Bang!

Cale hurled a punch at the tree, creating another hole in it.

"That should do it for today, the villagers are probably done packing up by now," Cale muttered to himself before retracting his hand back. He had been training for almost three hours straight, experimenting with [Absolute Defense] and his new body overall.

It was still uncomfortable to move without a hand, as it was throwing off his body balance, but at the current rate of progress, it should take about five more days for it to fully grow back.

'I wonder if Fenrir is still asleep,' Cale mused before marching back to the village.

-

After about ten minutes, Cale reached the familiar place as a few huts came into view. However....something felt strange. There was a certain smell in the air, something Cale easily recognized.

'Blood'

That was the only thought swirling around Cale's head as he immediately looked around. In the distance, the body of a human could be seen, leaning against a tree.

'Damn it! What happened?' Cale wanted to shout but managed to mentally hold it back. Although the body was barely recognizable due to various injuries scattered across the skin, it wasn't that hard to understand that it was a kid.

"Someone attacked the village," Cale understood the situation only after a few more seconds as his mind filled with cruel thoughts. Just a few hours ago, these children were gracefully playing with each other and enjoying their childhood, but now they're all dead.

"I'm going to kill them," Cale said and stormed into the village, not bothering to hide his presence. On the way there, Cale saw many different corpses lying on the ground, some of them even being completely naked.

Thud! Thud!

After reaching one of the huts, Cale finally heard some changes in the surroundings. With a furtive glance around the corner, Cale saw several figures sitting next to each other, happily throwing stones towards the dummy in the distance.

-"Haha! Good shot!

-''Right into the head!

-"The commander was right! It's so much fun!"

The warriors laughed loudly before throwing more rocks at the doll. Since it was already night, Leo's body was barely visible.

"What are we going to do now? Should we explore further into the forest?" one of the soldiers asked with a serious expression on his face.

"I think we've had enough fun for the day. We should leave soon and inform King Adriel that the monster hasn't been found yet," Warden stated nonchalantly.

"Personally, I don't think it even existed, Princess Katherine was probably hallucinating," the beefy soldier chortled before sitting down on Aran's unmoving body.

"Well, at least she's a beauty. I wouldn't mind spending a night with her," Warden asserted indifferently, "I heard she was banished from the kingdom, so maybe I have a chance."

"Hahaha. I heard that she's also badly injured, she probably wouldn't even manage to resist you," one of the soldiers joked as everyone continued to laugh.

"Commander, did y--huh?" one of the soldiers was about to say something, but a sudden pain in his neck forced him to stop. After seeing a person with a mask standing right behind him, he was even more creeped out.

Thrust!

Cale cleanly severed the soldier's head and caught it with one hand. An ominous aura rose under his feet as everyone finally noticed the intruder.

"Who the hell are you!" Warden slipped on the ground in shock after seeing a person coming towards him.

Thrust!

Taking the advantage of the situation, Cale began killing every soldier that appeared in his field of vision. Since none of them had expected such a sudden attack, they couldn't even react in time before their heads flew into the air.

"Kill him!" Warden finally responded.

Surprisingly, even after all the soldiers collectively charged at the person, Cale easily subjugated everyone without getting a scratch on his armor. After only a few seconds, the number of soldiers could already be counted on fingers.

"Attack!" Warden was extremely angry after seeing his brothers being killed. Together with the brawny man, they charged forward with their weapons in their hands.

Thrust!

Warden wasn't even able to see the opponent's movements as he felt inexplicable pain in his hand. Screaming loudly, Wander fell to the ground while pressing onto his palm, hoping to ease the pain.

He was extremely surprised to feel nothing in the place where his hand should be....it felt as if it had simply disappeared. Shocked, he reopened his eyes and looked down, only to see his own palm lying on the terrain.

"AHHH!" With the realization striking his head, Warden angrily yelled, "Kill that bastard!!!"

"Are you talking about me?" Cale said casually as he ducked in front of Warden, looking him straight in the eyes, "I'm sorry to inform you, but all of your warriors are already in hell"

"?!" Warden's breathing instantly intensified, "WHY THE HELL ARE YOU EVEN ATTACKING US!? WHO ARE YOU?!"

"It's strange to hear such words from someone who just destroyed the entire village," Cale said, "Besides, weren't you the ones looking for me? I'm the monster that escaped from the Romulus Kingdom. So what are you going to do now?"

"Wha-" Before any words could leave Warden's mouth, Cale cut off his other hand, leaving him completely defenseless.

"STOP!!!" Warden's teeth clashed together from the inexplicable pain throughout his body, "Please! Spare me! I had no intention of harming anyone! I was just having some fun!"

Thud!

With another motion of the sword, Warden's legs were cut off as well.

"You can go now," Cale stated simply before turning around. On the other side, Warden, despite feeling inexplicable pain and itching all over his body, began to crawl into the forest, using his face to push forward.

Warden's condition was terminal and there was no way he would be able to reach the kingdom before he ran out of blood, so Cale didn't even bother to finish him off.

"Wake up, boy!" shouted Cale after walking up to the doll. Leo was completely covered in crimson blood and blisters, making Cale wonder if he was still alive.

"Mis-mister?.." Leo tilted his head slightly, his eyes blurry from multiple hours of sorrow.

"Do you want revenge?" said Cale, pointing at the creeping figure.

At the sight of Warden trying to retreat, an inner flame rose in Leo's soul. Ignoring the throbbing throughout his body, Leo tried to wriggle out of the ropes.

"Answer me. Do you want to kill this man?" Cale repeated his words.

"Yes!! Release me!" Leo shouted angrily as he tried to bite the ropes to break free.

"Do whatever you want. You're free now," Cale declared coldly after tearing the ropes around Leo. Without saying anything else, Leo rushed towards the retreating figure, falling to the ground over and over again as he struggled to get back up.