"You guys did well in this battle." Virelia was satisfied with their performance.

Her subordinates smiled happily. "It’s thanks to your teaching, young leader."

She placed her fists on her waist and lifted her face slightly. "Now, you no longer doubt my leadership, right?"

"We are sorry."

"Well, you look like a celebrity, so we thought you were not good at leading."

"That’s right, that’s right."

They apologized and explained their previous behavior.

"Since I’m a kind person, I will forgive you this time." She liked their answer, so she decided to forgive them.

"Long live, young leader. Long live, young leader." One by one, they began chanting.

At the same time, Bernard approached Ren with a smile on his face. "Ren, thank you for helping us win the battle."

"You don’t need to thank me. I just did what I was supposed to do." Ren didn’t want to take all the credit.

They faced the magical creatures together, so they also deserved recognition for their contributions.

The villagers liked him even more when they saw his reactions.

Axel’s anger grew bigger as they laughed together.

When they showered Ren with praise, Axel could not suppress his anger anymore and walked toward Ren with a furious face.

"He stole my kill!" Axel’s screams filled the air. "I was the one who injured the goblin heavily. He only appeared and faced it when I had weakened its state."

He would not let Ren take the fruit of his hard work. He would show the villagers how shameless and immoral Ren was.

"Admit it! You stole my kill so that they will regard you as a hero, right?" Axel didn’t care about his image.

He wanted them to know that Ren didn’t deserve to be praised or labeled as a hero of the battle.

One by one, the villagers turned to Axel.

At that moment, they didn’t know what to say or do. The village still needed their help, so taking sides was not a wise choice.

"Aren’t you ashamed of accusing him of stealing your kill because of your incompetence?" Virelia won’t let Axel embarrass Ren in front of everyone. "If you were competent, the goblin wouldn’t have attacked my subordinates, and Ren also wouldn’t have needed to step in to clean up your mess."

"That’s right!" Lily added. "If you want to blame someone, then blame yourself for being weak."

Axel was breathless with anger. "Incompetence? Weak? How dare an ant like you insult me! Are you asking for a beating?"

"Do you think we are afraid of you? Come! I will show everyone how weak you are." David challenged Axel to a duel.

"I’ve been itching to hit your face. Now, I finally have the chance to beat you." Lily hated Axel from the very beginning.

He was arrogant and saw everyone beneath him.

She detested this kind of person the most, as they were like clowns pretending to be kings.

Ren was touched when he saw them defending him. They had only known each other for a few days, yet they already treated him like their good friend.

’Should I just beat them up?’

Actually, he wanted to punch Axel in the face, but he chose to suppress his desire as it would make things difficult for the villagers.

"Axel, let’s teach them a lesson!" Vito’s face was red from anger.

"I agree!" Jax saw Ren and the others as weaklings, so he could not stand it when they had the audacity to underestimate his group. "They will think they are powerful if we don’t show them their place!"

Luka moved closer to Ren and yelled, "You scum, apologize to Axel now! You have sto-"

Before he had finished his words, a fist landed on his face, sending him flying into the air.

Lily and the others were stunned and immediately turned to Elara.

’Nice!’

They gave her a thumbs-up.

Elara didn’t apologize and stared at Axel and his lackeys angrily.

She could not tolerate their behavior anymore, so she decided to show them the consequences of insulting Ren.

The corner of Ren’s lips twitched.

He knew she looked like a completely different person when fighting, but he never expected her to be aggressive as well.

Of course, he liked what she was doing, but he didn’t say or express it because they were in front of the villagers.

"How dare you hit him!" Axel, Vito, Jax, and Rian roared angrily.

When Axel’s group was about to attack, Elara and the others were also ready to strike.

But before the clash happened, the villagers rushed toward them.

"Everyone, please stop."

"We are on the same side. Let’s settle this with cool heads."

"That’s right. Please don’t use your power to hurt each other."

They knew their actions were dangerous and could injure them, but they still tried to stop them.

At first, both sides ignored them, but the tension eased when Ren calmed her group, and Bernard mentioned the Nexus Organization to Axel.

Since Axel and his lackeys didn’t want to be in the same place as Ren and his group, they left immediately.

Bernard then told his people to collect the beast cores and the bodies of their fallen brothers and sisters.

After they closed the gate, they headed to the cemetery to bury the dead.

"Waa..."

"Sob...Sob..."

"Sniffle...Sniffle..."

The families of the deceased could not suppress their sadness and cried loudly.

They knew their village was in a dangerous situation and they could lose their lives at any time, but seeing the graves of their loved ones still broke them completely.

The people under Axel’s command began blaming him.

All the deceased were his subordinates, and it could be said that he was one of the reasons they died.

If he hadn’t been selfish and cared more about them, maybe they would still be alive now. He prioritized his reputation over the safety of his subordinates.

He even refused to teach them how to fight as a group. He was not a good leader as he only thought about himself.

After they left the graveyard, the people under Axel’s command headed to the village square to discuss their problem.

"I don’t want to be in the same group as him anymore." The brown-haired man named Mark stated.

"Me too!" Emma, a grown woman with red eyes and blue hair, added. "With how selfish and arrogant he is, I’m sure we would die if we were still under his leadership."

"Damn right!" the green-haired man named Nolan voiced out his agreement. "He is not fit to be a leader."

"Sigh! I really wish I could be transferred to that young lady’s group." Mark was referring to Virelia when he said this.

"Yeah. She is a good leader." Nolan also envied the people under Virelia’s command.

She taught them a defensive and offensive formation. She was even always by their side during the battle.

She was the complete opposite of Axel since she really cared about her subordinates.

"Should we go to the village head and ask him to transfer us to her group?" Emma asked.

"That’s a good idea!"

"I agree!"

"Me too!"

"Let’s do that!"

One by one, they voiced out their agreement.

Since all of them agreed, they went to Bernard’s house together.