From every shadowy corner, an uncountable mass of people emerged, stepping into the sunlight. They were men and women, young and old, all dressed plainly. Yet, despite their ordinary appearance, their faces were devoid of expression, and their eyes brimmed with a malice that seemed boundless.
The crowd grew larger, like a tightening net closing in on Sam and his group, surging toward them with an eerie unity.
Heavy footsteps echoed through the village, a grim rhythm that pounded like the drumbeat of death, reverberating in everyone's chest.
"They're here! Run!" Simon shouted in panic, his voice filled with urgency. Like a leopard, he sprinted toward the northwest corner of the village, aiming for a three-story house—the tallest structure in Willow Village.
Previously shrouded in darkness, the building now stood visible in the increasing daylight, its silhouette sharp against the pale sky.
The others followed in a desperate dash for survival.
Sam, however, remained seated on his stretcher, observing the scene leisurely. He even took a moment to examine the villagers' faces, noting their features with interest. He felt no urgency—after all, running was pointless for him. He couldn't outrun the villagers, nor could he fight them. Why waste energy panicking when he could take in the view?
As he watched, Sam began to understand why Simon had initially suspected his group of being Nightmare creatures. He had to admit, the Snake Gang lackeys bore an uncanny resemblance to the villagers. Both groups had the same expressionless faces, as if hypnotized and brainwashed.
Wait… hypnotized?
A thought flickered through Sam's mind. Could it be that these villagers were also under someone's control? Was there a chief orchestrating their actions from behind the scenes?
He scanned the crowd carefully, but no one stood out as a potential leader. Well, not everyone could have the same level of style and sophistication as himself.
"Get out of my way!" Simon roared from the front of the group. His right hand formed the familiar gun-like pose, and with a sharp movement, he fired at an approaching villager.
Boom!
A highly compressed flame bullet shot from his fingertip, streaking straight toward the villager and erupting in a burst of fiery light upon impact.
The villager crumpled into the flames but quickly got back up. Even with half of his body scorched and charred, he appeared unfazed and continued charging at Simon.
Bang! Bang!
Two more [Five-Finger Flame Bursts] followed, finally reducing the villager to a misshapen, charred husk. Only then did he collapse, lifeless and motionless.
Sam watched silently, his mind working. Three shots to take down one villager? No wonder Simon didn't dare step outside for three days. With over a hundred villagers and only one Extraordinary on his side, unless he had [Five-Finger Gatling], it'd be impossible to hold out.
More villagers appeared ahead, blocking the path forward, forcing Ethan to join the fray.
Unlike Simon's flashy flame attacks, Ethan's combat style was much simpler. With [Iron Will] enhancing his body, he charged into the villagers like a heavily armored tank.
A single punch sent a villager flying several meters, their chest visibly caved in. However, Ethan's raw power was clearly less lethal than Simon's. The villager staggered back to their feet shortly after, as if nothing had happened.
Fortunately for Ethan, the villagers almost impossible to breach his defense. However, there is a obvious flaw—if Ethan were to be surrounded, his endurance would quickly run out. He might be durable, but his stamina was finite.
With two powerful Extraordinaries clearing the path, the group made slow but steady progress, avoiding being completely surrounded by the villagers.
Meanwhile, Ryan and the other Snake Gang members weren't idle. Under Sam's hypnotic control, these so-called "elites" fought like cold-blooded war machines. Far from fearing the inhuman villagers, they seemed almost fanatical, as if protecting their chief was the highest honor they could achieve.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
A hail of bullets fired from their guns, creating a dense web of firepower that continuously pushed back the pursuing villagers. Unfortunately, their bullets had limited effectiveness. Unless they concentrated their firepower to turn a single villager into a sieve, it was difficult to bring them down completely.
After a brief skirmish, Simon, with his flame bursts clearing the way, was the first to charge into the courtyard of the three-story house. He didn't stop, sprinting straight for the front door.
The door was a heavy slab of solid wood, with a pair of bronze rings mounted as handles, exuding an air of solemnity and antiquity.
Simon shoved the door open with all his might and shouted back at the group, "Hurry! Get inside!"
The rest of the group, led by Thomas and the other ordinary members, lit up with hope. Despite their starvation and exhaustion over the past three days, a sudden surge of energy pushed them to sprint toward the door with all their might.
However, they couldn't match the speed of the Snake Gang members. Even while carrying Sam on the stretcher, these hypnotized elites moved with startling agility, reaching the courtyard far ahead of the ordinary survivors.
But even the Snake Gang members couldn't outrun Ethan, who surged ahead with his enhanced physicality, securing the second position behind Simon.
Just as the Snake Gang members carrying Sam reached the doorway, disaster struck.
From behind a massive old locust tree in the courtyard, two villagers suddenly lunged out of hiding!
Their attack was so sudden and fierce that even the battle-hardened Snake Gang elites were caught off guard. In an instant, two of them were tackled to the ground, their weapons scattering as they fell.
"Ahh!!" Anna screamed in terror, her voice piercing through the chaotic noise. Thomas and the others panicked, scattering in all directions as the scene devolved into utter chaos.
"Protect the boss!" Ryan shouted at the top of his lungs, drawing a machete from his waist and charging at the two villagers attacking their group.
But villagers that even Extraordinaries struggled to kill were not foes ordinary humans could handle. Up close, the Snake Gang lackeys stood no chance. The villagers, relentless and inhuman, overwhelmed them with terrifying ease.
To make matters worse, more villagers from behind were closing in.
"Help! Don't eat me!" Mark, one of the ordinary survivors, was the first to fall. A villager tackled him to the ground, and within seconds, a swarm of them piled on top of him, biting and tearing mercilessly. A lone arm flailed out from the mass, reaching helplessly for the sky before dropping lifelessly. Silence.
The chaotic scene even left Sam a bit shaken as he sat on his stretcher. The constant jolting and swaying of the stretcher made it difficult to maintain his composure. The Snake Gang lackeys, forming a protective circle around him, fought with reckless abandon to shield their boss.
From his vantage point, Sam had an up-close view of the carnage. He watched as one of his subordinates was bitten savagely on the neck by a villager. Even as the lackey suffered a fatal wound, he didn't retreat. Instead, he grappled with the attacker, holding them in place long enough for the others to intervene and slow the villagers' advance.
The stretcher wobbled violently, the rough movement jarring Sam's head and aggravating the persistent ache in his skull. His brows furrowed in irritation as he turned his gaze toward Ethan, who stood at the open doorway.
Simon had yet to make a move. His [Five-Finger Flame Burst], while powerful, wasn't suited to such a chaotic situation. With everyone tangled in the melee, using it recklessly would likely result in him killing more teammates than villagers.
Ethan's expression shifted between uncertainty and hesitation, his inner turmoil evident. His gaze darted toward Sam, their eyes meeting across the chaotic melee. In that brief connection, Sam read the conflict raging in Ethan's mind.
Ethan was debating. If Sam were to die here, wouldn't that mean I—and Lily—could finally escape his grasp? Yet fear held him back. Fear that Sam might still have hidden cards to play, fear of what might happen if his gamble failed.
The longer Ethan observed Sam, the more the fear grew. This man was no ordinary person—he was a devil in human skin. He could smile while sending his subordinates to die and face terrifying Nightmare creatures with nothing but amusement in his eyes.
And there was something else: the sheer magnitude of Sam's power. The fact that he had the means to pull so many people into the same nightmare was proof enough of his capabilities.
Suddenly, Sam smiled.
It was a silent, chilling smile. A reminder that even Extraordinaries like Ethan couldn't be completely controlled, that they would seize any chance to break free from his influence. But wasn't that what made things interesting?
Sam's smile stood out starkly amidst the panicked and fearful faces around him. It was so calm, so piercing, that Ethan found himself unable to hold his gaze, averting his eyes instinctively.
Then, Sam raised a pale, slender hand and made a slow, deliberate gesture across his neck—a silent, chilling mimicry of a cutthroat motion.
His lips curled into a faint, icy smirk, revealing his pristine white teeth. His thin yet undeniably captivating lips moved silently, forming a single sentence.
"Lily's doomed. Mark my words."