Joy’s fist connected with the dog’s face, destroying it in a shower of purple light. Had it not for his super-strong WIL, that dog, illusion as it was, would have been enough to wipe out an entourage of below level 50 hunters. But Joy was no regular hunter. He was an awakened one with 100+ levels.

He stepped on the ground before turning towards his left to an inconspicuous tree.

Boom!!

The tree destroyed into splinters by his fist. At the same time, a thin figure jumped out and stood a few distances away from Joy. It was none other than Murata who had to jump away at the last second to save himself of the pain of the receiving end of Joy’s fists.

“There you are!!” shouting in glee, Joy planted his right foot heavily on the ground, creating a crater, and jumped towards the still backing away Murata. It took him just a few moments to reach him, he grabbed his collar and pulled him towards himself then raising his left hand he gave Murata’s face a heavy punch.

Boom!!

Murata’s head planted heavily on the ground from the impact of the punch, creating a human-shaped carter. Joy followed with a kick to Murata’s midsection, sending him flying. Once again planting his leg on the ground, he leaped towards Murata. This time his closed fist was cascaded with his WIL, overflowing with his intention to destroy and kill.

But Murata pulled a fast one. The moment he landed on the ground from Joy’s throw, he created an illusion and make a run from there to escape from his follow up attack. Joy’s fist went through the fallen form of Murata, vanishing into small particles. But Joy already knew where his enemy was. With a rotation, he gave the game a heavy punch to the air behind him. The space distorted, as Murata flew away and impacted heavily against a tree not far away.

“I, impossible! How can you sense me?” Murata wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and stared at Joy who was looking at him with a smirk on his face.

“Sense you? Don’t be silly. I can’t. But you know, that skill, it makes you damn predictable.” Joy couldn’t help but sigh as he continued, “how many times has it been that you sneaked behind my back and mount an attack? Even an idiot would realize what would happen next after seeing so many attacks.”

“What?” Murata looked flabbergasted. He had fought and defeated many powerful enemies. Although there’s a few who were stronger, ultimately, they all fell to his arrays of illusions and sneak attacks. None ever countered him like this bald man. Murata felt fear for the first time in many years. Fear of death. He knew these hunters would never let him go. Since they had seen his true colors and now somewhat knew about the truth behind the villagers’ disappearance, he couldn’t let them go either. Yet, despite such a huge responsibility resting on his shoulders, he couldn’t do anything since his opponent was just too strong.

Looking at the smug Joy, Murata hoped his companion finished off that other hunter and come back to aid him as soon as possible. Unfortunately, he wasn’t aware that his companion would never return, forever. He had already succumbed to Kenshin’s overwhelming power. Even with the power given to him by their lord, he still died like a common grunt.

“Here I come you fake village elder!” screamed Joy before going on overdrive in an instant. Before Murata could register anything, Joy’s fist was already a few millimeters away from his chin.

Boom!!

As the fist touched Murata’s cheek, it created a shockwave that cleared out the wind surrounding them. Even the ground beneath their feet sunk down a little. The force of his punch catapulted Murata, sending him flying through many trees in the way. Murata didn’t have a strong body. His specialty lied in illusions and mental manipulation, there could no way he would be alright after eating am all out punch from Joy who was purely a physical skill hunter.

After breaking through a few trees, Murata lay unmoving in a carter made from the force of his body impacting against the ground and broken trees. His eyes were closed and his mouth wide open from here blood was gushing out. He lost a few teeth and his neck bent at an odd angle.

Without a doubt, he died... or in a state close to death.

This way, Atub’s two followers were compromised.

After making sure that Murata indeed died, Joy sighed and looked at the distance where Kenshin vanished to. He sighed and followed the path. There was a sense of giddiness in his heart at the prospect of fighting against a god.

…

“That Joy, he finished with his battle it seems,” Kenshin mumbled after seeing Murata’s marker graying out on his map. Either he was killed or in a state between death and life. Either way, he would pose no threat to them anymore. Kenshin narrowed his eyes as the dense foliage that suddenly appeared before him with a frown, “more importantly that unique feeling was getting strong... that god should be at the final stages of hopping into this world.”

Kenshin hastened his steps and slowly started to sprint. As soon as he reached the foliage, a curtain of thick leaves connected to two trees like a gateway greeted him. Stopping on his tracks, he gently touched the leaf curtain, but his hands submerged into them as if it's not solid but liquid instead.

“This?” he narrowed his eyes and cautiously stepped back. He looked at the bone fairy on his shoulder and asked, “what do you think?”

“Huh, this? From the looks of it, it just a low-level concealing technique. Due to your powerful WIL, you are even able to touch through it. If not, all you could have felt was just leaves. There might be something hiding beyond this curtain.” Tar’el supplied. She had seen many such concealing techniques throughout her life therefore she recognized it at a glance.

“That means that God must be beyond this thing.” Kenshin looked around only to find nothing beyond the curtain of leaves aside from the normal forest. Which means the temple of the god Atub should be beyond the gate. After confirming this, Kenshin waited for Joy to arrive.

“Yo, are you waiting for me for long?” Joy came with a smile on his face. He seemed to have finally found his confidence after so many days of thrashed around by enemies. The enemies Kenshin faced those few days were all out of this world and their abilities. His confidence had severely impaired due to that.

“Joy, don’t say like that. It’s giving me the creeps, ugh!!” Kenshin blanched at the way Joy greeted him. It would definitely give the listener a wrong impression. Seeing a smirk on his face, Kenshin immediately realized the damn baldy did it intentionally.

“Hoho, say like what?” Joy continued to smirk. He just felt like teasing Kenshin a bit, after all his morale was at an all-time high. Giving him a look of ‘are you serious’ Kenshin sighed and pointed his thumb at the curtain of leaves, “our target lies beyond this thing...”