Joyce’s eyes widen and she glanced at the cooling body of the village head and then at them. A chill seeps into her body and she felt as if she’s made a terrible mistake. These are not kids, they are something else.

"My...lord?"

He leaned a bit closer. "Call me Azaroth. Now, is there a problem with me ruling the village?"

She hurriedly shook her head. "Of course not...sir Azaroth. You are now the ruler of this village."

"Then get me water to drink."

She nodded and disappeared, her hands trembling slightly but soon she was back with a jug and cup. Azaroth drank and passed to the others, using that time to think about what to do next.

"You will show me around the fruit farm and then later you will call all the villagers together and I will talk to them." Azaroth said. He want to give her a very good chance to carry out her plan.

"Of course Sir Azaroth!"

About an hour after that she led them outside. The team now openly carries some kind of tools. Stallus was holding a metal stick and Alex was holding a badge while Catena was holdin...a long spoon. Only Azaroth carries a weapon as his pretend enchanted tool.

The villagers are silent now and most of them hid in their house ae if they sense that something is going on. Or maybe information already passed from the village warriors to them. Azaroth know which one probably happened.

Joyce led them back the way the passed earlier until they left the village and moved into the forest of fruits. "The Greytown take at least seventy percent of our fruits and since this fruits grow and ripe within a span of a month they come every month. The rest of the fruits is then divided among ourselves and dried to preserve it."

Azaroth raised his brows. "No wonder you are all bones with little flesh. What about other types of plants? Why don’t you plant grains and nut."

"Because the leader of Greytown won’t allow us! They assign different types of plant to different villages and forbid the selling of seeds."

Azaroth smiled, faintly admiring the way the leaders of the Greytown keep all the villages in stark poverty while they slowly leech the life out of them. Most of the villagers will have been broken and with food constantly in their mind it won’t be an easy thing for them to rebel.

But of course there’s always going to be rebellion! "Tell me, I heard something about rebellion."

"Yes," Joyce said, her voice hushed. "It began a few years again when some village in the east stop paying any tax and go out to kill monsters themselves. Soon all the villages in the east joined them and Greytown responded by going to battle with them but unfortunately no side won! Now there’s an unease calmness from both sides."

She continued, now her voice is bitter and sharp. "Those rebels are one of the reasons Greytown tightened their fist on the remaining villages!"

"Is that so." Azaroth asked casually. He was monitoring the movement of the ambush with his senses and he knew they are going to attack any moment now. He asked. "So is the rebel better or they’re just like Greytown leaders?"

She shook her head and hesitated. "I...we still don’t know much about them really. There’s not enough flow of information and we haven’t made contact."

Just as when Stallus was about to speak the shadows around them rose and the light darkened. Joyce turned to Azaroth with a vicious look on her face them she push her hand forward send out a blast of essence.

Azaroth was surprised to see that, seems even novice are thought how to utilize essence in a range attack but for a person’s of Azaroth level it was like a gentle wind against him.

Joyce didn’t seems to notice that her attack didn’t work though, her face was lit up and a smile turned her lips. "You bastards! You think you can kill our Village head and still lord us around just because you get your hands on some powerful enchanted tools! We! The warriors of this village will dead with you personally!"

Armed men and women surrounded them, weapons pointed and ready. All the warriors except for one person is in the Initiate level and he’s up above the trees watching silently.

Unlike the training method of the Inferno Legion where the novice aren’t taught how to use essence to perform skills these people have modify their abilities that even the novice rank can use some skills.

"Die!" The warriors shouted and attacked.

Azaroth used the seconds between their attacks to think about what he wanted to do. Should he just kill all the warriors? Or use them in his new army? Azaroth didn’t want to think about it but this might just be a mimi tiny version of how to tear down the Inferno Legion.

Should he assassinate the leaders? Or use an army?

But get it’s advantages. If he’s powerful enough he could just go in and kill them. But if not then form an army and use tricks to kill them.

He made his decision. "Just teach them a lesson."

Then Azaroth focused on the tree beside him, he tensed and then he sent himself forward in a blast of shockwave that carries him to the front of the Initiate level warrior in a instant. The man blinked in surprise but Azaroth hand was already around his throat and then the two of them are gone from that place. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

Stallus blinked as she waved her fake enchanted tool, thinking that Azaroth must have used a lot of essence to generate that type of speed. Anyway she focused back on the fight and she felt mild disgust.

These are not warriors and she could’ve wiped them out with his limbs tied and eyes shut. But they have to maintain a facade and pretend to struggle against them.