Chapter 18 Village #2
I summoned the carcass of the deer and presented it to the few villagers and the elder.
They stared at the deer with wide eyes. I could see some of them even salivate.
I was right. They had food trouble. Next, I summoned a few pieces of cooked meat and pressed it into the hand of the elder and the three other men behind him.
They seemingly forgot their weapons and took the meat immediately.
The elder didn't complain.
"I thank you for your goodwill, dear martial artist," the elder bowed.
I bowed back.
"Can you update me on the current situation? I have reason to believe the attack will happen within 24 hours, but I know nothing about the village nor the attackers. Information gathering was the task...you know," I said, my tone turning sorrowful.
"I know," the elder nodded grimly. Then he began to explain the current situation to me.
One of their hunters had found a small group of demons who were coming right towards them.
There were 16 demons exactly. That was two days ago.
During that time, a couple of men took women and children and fled towards another village.
Around 20 military-age men remained to defend their homes while they began to build traps around the village.
I nodded. The odds weren't great. But I knew it was possible to win.
"Do you have any lumberjacks? Carpenters?" I asked.
The elder nodded.
"Gather them, find and create as many sticks that are around 5-7 feet tall and sharpen their tips. We won't be able to build a great amount of traps in the time we have left, so we will have to be happy with what we have."
The elder seemed hesitant.
"Now," I commanded.
Over the next 24 hours, my orders were followed perfectly.
The meat was a great motivator, and I made sure they got much more than what was actually needed.
A lot of sticks with my measurements were gathered or created while other villagers sharpened the tips.
I made sure all of these weapons were placed exactly where I wanted them to be while making sure everyone understood the plan I had in mind.
They did. Even the elder didn't complain.
I wasn't sure if he agreed or was just smart enough to know when not to argue.
Either way, the night passed. We slept enough to wake up refreshed and ate breakfast before we spotted the group in the distance.
Bipedal creatures with red skin, towering heights, and bulging muscles, accompanied by the heads of different animals, all marching in a straight line and with one purpose:
To destroy this village.
"The Demons are here!" I screamed. "Everyone! In position!"
The villagers scrambled to their feet and then up the houses where we had most of our javelins placed. It was quite the sight, seeing 20 people sitting on different rooftops, all holding javelins, waiting for my command to fire.
I watched the Demons come closer. We had tested how far the villagers could throw those javelins. It was a surprisingly long distance, but then again, even at Wood Rank, they were as strong as world-class athletes back on Earth. Maybe even stronger.
The path towards the village was a downwards slope that went up again. The Demons reached the upward part and with it, our striking distance.
I waited.
300 Feet.
Still no command.
250 feet.
Silence.
200 feet.
Nervous glances were thrown towards me.
150 feet.
Mana gathered inside my throat, and I could feel the palpable silence. The calm before the storm. The nervousness was real.
125 feet.
"Fire!" I screamed.
Whistling overshadowed every other sound as the javelins arced upwards, then back down and into the mass of marching Demons. With heavy thuds, the javelins hit the ground or shattered off the chitin armor, but a few drilled into the Demons in unprotected areas. The tips dug in maybe an inch or two.
The Demons charged us, just as expected, and the villagers sent down a second volley of javelins.
Then they quickly climbed down the houses; a few nervous ones just jumped straight down.
We moved backward and onto the next line of houses while the Demons poured inside the village and reached the houses the villagers had just been on.
The Demons followed us, but so did the storm of javelins.
Once more, most missed or shattered against the Demons' armor, but even more drilled themselves an inch into their skin.
Their angry screams were a pleasure to my ears.
We repeated the process a third time before we were out of javelins and houses.
We quickly ran into the forest towards the village's back. The Demons followed us like cattle, the trees causing them to split up. And just like that, a two-sided massacre began.
Well, at least everyone besides me was having trouble.
With my level and the battle experience I gathered, fighting two Demons at the same time was quite easy.
As for the villagers, their screams echoed through the forest. I saw somebody get torn apart right next to me, causing the Demon to join the one I was already fighting.
Despite that, I kept my calm and observed the situation. I would dodge and weave while using the forest to keep the Demons away from me. I lured them out a little so a third wouldn't join the fray before taking care of them while watching the battlefield from the back.
Some people just absolutely got massacred. Their limbs were torn off one by one, and their skulls shattered. Those actions were done by the uninjured demons. I felt bad for not helping, also knowing I just couldn't.
Luckily, not all of it was grim. Multiple villagers had teamed up and attacked the injured Demons. Their swords, spears, and pitchforks cut into their skin, and they were eventually able to subdue multiple Demons.
I decided to finish off the two I had been holding at bay.
They were uninjured previously, but my constant onslaught of attacks did quite a number on them.
I infused my Mana into my fist and hit the first Demon into the liver.
By now, it was a process I got so used to, it was basically impossible for me to miss.
The organ burst, and the monster buckled over.
Like always.
Before its comrade could come and join, my leg lashed out, and combined with the mana powering my strike, the attack was delivered in a lightning-fast and devastating manner. The brutal crunch of its neck breaking, confirming its death.
The second demon died in much the same way. Organs burst. Pain flared inside its body. It buckled over. Boom. Its neck was broken.
The fight going on was surprisingly evenly matched. Half of the villagers were dead, their bodies spread across the forest. That was the same case for the demons. Half of them were dead.
I burst towards one of the few uninjured demons held at bay by three villagers.
With its back turned to me, it didn't notice my approach.
I jumped up into the air, my body forming a backward C shape as I pulled my hands over my head.
Then, with the entirety of my body's momentum combined with the mana flowing through my hands, my fists slammed into the back of the demon's head.
A heavy thud, followed by a loud crack, and the demon's skull split open. I followed up with a second strike and dug into its head, gripped tight, and pulled out as much brain as possible. It looked disgusting. I threw it to the side and went on my way, helping the villagers out wherever I could.
I killed three more in a similar manner, and the fight was over. The demons didn't expect me; I struck them, and they died. It was getting easy. And easy meant boring.
However, as I looked around me, things changed a little. One villager was bleeding out, with the second one holding the man's stomach, preventing his guts from spilling out. Both men cried. The dying man was relaying his last words, and over the next seconds, the light inside his eyes dimmed.
Not everybody had it as easy as me. I felt guilty for not being able to protect them all, but I was simply too weak. Far too weak. I could have at most taken on three demons, but then I would have been injured and out of the fight.
More people would have died.
I promised myself that for Blackstone Town, things would be different. Not only would I be stronger, but I was also going to make sure my people could handle a skirmish or two.
This was my duty as a ruler.
"Thank you," the villager elder arrived at my side. I wasn't sure how he was alive. "Thank you for saving our dear little village. Truly, without you, we all would have died. This old man thanks you."
Bonus Objective Complete. You have saved the village.
Thank God it was done.
Bonus Objective added. Kill the village's traitor.
Oh.
All I remember was seeing a blur and the village elder's vicious expression before my world turned dark.