Breathing heavily and sweating rivers from running nonstop, Amadeus finally reached the village. Walking through the once bustling streets, he was relieved not to see any dead bodies, which calmed him a little.
Reaching his home, he called out and looked for his family but found the house empty. Suddenly, realization hit him. "I was so focused on getting home that I forgot about the party," he muttered, then started running towards the party place.
Time passed as Amadeus reached the party place, his heart calming at the sight of his family. "Father... mother... sisters... brother... you're all still alive," he said before someone pulled him into the bushes and covered his mouth.
It was Isabel. She put a finger to her lips, signaling him to stay quiet. "Isabel, what are you doing here? Well, it doesn't matter, I'm just happy you're safe," Amadeus said in a low voice, his face serious.
"I was getting some stuff from the kitchen we forgot, and I heard the explosion. I ran here and found these strangers. Your mother signaled me to stay hidden," Isabel whispered, remembering the events.
"So, what do we do now? Just hide?" Amadeus asked, frustrated.
"Do you trust me, Amadeus?" Isabel replied.
"Of course, I trust you," he affirmed.
"Then we wait and see what happens. We act at the right moment," Isabel advised.
"Fine, but you have to tell me where you got all these war tactics from," Amadeus teased.
"No, I won't. It's my little secret," Isabel said with a playful grin.
At the party place, everyone was gathered, afraid of what was in front of them. Elizabeth and Beatrice were being hugged and comforted by Celestina, while Alexander, with Thomas by his side, stood fearless, looking straight at danger as he should since he was the chief.
In front of them were two giant minotaurs with chains around their necks and around 100 fully armored soldiers behind them. Leading them was a paladin with a giant sword, and beside him stood a priest with noble features and silver hair. The priest's eyes were closed, and he wore clothes similar to Priest Castellan's, though more luxurious and expensive.
"No need to be afraid. We are followers of the god of light, Alpha. We don't intend to hurt any of you," said the priest.
"Did you say you were a priest of Alpha?" asked Priest Castellan, walking to face him.
"Yes, I am the high priest Archibald, and this is my paladin Baldwin. Behind us is the army of the god of light," said High Priest Archibald, pointing at himself and then at Baldwin.
"It's good to meet another priest, and for him to be a high priest is a great honor. The god Alpha must be smiling at me," said Priest Castellan, bowing down and thinking to himself, "They can't be lying. All of them have the god of light Alpha emblem on their armor and clothes. It has never happened before that someone impersonates a priest or they would face godly wrath."
"So, you are a priest then. That makes it a whole lot easier. First, we are sorry for destroying your village. You see, we are on quite a tight schedule, so we helped ourselves to your supplies. But thanks to Alpha, you were all here and not in the houses," said High Priest Archibald.
"And why do you need our supplies, High Priest?" Alexander asked, moving forward towards him.
"And who are you to question me?" High Priest Archibald retorted.
"I am Alexander, the chief of this village," said Alexander with confidence.
"You are the chief, so we have the priest and the chief in one place. That's called good luck, don't you think so, Baldwin?" High Priest Archibald said with a smile.
"We are on a holy crusade to exterminate demons, so we ask that you follow our orders," said High Priest Archibald.
"So, what do you need from us?" Alexander asked.
"Actually, we need you to direct us to the rest of your supplies so we don't have to destroy what's left of the village," said High Priest Archibald.
"I don't have a problem giving you the supplies since it will be a great honor to help in the crusade of our god," said Alexander, then explained where they hide their supplies.
"Good, thank you for the information," said High Priest Archibald, then he waved his hand for the minotaurs to go get the supplies.
Time passed, and the minotaurs returned with the supplies. "I think now you can leave," said Alexander.
"I said that I need both of you, and as for your part, chief, you delivered us the supplies. Now I need the help of the priest," said High Priest Archibald, looking at Priest Castellan.
"So, what do you need from a humble priest such as myself?" asked Priest Castellan.
"It's quite easy if you think about it," said High Priest Archibald, then lifted his head and his smile turned from gentle to demonic.
"I demand SACRIFICE," said High Priest Archibald, and silence filled the place with everyone shocked at his demand.
"You say sacrifice, but why? We are all loyal followers of the god of light Alpha," said Priest Castellan, shocked by the demand.
"And that's why I need your sacrifice. Because you are loyal followers, and our god loves loyalty. You should know this better than anyone," said High Priest Archibald.
"But for what reason?" asked Priest Castellan.
"To tell you the truth, our crusade hasn't been going well. We started with 10,000 soldiers and many monsters like these two, but now all that is left is what you see. So, if we want to complete our mission, we need to get our god's blessing. What better way to please a god than giving him a sacrifice?" said High Priest Archibald with a face full of shame, but it was all an act to make the villagers believe him.
"Well, if we need to, then we will have to choose one of..." started Priest Castellan, but was cut off by Alexander's scream.
"Are you really thinking about who we will sacrifice?" Alexander shouted.
Priest Castellan replied to Alexander, "We don't have a choice. Our god has given us a lot, so it's our time to give back." Their talk was interrupted by the High Priest Archibald coughing to get their attention.
"I think you misunderstood my words. I don't need one sacrifice; I need six sacrifices," said High Priest Archibald, raising six fingers. "And if it is too hard for you to decide, we will have to choose the sacrifices ourselves," he added with a sorry face.
"We have to choose six of us to die?" Alexander said to himself, then a loud noise of people talking to each other began, each trying to sacrifice the other. The once united village was ripping itself apart, and Alexander the chief just stood there, not knowing what to do.
After some time, the High Priest Archibald moved forward to Alexander. "It seems like no one is ready to take the great honor of being sacrificed to our god, but aren't you the village chief? Shouldn't you be the one to step up first to protect your people?" said the High Priest Archibald in a low voice, but loud enough for the villagers to hear.
Suddenly, silence filled the area, and all eyes looked at Alexander. "Yes, he's the chief, so it's his job to protect us," said one of the villagers.
"Yes, it is his duty," said another villager. Soon, everyone agreed that Alexander had to be sacrificed.
"How dare you! After all he did for you!" Celestina screamed at the villagers.
"Celestina, stop. They are right. As much as I hate it, it is my duty to protect them," said Alexander, moving forward to face the High Priest Archibald.
"Now we need five more," said the High Priest Archibald, leaning his head to look behind Alexander. "The woman who stood up to the villagers is hugging two girls, and the man who was standing beside you the entire time... are they by any chance your family?" asked High Priest Archibald, looking back at Alexander, who froze in place.
Before Alexander could answer, a villager spoke up, "Yes, they are."
Alexander looked back at the villagers with a shocked and rageful face. "I understood why you chose me, but my family, you bastards!" he screamed at them.
"Now we need one more sacrifice. Do you have any more family members, Chief Alexander?" asked High Priest Archibald.
"Yes, he's got a 15-year-old son, but he's in the forest," said one of the villagers that came forward.
BANG!
The villager was hit in the face with a punch, making him fall to the ground. "You human trash! And you call yourself a man?" said William, who had just arrived. "Sorry, Alexander. I was late. I was out of the village looking for ores when I heard the explosion," said William with a smile.
"No need to be sorry, old friend. Even if you were here, you couldn't have done anything," said Alexander, making a depressed smile.
"If you need a sacrifice, then I am ready. No need to touch the boy," said William, coming forward, proud of his action.
"Sorry, but your sacrifice won't do," said High Priest Archibald. "Sacrificing a whole family of loyal followers seems better " he added with a sadistic face.
"Look for the boy in the forest and around the village. He might be hiding somewhere," commanded High Priest Archibald to the soldiers.
"You bastard! You already have me and my family. Don't you dare touch him!" Alexander roared, his rage propelling him toward High Priest Archibald.
With a flick of his wrist, High Priest Archibald cast {Chains of Heretics}. A magic circle appeared beneath Alexander, from which chains full of spikes emerged, binding him and inflicting agonizing pain.
"AAARGH!" Alexander screamed, his gaze still locked on the High Priest with unyielding rage. "Interesting. I admire people with strong determination. That's why you'll make an amazing sacrifice," High Priest Archibald remarked coldly.
"I am going out to face him," said Amadeus, who had been silently watching this whole time, his expression inscrutable.
"Have you gone mad? They will kill you!" whispered Isabel, her eyes wide with fear.
"Hiding is meaningless. The man with the big sword knows we were here from the beginning," Amadeus said, determination etched on his face as he stepped out of the bushes.
Amadeus screamed, surprising everyone from behind, "You're looking for his youngest son, right? Well, here I am!"