On a huge hill, there was a cave where people moved in and out, carrying heavy loads on their shoulders, their eyes filled with despair.
One of the boys suddenly stumbled over a stone due to exhaustion.
"You dare to be lazy?"
The guard, seeing this, immediately displayed a ferocious expression and lashed his whip mercilessly against the boy, producing a crisp sound that tore away a large part of his back.
"Ahhh..."
The child cried out loud as he fell to the ground, worsening his injuries, but no one came to help him.
The others' eyes were already vacant, devoid of any hope of living. Without hope, a person isn't truly alive, just a machine working for other purposes.
No matter how much the child screamed, not a single person came to help, and the guard watched with cold eyes until the child succumbed to death. Then his ferocious gaze landed on the others.
"If you dare to even delay mining, your fate will be no better than this boy's," he shouted.
But the other people's expressions didn't change. They were entirely unfazed by these cruel scenes, as if they had adapted to them, and continued at their own pace.
"Damn it," the guard cursed through gritted teeth.
"Hey new guy, nice try, but you ain't gonna make any ripple with them. That child just joined the mine, so he still had hope. But the others lost that hope long ago," another guard said with a snicker.
The new guy was obviously not convinced when he heard this. Just as he was about to take action, his expression suddenly changed.
A gong resounded throughout the place.
"Intruder! Intruder! Alert!"
"What intruder?" The guard was shocked as the senior beside him hurriedly ran.
"Follow me, faster, new guy."
"Yes."
Soon they came to the other side of the hill, where there was a dignified middle-aged man wearing holy light armour.
"Captain." Both the newbie and the senior bowed.
The dignified middle-aged man just gave them a glance and didn't speak further. The two tactically went back to the other guards.
Aur said lightly with a surprised expression on his face. He slowly walked towards the guards.
"You..."
The guards were furious when they saw Aur walking towards them.
"How dare you tarnish the majesty of the church! It's still not too late; beg for forgiveness and then kill yourself, otherwise your fate will be worse than death."
One guard said with a ferocious expression while pointing at Aur. This was the new guard who had just joined.
The other guards' expressions changed when they heard this.
"This fool," they thought.
The crowd of guards immediately cursed the new guy while looking at Aur with fearful eyes. One of the clever guards quickly stuck his long greatsword into the chest of the man.
"You—"
The new guard's eyes turned to disbelief as he looked at his companion who had murdered him.
"You should at least be smart if you want to live," the clever guard chuckled, looking at the slowly approaching Aur with fawning eyes.
"He clearly attacked us even when we stated our identity as the church. You, being a fool, wanted to agitate him even more; that would only spell your death faster," he whispered.
In the face of death, what is love, what is camaraderie? Everything turns to dust.
"Lord, I killed him—"
Aur just smiled lightly and gave him a glance.
The moment Aur's crimson gaze fell on the man, he shuddered with a chill down his spine. He wasn't able to scream or say another word before his vision turned blank and his eyes lost their colour.
"Ahhh..."
The guards were thrown into chaos upon seeing the blood mist and started to run in all directions.
However, Aur was merciless. With a light punch, almost twenty or so guards turned into blood mist.
In just a few punches, he killed all the guards present.
The guards were all just mortals. Though they had the power to suppress other mortals due to their high training, in front of Aur, they were just bugs.