The Village Chief stared at Dyren without blinking, his eyes no longer calm as before. The two locked eyes. There was no serenity between them.
"I know you once intended to kill Ereon. I could tell Kael about that. You know what he would do?" the Village Chief continued, his voice low but sharp. "He would trust me more than he would trust you."
Dyren clenched his fists. He stood up. His heart beat faster. His right hand moved slowly, almost on reflex. He nearly drew his weapon to behead the old man in front of him.
"I will find proof and expose that you're a criminal," Dyren said coldly.
The Village Chief smirked. "Do you really think you can do that? And what exactly do you want to prove? That Ereon was kidnapped? I didn't do that."
The room suddenly fell silent. The steam from the teacups lingered in the air, as if silently witnessing the verbal duel between two men fueled by emotion.
Dyren steadied his breath. He knew fighting now would be pointless. Not because he feared losing, but because he didn't want to start a conflict that might backfire on him.
He didn't want to make a mistake that would lead to him being ostracized by the hero's party—especially if Kael saw it all.
He bowed slightly, offering a formal gesture. "Then, I'll excuse myself."
The Village Chief only nodded slightly, though his sharp gaze remained fixed on Dyren. He didn't bother to escort Dyren out. He simply sat back in his chair and sipped his tea again.
The sound of the door closing echoed. Dyren was gone. The Village Chief clicked his tongue in irritation. He slammed the table with force. His eyes sharpened.
"Damn it. Why is this happening?"
The woman from earlier approached the Village Chief. She stared at him for a while before crouching in front of him and looking into his face.
"Darling, why didn't you just kill that young man?" she asked.
The Village Chief glanced at her. "Do you want me dead, huh?"
That sharp look made the woman avert her gaze. His eyes were terrifying. He was not just an ordinary man. He was once an adventurer in the past.
"Is he really that strong?" the woman asked again.
"He's even stronger than the Hero himself. Fighting him is suicide," he explained.
The woman's eyes widened in shock. She swallowed hard. The Hero alone was already incredibly powerful. She couldn't imagine just how strong this man named Dyren was.
"If he's that powerful, then why didn't he kill you?"
The Village Chief leaned back in his chair. "Because he's the cautious type. My words made him wary—he thinks I'm equal to him," he replied.
The woman nodded. She had encountered people like that before. They were terrifying, because their plans had a 90% success rate.
"If that's the case, why don't we lure him into getting involved with those crazy people?"
"No need. He will get involved on his own," the Village Chief said, walking to the back room. "Get ready! We're leaving soon. This village will be destroyed."
The woman looked confused. "What do you mean?"
"Just follow me!"
***
Dyren returned to the inn. He wanted to go back to his room, but upon arriving, he saw Saria and Mireille sitting with pale faces. He frowned.
"What happened?" he asked the two women.
Saria turned to him but ignored Dyren, her mind too troubled. Her head was spinning from everything that had happened to their party. Instead of solving problems, more problems kept piling up.
"Kael has been missing since this morning. We tried looking for him, but we couldn't find him anywhere," Mireille explained. Her sorrowful face showed she was telling the truth.
Hearing Kael was missing made Dyren uneasy. "The last time I saw him, he was near the large house. More precisely, at the old man's house nearby. I met him there earlier this morning."
Saria and Mireille immediately looked at him. They even stood up. Their eyes fixed sharply on Dyren.
"Take us there!" Saria demanded.
Dyren nodded. Just as they were about to leave, something rolled across the floor. Dyren turned and saw several small metal canisters scattered around. His eyes widened.
"Damn, the—"
Before he could finish his sentence, gas burst out from the canisters. Moments later, Saria and Mireille collapsed, unconscious.
Dyren tried to carry them out. But something even more shocking occurred. Several hooded figures appeared before him. They carried weapons and had sharp gazes.
"Damn it. I should've known it was all of you…"
Dyren couldn't hold back the drowsiness and collapsed. Two of the figures walked over to him, picked him up, and carried him away.
***
Dyren woke up with a pounding headache and blurry vision. He tried to move his hands, but both were shackled with cold chains fastened to the stone wall. The room was dark, damp, and smelled of blood. The air was thick, illuminated only by faint torchlight on the walls.
After a few moments, his vision sharpened. He looked around. The room was wide and circular, surrounded by stone pillars covered in moss, some of them cracked. The stone floor was etched with circular runes and glowing symbols.
Dyren turned to the left and saw a familiar face. "Ereon…"
The young man coughed weakly and slowly opened his eyes. His face was pale and exhausted. Not far from them, Saria and Mireille were beginning to regain consciousness, followed by Kael, who immediately struggled against the chains on his wrists. All of them were bound.
"What is this place?" Saria muttered, her voice hoarse. She tried to sit up, but her awareness was still foggy. Her hands and feet were also restrained.
"Saria, is that you?" Kael's voice cut in sharply. "You're caught too?"
"Where are we?" Saria asked again.
"I don't know. I woke up here just a few hours ago," Kael replied.
"Who—"
Before she could finish, several brown-robed figures walked toward them. Their robes bore a strange insignia: an eye with legs.
Kael, Saria, Mireille, and Dyren stared intently at the three brown-robed men before them.
"What do you want?" Saria asked.
"We actually only needed one of you, but since you all started looking for him, you left us no choice," one of them stepped forward. He held a bottle filled with a red liquid. "You will all be offerings to our Great Lord to calm his wrath. With many sacrifices, he will sleep longer."
Saria and the others furrowed their brows. "Great Lord? What do you mean?"
The robed man pointed behind him. A large statue resembling an ibis could be seen. It had two legs, two arms, two horns, and a pair of wings. Its size was immense.
"You will be food for our Great Lord," the man declared.