Chapter 113

Freide and Damien held their breath, watching the men walking out of the chapel.

Four young men. Each was holding a crude iron sword and spear.

It seemed like they left all the annoying tasks to the younger ones, as the men all looked quite young. Probably no older than twenty-five.

Their shirt hems were roughly tucked in, and their faces were flushed red. It was obvious what they had been doing. Freide glared at them with disgust.

The men swung their weapons menacingly and kept grumbling.

“Damn it, just when things were getting good. What the hell is this?”

“Is that really important right now, you idiot? If we get caught, we’re dead before we can even run!”

Jack, a brown-haired young man with a fierce expression, nervously scanned the surroundings. Unlike the other relaxed men, he clearly showed his anxiety.

“There are fifty people in the village. The adults will handle it, right?”

“That’s what I’m saying. Jack, this guy always worries about useless stuff.”

“What the hell is wrong with you idiots? Have you ever even seen a knight or an adventurer fight? You think they’re pushovers just because they’re always whining after taking drugs?”

Frustrated by their stupidity, Jack suddenly shouted. The two men flinched at his yell.

“Hey, Paul! You’ve seen a knight before, right? Explain it to these idiots!”

Paul, a blond man, ignored Jack’s call and just stared blankly at the village.

“Damn it, Paul! What are you doing? Aren’t you going to answer?”

Jack, frowning, grabbed Paul’s shoulder and shook him roughly, as if to snap him out of it. But Paul still couldn’t take his eyes off the village.

“Jack… what’s that…?”

Paul muttered blankly, pointing to the center of the village. His fingers were trembling.

“What? What are you looking at… huh?”

Jack, who was about to curse, suddenly froze. Even he, who always had a curse on his lips, was speechless at the surreal sight in the distance.

Jack rubbed his eyes, hoping he was seeing things wrong. But nothing changed.

A person was flying through the air. Vertically, spraying water from their ankles.

It wasn’t exactly flying. Flying implies free movement through the air.

A person without wings flailing their limbs couldn’t possibly move through the air. So, this must be falling. Just in the opposite direction.

As Jack blinked in disbelief, the person falling toward the night sky started to return to the correct direction. Jack nodded in relief.

Right. Falling should always be toward the ground. Falling toward the sky is just wrong.

‘Wait, what the hell am I thinking right now?!’

Jack’s mind finally snapped back to reality as he panicked and babbled.

Jack quickly turned around. The two men who had been relaxed earlier also looked stunned, having seen the spectacle.

“Hey, Jack… can knights make people fly into the sky…?”

“Of course not! It must be a magician! There was a magician among the people who came during the day!”

Jack screamed like a banshee. This was no time to waste. They had to warn everyone and run.

‘Damn it, why a magician…! Weren’t all four of them carrying swords and bows?’

Jack had never seen a magician before, but he had heard that high-level magicians could burn down an entire village with just a few spells.

A magician who could send people flying vertically dozens of meters? It had to be a high-level magician, the kind you only hear about in stories.

Given the level of the village, even an average magician showing up would likely mean total annihilation.

At this rate, they were all going to die. And sure enough, desperate screams were already echoing throughout the village.

“Uh, uh… the villagers…!”

“Is that important right now? We’re all gonna die! Call everyone from below! We need to get out of this village now…!”

Jack never imagined that something so shocking would happen twice in one day. But the magician made it happen very simply—by throwing burning people all over the village.

The village lit up as if it were daytime. Jack clenched his teeth.

Paul, whose legs had given out, collapsed. Jack kicked him.

“Get up, you idiot! If you want to live, we have to run! And you two, what are you still doing here?!”

“R-right!”

The two dazed men stumbled and ran into the building.

‘Good, it’s going according to plan!’

Jack didn’t follow them. Instead, he forced Paul to his feet and slapped him across the face. Paul’s head snapped to the side, and he seemed to regain his senses, clutching his cheek.

“J-Jack?”

“You want to live, Paul? Then listen to me. We need to run now. Got it?”

“Huh? What about the people in the basement…?”

“If we wait for them, we’re all dead! They’re the decoys. They’ll distract the magician while we run! There are thirty of them, so…”

“They won’t notice the first two who jump out! I’ll go left, you go right. Got it!?”

“Ha, but…!”

“Go, you idiot!!”

Jack punched Paul in the face. Blood spurted from Paul’s nose.

Paul, who had been hesitating, ran off to the right.

“Yeah, run hard, you stupid idiot.”

Jack muttered quietly.

Stupid Paul didn’t realize it, but the right side was the east. Where the flames were approaching.

Jack, having sent off his last insurance, ran to the left.

No, he tried to run to the left.

“Not bad for brains. But your personality is trash.”

A cold female voice. If it had been heard in the chapel basement, it would have been a delight.

But not now.

Before Jack could respond, a strong hand covered his mouth and pulled him back.

It was a gloved woman’s hand.

Jack struggled desperately but couldn’t break free from her grip.

His wrist twisted, and the sword he was holding fell to the ground.

‘Fuck, fuck, fuuuck!!’

Desperately trying to think of a way to escape, Jack remembered something he had heard before.

When your mouth is covered, try licking. Especially effective with women, they said.

Even if it’s a gloved hand, the instinctive disgust often makes them let go and push away.

Jack followed that advice and wiggled his tongue.

Indeed, it had an effect.

Freide’s brow twisted into an indescribable shape.

“You… crazy bastard…!”

Freide’s voice trembled with intense disgust.

And Jack regretted not hearing about the side effects if the method failed.

Jack’s tongue was ripped out.

“Grrreeeek!”

Amidst the gushing blood, Jack’s body convulsed as he let out an inarticulate scream.

Freide, having thrown the tongue aside, sawed through Jack’s thigh.

Bloody chunks of flesh were torn away.

Jack, now with only his kneecap left, collapsed weakly.

Unable to even scream properly due to the blood gushing from his throat.

Freide, grinding her teeth, violently stomped on Jack’s body.

“This! How dare! Where! That dirty! Tongue!! You disgusting! Trash! Bastard!!”

The relentless stomping of her heels mercilessly tore through Jack’s body.

Not quite at Ha-shal-leur’s level, but Freide’s well-trained strength and steel-reinforced heels were more than enough to destroy a human body.

Leg bones, shoulder blades, arms, even the ribs under pressure were shattered into pieces.

Only the spine remained intact.

A rational decision.

If the nerves were damaged, he wouldn’t feel the pain properly.

Whether the broken bone fragments tore through his organs, a gush of blood spurted from Jack’s mouth.

Freide, having stepped back, grabbed the saw and swung it madly.

Chunks of flesh spurted like a fountain.

When Freide finally stopped sawing, only the shattered remains of a human were scattered beneath her feet.

“Haa, haa… really…!”

Freide, panting heavily, let out a long sigh. Her anger had subsided a bit.

‘I had things to ask. But now, getting answers is impossible.’

Freide clicked her tongue and looked down at the fragments that were once Jack.

She had lost control in her rage. It was a shameful act unworthy of the name Freide.

But there was no helping it. She had never encountered such a scumbag before.

Freide, having removed the glove from her left hand, irritably tossed the soiled leather glove aside.

‘Still, it’s a good thing there were two running away.’

“Senior Freide?”

As she expected, Damien returned, dragging someone along.

It was Paul.

“L-let me go…!”

His limbs seemed broken, as he couldn’t even put up a proper resistance.

“Ah, Damien. Welcome back.”

Freide swung the saw to shake off the clotted blood and chunks of flesh, welcoming Damien.

She felt a bit embarrassed inside.

As a senior, she had preached with pride, yet she had failed to do her job properly and turned the guy she was supposed to interrogate into minced meat.

Fortunately, Damien didn’t seem to mind much.

Or rather, he seemed completely unfazed.

Even as he looked at the bone fragments and chunks of flesh floating in the sea of blood.

‘Guess that’s what you’d expect from Ha-shal-leur’s friend…?’

Freide let out a bitter laugh.