Chapter 341: Light

Perhaps sensing that something is off, Belius's face contorts as he points his sword at me and bellows, "Kill him!"

As a response to his order, the soldiers remain motionless as they gaze at me with fear and trepidation apparent in their eyes.

"Oh, scared already?" I say in a surprised tone.

Did something regarding my appearance throw them off? But that shouldn't be the case, since I am currently in my 'human' form.

Either way, there is no point in keeping these humans alive.

Too bad for them, they decided to attack the village which I have decided to be my intel hotspot.

By doing so, they have sealed their own fate; even if their actions are merely the result of orders from their higher-ups.

But then again, if I were to take action here, there is a high chance that things might escalate - that is, if what the man claimed is the truth.

In the first place, why would a king order soldiers to attack a village? Aside from that, even if I can't use Paragon's Eyes, I am sure that the souls of these soldiers are at the very least a dark gray.

These men have a rather gloomy aura surrounding their bodies. It's not to the point that any creature nearby would sense it, but the more sensitive ones definitely will.

Anyway, it's going to be annoying if soldiers started to desert their companions early out of despair, so I should start with destabilizing their emotional state.

And what better way is there than pissing them off?

"I will be clear with you softies. There is no hope for you. You insects are all going to die. No exceptions."

My words result in various responses from the mob of soldiers. A few clench their weapons tightly, while a select few shudder as they fixate their gaze on me.

"This bastard!" Belius exclaims, "What are you all doing?! Attack him! Even if he is a monster, we have higher numbers! Attack!"

This time, the men appear to have resolved themselves, as they usher their horses forth while raising their weapons and shouting loudly.

Alas, their effort is wasted as I pull the sword in front of me out of the ground before appearing right in front of Belius's horse, slashing across the bodies of three soldiers while at it.

Expectedly, the soldiers are all shocked by my disappearance and reappearance, and even more so when they witness three bodies fall to the ground.

"My regards to your 'king'," I assert before plunging the bloodied sword into his face.

Noticing that the soldiers are still shocked, I take this chance to step leap into the air before activating - or more precisely, focus to the point that Enhanced Cerebration initiates.

With the world appearing to have slowed down, I leisurely examine the remaining soldiers and determine the best way to finish them off.

Once done, the world seems to return to its natural state as I drop to the ground, immediately after which I use as much force possible as I slam my foot into the ground.

This results in a much more exaggerated effect than I expected, with the ground caving in thrice as much as before, and add to that the distance affected by the slam.

As expected of such a sudden and extreme terrain change, all the forces in the vicinity fall to the ground along with the terrified soldiers.

At this point, none of the soldiers have any sign of hope remaining in their eyes. Heck, a few seem like they will make a run for it as soon as they can move their legs again.

Come on, I can't be that scary, right? This is supposed to be a world in which monsters exist, so the soldiers must've encountered a few absurd creatures during their lifetime, no?

[Father is mistaken.]

'Oh, Nora? Fancy of you to take it upon yourself to share your wisdom regarding this matter.'

[Yes. Father's expression currently is the main cause of the hostile entities' fear.]

Huh? My expression? Unfortunately, I am unable to check it out by Clairvoyance since I am unable to Code Effects.

Still, from what I can tell, I should simply be smiling. Don't tell me that a small smile is all it takes for these soldiers to piss themselves in terror...

Feeling more than a little letdown, I start to believe that letting these worthless creatures live any longer would be disgraceful.

"Y-you stop!" a man's desperate voice suddenly reaches my ears to my left.

Looking over at the one that shouted, I find a soldier whose legs have been deformed by a heavy object which I assume is a horse that lost its footing.

Speaking of which, all the horses which were able to move have vacated the area while those that remain are on the ground neighing in pain.

As such, any inkling of survival inside the men's eyes has disappeared.

To them, I am a monster in the skin of a human. Fighting me will lead to certain death, so escaping is the only way to 'win' against me. But then again, with their slow feet, they could only dream of outrunning me. The horses were the only light left.

Now that the horses have escaped the area by themselves, all the soldiers have given up on escaping. Some are shakily reaching for their weapon while others are simply sitting on their butts, waiting for me to deliver them a quick, inevitable death.

Deciding to not let them down, I flash a smile at the soldiers as I raise my right arm and casually slash across the air in front of me.

Due to the speed and force accompanied by the slash, a strong gale of wind and energy moves out fiercely.

Before the soldiers can tell what's happening, those at the front lose parts of their body, ranging from their head to torso, while those at the back are blown away by the diminished terrific force.

Just as I am about to wave my hand once more at the remaining soldiers, a bright light shines way above me.

I quickly enter the state of Enhanced Cerebration and glance up, only to behold a pillar of light descend toward me at an unsurmountable speed.

The fact that it's this fast even though I have entered this state goes to show just how fast it is.

And so, I try to sense the lethality of the attack out only to come to one conclusion: None.

Despite its look and speed, the attack that's just about to strike me poses absolutely no danger to me; at least, that is what my senses are telling me.

So, knowing that the attack is unavoidable and there is no need to do so anyway, I straighten my posture and move my gaze away from the pillar of light to the surrounding humans.

What could be the source of this attack? An artifact one of these humans has carried? A magic caster in the distance that can cast long-range spells? Or...

I examine the humans one by one until I set my eyes upon something eerie. The now-deceased leader, Belius, has a small green circle glowing on his back.

The next moment, my vision is blinded by the pillar of light as I feel a slight tingling sensation against my skin. Yes, tingling. Not pain or anything remotely unbearable, but a simple tingling.

Canceling the effect of Enhanced Cerebration, I await the pillar of light to go away, which happens a few seconds later.

With my vision returned, I take this chance to examine my surroundings. To my pleasant surprise, the carcass of the enemy soldiers is nowhere to be found. Be it the ones that had died at my hands, under the weight of the fallen horses, or those that were still alive; none are anywhere to be seen.

That's not all, as the ground that was once green and a little destroyed by brute attacks is now completely brown and black. Soon after, the scent of scorched meat and other burnt objects wafts to my nose.

Now then, I suppose I should ruminate over what just happened.

Looking down at myself, I see that my clothes are completely unharmed. Could they have been enchanted? Either way, it's a good thing that they haven't been burned. I would rather not look for another set of clothing in that inventory...

Shaking my head slowly, I turn around and walk in the direction of the village.

It's extremely unfortunate that all the soldiers got wiped out. I surely could've received some important intel from a few after some careful 'questioning. Then again, the reason that the pillar of light appeared might very well be for that reason - eliminating the evidence and leads.

How bothersome. It's not even been a week since my arrival in this game, yet I have to deal with some cautious enemies.

Chances are, the enemy has used some form of magic to obtain information on me from that battle. However, there is also a chance that the pillar of light was a spell that activated upon the death of its user - a martyr spell.

For some reason, I think nobles would love such a spell. I mean, what death is better than one that takes your foe with you?

Bunch of selfish pricks... Hah~

Admittedly, all this trouble could've been avoided if I let the soldiers do as they please with the village.

Yeah, no. The village is of great importance to me as I am right now. First, the two adventurers that are resting there could introduce me to the town they came here from and even the so-called adventurer's guild.

This alone is vital for me since I would be able to easily integrate into this world and obtain information efficiently.

Aside from that, the villagers residing in Carne Village are vital information sources themselves. As I had planned earlier, I will find a way to interact with them often.

Oh well, that will be for later. Right now, I need to get back to the village and confirm the safety of the residents.