The rogue leader looked around to see where the voice came from, but his gaze locked on Hiroshi, who stood at a distance from the village center.
"Hey, you boy, come here now!" the rogue leader ordered.
Hiroshi gulped in fear as he heard the leader's voice. Despite his hesitation, Hiroshi started to make his way toward the rogue leader, dragging his father's sword along the street.
As Hiroshi made his way through the helpless villagers to the rogue leader, the villagers spotted him. "Hiroshi, what are you doing here? Run!" they cried, trying to stop him from confronting the ruthless rogue leader.
But Hiroshi didn't listen to the villagers at all. His mind was set on fulfilling the promise he made to his mother.
As Hiroshi approached, he stood face-to-face with the leader of the rogues. "Tell me, boy, were you the one who shouted?" the rogue leader demanded.
Hiroshi could feel the dark magic flowing through the rogue leader. He murmured, "Yes."
"Louder, boy! I can't hear you," the rogue leader yelled.
With a trembling voice, Hiroshi replied louder, "YES! It was me."
The rogue leader, "Wait here. I'll deal with you later, boy." As he spoke, he pushed Hiroshi aside and went toward his men, who were still waiting for their next order. The anger was evident on the rogue leader's face. "Who is—" Before he could finish, he was interrupted by two of his men—the same duo who had broken into Hiroshi's house.
"Forgive us, my leader. We may have overlooked the boy," the duo spoke.
"You have made a mistake, and worse, you have asked for my forgiveness. There's no room for losers like you in my army," he said in a very serious tone.
The duo knelt before their leader. "We understand the task, my leader." As they spoke, they pulled out their daggers. Villagers next to the duo got scared, thinking they were going to kill them.
The duo closed their eyes and took a deep breath. "I don't have all day," the rogue leader said impatiently.
The duo opened their eyes, looked at their reflections in the daggers, and took another deep breath to gather their courage.
Villagers next to them closed their eyes in fear. A moment later, they felt something spill on their faces and heard screams from other villagers. As they gathered the courage to open their eyes, they saw the rogue duo had fallen to the ground, writhing as they bled from their throats.
The villagers looked at their hands, which were covered in the rogue duo's blood. Their clothes and faces were also covered in blood. Seeing themselves covered in blood, they joined the other villagers in screaming.
The rogue leader smiled at the villagers' reaction and then turned to Hiroshi. Hiroshi was shocked by what had happened in front of him; he was lost in his thoughts.
The rogue leader said to Hiroshi, "Boy, do you still want to save everyone?"
Hiroshi came back to his senses as he heard the leader's voice. He tightened his grip on his father's sword. "I promised my mother I'll save everyone," Hiroshi said, more determined than ever.
The rogue leader started walking toward Hiroshi, and with each step, his shadow grew larger over Hiroshi. Hiroshi took a few steps back, seeing the leader slowly approaching. Hiroshi was cornered against a wall, but the leader kept advancing.
There was no escape for Hiroshi now. He was cornered against the wall. Hiroshi closed his eyes and took a deep breath while the rogue leader continued walking toward him. Gathering all his strength, Hiroshi somehow lifted his father's sword and pointed the tip toward the advancing rogue leader. "Stop! Or I'll kill you," Hiroshi desperately cried out loud.
The rogue leader burst into laughter, seeing Hiroshi barely able to wield the sword. Hiroshi's hands were shaking from the sword's weight. The remaining rogues also burst into laughter at Hiroshi's miserable condition, their mocking laughter echoing throughout the village.
The rogue leader proposed a deal to Hiroshi. "I'll be generous and make you an offer, boy. I'll give you three minutes to fight one of my men. If you manage to stand on your feet after the time is up, we will leave this village and never come back. But if you can't stand after three minutes, I'll make sure you witness the death of every single person in this village."
Hiroshi nodded in agreement with the rogue leader's proposal, as he had no other choice.
The rogue leader sent one of his men to fight Hiroshi. "Your time starts now, boy," the rogue leader declared.
Hiroshi struck first, but the rogue effortlessly dodged Hiroshi's attack and countered with a blow to Hiroshi's back. As the sword left Hiroshi's body, an enormous amount of pain surged through his veins, causing him to fall to the ground.
But Hiroshi quickly managed to get up, gritting his teeth in pain. The rogue smiled and delivered another vicious attack, this time on Hiroshi's chest. The rogue was so fast that Hiroshi couldn't see the attack coming. He only felt the pain surging through his body.
"Just kill us and leave him alone!" the villagers cried out, unable to bear seeing Hiroshi being tortured any longer.
Hiroshi launched another attack, but this time, instead of dodging, the rogue stood still, easily grabbing Hiroshi's sword, pulling it from his grip, and throwing it to the ground.
The rogue lifted Hiroshi by his neck and started slapping him viciously. With each slap, Hiroshi screamed in extreme pain.