Fire ravaged the village.
The screams of villagers drowned out the sound of the raging flames.
"Mother! Mother! Wake up! Wake up—"
"Uwaa! Mommy! Mommy! Get up! We need to run away from these bad guys!"
"Leave me! Please don't… Let me go!!!"
"Gah! Arg! L-Leave… her… p-plea—"
"No! No! Don't kill my husband! Noooooooo!!!"
…
"Hehahahaha!!!" In the center of the village stood a burly man wearing a thick coat.
His face, covered in scars, looked terrifying as he watched the despair of the villagers with a wide, excited smile.
Enjoying the misery and screams, he ordered his men, "Take all the women and children. Ransack all the houses, don't leave a single thing behind. Hey you, it's not the time or place for this! Hey, bastard! You wanna die? Don't lay a finger on any of these women! They'll end up in very high places. Don't even think about ogling them if you don't want me to gouge your eyes out."
As the leader, he relished giving orders. He took out a thick cigarette and smoked.
"Another day, another village destroyed." He puffed out the smoke. "Nothing more soothing than hearing all these screams."
Suddenly, a figure flashed by.
Elyris looked at the destruction with a frown. Her frown deepened when she spotted the fire engulfing the trees.
"Destruction of the forest… A sin that won't go unpunished!"
"Gah!"
She struck the nearest bandit with her mace.
"Die! Die! Die!" She killed him swiftly, bashing his head with her mace.
Without further hesitation, her steps led her to the burning trees, despite the intense cold.
She didn't have any skills, so she threw her mace aside and grabbed snow with her bare hands.
Then she threw the snow at the trees, attempting to extinguish the fire. But her plan wasn't feasible, as the fire was too intense.
She appeared panicked, like a child who had lost their way. She frantically gathered more snow, throwing it faster, but it didn't help much. Her palms were turning red from the cold.
"Okay, that's scary." Lan Sol glanced at Elyris and couldn't help but shudder.
Her eyes, devoid of any light, were fixed on the fire, not caring about her surroundings. Her trembling figure looked pitiful, but anyone who saw her covered in blood would still be terrified.
"You three, go and kill those bandits while I help her."
"Alright!" The three figures charged at the bandits.
The bandits weren't much trouble. Most of them were level 3-5, with a few above level 5.
The strongest bandit was level 13, but he was an ordinary tier 1, so not much of a problem at all.
Lan Sol quickly scanned for any potential threats, but found none. He walked over to Elyris.
"Hah, what a troublesome elf," he muttered.
From her display of emotion, it was obvious some sort of traumatic memory had been triggered.
"May I help?" he asked.
No response.
"I can take that as a yes, right?" He shrugged and raised his palm.
"Frost Ball. Frost Ball. Icicles Rain. Icicles Rain." He chanted as his skills activated instantly.
Frost balls and icicles rained down on the trees.
The frost balls burst, spreading coldness, while the icicles stabbed into the trees, covering them in frost.
The intense fire couldn't keep up with the cold and diminished rapidly.
"And... done." Lan Sol stopped and looked at the burnt trees with a proud expression.
He had extinguished the fire in under a minute. Still, Elyris's panicked eyes couldn't see reality. She seemed lost in her past.
Gathering snow on her trembling hands, she threw it at the trees.
"Extinguish. Extinguish. Extinguish. Please… Please extinguish. Father, mother, Eily, Livia…" she muttered.
There were no tears, but her voice, filled with sadness, was unbearable to hear.
Lan Sol scratched the back of his head, unsure how to calm her.
"Hmm, let's do this." Mustering his courage, he stepped in front of her and...
_______
"Arg! Who are these people?"
The battle was intense but one-sided.
Snaya swiped her tail, throwing a horde of bandits away. Then she took out her bow and assumed her stance.
Taking an arrow from her quiver, she nocked it on the bow.
Soowsh!
The arrow pierced the air, perfectly stabbing the eyes of the bandit.
The arrow went through his eyes and exited from the back of his head.
All of this happened in less than ten seconds.
There was no hesitation as she took another arrow and struck the next enemy.
"Arg!"
Dying screams echoed as, one after another, no matter their level, the bandits fell.
Suddenly, a bandit snuck up behind her.
"Gotcha!" the bandit yelled, swinging his sword.
"No, you didn't!" Gol kicked the man away.
"Gah!" Screaming, he fell ten feet away.
As he landed, Gol chased after him and made a beautiful leap.
Pss!
The spear easily stabbed the bandit's forehead, even piercing the ground.
Headshot!
Gol didn't waste a breath. He retrieved the spear and charged into another bandit.
Their sudden attack caused chaos among the bandits.
They hastily charged at the intruders, trying to overwhelm them with numbers, but no matter how many they were, a fly's fate is sealed when it's hit by an electric fly swatter.
The bandit leader frowned.
"Who are these pesky ants standing before me?" He grabbed a broadsword and rushed toward Snaya.
"Yaaaa! Take this, you snake bitch!" The bandit leader, as big as 2 meters with a massive body, looked intimidating as he swung his massive, double-edged broadsword, the blade width reaching 15 inches.
Thud!
The sword shook the earth as it landed on the ground.
Snaya easily avoided the sword and jumped. Her tail wrapped around the bandit leader's neck and exerted immense strength.
The difference between tier 1 and tier 2 creatures was evident.
No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't tear her tail off his neck. As more strength was exerted, the bandit leader struggled to breathe and knelt, desperately trying to get rid of the thing strangling him.
"You vile creature, may your soul rest in hell," Snaya's icy voice terrified the bandit leader.
From above, she aimed her bow just above his head, the tip of the arrow touching his skin.
"N-N-No… S-spare… m-me..."
Those were his last words as the arrow pierced through his head and emerged from his bottom.
"Finished." She jumped elegantly, landing on the ground and looking at the death she had just caused.
Without changing her expression, she glanced at the remaining bandits.
There were 25 bandits in total, attacking the village.
Gol and Gam had obliterated all of them, while she was dealing with the leader. For their level, this feat wasn't extraordinary.
It would have been embarrassing if they had lost here.
"Hahah! See you, puny humans. You don't stand a chance against us mighty goblins!"
"Whoever dares to stand against us, face a fate worse than these guys!"
"Hahahaha!"
The two goblins, covered in blood, laughed maniacally as they were surrounded by corpses.
Even they didn't know whom they were directing their words at, but it just felt cool to say, so they did.
The villagers who watched the massacre were more scared of the new creatures than the bandits.
The bandits might have just killed them, but these creatures might eat them, or maybe their fate would be much worse.
They couldn't help but shudder, appearing more frightened by the sight which was more horrifying than a horror movie.
The three creatures, covered in blood, looked at the villagers.
The villagers shivered at their gaze. All the survivors knelt and pressed their heads to the ground.
"Please spare us!"
"Spare us!"
"Spare us!"
Simple words, but their tone was filled with fear and reverence. They didn't know how to address them, so they just pressed their heads further to the ground, hoping the creatures would lose interest and go away.
"Why are these humans bowing to us?" Gam asked.
"No idea." Gol replied.
Snaya didn't respond.
The situation lasted until Lan Sol returned with Elyris.
"Umm, uhh, hmm... I-I am... sorry," Elyris apologized.
The three of them looked at her in confusion.
"Lord said I need to apologize, as I caused inconvenience, not just for him but for you three too. So... please forgive me."
"It's... okay, I guess," Gol replied.
"I don't mind, really," Gam responded, not even knowing what inconvenience she had caused or why she was apologizing.
Snaya just nodded.
Lan Sol looked at the scene—corpses, the three covered in blood, and the villagers still bowing down.
"Ha." He sighed. "You three…" With a gentle smile, he looked at them.
"What the heck did you do?!"
"Eeeiiiik!" The two goblins shrieked terrified by their lord's smile.