screams of villagers fighting back and the clashing of weapons still echoed throughout the village square.
Of course, this was excellent news for Kael.
"Thank goodness... I’m still in time," Kael whispered as he silently leaped over the village’s wooden fence.
In the middle of the village square stood a man gripping his sword tightly with both trembling hands. His entire body was covered in slash wounds and fresh blood. His breathing was ragged and erratic.
"You bastards!" the man roared furiously. "Who the hell are you, huh?! You show up out of nowhere and ruin my peaceful life!"
The man clearly possessed an unusual amount of combat experience. Although his eyes reflected a mixture of deep fear, hatred, anger, and anxiety, he stood firm like the last fortress defending the people behind him.
He had managed to hold out this long because, from the beginning, he had chosen to launch surprise attacks against the slaughterers from the shadows. His success in ruthlessly taking the lives of several Dark Mages had left the sacrificial ritual short of energy conduits, drastically slowing its progress.
The remaining Dark Mages burned with fury. This man had not only dared to protect the surviving villagers but had also killed several of their own comrades.
"You damn insect!" one of the black-robed Dark Mages cursed. "I’ll chop your body into thousands of pieces!"
"You think you’ll be able to escape alive after this?" another sorcerer added in a venomously cold tone. "You’ll die in the most agonizing way imaginable!"
Their hands glowed simultaneously, emitting a terrifying, deep crimson light. The black magical energy gathering in the air formed a crescent-shaped red slash of light that shot toward the crowd of villagers, a deadly and dangerous attack. Visit novelping.com for the full chapter.
The man bit his lip so hard that it began to bleed, his eyes bulging with alarm. He knew full well that if he jumped aside to dodge, the magical attack would strike the crowd of villagers behind him and blow them to pieces.
"I can’t let my family die here!" he screamed inwardly.
Another fatal weakness lay in the weapon he held. His standard iron sword had never been designed to withstand a direct wave of Dark Magic.
Judging by the number of Dark Mages surrounding him, at least twenty remained, and every one of them was a Circle 2 sorcerer. He might still have a slight chance of winning if he faced one or two sorcerers in direct close combat. However, openly fighting twenty Circle 2 Dark Mages at once was nothing short of suicide.
The blade of his sword had also developed several cracks from withstanding previous magical impacts.
An overwhelming sense of despair and helplessness crept into his chest. If the people behind him weren’t his children, his wife, and the neighbors he knew, he would have already chosen to flee and save his own life, just as he had cowardly done countless times throughout his years as a mercenary.
The Dark Mages grinned wickedly, their expressions brimming with dominance.
"Hahaha! Savor this despair, you useless human!"
The villagers clung tightly to one another, weeping hysterically and squeezing their eyes shut as the red crescent slash drew closer, ready to devour their lives.
However, just when all hope had vanished and survival seemed impossible, a miracle occurred.
Clang! Whoosh!
A sturdy-built man suddenly shot forward and landed in front of them, swinging his greatsword in a precise horizontal slash. The red crescent of magical energy was instantly split in two before exploding into scorching sparks in the air! This chapter is updated first at novelping.com.
The wounded man behind him stared in utter disbelief. His lips trembled violently as he recognized the disheveled black hair and the back of the figure standing protectively before him.
"S-Senior...!" he stammered in shock.
Kael wore a faint smile without turning around. Who would have thought that the so-called "hero" fighting desperately to protect this village was none other than Loyd, the cowardly junior from the Black Wolf mercenary group who had fled the battlefield back then? Kael had never known that the southern village was Loyd’s home.
"Fate really is unpredictable, isn’t it..." Kael remarked in a casually sarcastic tone, though a faint trace of pride in his junior could be heard in his voice. "Who would’ve thought we’d meet again like this... after you tried to kill me that night, Junior?"
The Dark Mages stared at him wide-eyed, shock and confusion spreading across their pale faces. They had absolutely no idea who this man with the greatsword was, despite the fact that he had just shattered their combined magic with a single, seemingly effortless swing.
"Who the hell is this bastard?!" one of the sorcerers shouted in agitation.
"Ah, damn it!" another cursed through gritted teeth. "Why are there so many obstacles in this village?! If this ritual fails completely, Lord Zake might have us all executed!"
"He’s nothing but a nuisance! We have to kill them as quickly as possible and finish the ritual!"
Kael wasn’t afraid in the slightest. After all, even though ordinary humans possessed no magic, they could surpass the limits of ordinary people through rigorous training, experience, and unwavering determination.
How could an Imperial Knight have defeated one of the Mythical Beasts in the past if he had been weak?
He possessed no magical power, but the strength he had gained through training, experience, intelligence, and courage had allowed him to emerge victorious.
Humans had survived until this day because of the rigorous training that forged them, pushing them beyond the limits of ordinary people.