Behind the main camp, Zel was sitting inside the barrier.

In front of him were soldiers who was ordered to watch over him.

Without his weapon and armor, Zel couldn't do anything rash. He observed the situation and concluded it won't be good to escape.

(I can escape alone... but the other will be in danger once I get out from this place.)

His worry was not directed to himself, but it was for the villagers.

Zel doesn't want to run away without the other. He himself couldn't run away because of a certain person he promised to protect.

“Aonair, lad. You better run. They're plotting something's bad...”

He whispered silently, hoping for Aonair to receive his message.

Without anything to do, Zel waits for his chance to escape.

...

......

“The food has no taste.”

“Then it just the same as before, right?”

Aonair and laoch already finished their meal and were resting at their tent.

As expected, the food taste no better than leaves. It was practically a bowl with water, a little unseasoned meat, and vegetables that couldn't be called as one.

It filled their belly, but it was legit awful for their taste bud.

“By the way, have you seen Zel anywhere?”

Aonair noticed Zel disappearance and asked Laoch, but the boy shook his head.

“No, even when we queued for dinner, he didn't show up at all.”

“Weird... He always ate with us before. Where did he go?”

In the middle of the talk, a soldier suddenly came inside the tent.

“Hey you two, come to the main tent. All the soldiers are commanded to do a night roll call.”

“Roll call? But we never did it before.”

“Well now we do. Stop asking and move your ass! General Klann is waiting.”

They were confused. Nevertheless, it's an order from the higher up. They have no choice but to comply.

Aonair and Laoch went together and found all the villagers were gathered in front of the main tent.

They have the same confused face as Aonair.

“What happening?”

“I don't know! What is this roll call?”

The villagers were whispering at each other as they didn't understand what's happening.

Then, Klann came out from the tent with a proud face.

“Welcome, peasants! Good work coming here despite the sudden call.”

He raised his hand upward and shouted happily.

“Now! I gathered all of you here for a reason... which is this!!!”

The villagers who were standing in the middle were suddenly caged by a blue barrier emerged from the ground.

“Hey, what's the meaning of this?!”

“Release us!”

Chaos quickly spread on the villager. The sudden act made Aonair surprised.

“Laoch, is this...?”

“Yeah, they never wanted us to fight with the beastmen. Their aim was a different thing altogether...”

Laoch calmly assessed the situation that happening right now.

Aonair couldn't understand why they do this. What else is their aim Beside making us as meat shields?

The question that floating inside Aonair's mind was answered by Klann right away.

“You all are weak creatures, poor things that has no use in this world. Your existence is an eyesore for all of us.

But don't be sad! This is why we are doing this... We will make you trash to become a useful trash!”

Klann laughed at the villagers and suddenly, one of the villagers cried out.

'Uwaaah?!?! What's happening?! Help... Help!!! AAAAAAHHHH----!!!”

He held his head and shouted as if his head wants to explode.

Then, a few seconds later, the man's body started to grow larger and his skin getting darker.

Now, his height reached two and a half meter from the ground. His dark skin was no longer a human skin, but it's a scale.

“No way... he turned into a dragonkin?!”

“R-Run!!!”

Everyone who stood near the former villager were running away for their life.

The unfortunate man wasn't able to escape and was grabbed tightly with the big hand of that creature.

“P-please! Help me! I have a wife waiting for me! I don't want to die, please!”

He shouted for help, but no one was helping him. They all treated him as a distraction for the dragonkin.

“No way... No...! Help!!!”

The dragonkin brings the man closer to his jaw and...

Splat!!!

The head of the man was gruesomely bitten off. Aonair couldn't hold anymore and puke.

“Aonair! Are you okay?”

“Ugh... That was disgusting. You don't feel anything...?”

“I feel weird, but I'm still fine. Now... what should we do?”

Everyone were in shambles. What worse is many people started to change.

Some of them shrank half of their size and their skin became pale green. It was a monster called as goblin.

The other were turned into giants and dragonkins.

The one who wasn't transformed wants to run away, but the barrier holding them inside.

“We can't go out, but if we stay here, we will be killed by those creatures.”

Laoch summed up their situation right now. Meanwhile, Aonair was thinking hard by himself.

“Why they became monsters? But more importantly, will we become monsters too...?”

“Aonair...? What are you mumbling about?”

Aonair's head was filled with many questions. He needs to know the answer, for it will decide their fate.

While Aonair fell into confusion, a blast of explosion brought him back to reality.

A man with his greatsword blasted off the barrier and made a hole to go through.

“Mr. Zel!”

“Old man?!”

Zel who couldn't be seen since the evening was suddenly made his appearance.

“Everyone who still able to run, this way!”

After he commanded everyone to run away, Zel came running to the boys.

“Are you two okay? Did you hurt?”

“No, we're good. What's going on here, anyway? And where were you before?”

“I'll explain as we run from here! Let's go lads!”

Aonair tried to ask him, but Zel prioritize their safety first. The boys nodded and run along with Zel.

As the villagers and monsters running away from the barrier, the one who stood in front of the camp, Klann, was shocked.

“Wha--! Why is he able to run away?! My barrier is perfect! Is it you, Allan?!”

His confusion leads him to accused his own strategist. Allan shook his head and replied to him.

“No, it's not me! Never mind about that, we can't let them run away! Captain! Surround them! Don't let a single of them run away!”

“Yes sire!”

Allan ignored Klann and took initiative. The captain commanded the entire army to chase the villagers right away.

Allan looked at the fallen Klann and muttered.

“What a shame. His lack of experience caught him from behind.”

After saying that, he went along with the captain.

“Guh... That Destroyer bastard...!”

Klann's eyes filled with anger and regret. Now his mind was full of hatred and revenge toward Zel.

His incompetence and lack of caution leads him to this end, but he won't accept it.

“I am perfect... I am invincible...! There's no way I will fail!”

His arrogance reached the limit and then, he stood up. He looked at the running villagers and found his arch-enemy.

Beside Zel, there are two boys running along with him. Zel was glancing to them occasionally to not lose them.

With that, Klann's face warped into an evil smile.

“I swear I will torment you, Destroyer.”

Locking his target, Klann ran toward the villager with one thing in his mind.

“I'm going to catch you, bastards!”

...

......

Not knowing the demon behind them, Aonair and Laoch were desperately running away as they listen to Zel.

“I heard it all from the soldiers. They have no intention to fight the beastmen in the first place. The target is us, the villagers.”

When the dinner started, Zel was locked behind the main camp.

There, he listened to the merry soldiers that they were sent here to protect Klann and to siege the villagers.

“It seems they were conducting some sort of evil plans. You saw it yourself, don't you? Those monsters... They purposely created it for themselves.”

It turned out the kingdom wants to do an experiment. Monsters are generally strong and sturdy.

If somehow... the kingdom could be in control over them, won't it be like dreams come true?

They can reduce their expense on logistic and the casualty of the soldiers.

An army that will die at command and will not stop even without foods and drinks.

“But why us?!”

“... We are not the only one. It seems many villages outside there became their playthings too.”

“That...”

Laoch couldn't believe what he just heard.

The kingdom he once believed as one of the greatest, was trying to turn them into mindless puppets.

“What I'm worrying now is your condition. They must be poisoned you with something. Did you notice anything?”

Zel asked the boys, but they didn't notice anything.

“If something suspicious... Only one thing came to my mind.”

Aonair remembered something that has been bugging him all along.

“The drinks Oscar offered to me... Somehow it has a dark red color. It gave me creeps when I saw it.”

“Dark red?”

“Yeah, now that I think about it, it wasn't a wine. It was almost likes... blo-- Watch out!”

Before Aonair finished talking, the ground beneath Zel was shining blue.

Then, a blue wall appeared between Zel and Aonair.

“Don't you run away, Destroyer!!!”

A mad cry came from Klann as he run to Zel like a madman.

“We can continue this later! You lads run first!”

“But!”

“No buts! Run!”

“Tch!”

Clicking his tongue, Aonair ran away with Laoch, leaving Zel to face Klann by himself.

“Surrender is not an option for you!”

“If it's only you, I won't need to.”

“You have no weapons! It's time for you to die in my hand!”

Klann brandished his sword and charged toward Zel.

“Huh... Every one of you has the same pattern.”

...

......

Then, another blast could be heard from Aonair's behind.

“Old man!”

He looked back, but he didn't stop his feet.