Ch.7171. Tragedy in the Countryside Village (1)

A Rural Village.

When people living in the harsh modern cities hear these words…

They might imagine a place still filled with warmth, overflowing with affection and kindness—emotions that can no longer be found in cities.

Well, that’s not entirely wrong.

In reality, there are cases where the mindset of helping each other is better developed than in cities, and concepts like neighborly affection exist that are unheard of in urban areas.

However, these advantages only apply to “us”—

That is, only to people within the community.

To put it coldly, such warm and affectionate behaviors typically don’t extend to outsiders.

In positive terms, rural villages maintain strong bonds and community spirit, but from another perspective, they are closed, exclusive societies—small yet isolated.

Even in modern times, crimes committed in secret often get covered up due to lack of law enforcement.

So expecting this not to happen in rural areas of this ancient era… would be unwise.

Villages where people normally live ordinary farming lives but transform into opportunistic robbers when a suitably weak outsider appears are quite common—

‘…It happened.’

This man, Cardio, had lost his stepsister to such a village.

His sister was a wandering mage who practiced magic.

She could cast Level 2 magic and summon elemental spirits called “Elementals” using her specialty in elemental magic.

She carefully traveled only within territories under Rom Empire’s administration and usually summoned elementals to protect herself from ambushes…

Despite taking such thorough safety precautions, his sister never suspected.

Who would have thought that a rural village—one large enough to have an inn and not far from the capital—was actually established by former bandits for the purpose of laundering their identities?

These ex-bandits, who typically toyed with and dispatched moderately attractive lower-ranked individuals passing through quietly, ambushed his sister who was both quite beautiful and traveling alone.

Yet despite being attacked by dozens of assailants, his sister responded with remarkable composure.

She summoned a tank-type earth elemental, then cast spells from behind it.

By using wind elementals to block projectiles, she should have been able to defeat several dozen attackers.

But there was one situation even she couldn’t have predicted.

The village chief, formerly the bandit leader, was actually a mid-ranked ranger who had left military service and couldn’t find employment.

Consequently, his sister was pierced by arrows, subjected to unspeakably horrific and cruel acts, and then murdered…

Cardio, who had sneaked into this remote village and discovered the truth, felt boiling vengeance and rage as he swore.

That he would, without fail, have his revenge.

That no matter what, he would make those who defiled his sister pay the appropriate price.

Though Cardio made this vow with all his heart… there was one small problem.

As merely a lowest-ranked clerk of the Rom Empire, Cardio lacked the power to achieve this revenge.

Moreover, he had neither special connections nor extraordinary wealth—he was simply someone from an ordinary family who had advanced through education.

Feeling that revenge might be impossible, he ultimately had no choice but to select the only option left to him.

“I beg you… I beg you… God of Vengeance, please, please grant me the power to achieve my revenge!”

Having occasionally heard rumors of an evil god who would grant power to those who prayed for revenge, the desperate Cardio prayed with sincere hope, but…

‘…As if a god would grant anything without payment.’

Simultaneously, he harbored doubts in his heart about whether such prayers would truly be effective.

For someone from the Rom Empire accustomed to the pantheon of gods, the idea that divine power would be granted without any payment was difficult to believe.

At best, dozens of priests gathering in magnificent temples to perform rituals and offering cattle or sheep as sacrifices would result in rather unremarkable power.

Due to this deeply ingrained image, the impression that divine power was a luxury of the wealthy or mere showmanship…

His honest impression was that it was nearly as dubious as asking “Do you believe in the Way?” or “Jesus means heaven, disbelief means hell” level of cult-like behavior…

The problem was, in this world, such cults and faith healing actually existed.

“…?!!!”

The moment his prayer ended.

Cardio felt a channel connecting to his inner self, and then sensed some kind of energy pouring into his soul through that channel.

He experienced a vivid emptiness in his soul that he had never felt before, yet simultaneously felt a strange satisfaction as that void was filled with the flowing energy.

Lost in the lingering sensation, Cardio was unable to do anything for quite some time, until eventually his consciousness gradually began to return.

‘C-Could it really be…!?’

He was startled by the strength he felt in his previously scrawny body, while simultaneously trembling at the overwhelming presence emanating from the source of this power.

“O, O Great One…”

And at the same time, knowledge began to flow into his mind—knowledge mostly pertaining to what was necessary to achieve his revenge.

There were two key components.

The first was detailed information about the bandit group that would be the target of his vengeance.

The second was methods for performing rituals using blood as offerings, and the various powers that could be obtained through conducting such ceremonies.

Moreover, the God of Vengeance was kind enough to even teach him how to obtain blood suitable for offerings.

“…I shall certainly offer blood to you!”

Moved to tears by this unexpected mercy and grace, Cardio made his vow.

And thus, he was reborn as a “Cultist of Evil God,” both in profession and spirit.

※ ※ ※

After that fateful day, Cardio diligently made offerings, built his power, and prepared for revenge.

The sources of blood for his offerings were mainly goblins that commonly lived near the capital.

These goblins, who could demonstrate incredible potential if they could establish proper civilization but hadn’t, were merely naked and violent children.

Armed with nothing more than stone spears or metal fragments, these small beings averaging just over one meter in height were mere meat before Cardio’s supernatural strength…

They were instantly slaughtered, transformed into blood offerings, and converted into power for Cardio.

As a result, the current Cardio could cast Level 3 magic (limited to Ma-Duke’s unique magic), had learned various dark magic-like spells up to Level 2…

And his physical strength had reached a level comparable to that of an ogre.

However, power gained so easily and quickly always comes with a price.

As payment for the evil god’s blessing, his body gradually began to mutate, turning him into a monster that barely maintained a humanoid form.

A wolf-like skull had protruded from his head, his muzzle had elongated, and jagged fangs had grown inside his mouth.

Additionally, a small skull-shaped head protruded from his right shoulder, while his left arm, though human-shaped, was covered with countless metal fragments.

One leg had become wolf-like with a reverse joint, and a single bat wing had grown from the left side of his back.

Having become so grotesque that anyone could immediately recognize him as a servant of an evil god, he was now on the verge of becoming an Abomination—a mortal whose body and mind had completely transformed into a monster due to excessive blessing.

Yet despite this condition, he maintained clear rationality.

Revenge, only revenge mattered.

Maintaining his sanity through sheer will for vengeance, he finally succeeded in gathering everything necessary for his revenge.

The power to summon minions granted by the evil god to aid his revenge.

Personal strength capable of facing even mid-ranked warriors.

And special abilities that allowed him to infiltrate despite his monstrous form.

Having acquired everything needed for his revenge, Cardio no longer needed to wait—

‘…I’m going.’

And so, with his hood pulled low over his face, he arrived at that rural village not long after.