Aeren entered the monster village gate and immediately encountered the creatures within. They were already observing him as he passed through the entrance, and he was surprised to see them positioned so close to the doorway, noticing him instantly. Aeren stared back at them while they looked down upon him with condescension.
"Another defective piece of food," the monster spoke as he regarded Aeren dismissively. Without giving him much consideration, the creature produced an iron cage and began moving toward him—this time without chains.
"Hello," Aeren waved his hand and spoke, a gentle smile emerging on his features as he looked toward the monsters before him, genuinely wanting to engage them in conversation. "I can walk alongside you willingly."
Aeren glanced at the monsters behind him and saw a crowd of creatures awaiting his reaction. He realized he could easily eliminate them all, but this time, he would need to cleanse this entire monster village from existence.
"Enter," the monster commanded with a frigid voice, his cold eyes fixed on Aeren with threatening intensity—as though he could kill him in the next moment if Aeren didn't comply with entering the small cage.
Aeren could sense his menace yet continued studying him, recognizing that their magical strength was inferior to the humans throughout his empire. As he examined his captor again, he surveyed his surroundings more carefully.
What Aeren witnessed was a village designed like a miniature world—monsters living like humans, humans existing as livestock, and the sun above laughing mockingly at human pride. The earth itself seemed frustrated with this situation. Between heaven and earth stretched a gap, simply observing the scene with indifference, as though they had witnessed enough cruelty and kindness from all beings. As Aeren watched this twisted design, he saw that monsters mimicked humans but still lived like the beasts they truly were—unclean, unrestrained, unaware of the outside world, and completely unthreatened by his presence. Their instincts had reduced their intelligence to such a low level that they didn't consider Aeren a threat, even though he had entered through the door without restraints. They were clouded by their primal nature; having seen too many humans like Aeren, they could only perceive humans as worthless beings suitable merely as livestock. This was the distinction between the monsters outside and those within.
As Aeren observed the entire scene of the monster village, he could envision their complete destruction without needing to act against them, and he smiled at them knowingly.
"Yes, I shall witness the end," Aeren's smile confused the monster, and he entered the iron prison. He could see that their instincts nearly faltered for a moment as they perceived his unusual behavior, and their primitive nature began sensing something wasn't right about him.
"Stop," the monster shouted as his instincts failed to properly assess Aeren, and he started feeling unsettled by Aeren's reactions.
It's far too easy. How can they be manipulated so effortlessly? Humans can also be controlled, but it's not quite this simple. First, they undergo brainwashing without realizing it—they're influenced by everything around them: conversations, music, behaviors, even their own thoughts. This constant bombardment effectively brainwashes them every second. Then, when someone needs to activate the manipulation, it's complete, clean, and clear—all without their awareness.
In contrast, instinct-driven beings like monsters don't require brainwashing; they simply need a contrasting reaction to set everything in motion.
Aeren contemplated all of this about manipulation as he stopped in place, his smile persisting as though he could no longer control it. Then he realized why he had abandoned human form and embraced the freedom where no one possessed the power to manipulate him—not even his own thoughts.
"Hmm, what?" Aeren looked at the monster and asked with feigned confusion, concealing his inner amusement from them.
The monster studied Aeren from head to toe but couldn't identify anything that made him different from other humans. However, his unusual behavior raised the creature's guard, making him feel something was amiss, even though Aeren was confronting an entire village of monsters.
As the monster observed him while still unable to sense anything threatening, he considered simply killing him—though his instincts prevented him from following through with the execution. His observation created a tense silence, which Aeren could perceive and began absorbing.
"Follow us. I will personally escort you," the silence was broken when the monster spoke to Aeren. The creature felt something was wrong about the situation, and his mouth had spoken without his conscious realization.
Aeren could see the monster's confusion written across his features, and the silence slipped away from him—he could have absorbed much more.
"I already told you I would follow willingly, but you all insisted on imprisoning me," Aeren spoke as though reminding them that they should have listened to him initially. He was acting superior before them, treating them like bothersome pests.
The monster regarded his reaction and somehow felt the urge to kill him, but he controlled his murderous desire and locked eyes with Aeren. "Follow us or die," he couldn't bring himself to execute him, so he threatened with a cold voice instead.
Aeren observed their reaction and felt satisfaction with the situation. "Lead the way," he replied, remaining expressionless and showing no emotion. Meanwhile, the monsters behind him appeared confused, having never expected to witness anything like this exchange.
Though they trusted their senior monster's judgment, they remained puzzled that he hadn't killed this human for such unnecessary insolence. All the monsters could detect no magical reaction from him, making him essentially useless to them. Aeren could provide them with nothing of value—monsters consumed human flesh primarily because they gained magic through human meat and strength through human consumption. If Aeren possessed no magic within himself, then he would be worthless to them and undeserving of such respectful treatment.
However, they still didn't object to their senior's reaction because Aeren could potentially breed offspring through interaction with female humans, eventually providing what they desired. But this would take time, similar to farming practiced by humans—earth interacting with seeds through natural support, seeds growing into adults and becoming something humans could consume.
"Perfect endless cycle."
Aeren walked surrounded by all the monsters while the senior creature led the way to his designated location. He observed his surroundings as they moved, noticing all the village monsters staring at him. He could see all the villagers and recognize that they were living exactly like humans.
"Hmm, their expressions are identical to how humans react when they see something new and unacceptable in their lives. Hehehe."
Crash...
Aeren was thrown forward as he whispered to himself. "You bastard, are you laughing at us?" one of the monsters shouted, having noticed Aeren's reaction and interpreting it as disrespect toward them. All the villagers stared at the procession with disgust as they escorted Aeren.
Aeren looked backward at the monster who had kicked him, seeing the shame and frustration etched on the creature's features. Aeren smiled widely at his reaction, and when the monster saw that grin, his frustration reached its peak.
"Bastard, you think this is amusing?" The monster stepped forward to kill Aeren, his anger intensifying every second as he watched that smile.
"Yes," Aeren replied as he observed the approaching creature. As the monster advanced toward him, Aeren prepared to finish this, understanding enough about the monster village's dynamics. He didn't need to learn anything more—he was ready to resolve this situation and eliminate all the monsters from this reality illusion. Aeren rose from his position while watching the rage directed at him, remaining completely calm as he observed his surroundings to determine whether he should wait to kill all the monsters or eliminate them immediately.
As Aeren assessed the situation and found nothing particularly entertaining, he decided to cleanse this trash from existence entirely.