"Why did the bodies disappear, or were they dragged away?"
"Bodies?"
"What good are bodies? I feel like I've encountered something similar before."
"Where... where..."
"Damn it!"
"Why can't I remember!"
"All the surrounding villages have become like this. The intel says it happened two days ago."
"With so many villagers, it's impossible to transport them all at once. Their lair must be nearby."
Ye Yang then closed his eyes, activating his Observation Haki to its maximum, covering a large area.
"No, not here... nor here..."
"..."
"Found it!"
"Whoosh!" Ye Yang instantly vanished from his spot.
The scene shifts to a valley.
A large group of black-robed figures, each driving a carriage laden with bodies, filled the valley.
The entire valley was permeated with a strong smell of blood and decaying corpses.
Carriages drove one after another into the cave.
Inside the cave,
"Pope," a black-robed figure respectfully bowed to the person on the main seat.
The Pope calmly asked, "How are things progressing?!"
"Reporting, Pope, everything is proceeding normally."
"This subordinate has a question, but I don't know if I should ask."
"Speak."
"Pope, why such a large-scale massacre this time? By now, those people from the Light Guild must already know about the villages."
"It's only a matter of time before they find us."
"This subordinate fears those fellows might ruin your plans, Pope."
A faint smile appeared on the Pope's lips: "Everything is under my control. You just need to do your job well, understand?"
"Yes, yes, this subordinate spoke out of turn."
The Pope: "The potion has now entered a critical stage. With the people from these dozens of villages, it's enough for us to complete it."
"By then, the entire continent will be ruled by us, and humanity will evolve into a higher-dimensional being!"
"Hahahahaha—!!!"
Outside the cave at this moment,
Ye Yang watched carriages full of bodies enter the cave, but he didn't see any bodies from Tata Village.
"A bunch of damned things!"
"Whoosh!"
"Boom—!!!"
A loud bang didn't injure anyone. The black-clad guards, hearing the commotion, immediately poured out of the cave, casting a magic barrier to protect it.
The startled carriages scattered in all directions, creating chaos at the cave entrance.
Ye Yang walked forward, step by step.
The leader of the black-clad figures immediately spotted Ye Yang.
"Kill him!"
All the Mages who came out raised their staffs, various elements condensed on them, and energy transformed into spears, heading towards Ye Yang.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!..."
A large amount of energy rained down, all landing on Ye Yang's position.
For a moment, there was a continuous roar and rising smoke.
The black-clad leader waved his hand, signaling his subordinates to stop attacking, and looked into the smoke with a solemn expression.
"Whoosh!"
A glimmer of light suddenly appeared in the smoke. Before the leader could even see what it was, the flash directly shattered the barrier and pierced through his head. He fell without feeling any pain.
His other subordinates, seeing their leader die right before their eyes, all looked forward with terrified expressions.
As the smoke dissipated, everyone finally saw the person walking towards them.
"Mon... monster!"
Under their recent bombardment, Ye Yang hadn't suffered the slightest injury. In their understanding, it was simply impossible for anyone to achieve this, let alone evade it, which was even more preposterous.
People always feel fear towards things they don't understand, things they believe are impossible to accomplish, yet are happening right before their eyes.
Ye Yang looked at the crowd with a cold expression, a golden light flashed on his finger, and the golden light exploded in the center of the crowd.
"Boom!"
In an instant, groans filled the ground. All the black-clad figures who had attacked were now lying in pools of blood, missing limbs, wailing.
Meanwhile, the news of an intruder had already been reported internally.
"This is bad, Pope! There... there... there's a Mage attacking us!"
The Pope immediately rose from his main seat.
"How is that possible?! How could the Light Guild find this place so quickly!"
"How many people came!"
"Re... reporting, Pope, there's only one person."
Upon hearing that only one person had come, the Pope's panicked expression finally subsided. He had thought that if a large number of Light Guild members had come to encircle them, he would truly fear not being able to hold out.
Now, with only one person, he had no need to worry at all.
The calmed Pope slowly said, "Since he has come, don't let him leave. It's a good opportunity to test these Light Guild Mage corpses."
"Klest, go and bring back his body."
"As you command, Pope."
Outside the cave, Ye Yang arrived at the entrance, and a strong smell of blood wafted out.
Ye Yang didn't walk into the cave, but instead searched carriage by carriage outside for the villagers' bodies.
"Not here, not here, not this one either."
Just then, a voice came out.
"What are you looking for, young man?"
Ye Yang paid him no mind, continuing to search carriage by carriage. Ye Yang had long sensed someone approaching, but their strength held no interest for him. Finding the villagers' bodies was the most important thing right now.
("Damn Light Guild, damn stinking brat! To ignore me like this!")
Klest looked at his subordinates lying on the ground, groaning in pain, and cursed under his breath.
"A bunch of good-for-nothings, can't even deal with one person!"
"Dark Magic · Corpse Whisperer!"
A black magic circle unfolded beneath the black-clad figures' feet.
A large amount of black mist emerged from the magic circle, covering all the bodies lying on the ground and the wailing people.
The wailing instantly ceased, and the black-clad figures who had been alive all lost their breath.
Soon after, the previously motionless bodies all slowly stood up, their eyes hollow, looking forward.
"Go, eat that human!"
Upon hearing the command, the zombies, smelling the scent, quickly ran towards Ye Yang.
Some zombies without limbs kept crawling and roaring on the ground.
Ye Yang looked at the last carriage and still found no bodies of Tata Village villagers.
"Still not here. Have they already been sent inside?!"
"Ah~!" A chorus of roars reached Ye Yang's ears.
"So noisy!"
Ye Yang looked at these human-turned-zombies with a cold expression. Ye Yang brought his hands together.
"Kusanagi Sword."
"Whoosh! Whoosh!..."
Several sword lights flashed, and all the zombies were decapitated, falling to the ground one by one.
Before Klest could even see clearly, a burning sensation shot through his neck.
"Ah ah ah!!!"
"Where are the bodies from Tata Village?"
Klest was already terrified and flustered, not clearly hearing what Ye Yang said.
Ye Yang said no more, his hand rose and fell. Klest only felt the world spinning, and he saw his own body.
"I... how... am I..."