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“Ahhh! Move!”

Sorrowind had lost his mind. With absolutely no regard for his life, he leapt at the Shadow Demon, but as with such reckless actions, this would soon cost him his life.

The shadow demon had already ducked behind my inferno lioness, which meant he first had to get through the lioness…

Being an elemental creature, the inferno lioness wasn’t threatened at all by his wild sword swinging, thus it charged right back at him. Both of them were eight-stars. Neither of them wanted to move out of the way. Unfortunately, one of them was a lot less corporeal than the other.

It didn’t take long before Sorrowind perished in a cloud of ashes and regrets.

Half of the enemies who could possibly even harm me were now dead. The other two weren’t in any better shape either, what with the inferno lioness and my shadow demon now harassing them devotedly.

Out of the four of them, Sorrowind was actually the person with the highest odds. Given that I had an epic-grade shield that the four of them had no hope of breaking, escaping was honestly the only option available. The other two were either heavily armored or heavily armed, clearly not very agile. Thus it did not take long before my stone giant made meat pancakes out of them.

With their experts dead, the remaining troops lost their morale before long.

By this time, there were barely 60 soldiers alive. It was about time to lower the curtains on this farce.

“While it pains me terribly to have to ask such a pointless question, I still feel compelled to do so. Do any of you wish to surrender?”

“I… I surrender. I haven’t killed anyone at all. I was just guarding the outside… please let me go, I have an eighty year old grandma, and I have kids who still need feeding… If I die now, my entire family will starve… Please spare me on account of my family…”

The first soldier sank to knees and began pleading for his life. Two seconds laters, a dozen others fell to their knees as well.

Realizing that the enemy had surrendered, the villagers stowed their bows. While they might have been raining arrows down on these soldiers before, they still knew that these were the Duke’s soldiers, and not some common bandit.

Unsure as to how to proceed, they exchanged looks with each other, as if the other had an answer.

I had my summons stop their attacks too.

Honestly, I was half-considering whether to let that man go already. All that talk of grandmas and kids was nostalgic… pleasingly so.

And since they actually surrendered, it would be remiss of me not to honor my offer, would it not?

“All right, since you are so sincere about surrendering, I will let you all leave Plateau Village. Anyone else wants to surrender, while I’m in the forgiving mood.” I pointed towards the hunters, “The exit is over in the direction of Plateau village, in case you’re wondering.”

I addressed them haughtily from atop my stone giant. However, I wasn’t feeling particularly violent or gleeful at the sight of their misery. Instead, there was only silence, as cold and hard as the rock I stood on.

A soldier without his bravery was no better than a coward. They were no different. But that did not mean there weren’t those who were defiant in the face of death.

“Fools! How could you believe the words of a devil? Do you really think this devil would let you all go? She would never do so. All that awaits you is despair, then she will devour your souls!”

“William! George! Sam… get up, you fools! Do not kneel before that devil!”

“Are you all mad? She can’t be trusted, she’s just toying with you!”

“Do not tarnish the honor of His Excellency’s army! Death before disgrace!”

“Soldiers should die on the battlefield like soldiers! You lot are a disgrace to our fallen comrades!”

By now, there were roughly thirty left standing. These were the soldiers that probably wouldn’t realize the folly of their decision, even on their deathbeds.

“The officers are dead -do you not understand? I only wish to live… If I die here, my family… I mustn’t die! Do… Do you all not have family? I’m the only son of my family, I have to support my family… I…”

The first soldier to surrender whipped his head around to face his comrades, eyes filled with humiliation, indignity, and regret. Even if he was chastising them, his words held a kernel of truth in them. Some of the die-hard soldiers were already trying to waver.

Another soldier who surrendered spoke up, “I might not be the only son, but my brother was crippled three years ago and had to retire from the army. He got his injury in a fight with a bandit troupe. But his compensation ended up being mostly taken away from him by his superiors… I’ve had doubts about this job for a long time now…”

Sometimes, a tiny pebble was all that was needed to start an avalanche. Soon, more soldiers started airing their grievances, with one even starting to play the devil’s advocate. Literally.

“If these villagers are willing to help our lady devil, perhaps… She’s not like the others?”

A round of silence once more. Ten seconds later, even more soldiers began to surrender.

If there was even a shred of hope to survive, who would choose death?

“Very good, since I said I will let you all leave, I will honor my words.”

I swept one last eye over the remaining standing soldiers. A flap of my wings later, sixteen mana feathers shot out and executed these foolhardy soldiers.

The surviving soldiers were aghast by what they had just witnessed, but not a single one of them dared to utter a word in protest. Even so, that did not mean they did not weep for their fallen comrades. Nails biting into bleeding flesh, they held back their anguish, no matter how much it hurt.

Allowing them to return home now would undoubtedly be inviting disaster in the future. But that was interesting in its own way, else why would I have mentioned “Plateau village” to them.

“So you do know how to feel sad.” I scoffed at them. “Now get out of my sight.”

Even with the go-ahead to leave, none of the soldiers dare to move at first. They looked at each other in trepidation.

“I said get out! Are you expecting me to send out an invitation as well?!”

This time, the soldiers leapt to their feet in a storm of clanking and shuffling. Unfortunately, they barely took two steps before they were blocked by the villagers.