Mark and his group were walking across the green plains toward the village that could be seen in the distance. The sky was clear, the wind blew gently, and the grass moved in waves under their feet. After days inside the Great Forest, being in the open air felt ridiculously good.

"Master," said Zilu, walking at his side. "When we get to the village, it would be best if I spoke for the group."

"Why?" asked Mark.

"Because if a group of armed humans enters a village of demi-humans without further explanation, they’ll most likely get scared or turn hostile," Zilu explained, her ears slightly inclined backward. "But if I go ahead and explain the situation, at least they’ll give us a chance to talk before jumping to conclusions."

"That makes sense..."

"I agree," said Rose from behind.

"If that prevents an unnecessary fight, I’m fine with it," added Ely.

"I just want to arrive and sit down somewhere, I’m tired," continued Aria.

"You can’t get physically tired, Aria," said Alice without looking at her.

"Then I’m emotionally tired," Aria responded sarcastically.

Mark was quite entertained listening to the others when Yuki spoke through the mental link.

"Master."

"What’s up, Yuki?" asked Mark without stopping.

"Don’t you find it strange that we can’t hear any noise coming from the village?"

Mark slightly frowned and looked toward the village, it was less than a kilometer away and at that distance, on a clear day and with the wind in our favor, he should be able to hear something.

Voices, animals, hammering, anything that indicated normal activity, just like it had been when they arrived at Zilu’s village.

But there was nothing.

Only silence.

"That’s true..." said Mark in a low voice.

"Master?" asked Alice, who was at his side.

"Yuki, go ahead and investigate," Mark ordered through the mental link.

"Understood."

And with that Yuki disappeared in an instant, leaving Alice and Mark behind.

"Where did Yuki go?" asked Alice, looking at the empty space where the assassin had been a second before.

"Don’t worry about her, she just went ahead a bit," responded Mark, trying to maintain a calm tone.

"Oh, okay, Master."

Mark and the others continued walking calmly, however not even two minutes passed before Yuki’s voice sounded again in his head.

"Master, the village was under attack."

Mark stopped dead when he heard her.

"How many enemies?"

"Just one."

"One?" asked Mark somewhat incredulous.

"That’s right, and it’s a human," confirmed Yuki. "Tall, with a huge greatsword on his back, and he seems to be executing the inhabitants one by one."

"Do you think you can take him out quickly?"

"...I’m not entirely sure, he doesn’t exactly look weak," confessed Yuki.

"I understand, in that case don’t take the risk and stay hidden, we’re heading there now."

"As you command, Master."

Upon finishing their conversation, Mark noticed that everyone was looking at him because he had stopped midway.

"The village is under attack," said Mark quickly, causing everyone to instantly go on alert.

Zilu’s eyes widened upon hearing the news.

"Which is why we have to hurry or by the time we get there, there might not be anyone left to question," continued Mark. "And trust me, I’d rather talk to the living than resurrect them one by one to pull the information we need out of them."

With that said, no more needed to be said, and the group began to run at full speed toward the village. But as they got closer, Mark began to see the details.

The smoke that he thought came from chimneys or campfires was actually from a house on fire. On the ground were two bodies, one lay motionless, while the other, that of a woman, writhed as blood gushed from her back. Next to it, a mass of crushed flesh dripped blood, forming a pool that was slowly spreading.

And right in the center of all that was an enormous man in a white suit.

Zilu was the first to stop abruptly, her eyes completely wide at the scene in front of her, then the others quickly deployed to the sides of Mark, forming a line between him and the man in the white suit.

Mark stood in the center, looking directly at the guy standing among the bodies.

"Well... look who we have here," said the suited man, letting his greatsword fall from his shoulder to his side as he looked at them.

Mark didn’t respond.

"I’ve been looking for you since yesterday, you know?" continued the man, walking toward them carelessly. "You’re fucking hard to find."

’Looking for me? What the hell is this crazy bastard talking about?’ Mark thought, frowning.

"Master," said Rose, moving to his side without taking her eyes off the man. "Do you know this person?"

"No..." responded Mark in a low voice. "If I had seen someone like him, believe me, I would remember."

Mark looked at the man in the white suit.

"Are you talking to me?" asked Mark, confused.

The man stopped to look at him for a moment before letting out a loud, open laugh that echoed across the square.

"Are you talking to me?" he repeated, wiping a tear from his eye with the back of his hand. "Obviously! Who the fuck else would I be talking to?"

Mark didn’t even pay attention to the guy’s response because something else had caught his attention.

’That clothing... it seems strangely familiar to me.’

He couldn’t place where from, but something about that design rang a bell. The details in purple, the cut of the suit, the shape of the lapels. Mark was sure he had seen it somewhere before.

The man, noticing that Mark wasn’t responding, shifted his attention to the women surrounding him.

"I gotta say, you’ve got great taste," he said with a smile on his face. "You basically bought yourself the complete package, buddy."

His eyes went from one to another, scanning all of them from top to bottom without any attempt at discretion.

"A busty knight, a nun with big thighs, a little blonde with pigtails, a sexy witch, and even a cute bunny," continued the man, pointing them out one by one.

Upon hearing the man’s words, Mark felt his blood boil, but when he was about to insult the idiot in front of him, each and every one of the women present beat him to it.

"HOW DARE YOU CALL ME THAT, YOU FILTHY BEAST?!" screamed Ely, drawing her sword so forcefully that the blade whistled through the air.

"NUN WITH BIG THIGHS?!" screamed Alice, her fists trembling as her gauntlets manifested.

"I’M A HIGH-LEVEL SUPPORT, NOT SOME LITTLE BLONDE WITH PIGTAILS, YOU PIECE OF SHIT!" screamed Aria with fury.

"Sexy witch..." repeated Rose with a calmness that was infinitely more terrifying than the screams of the others. "Call me that again and I’ll make you beg for death."

Even Zilu, who was behind Mark with her ears flattened against her head, muttered something between her teeth that Mark couldn’t quite hear, but it was definitely not kind.

"Look, asshole, I don’t give a shit who the fuck you are," said Mark with a cold voice that surprised even his own subordinates. "Consider yourself dead."

"Ooh, look at me shake," said the suited man in a mocking tone, lifting the greatsword and resting it on his shoulder. "For just a low-level necromancer, you’ve got more balls than I thought, Mister DarkLord69"

"...How the fuck did you just call me?"