Ch.7272. Tragedy in the Rural Village (2)

After arriving near the village and entering the hideout he had prepared in the forest beforehand.

“……..”

He began one final review of his plan before entering the village.

Cardio’s revenge plan was simple: sneak into the village and unleash his minions from within.

According to the information provided by his master, the village perimeter was well-fortified with palisades and watchtowers to defend against monster attacks, and they possessed quite a number of crossbows, as befitting a band of thieves.

Therefore, if he carelessly summoned the God of Vengeance’s minions and led them in, they might suffer an embarrassing defeat against the defensive system. So he decided to turn this battle into chaotic close-quarters combat.

Crossbows, while effective in stable battle conditions, were inconvenient to reload during chaotic fighting, and the Revenge Hounds he could summon were particularly strong in such situations.

For these reasons, he formulated his plan and steeled his resolve to execute it.

[….I’ll definitely succeed in this revenge for you, Kalina.]

He muttered softly in a voice that had changed drastically from his original one.

※ ※ ※

The method he chose for infiltration was, naturally, magic.

The spells he had acquired by sacrificing the blood of slaughtered goblins were mostly those essential for his revenge.

The Level 2 spell ‘Invisible’ that completely concealed his visual presence.

The Level 1 spell ‘No Smell’ that erased all bodily odors.

The Level 1 spell ‘No Sound’ that masked all noises from his body, including breathing and footsteps.

And perhaps most importantly, the Level 2 spell ‘Hide Presence’ that distorted traces of magical energy and changes in airflow caused by his mass.

Having skillfully mastered these four spells to completely conceal himself, he successfully entered through the open gate with confidence.

Though it appeared to be nothing more than an ordinary rural village on the surface, Cardio, who had received a blessing granting him transcendent senses, could smell the scent of blood permeating the village.

‘….Rotten bastards.’

How many people had they killed for the smell of blood to waft through the streets like this?

Realizing deeply that these people could never be forgiven, he resolved to carry out his revenge without fail—even as a child ran by, laughing—and began secretly marking various places around the village with blood symbols to prepare for the ritual.

He carelessly inscribed simple markings of intersecting circles and crosses wherever he could adequately conceal them.

When he reached exactly 80 markings, Cardio considered this phase complete and immediately hid in an empty house in a secluded corner of the village for the next phase.

The house was dusty and nearly half-collapsed, but this dilapidated state meant there would be no human presence, which was perfect.

For this reason, Cardio entered the only intact room in the ruined house and began drawing the magic circle needed for the ritual. The process took quite some time, finishing only at midnight, well after sunset.

Of course, it didn’t matter since he had to wait until dawn anyway. And finally, dawn arrived.

At that hour when people were most drowsy, Cardio began the ritual.

[■■■■■■■■■■■■……..]

From his mouth flowed an incantation in a language that seemed not of this world.

Though impossible to understand, its intent was somehow clear.

Infinite hatred, rage, and most importantly, vengeance. As he expressed these emotions through language and uttered them aloud, the surrounding magic circles began to glow red, and then….

[Grrrrrrrr……..]

[GRRAAARGH!!!]

[Grrrrrrrrr……..!!]

From throughout the village and even its outskirts, sounds like beasts howling echoed, and then—

With flashes of red light from the markings Cardio had inscribed, hideous and grotesque beasts began to appear.

Their fur was dyed a blood-red color impossible for any natural creature.

Between their long fur, glimpses of shimmering red scale-like fragments could be seen, and from their irregular-toothed maws dripped blood from an unknown source…. Their eyes burned with a thirst for vengeance too strong to belong to mere beasts.

These creatures, resembling wolves but with grotesquely distorted forms, were called Revenge Hounds.

Created by the God of Vengeance from the souls of sinners, these beasts had been manifested from concept to reality by their master’s faithful servant.

One hundred in total.

Emerging one from each of the 80 markings in the village and 20 outside, they began to move instinctively, knowing their purpose without any instructions.

“Ugh, ugh. Ugh—GACK! Sto—”

“What’s that noi—AAAH! He-hel—”

Slash!

Despite their massive size of nearly 2.5 meters, the Revenge Hounds moved with incredible agility.

In an instant, they located their targets of vengeance, whether through doors, windows, or walls, and swiftly killed them in the blink of an eye.

Whoosh!

“…Kuk!”

Of course, with veteran thieves among them, such surprise attacks were only effective initially.

“Over here! Grab your weapons and gather here!”

Whether they had killed a hound with weapons kept at their bedside or had fled, the surviving thieves judged that sticking together was their only way out and tried to gather near the thief leader’s house.

The tiny minority who tried to escape were devoured by the Revenge Hounds waiting outside, not worth mentioning.

Anyway, these thieves were gradually identifying each other and trying to form some kind of battle formation, but they overlooked several facts.

“A-AAAAHHHH!!!”

First, the tracking ability of the Revenge ‘Hounds’ was beyond what mere thieves could overcome.

Slash!

Especially adept at hit-and-run tactics, the Revenge Hounds hunted the thieves one by one, and countless others suffered fatal wounds even if they weren’t killed outright.

And here, the second fact the thieves had overlooked became apparent.

“Wolf, it’s a wolf! Everyone get out of the way!”

“Hey, hey! What are you—”

Slash!

“Ha, I got one!!”

Hiding in the darkness, Cardio used various spells to confuse the thieves.

He made them see hallucinations so they mistook each other for hounds, or lowered their mental fortitude to cause panic and friendly fire.

He used mind control magic to manipulate children to secretly target their backs, and even disguised the hounds with false appearances.

And when their trust as a group faltered, he sent in the hounds again to exploit the openings.

Thanks to this, most of the thieves died one by one without even understanding exactly what was happening.

“What the! These things…are?”

Around that time.

After killing seven Revenge Hounds that had targeted his family, the thief leader emerged outside and beheld a scene that nearly drove him mad.

The village, the village he had built over his lifetime, was burning.

As if to explain the burning smell he had detected, buildings everywhere were in flames, and corpses of villagers were strewn about.

The bodies were all terribly torn apart, testifying to their horrific end, and at the same time, in one area… the werewolf-like creatures that had attacked his family earlier were now one-sidedly attacking the remnants of the thief band.

This predatory hunting method, skillfully striking and retreating in packs to gradually wear down their prey’s strength, was something the village thieves had no way to counter.

“Hup!”

Fwoosh!

So the thief leader, immediately assessing the situation, nocked an arrow and began firing at the wolves.

Having witnessed the tenacity of these wolves when they attacked his family, he imbued his arrows with his ranger magic and fired relentlessly.

BOOM!!

That magic, ‘Explosive Arrow,’ mercilessly blew away the upper bodies of the wolves.

Of course, this didn’t last long.

‘Explosive Arrow’ was a ranger spell with high mana (MP) consumption, and combined with a ranger’s not-so-high mana pool, he had consumed over two-thirds of his total mana (MP) after firing just 12 shots.

So the thief leader suddenly thought that at this rate, he might have to face the mastermind without any mana—

THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP—

As if to prove this, a bizarre monster suddenly appeared in the air to his side—

—KWAAAANG!!!

[■■■■■■■■■—!!!!]

Letting out an inhuman roar from its maw, it struck the thief leader with its massive fist, smashing him from the rooftop of his house straight into the ground below.