Torin was nice enough to accept them back, after all, he didn’t believe he was strong enough to defend the supplies all on his own.
And since Selene was from a rich family, payment was not a problem, even if she didn’t exactly like them, having an extra pair of hands could never hurt.
The ride to the next village did not take as long as the previous one, it took only around 2 hours, all the while Michael simply stared out of the window.
He realized how beautiful the world was, as none of this scenery even came close in his previous world.
Lustrous mountains, clear skies and what stood out the most was the mana he saw flowing around, it had all kinds of different colors, making the sight incredibly beautiful.
Just like before, they arrived and headed straight for the Association’s building, asking the receptionist to contact Vivum.
But yet again, they were met with bad news, so far 3 out of 3 villages were not able to contact the massive city, it simply did not make sense to him.
However, he could not imagine what could have happened, he doubted the city managed to be overrun or attacked, the amount of strong people there could defend against anything.
There was also Amanda and Fafnir, the 2 of them made up for most of the power of the entire city, it definitely would not be able to fall.
The only conclusion Michael had come to, was that this issue was on their side, whatever was happening, revolved around them.
He had no leads as to what it could be or who it could be, the likely suspect would be those cultists he fought, however, with Chloe around, it would be difficult for them to go unnoticed.
Michael tried comparing his Detection with hers and found out that she could see roughly 3 times more than he could, what a boon that space of affinity of hers was.
He wondered how strong she would become once she obtains a Mana Core, same goes for Kevin as well, the two of them would become powerhouses.
But there was also Elizabeth, who aside from being a swordswoman, she didn’t show any special affinity.
The only thing she had going for her was her hard work and swordsmanship.
‘Well.. I hope it works out’ Michael thought, he honestly didn’t want to see someone like her be forgotten, she was incredibly strong for someone her age.
However, she was also starting to become as annoying as Kevin.
‘Almost..’
They once again headed back to the truck, bringing the news of their failure to contact their city.
And once again, with the permission of Torin, they were allowed to accompany them to the next village.
Torin had mentioned that they would be stopping in 2 more villages, 2 more chances to contact Vivum before they had to think of another way back.
The ride was once again short, with the receptionist’s answer being the same, by now, they began to have little hope in the next trip being the one.
Kevin went up to Torin and without even a word spoken, they were allowed to accompany them to the last village.
This trip was by far the longest, it took them around 13 hours to get there, Michael even took a small nap.
However, what greeted their sight was not a village, but a huge charred wasteland.
In the distance, he could see a few embers of fire that were yet to be fully put out, the ones responsible for this clearly had done it not too long ago.
‘Savages..’ Michael noticed a few burnt corpses strewn around, some even being dismembered.
He turned to his party and they too had conflicted looks, meanwhile, Torin was covering Selene’s eyes, protecting her from the sight that was before them all.
No one had anything to say, there was not much one would even say in this situation, it was something beyond their wildest expectations after all.
All of a sudden Chloe turned her head in a single direction and shouted “There is somebody there!”
Michael immediately dashed as fast as he could, beginning to feel the people she talked about.
They numbered at least 20 and were at least level 100.
He appeared right in front of them and noticed their shabby clothing with daggers on their waists and booze in their hands.
They seemed to notice him as well as some of them even began laughing at him, one of the bigger guys even stepped up.
“How did ye survive brat?”
All the while Michael stared at them, finally understanding the big picture.
Their daggers had blood on them some of which looked pretty fresh, they had multiple barrels, some of which didn’t even look like booze.
Instead, it was most likely something flammable.
‘I see…’ Michael sighed and closed his eyes, feeling the mana of all 20 individuals present.
And with a mere thought, pierced every single one of their heads, not leaving a single one alive.
His party finally arrived and looked at the blood pouring out of their bodies, staining the grass further.
They took a few looks around and understood why Michael did what he had done, these people were most likely the culprits behind this incident.
However, no matter how much he thought about it, something didn’t add up.
‘How could someone so weak be able to overtake an entire village.. System?’
Well it’s because they were most likely not alone, while the villages certainly were not as strong as the cities, they had more than enough manpower to defend against a few bandits, even if they were level 100.
‘Can you feel anyone then? Aren’t your senses a bit better than Chloe’s?’ He asked while leading the party back to the truck in complete silence.
I can feel a faint remnant of mana, whoever did this most likely had a Mana Core and judging by the mana signature, it matches that strong cultist you fought.
Michael frowned ‘So it’s them again.. fuck.’
He turned to Kevin, the supposed regressor “Do you know anything about those cultists?”
That question seemed to make his eyes widen a bit in understanding “Are you saying they were the ones responsible for this?”
Michael nodded and was met with a serious look from Kevin.
“They are called Evangelists and as you said, they are cultists worshipping some kind of a demon.”
He paused for a moment then continued.
“..They likely took some sacrifices from this village and burned the rest down…”
‘Sacrifices, are demons summoned by sacrificing someone?’
Yes.
Michael’s expression hardened and he looked directly into Kevin’s eyes.
“The 5 we killed, could they have been trying to replenish what was lost?”
He was met with a nod before Kevin turned and walked up to Torin, not wanting to talk about this any longer.
Elizabeth and Chloe were just simply standing by, listening to the conversation with disgusted expressions.
‘System, do you know anything about the Evangelists?’
After they were mentioned, I acquired some information about them, according to the rankings, you killed 1 Priest and 5 heretics, the others were just cannon fodder.
‘So that swordsman was a Priest huh.. is he considered weak on the food chain?’
Yes, it goes Cannon fodder, Heretics, Priests, Bishops, Arch-Bishops, Apostles, Numbered Seats and finally, The Founder.
Michael looked at the charred city in front of him ‘They are much stronger than the Priest, aren’t they.’
Much stronger, the weakest Bishop is Tier 3.
‘Fuck.. I can’t even imagine what the Founder is like then.’ He sighed and turned around, heading back into the truck.
Even if they reached their destination, they would have to return somewhere.
That’s when they will try to find a way back.
His whole party had conflicted looks now, especially Elizabeth, he didn’t expect her to be the most affected out of all of them.
Yet there she was, her hands shaking…
‘This will likely not be the first time something like this happens..’
