Hemil unconsciously stepped back as soon as he saw the bloodshot eyes of the enemy.

The cult members seem to have sold their souls to this Three-Eyed Imp that they are worshipping in order to obtain superhuman strength…

​​

The aura they're radiating was similar to Spiritual Energy but it felt suffocating… They were obviously corrupted by some sort of energy that allows them to gain such strength.

'This is bad…'

Hemil gripped the hammer in his hands. This is the tool he had been using for many years and it was tougher than many weapons. It was something that he inherited from his family…

Tap! Tap! Tap!

He heard his niece coming down so he quickly shouted.

"There's one enemy here—He's getting close…"

He can see that the other guards, old Hunters, and the few arcanists were still dealing with the other cultists so he knew that he had to deal with this single enemy.

"I'm coming, uncle! I'll help you!"

Stella replied as she quickly stood behind her uncle and held the wooden sword in front of her. She's already wearing a backpack containing some important things. They were ready to run away from this place.

However, the cultist didn't plan on making this any longer as he jumped towards the two.

"Haaa!"

The enemy tried to pummel them!

"Dodge!" Hemil shouted as he was sure that defending against the powerful strikes wasn't a good idea.

Baam!!

The man punched so hard that the wall of their house was damaged!

The two avoided the punch easily since he was a bit far and needed to jump forward to reach them. Also, his weapons seem to have dropped after fighting the guards a while ago.

Now that he got closer, close combat would surely happen. This is also something that Hemil wanted.

"Take this!"

Hemil held his hammer up as he wanted to smash the cultist who lost his momentum after hitting the wall.

Clang!

Crack!

The cultist was wearing a bracer which he used to defend against the hammer. However, the force behind the hammer was still so strong that it broke his arm.

Stella didn't miss this chance and gathered her Spiritual Energy and transferred it to the shinai…

"Haa!"

She did her best to hit the cultist and was successful!

"Aarrgh!"

He was hit on his face as he stumbled due to pain.

Reiji already advised the young girl that he was extremely tough and can be used to strike the enemy.

'It doesn't feel like I'm holding a wooden sword… It's light but it's very tough like steel! Amazing!'

Stella realizes how amazing the sword was. Just by holding or seeing it, people may think that it was a fragile training sword for children. However, now that she used it personally, she was sure that the sword was worthy to be called an Arcana!

Hemil found a chance to give another strike to the cultist.

"Die!"

Bam! The strike was then followed by the cultist's scream as his feet were almost squashed by the impact. He still managed to avoid getting hit on the head as he escaped death.

"Aaarrgh!"

"Help!"

The hunters were losing due to their difference in numbers. As much as Hemil wanted to finish off this cultist, he decided to take Stella's hand and urged her to run away…

"Let's go… Once the other cultists finished dealing with the guards, we won't have time to get away…"

"Y-yes, Uncle!"

Stella looked in the direction where the people was running to and noticed that there are many elders, woman, and children trying to leave the village. Most of the men that have experience in combat were trying to hold off the cultist's advance.

She noticed that many of the escaping people were crying.

Their family members might've been killed or still fighting to buy some time for their escape. She can see the mothers trying to lead their children away as they held their urge to cry to support the young ones.

Her grip on the wooden sword tightened as she was saddened that the new home she had was now turning into ruins.

After the death of her parents, she lived here with her uncle to have a peaceful life as her father and mother wished for. Unfortunately, nothing goes according to their plan.

"Everyone, hurry! We're planning to meet the returning Subjugation Party!" One of the elders of the village shouted as he leads the group to escape.

After hearing this, the people fighting the cultists regained their hope…

'That's right! We just have to hold them off and our family can live!'

'We can do this!'

"Haa!"

The battle became even more intense as the guards and hunters regained their spirit…

"Aah, No! Marju!"

Splat!

The strongest Arcanist present was decapitated by the cultists.

Everyone had a bad premonition after realizing what just had happened…

Soon, the battle became more unbalance as the guards and old hunters die one after another.

Stella and the group led by the village elder had left the village not too long ago but they realized that the village almost went silent. The cries of battle can no longer be heard as only the sounds of burning houses were present.

After this moment of silence…

"Rooaarr!"

They heard the beast-like roar of the cultists! They all felt that it was bad news! It felt like a victory cry!

'Everyone… What happened to everyone?!'

This was the same question they had in their mind. In the end, one of the mothers started bawling.

It was followed by almost everyone as they were sure that the bodies of their loved ones would be used as a sacrifice for the evil god that they are worshipping.

"Don't stop running! Leave all your things if necessary!" The elder urged them to run away. He was unsure whether the Subjugation Party was already about to return but he had to remain calm in the situation.

Unfortunately, the stable was the first one to be attacked by the cultists so most of the horses were already captured or slaughtered. The only horse that was left was then used by one of the guards to inform the Subjugation Party about the situation of the village.

They can only hope that they'll arrive in time to save them.

Stella looked at her uncle that has a grim look on his face. She saw him holding his hammer tightly as he glances behind them from time to time.

It was as if he was ready to fight the cultists in case they were followed to buy them some time.

She bit her lips as she could only watch everything happen in front of her. In the end, she tried to secretly talk with the wooden sword in her hand.

"Mr. Sword… Can you help me fight them? Since you are an Arcana, do you have any Arcane Magic that could help us fighting the cultists?"

"Oh? I thought that you wouldn't ask me…" Reiji answered after being silent during the whole time.

"I do have an ability to control your body for a short amount of time to fight them… You should've realized it by now…"

"T-then… If the evil guys arrived here, can you help us?"

"Of course… It seems that the people who were left fighting the cultists didn't die in vain… They managed to take almost half of the cultists… They're really strong, especially those Arcanists."

Reiji didn't decide for Stella what to do as he let her grow up. After all, he may be able to fight the cultists alone but he may be heavily damaged as a result.

His Durability was extremely precious so he had to mind his actions. He was clearly aware that only through special mission can he get some durability or else, he had to find a wielder that knows how to repair him.

If he used the [ Take Over ] to Stella a while ago when facing the cultist, it may drag her deeper into the battle. Once his skill was over and he hadn't finished off the opponents, Stella might just die because of it. He wouldn't like it…

He may be able to escape or protect himself but not Stella.

'Ah, wait… I do have a method to ignore the cooldown…' Reiji suddenly realized his mistake…

'Urgh… Anyway, she didn't ask for help…' He could only say to himself. If he was probably together with Diether, he would consider fighting these people head-on but not today…

"Ahhh! They're coming!"

One of the girls saw the approaching cultists as she screamed in horror! The remaining men, who mainly works as a craftsman, and other non-combat related jobs, held their weapons in their hands as they prepared themselves to fight until their last breath…

"Tsk! There's still about twenty of them, follow the elder's group and don't get left behind…"

Hemil quickly instructed his niece but he didn't hear her answer. He glanced on his left and saw her blankly holding her wooden sword…

"Hurry! Run! Stella!"

Hemil shouted as he saw the cultists running extremely fast towards their group. Even their running speed was nothing compared to them.

Only about fifty meters were left when he saw Stella stepping forward and holding her wooden sword… No, there are now two identical wooden swords in both of her hands as she made a battle stance to receive the incoming enemies…

Nitouryuu!

Reiji has now entered the battle!