Chapter 23: Massacre
The Twin-Headed villager had long since shed his fear. He stood outside the protective barrier, chopping wood while humming a tune of unknown origin. Whenever he finished cutting a few units of wood, he would hoist them onto his shoulder and trudge back inside the protective barrier, where Ashbel and his combat units waited.
Each time the villager set down the wood, he didn't forget to shoot Ashbel a resentful glare.
There were plenty of other villagers — why had he specifically been chosen as bait?
After the villager headed out again to cut more wood, Ashbel remained standing in place, puzzled. He paid no mind to the villager's provocative glares and resentful looks — after all, once this crisis was over, he could kill him with a flick of his finger. But what truly troubled him was the current situation. Was it genuinely safe… or merely a false sense of security?
Ashbel was cautious by nature. He decided to make the bait larger and more enticing. He gestured with his hand and ordered three more villagers outside.
Golan and the rest of the team watched this scene from their rocky hiding spot on the nearby elevation. He saw the four villagers working outside. The sight was tempting for him and the rest of the team members, whose hands had begun to itch from the long wait.
Golan glanced at the sun, which had drawn close to the horizon, and thought for a moment. Then he said in a low voice: "Let's wait a little longer."
Another half hour passed. Nothing happened. Ashbel's heart began to calm gradually. Perhaps… perhaps the situation was truly safe? Perhaps that wretched human Lord hadn't located his territory yet. Hope began to rise in his chest, and for the first time since yesterday he felt something resembling relief.
But then, at that very moment — a change occurred.
It wasn't the enemies Ashbel had expected. Instead, it was a giant lizard monster. Drawn by the continuous sound of axes striking wood, it had crept silently from between the rocks. Before anyone noticed, it ambushed one of the four villagers. A single swipe of its massive claw brought him down dead instantly, and it began devouring its savory meal without the slightest concern for anyone around it.
When the three remaining villagers saw their companion's entrails being pulled out by the lizard's bloodied jaws, they didn't pause to appreciate the scenic view — they threw their axes to the ground and ran at full speed toward the protective barrier.
"Damn it!" Ashbel cursed furiously, slamming his fist through the air. Fury blazed in all four of his eyes as he watched the monster devour one of his residents right before him.
The lizard monster took only a minute to consume most of the poor villager's body. This meal was nothing more than a light appetizer. It raised its thick head and looked with hungry eyes toward the direction the three villagers had fled, then began moving that way — and despite being a reptile, it was anything but slow. The monster reached the transparent barrier quickly and began striking it with its claws.
Ashbel had been waiting for this. He immediately dispatched his sole elite soldier, backed by three militia soldiers.
The elite soldier — a massive Twin-Headed warrior — advanced toward the lizard. He carried a broad battle axe, sharpened on both edges. In all four of his eyes shone a look of obvious arrogance.
He readied himself and seized the crucial moment when the lizard raised its head to roar. With all his strength, he targeted the lizard's neck.
"BZZZZ!~"
Three-quarters of the axe blade sank into the thick neck flesh.
"ROAAR!~" The lizard shrieked in ringing pain and staggered backward. The elite soldier barely managed to wrench free his lodged battle axe. The blow had been powerful — it had nearly severed the lizard's neck entirely. But it had failed to end the monster's life in a single strike. The creature fled, its life now hanging by the thinnest of threads, leaving behind a long trail of blood.
"Chase it! Kill it!" Ashbel roared loudly as he watched the wounded monster attempting to escape.
The lizard monster in its desperate state no longer posed a real threat. So the elite soldier and three militia soldiers exited the protective barrier immediately and gave chase.
By pure coincidence… the direction of the monster's flight led it directly toward Golan's team position.
When Golan saw this scene, he cried out inwardly: At last! It was fortunate he had been patient all this time. And finally — the prey had walked into the trap.
Golan whispered swift instructions to his team, with particular direction aimed at Laura. She was the only one in the team who possessed long-range capability, so the first surprise strike would fall on her shoulders.
Golan said, pointing toward the enemy: "Target the big one first. He looks stronger than the rest."
Laura indicated she understood. Golan suddenly recalled that the Lord had given them several Venom Potions and Stamina Potions in case they faced powerful opponents. He asked Laura to bring out her arrows, then took one of the Venom Potions from his pouch and handed it to her.
"Dip your arrowheads in the poison. We're facing an enemy on par with our strength — caution is essential."
Laura took the vial, removed its cap, and carefully dipped the tips of four arrows into it. She then placed one of the poisoned arrows on her bowstring and held the rest between her fingers, waiting for the right moment.
"Wait until he kills the monster, then release your arrow. It doesn't matter if he dies from the first shot or not — what matters is that you hit him," Golan told her with a few additional instructions as he prepared himself. Around him, the rest of the team also began readying themselves.
Laura nodded in response. Then she began to watch. She fixed her eyes on the Twin-Headed elite soldier.
In her line of sight, the battle-axe bearer quickly reached the lizard, whose strength was already failing. Fortunately, the lizard had drawn close to Laura's range. When the lizard realized it could no longer escape its fate, it turned its heavy body to face its pursuers. It snarled in threat, baring its blood-coated fangs. But the threat was far too weak. It only frightened the militia soldiers slightly — the elite soldier was completely unaffected.
"Why all this trouble? You should have died from the first strike! I would have looked better in front of the Lord!" the elite soldier said with anger and contempt, raising the heavy battle axe with both hands. Then he brought it crashing down on the monster's forehead with everything he had.
The blade cleaved through the skull with barely any resistance, driving deep into the weakened monster's brain. The lizard collapsed to the ground, dead instantly.
At that very moment — while the elite soldier was pulling at his hands to wrench his axe free from deep within the monster's skull — he suddenly sensed danger. There was no time to think, no time even to react. He barely managed to twist his massive body sideways. He escaped instant death, but he did not escape injury. The arrow cut through the air and tore through his flank, carving away a small piece of grey flesh in its wake.
"Damn you, you wretches!" he screamed in pain and fury, spinning toward the source of the arrow.
But before he could react further, the elite soldier felt a sharp and terrible pain spreading from his flank. He looked down in horror at the scratch — dark green lines were beginning to spread with terrifying speed, like a venomous spider's web, reaching all across his body.
He realized he had been poisoned. He tried to scream, but even his tongue had been paralyzed. He could no longer control his massive body. He staggered — then crashed heavily to the ground.
"Move! I don't want any of them to escape!" Golan roared, breaking into a full sprint toward the remaining targets. The team members followed — only Laura remained behind, kneeling on one knee, nocking another arrow on her bowstring to target the second enemy.
Everything happened at lightning speed. The three militia soldiers had not been prepared for this kind of sudden turn of events. They saw their commander drop without warning.
They froze for a second — then saw several foreign soldiers, equipped with far superior armor and weapons, running at them from seemingly out of nowhere. They grasped the horrifying reality they were now in. They turned and fled immediately at the absolute maximum their legs could carry, heading for the protective barrier.
Though the distance between them and the protective barrier was not all that great… it felt like the dividing line between life and death.
Laura released her second arrow. It struck the first fleeing soldier in the back, and he fell dead.
The second was caught by one of Golan's swordsmen, who drove his blade into the soldier's back with a sudden thrust — killing him as well.
As for the third and final militia soldier, only a few steps remained between him and the protective barrier. Hope filled his eyes.
But at that moment, he heard a sharp sound slicing through the air behind him. Before he could react, the spear pierced his back, tore through his heart, and emerged from the other side of his chest. The soldier froze in place. He looked down and saw the iron spear tip jutting from his chest, drenched in his own blood. He fell to his knees — dead, like the rest.
The elite soldier bearing the battle axe knew nothing of how the battle had unfolded. His gaze was fixed upward, his body completely paralyzed.
In that moment, a beautiful young blonde woman entered his blurring field of vision. She carried a bow and a quiver of arrows on her back, and in her hand was a sharp dagger whose tip gleamed beneath the golden light of the setting sun. She leaned down over him, looked at him, and murmured — her cherry lips curved into a sly smile: "Why all this trouble? You should have died from the first strike… then I would have looked better in front of the Lord."
Those were the exact words I said just moments ago.
That was the last thought of the Twin-Headed elite soldier, before the sharp dagger pierced his heart.
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— End of Chapter Twenty-Three —