“Aurei, Bitter Cat and Cella, I need you guys to do something,” Yushin spoke only to party. After giving out some orders, Aurei, Bitter Cat and Cella stopped walking and apologized to the Mutal, claiming they had to go because of an emergency. Since everything was already taken care of they didn’t need to stick around.

The leaf captain did not seem too sad about them leaving, nor did he try to keep them there. He would be thrilled if all of them were gone, especially Bitter Cat. The Scarlet Giant was frightening. Opening a huge fake green smile and thanking them several times for their help, he said the Mutal would always be their friends.

After the three logged out, the NPCs didn’t seem bothered about them disappearing into thin air. They asked no questions about it. Characters inside permanent dungeons like these can log out and come back to the same spot normally. Once they leave the dungeon coming to the same spot is much harder. Yushin then started to buy as much time as he could, gathering herbs and explore new spots. He made it seem as natural as possible so as not to draw their attention.

Yushin avoided going to the other camps on purpose, already knowing their fate. Playing for that long is beginning to take its toll on his body, but somehow it seems the time feels much slower inside the game. This quest was the longest so far.

After finally reaching the Mutal village, there are many new guards on the branch walls and stationed around. They were at war, so the extra manpower shouldn’t be anything suspícious. The ones to welcome him were the Mutal Commander and the Elder Village Chief in person. The Captain went ahead and reported the situation.

“Warriors, warriors, we the Mutal thank you for defeating our enemies! Word has come to me that we have been victorious and many of our brethren released from the torture! You are our saviors!” The elder bowed and everyone else followed.

“The Mahrgas are no more, blessed be the Mother Tree!” They rejoiced and prayed together.

“Elder, we came across many crimes of war.” Yushin bluntness interrupted their chant. The elder looked troubled and regretful as if knowing those sins beforehand.

“Warrior, my lack of leadership has caused many tragedies not fit for our peaceful ways. We seek your understanding. The hatred was already too deep, some of the men could not resist their urges. We will look for the culprits and punish them.” The elder once again bowed and the rest right after.

Yushin did not answer, and this time he did not put on a smile. Shum and Gron behind were also quiet, and the elder could only laugh it off a bit.

“Now, now, please step into the temple to receive your rewards,” The elder opened a smile and pointed to the circular wooden building in the middle of the village.

“Thank you for the hospitality, but we must get going. If you could get us the rewards, we will be on our way.” Yushin answered.

“Absolutely not! This demands the proper procedures for our grand celebration! Please, step inside!” The Elder once again asked.

Yushin opened a huge smile, “I wonder what sort of trap is there for us since Elder is so eager to invite us over?”

Gasp!

The elder was nearly shocked to death! How did he know?

“How did you know?” His semblance was much darker and serious now, no more mister nice leaf. The Elder raised his right hand and the guards became wary.

On Yushin’s face, a smile cold and full of anger appeared. He hated to be misled, “Your story almost had us fooled. Tell me, were the Mahrgas even a threat to you?”

“Warrior, do not misunderstand. This indeed concerns the future of the Mutal. Look around, there aren’t many of us now. Our bodies are defective. It has not always been so, but generation after generation, it has become worse. Only by supplying Mother Tree with souls can we be saved.”

“So all this killing was to supply your kind with souls. But you had the power to take out the Mutal earlier, yet you still waited for us, didn’t you?” Yushin sighed.

“Because you have quality souls, much better than those trash called Mahrgas. But I did not expect you to take out Vitalus. He has been a thorn in our side for far too long. Now that he is dead, we can venture further, find better prey. Warrior, you will become a noble sacrifice to save our people. We will never forget your contribution.” The leaf guards brandished their wooden weapons, and the tall leaf commander, his Vine Lance.

“No, thank you. Instead, I think you and your cursed people can visit the underworld in our place,” Yushin smiled.

“Warrior, you are strong. But the Commander is stronger. He will be the one to go out and find the future of our people!” The elder proudly stated.

Yushin laughs out loud.

He keeps laughing for a while.

“Elder, there is no need to go out. All of you, treacherous and cunning evil bastards, only death will be your reward. We will take you down to the last one today!” Yushin raged.

The leaf warriors are agitated. Many saw Yushin fight, many revered Vitalus as a sign of strength. These warriors, the ones that killed Vitalus, are great warriors. But the elder knows that in their party there are only the three of them left. The monstrous and fearsome giant is gone, the healing one is gone, and even the gatherer is gone. Aside from Yushin, the other two are not on par with the commander.

This time, it was the ebony eyed elder’s turn to laugh, “The three of you, against our fighters? Haha, Men, attack, kill those foolish warriors!” Many leaves rushed to strike. Yushin, Gron, and Shum have no choice but to fight.

Yushin holds his spear and meets the attack, his goal is to disrupt the enemy formation and cause chaos. His spear waves back and forth, the enemy’s wooden weapons are diverse but they also show a preference towards simple spears. The smiling warrior is too quick, never stopping moving around and always pressing the advance.

This time he has no reason to hold back.

Besides not having the luxury to worry about Shum and Gron, the two of them protected each other’s back and began fighting. Even outnumbered, their team play was very effective. Yushin was a loose spear, flying everywhere in the combat and striking like the wind.

Aside from the wooden weapons, some Leaf Warriors used their own arms as ones, like a very sharp leaf. There were more than twenty around the trio, but the lack of ranged weapons made it a bit less dangerous.

One wooden spear struck at Yushin, quickly being parried and countered with a kick. His body moved sideways, changing targets and piercing through the next enemy’s thighs. Vaulting above the wounded enemy, he immediately pierced his neck from behind, killing instantly. His left hand made a sharp movement, and a knife flew towards another Mutal, piercing his eye.

Shum fought much more controlled this time, keeping his power but trying not to make too wide swings. Having many enemies around made it so that his large cuts became a weakness, and Gron would not always be able to cover for him. Although lacking in power when compared to Bitter Cat, Shum’s axe was strong and very hard to parry or block. The sheer weight of the weapon made it hard to defend against.

Gron kept his focus, using his nature magic to stop dangerous enemies in their tracks long enough so that they can either adjust or finish them off. The most dangerous enemies are the ones that use their limbs as weapons. Quick cuts and pierces are very hard to dodge.

Seeing that even with their numbers the Mutal cannot overwhelm the trio, the Leaf Commander finally stepped up. He went straight for Yushin, his Vine Lance brims with soul power.

Yushin recognized the power enveloping the lance, although very different than his own. Yushin’s [Soul Power] flows like a sharp and warm wave, while the Commander’s was solid and rigid like a green mountain. Every piercing attack seemed to make the earth shake, the sheer amount of power behind it comparable to Bitter Cat!

Now Yushin understood why the Elder had so much confidence in the Commander, seeing as he could infuse his strikes with Soul Power. The lance pierced towards his throat and Yushin weaved only enough not to get damaged by the brute force. He was dead serious. His whole attention focused on the enemies, not having leeway for a single mistake. He could feel the entire battlefield, even without looking, no hidden attacks can catch him by surprise at that moment.

Using speed he struck at the commander but was blocked with the Vine Lance, which seemed not to take any damage from Yushin’s spear. It was one of the best weapons Yushin had seen so far, including Bitter Cat’s [Bonehead Spear]. After a few bouts, they both retreated a few steps, pointing weapons at each other.

Around them, while a few continued attacking Shum and Gron, many waited for their commander’s battle. It is the battle of two leaders, each force’s ace, capable of changing morale and deciding the entire conflict.

The elder chuckled, “…You can keep up with the commander, Warrior. But I wonder how long your comrades will endure?”

Even though Shum and Gron were managing to hold out, they indeed took some dangerous hits. Only two of the enemies died while a few were wounded.

Yushin held his spear towards the Elder, “They held on long enough.”

From one of the side branch walls, a huge hitting sound was heard, followed by the breaking of many branches. Without losing any more time, Bitter Cat, Aurei and Cella joined the fray. They came back after saving the remaining Mahrgas survivors from their supervisors at the main camp!

“Those three… didn’t they leave?!” The elder looked angry. More people meant more souls, but too much firepower would be against his plans.

“Heh, heh, they were busy, you know?” Yushin smiles, immediately advances again, his spear much faster than before. He was waiting for the opportunity to shake the enemy and Bitter Cat’s presence was enough to do that!

The Scarlet Giant was thirsty for blood. The Mutal not only fooled her but took advantage of everyone. She felt sorry for their torture and even hated the Mahrgas a bit. Just thinking about it has been enough to drive her mad. Every swing of her heavy Warhammer was brutal.

Shum and Gron let out a smile and also became fiercer. Cella came as close as she could, with Aurei as a bodyguard, and used her healing and buffs on the duo. She would have buffed Yushin instead, but he ordered the priority to be Shum. Aurei also supported them with defensive magic. Now the four of them joined together and took a defensive position, with Shum as the center, Aurei and Gron as supports, and Cella on the back lines. No matter how many Mutal come it won’t be easy to take them down. Yushin had no reason to worry anymore.

Meanwhile, Bitter Cat is furious relentless, like the might of a thousand warriors fell upon the enemy. No one could block her, no one could stop the Warhammer. Even Yushin is astonished by this sight.

‘Reminding myself never to piss that woman off. Never!’ He was also at his best, spear keeping the enemy commander in check. He rarely gets mad, but being used feels like crap!

His left foot steps forward, the spear spinning to strike, [Spinning Spear Thrust] piercing forward. The Vine Lance barely blocks. The attacks are much faster, Leaf Commander cannot counter at all. Yushin keeps a flurry of strikes, takes no time to breathe, lets down the fury of war gods. He lost track of how many thrusts he threw!

The Commander is unable to resist and takes multiple wounds until Yushin’s spear finally breaks.

The warrior doesn’t even care and switches to hand to hand combat, dodges the enemy’s spear and [Strong Kicks] him square in the face.

The commander falls unconscious but still alive, and before Yushin can sweep in to finish him, two of the Leaf Warriors come to his aid, one of them being the Captain that fought together against the Mahrgas. Their morale is completely crushed and their ace humiliated, but their affection and respect are still there. Even the Elder looks ghastly pale.

The fight goes on, many leaves fall. Almost all the warriors meet their ends on Yushin’s and Bitter Cat’s hands, including the captain that fought together against the Mahrgas. The battle is tough, Cella takes a heavy wound, but still chooses to focus on healing others. Her fighting capabilities are lacking, but Aurei and Gron are very quick to support. Shum takes lessons from BC, in this group he is the current MVP, fighting many leaves at once. All are wounded, armors are damaged and a few weapons gone. Leaf Warriors are much stronger than the Mahrgas!

Yushin takes out a warrior and glares at the Elder, rushes straight to kill him.

The Elder hides behind other warriors that came to his aid then runs straight towards the wooden circular building. Yushin deals with the enemies and follows behind, is wary of traps, but must not miss this opportunity.

Inside, Yushin pays attention to his surroundings. In the middle there is an altar and a [Formation] of blood, gore and magic stones, with many Mahrgas and Mutal corpses strew around half eaten. The stench was barely bearable. The altar itself is made of ebony branches with many brown leaves, very similar to the Elder.

For a second, Yushin’s [Soul of A Hero] resonated with an intense pull, but then stopped.

The Elder is at the center of the formation, looking at Yushin with pity and mockery. Yushin has a bad feeling, doesn’t even wait to reach the Elder and instead throws his spear, piercing him straight through the “core” and shattering it. As leaf, he had no heart, but an energy core that functioned similarly. By now, with so many deaths, Yushin already knew where it was located, and so far a core shattering meant instant death…

...But the Elder looked at his own chest, then at Yushin, and started laughing maniacally. Sacrificing himself to the altar’s formation, darkness started to envelop his body and eat it away, flowing straight to a small and childlike figure with radiant gem eyes that was sitting in the corner.

It was Lataf, the child that led Yushin here in the first place.

The darkness entered his body as if it was its own, and suddenly a strong black miasma spread everywhere. It was too fast to avoid, even if Yushin saw it coming. It was clear now that the Elder had been tainted by this evil force, but the source of the force was never him. He was merely a tool.

Yushin tried to go forward and strike with another spear, but a huge soul force pushed him back straight out of the door, bringing the building down with it. As the building falls with huge rumbling sounds, everyone is gasping at this scene. Yushin rolls back and falls into position, taking out his [Bonehead Spear] immediately.

The stench of death spread everywhere, the miasma sapping their strengths. Some weaker Mutal even got killed instantly. That one in front of them was an evil entity, with pure malice in its eyes, although it hid behind a childlike form.

Yushin shivers. He could see and sense the [Flow of Soul] going straight to that monster, every second that went on growing stronger. Anything alive was its prey and any soul his food. If it had time to grow, how powerful could it become?

The Mutal warriors had no idea of what happened, from the middle of their camp a terrible evil arose. They were not its followers, only wanted to get rid of their own cursed body and survive. No one would serve death willingly.

Now, the deaths of many Mutal and Mahrgas fuels this [Fallen Villain] strength, he is reborn. Everyone is still for a few seconds, at least until “Lataf” points his right hand forward, shooting dozens of bolts of darkness. They move randomly with impressive speed, much faster than an arrow!

Yushin jumps back and dodges. Bitter Cat quickly takes cover behind a huge branch and Aurei moved to the side, as he would have no time to cast defensive magic. Shum wasn’t targeted, and Gron also dodged in time.

“Kyaaaah!!!” But Cella was hit and died, the bolt trespassing her body and the contaminating energy eating it away. It was as if no armor and buffs could stop that attack.

“CELLA!” Aurei looked back, filled with regret. He reacted too fast and forgot about her for a moment. He could have tried to block it with the chain. Around them, a lot of Mutal were fatally hit and many structures also damaged.

Lataf looked displeased. Those inferior things dared to evade his attack. His voice is strong and clear, but nowhere as young as his body, “Die, trash!”

This time he opened his arms wide and then closed them, shooting a horizontal darkness slash that measured the entire camp.

“JUMP!” Yushin screamed to the party, and again everyone could dodge in time. The attack hit and destroyed the wall of branches around the village, together with almost every single structure there. Aside from those who threw themselves to the ground or jumped, everyone that stood was sliced in half and eaten away.

Yushin stopped being dazed, his body lunging forward, throwing as many knives as he could. They all flew straight to the target, but hit an invisible wall, deflecting to the sides.

Lataf knit his brows and looked mighty pissed at Yushin, who still kept running forward. This monster, whatever he is, is not in his prime condition. After using both attacks Yushin could feel his Soul was already much weaker, as if the souls of everyone eaten were not enough to power him up.

He stepped forward, putting all his weight and power behind the spear, advancing straight towards the enemy with a [Spinning Spear Thrust].

All in vain.

The spear hit an invisible wall again and was deflected sideways. Yushin was somewhat expecting that, so he didn’t lose balance and kept striking. The rest of his team also followed, Bitter Cat arrives soon after, putting all her power to strike with [Power Smash].

This time the barrier trembled and barely managed to deflect the blow, visibly damaged!

“....!” Lataf did not expect such tremendous power, his eyes fixating into Bitter Cat. Aurei was the third to come, his chain advanced and was also deflected. The same happened with Gron and Shum, no matter how often they struck, the barrier would not even fluctuate.

Designating Bitter Cat as his most dangerous target, Lataf pointed his finger and shot a straight ray of darkness into her chest, which she managed to dodge by a second.

‘His attacks are powerful, but he needs to recharge in between… If only we can break this barrier…’ Yushin used his senses to feel the [Flow of Soul] and try to localize a weak spot to strike but found nothing. Bitter Cat once again advanced, her heavy Warhammer striking down. This time Lataf didn’t block, but jumped to the side with fast movement, getting closer to Shum, Gron, and Aurei.

“Watch out!” Yushin moved to intercept, but once he realized what was to come, he could only tumble away.

This time the demon only stood still and many bolts started flying, going all around him. He was too close to the trio for any of them to react in time.

“Begone from this Emperor’s sight, trash!” Lataf screamed for the first time, that old voice going out a child’s body, sounding clear but full of disdain.

Seeing as he couldn’t dodge, Shum put himself in front of Gron and Aurei, blocking the bolts that came at them in exchange for his own “life.” Not that the bolts stopped at his body, but in the end, it was about enough to change their target.

“Shum!” Gron yelled as his companion disappeared. The whole party, at that moment, forgot this was only a game.

‘Dammit!’ Yushin’s frustration reached the apex, already having used all his cards. He didn’t have many options in the first place. Even Bitter Cat’s power is not sure to be able to break through, much less hitting someone at that speed.

What can he do?

Can he only watch until his entire party is wiped out?

So they can die here?

He was not willing. Even in-game, he doesn’t want to succumb to death so soon!

His will to live started to manifest and his senses brought back the feeling of back then during the fight against Sinkred. His [Flow of Soul] became sharply incomparable, the soul of that world flowing through his body as if to replenish all the energy he used before. His mind wandered to the moment the Leaf Commander used his [Soul power] and his own Soul Force started to react to it.

He again wasn’t fully aware of how he was doing it. All that Soul Power gently enveloped his spear, as if they were only one entity from the beginning. At that moment, his Soul and the [Soul Of The World] were only one.

Lataf once again recharged his attack, but this time he noticed how dangerous Yushin’s spear looked.

‘This human knows [Soul Control]?’ His radiant eyes aimed at Yushin. Pointing both fingers at him, he was ready to shoot darkness rays.

But Bitter Cat was already near. Knowing something felt different in this attack, she thought that if Lataf stood still for a second Yushin’s spear would definitely hit him. Jumping her highest, she hit from top to bottom with her last [Power Smash], putting everything behind the strike, including the giant’s weight.

Lataf had to choose between shooting his rays or blocking the hit. He could not hold the barrier against such a powerful strike at the same time as he shot. If he shot, Yushin would be hit, but Bitter Cat would smash him to bits. After being reborn, he didn’t want to disappear again. He held his barrier and gave up on attacking Yushin first.

The Power Smash hit the barrier and it took a lot of damage, but with Lataf focus, it was not enough to destroy it.

Yet Yushin wouldn’t miss this opportunity. With large strides he went forward, his left foot stepping firmly on the ground, the same as many times before. He held his spear one-handed with his right hand as his left hand guided forward and pulled back, preparing a thrust.

With a quick spin the spear advanced, and the Flow Of Soul also spun around the weapon as if it was a powerful drill, emitting thundering cracks of power and loud sounds such as a roaring storm.

The powerful [Soul Strike] hit Lataf’s barrier and it shattered as if it was thin glass. Not stopping there, the strike also hit his childlike body, tearing a huge hole in his chest. His scream of death was a horrific and nightmarish sound, liberating many souls of the dead back into the world. His radiant eyes looked dim and regretful, almost cursing his enemies to death.

The Bonehead Spear shattered into dust, and with it, Lataf’s body. Yushin also suffered a heavy backlash, losing his Soul Force completely and many of his remaining hit points. His hand felt numb and a part of it was even burnt.

“Curse you, curse you, this Emperor shall yet have your soul!!!” As the body disappeared, a ghostly form appeared in front of the group. It was actually only a manifestation of his soul and it disappeared shortly after. Yushin could feel that evil entity was not gone from this world. What and who he was, he didn’t know.

But for sure this would not be the last they heard of him.