Chapter 2: The Death Posse
The sight was so gut-wrenching that it almost made Thalor puke. He stared at the human head lying on the ground, lifeless.
'What the heck is going on?' Thalor thought.
"Is that real?" Claire said with a horrified expression as she pointed to the human head at the gate.
"I'm afraid so." Thalor replied solemnly.
"Shit! Shit... Shit... What do we do? What if the perpetrator is still here?" Claire started to have a panic attack.
"Calm down, Claire! Panicking will get us nowhere." Thalor said calmly.
"How can you be so calm?" Claire said as she calmed down a bit.
"Like I said panicking will get us nowhere. Come on we have to check for survivors, judging by the rotten smell of the corpse, the perpetrator should be long gone by now. " Thalor said casually as he took the lead.
Claire just followed Thalor as she wondered why he didn't seem to be bothered by what was in front of him.
But Thalor was scared out of his mind. He was just acting tough on the outside while on the inside, he was a total mess.
As they progressed through the village, they saw many dead bodies of both adults and children alike.
The ground was soaked with blood and the air was filled with the smell of rotten corpses.
As they were getting closer to the center of the village, they saw someone limping towards them with a stick.
"Who's there!?"Thalor asked loudly.
"This voice... Is it you Thalor?" The old woman said weakly.
"Grandma!" Thalor said as he ran to help his grandma. "Grandma, what happened to you? What happened to the village? " Thalor asked in a worried tone.
"Cough!... Cough! You children should…. get out of this village…. cough!... while you still can. " The old woman said weakly as she coughed up blood incessantly.
"What are you talking about grandma? We can't leave you here. Not in your current condition. "Thalor said seriously.
No matter what, Thalor will not leave his grandmother in this place. She's the only family he knows.
"No, you don't understand. Cough…. The person who did this is still here." The old woman said with a grim look on her face.
"What!? They're still here!?" Claire said with a shocked expression.
Even Thalor was shocked by this. It seemed like the incident that occurred here happened three days ago. So he thought the perpetrator should be long gone by now.
But He was wrong.
"He stayed back? Why would he stay here for so long? Grandma, what happened here?" Thalor asked as he couldn't understand why the perpetrator would stay back. He should have stolen what he wanted and left.
So why did he stay back?
"Three days ago, we were attacked by a great evil. Cough!.... It was like a nightmare... " The old woman explained the incident.
Three days ago, the village was attacked by Grade 9 Heaven Phase Shadow Demon Wolves. The whole village was massacred, and even the village guards couldn't do anything.
But that wasn't the only thing.
"After killing the youngsters and adults, cough… the demon wolves captured the village chief and elders and took us to the person controlling them." The old woman paused and revealed a terrified expression. "The man…. He had the mark of the death god." The old woman said in a terrified tone.
"Mark of the death god!? That means…" Claire said in a surprised tone.
"He's a member of the Death Posse and a warlord at that." Thalor said anxiously.
Death Posse was an organization established a hundred years ago. No one knew their motive or why they were established, all we knew was that they were the epitome of terror. They killed for no just reason, raided towns, and assassinated nobles all for the fun of it.
The whole organization was divided into six groups; Shadow tribe, Thunder Council, Blood Corps, The Order of the Void, Light Destroyers, and the strongest group, The Posse of Reality.
The base level of members of each group is from Rank A3 and above. Five of the six groups are managed by two Warlords; the Divine Warlord being the lowest and the Supreme Warlord being the highest. The whole organization has five Divine Warlords and six Supreme Warlords with a base level of Rank S2.
And finally, their leader, the god of death, Shinigami. Shinigami was said to be at Rank SSSinfinity. They were unbelievably strong. No one thought they could be defeated.
Until…
A legendary hero rose from the ashes and defeated Shinigami. With no one to lead them, the members of Death Posse immediately went into hiding, never to be seen again.
'So why did they come back? What do they want from a remote village like this?' Thalor thought.
"Granny, why did he capture the village chief and elders?" Thalor asked.
The old woman's expression turned solemn. "He interrogated us, tortured us for information. He was looking for something hidden in our forest. The only thing special is that big cave located at the edge of the forest. " Thalor said.
"What was he looking for? From what I can remember, this village doesn't have any divine treasures." Thalor said.
The old woman did not answer his question rather she held his hands firmly with a serious look on her face and said "Thalor, you must find the cave deep in our forest. In it, lies great power that must not fall into the wrong hands. Please, retrieve it before he does."
"Grandma…"
"I'm sorry I couldn't stay longer with you…Cough…" The old woman coughs up a lot of blood.
"Grandma!" Thalor said anxiously.
"Thalor, can you grant this dying woman a last wish?" The old woman asked with a sad smile.
"Anything grandma, I'll do it." Thalor said with teary eyes. He felt his heart ripping apart.
"Find your parents for me. Find them and help them with any problem they are facing. Can you do that Thalor?" The old woman asked.
"I can, I'll find them for you. Don't worry." Thalor said as tears started to drop from his cheeks.
"Oh, thank you, my handsome grandchild." The old woman said with a wholesome smile as she caressed Thalor's cheeks and said "Have a good life, Thalor."
Slice!
Drop!
The old woman's head was sliced cleanly off her body and it fell to the ground. Her blood splattered everywhere, soaking the ground.
Thalor had a horrified expression on his face as he saw his grandma's head on the ground.
"AHHHHHH!" Claire let out a bone-chilling scream.
"That old bitch! She should have told me the answer and she would have lived." The mysterious man sighed.
Thalor slowly raised his head to see the mysterious man. Thalor spots the mark of the death god on his neck.
What!? A Supreme Warlord!