On the fifteenth floor of the Adventurers Guild…

Office room...

A handsome young man with brown hair—clad in a violet shirt, grey jacket, yellow trousers, and ankle boots—read the baron's letter from an ornate chair, a huge mahogany table, with a gold luxurious cloth on it, was placed in front of him.

A couch sat opposite the table, where the butler waited.

The butler glanced at the branch manager, tension creeping into his posture as he asked, "Do I need to do anything?"

He had no idea what the letter contained. He didn't read it—he only followed the baron's orders.

The branch manager rang a small bell placed on the table.

Thud!

A beautiful young woman with green hair, dressed in a formal blue modern suit, stepped in and questioned, "What's the matter?"

'Who's she?' The butler stiffened at her carefree behavior. The guild branch manager in front of him was the strongest person in Blackwell City, yet here was a woman who didn't care about politeness in front of such a being.

"Assign a C-rank—no. A joint B-rank mission to inquire Oakfield Village and its surroundings," the branch manager ordered calmly, placing the letter back.

"A B-rank… did you sense a Tier-3 presence?" the woman inquired, curiosity piqued in her eyes.

"We are not sure," the branch manager said, waving his hand for her to leave.

But the woman didn't care and continued with a grin, "Is it a demon… who can use demonic magic?"

Finally, the branch manager's eyes twitched as he snapped, "Don't waste time and just go!"

"Hmm," The woman hummed, lips tilting as she turned to leave.

----

A day later…

Oakfield Village.

"Should we leave?" the chubby kid asked as he felt congested.

All the kids turned toward Victoria—the shining girl.

Her hair had fully turned purple. The frail girl they remembered was gone as she became a cute girl from a skinny one. She was sleeping with her eyes closed, but a faint purple glow remained.

"Ah…" She woke up, rubbing her hazy eyes due to the noise.

Her eyes glowed purple faintly, then vanished.

"Baron Blackwell…" Victoria clenched her fists, remembering who was behind her parents' deaths.

"Let's go…" she said, sensing that everyone wanted to leave.

She then muttered, "Status," while standing up.

[ —Status—

Name: Victoria

Race: Chosen Human ★★ {Common+}

Class: Hero {Common+}

Traits: Residual Elemental Resistance, Aura Heart, Mana Heart

Titles: Awakened Hero {Common}

Level: 15

Tier: 1

Strength: G

Endurance: G

Will: G

Wisdom: G {G+}

Dexterity: G

Perception: G

Agility: G

Vitality: G {G+}

Aura Power: G

Mana Power: G ]

'Level 15…' She was shocked as she eyed the shimmering panel.

"I will avenge my village...and thank the slime," she vowed, remembering the villagers thanking Slime#47 at the end of their lives.

But then her gaze hardened."I will get stronger. Then I'll kill the baron."

Bam!

"I cannot remove it!" the chubby kid yelled as he wasn't able to push out the wooden plank placed at the entrance.

Bang!

He tried slamming his fist into it, but failed to even budge it.

A rock was placed above the plank. Brooke had wanted the children to suffer longer, so he had placed a huge boulder on it.

"Move, Oliver," Victoria said calmly as she climbed the ladder after Oliver and a few others stepped down.

They were a few meters below the plank, and a ladder was placed to lead out from the kitchen.

"Holy Fist," she said plainly.

Her fist shone with bright golden light as she slammed it into the plank.

Bang!

Boom!

The energy from her hand spread into the wooden floor and up to the boulder above, and—crack!—shattered the huge rock into pieces.

The wooden plank disintegrated into dust, opening the exit.

Soon, they got out of the dwelling and found their parents' corpses.

"Dad… which one is my dad?" Oliver asked loudly. They all knew their parents were dead because they heard them.

But it was a different matter when they stared at the black scorched corpses. They didn't know whose parents were whose.

There were seventy-one children. The oldest was Oliver, nine years old, while the youngest was just one month old, held by a crying girl, who was her elder sister.

"They are our parents. Let's fulfill the last rituals, so they can depart to heaven," Victoria said, gaining everyone's attention.

'Why am I so calm…?'... I'm brimming with confidence,' she felt the changes within herself.

Everyone nodded. They brought all the corpses together with effort and laid them in order.

One by one, they took turns to pour a few drops of water into their mouths along with a few grains of rice.

"The last meal," Victoria whispered. She remembered that once they would have been happy to get even that much. Now they had food, but they lost their lives.

Shalom and the army did take everything edible, but the hiding room had food stored. What would be called a hiding room if it lacked food for emergencies?

After everyone had placed a few grains into their mouths, everyone nodded at Victoria.

Then they all bowed.

"Holy Fire." Victoria cast the spell after a few minutes of bowing, as a golden magic rune flashed on her palm. She pointed it at the corpses.

Gzz!

A basketball-sized golden flame manifested and flowed to the corpses.

The corpses burned with golden flames, turning to ashes.

Many children broke down, sobbing openly, while only some, like Victoria, remained calm.

Their tears caused babies to wake up and cry. They had endured a lot yesterday.

With effort, they managed to put them to sleep, but they weren't in the mood to calm the crying babies now.

After a few minutes, they collected the ashes together and took them in a small pouch.

'I will hand them over to the God of Creation's church,' Victoria mused.

"Is that all?" a four-year-old kid asked, pulling Oliver's shirt with tears.

"Yes. The last ritual consists of the last meal, bowing, and finally burning the dead," Oliver said with a shaky voice.

"Why burn?" the kid questioned doubtfully.

"Because of necromancers and others who play with dead bodies and make them do dirty work," Oliver explained.

The four-year-olds and younger wanted to stay with the corpses due to their lack of knowledge, but Oliver and Victoria made them understand.

Only the five-year-old kids and above knew what death meant due to their upbringing in Oakfield Village.

A faint purple glint lingered in her eyes as she led the children out of the village.

----

After a few hours…

Boom! Boom!

A handsome man with short purple hair tore into Oakfield Village at supersonic speed.

End of the chapter.

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