Chapter 121: New arrival.

Chapter 121: New arrival.

I shoved the creaky front door of the inn to the side, nearly pushing it out of its hinges in the process. Now that I got outside, I found myself surrounded by Harold and his cronies.

The village had turned into a ghost town upon Harolds arrival. All of the local shops and stores had been closed, some houses had even boarded up. None of the villagers were willing to involve themselves in fights unnecessarily. A good habit for anyone living in a region such as this one, honestly.

His group was made up of a variety of mutants and monsters. One of his friends was completely covered in hair and hunched over at the waist, for example. His wolf-like features twisted as he snarled madly upon my arrival.

Another member had two heads, though, ironically, he seemed to lack intelligence, seeing as he was just chuckling foolishly to himself, unaware of his surroundings. His brutish body made up for this, though.

The rest of his crew seemed unremarkable beyond their physical appearances, so I held onto the hope that none of these classers exceeded tier 3. Even if I was confident that I could escape a tier 4, I would prefer not to put that theory to the test.Follow current novels at novelhall.com)

Well, I must admit that your friends seem rather intimidating, at first glance. No wonder youve been able to keep the rest of the village in line. I said sarcastically. Harold didnt seem to like my relaxed attitude, because his fury only grew.

Listen here, dog. Ive had about enough of your jokes and I dont take well to threats. Especially to threats from snotty little boys like you. Dont worry, the dry man could put you to good use. Unfortunately, youll never meet him. Not alive, anyway. Harold growled snidely, his voice turning rougher the angrier he got.

Realising that the conversation was over, I drew my sword and started to create overloaded mana. It spilled out of my body as my flesh tore and regrew repeatedly under the strain, though my garb hid this process from my attackers. They, too, drew their weapons and readied their stances. Moments later, limbs and weapons lit up with dark colors as skills were being used, the start of the battle now just seconds away. The white, dry soil beneath my feet started to crack under the weight of my aura, and hesitation flashed across my more cowardly opponents. Even still, they werent about to back off...

Until, all of a sudden, someone stepped out from behind me and put his arm in front of me protectively. I was taken aback by this sudden development, and it took a few seconds for my brain to process what was going on.

In front of me, a familiar man without a head appeared. The old innkeeper was still wearing his dirty long Johns and had a towel hung over his shoulder. His meaty left arm was raised in front of me, as if to convince my attackers to let it go.

For a long, quiet moment, everyone held their breath. None of us understood what was going on, why this old innkeeper would bother protecting a stranger.

I didnt need this old mans help, and the last thing I wanted was for a civilian to die unnecessarily.

Just as I was about to push him out of the way, Harold threw a tantrum.

Clearly, this strategy wasnt working. Thankfully, I had a better idea.

I widened my stance and brought my sword to my waist, where I held it steadily aimed at the brutes head. Then, I started to gather all of my overloaded mana on my sword and I channelled a bunch of pure dark mana into it on top of that.

Within moments, a miniature storm of black mana was circularly coursing around my sword, making loud cracking sounds, like a continuous surge of thunder coming from the distance.

Now that I was ready, I stabbed my sword forward, as if to pierce the creatures chest from a distance. The mana coursing around the weapon exploded forward and turned into a jet-black stream of pure power. The laser had now lost all transparency and looked like a streak of black ink that had been drawn by Helios, our world itself his canvas. The streak shot right at the brute and pierced him as if he wasnt there in the first place. It continued into the house behind its original target and flew off into the distant hill behind it, where it exploded into a black shockwave that sent debris flying into the nearby forest. I could hear the rumble of the impact all the way from here, but couldnt see if it had left a crater at the hillside.

Its aftermath was even more impressive. The brute now had a circular hole in his chest, one so large not much of him was left. He stood there, unbreathing and still. Lifeless, and not in the undead way. To his credit, even death couldnt make him fall.

The house behind him had thankfully been no more than a ruin, even before my laser left a circular path in it, too.

Harold was starting to see the battle turn sour, so he attempted to run away in the chaos, but I wrapped him up with one of my chains before he could leave. Because I caught him by surprise, he hardly put up a fight. Seeing even their leader get caught, the rest of the thugs quickly dropped their weapons and gave up.

I looked over to my right and found out that the innkeeper had finished his side as well. The old mans hands were red from the blood of his targets, while his enemies were no more than corpses at his feet.

The only ones left alive had been Harold and the few I had captured with my chains. Just like that, nearly fifty people had lost their lives over the pride of one weak but glib cunt.

P- Please, spare me! I could do anything for you! Information, dont you n- need information? I have good ears, you see! Do you want to know secrets? I could t- tell you things about the dry man himself, as long as it s- stays between us, of c- course... Harold stammered while I dangled him upside down.

I had no intent on taking him up on his offer, even if I desperately needed information. Men like Harold just werent trustworthy. He had already proven that he would sell his loyalty to the highest bidder, the strongest fist. In this land of death, I simply wasnt the highest bidder.

The rest of his cronies were more forgivable, but sparing them still felt like a terrible idea. Despite this, I still felt slightly hesitant about killing them immediately. The innkeeper was staring at me intently, as if wondering how I would deal with them. This made me even more hesitant.

Just as I debated my options, I heard a voice come from nearby.

Betraying your master without a second thought? How heartless of you, Harold. And here I was, thinking you could be trusted, relied upon. Youre really breaking my heart.