Chapter 142: Collapse

"You... you..."

The boy pointed at Akar with a face full of fear. Clearly, he hadn’t expected Akar to be so ruthless, attacking without a word and not even giving him a chance to explain.

The surrounding boys, who had witnessed Yabos becoming a headless corpse, now panicked like headless flies.

Many collapsed to the ground, unable to move, and some even wet their pants.

And it wasn’t just these boys who felt fear—even Aches’s underlings were terrified.

In their imagination, the most brutal scenario was Aches’s uncle beating the others until they fled in panic. They never expected to see someone’s head smashed like a watermelon.

"To beat my nephew like this, I don’t think that brat was acting alone." Akar stared at the boy claiming to be from Kalel Village’s militia. "Since you’re part of the village militia, you should enforce the law impartially, right?"

Akar bared a savage grin.

Looking at Akar’s expression, the boy—also the village chief’s grandson—felt as though he was facing a terrifying monster.

At this moment, he couldn’t calm his heart at all. The immense fear had devoured his will entirely. He didn’t even register the warmth and wetness spreading in his pants, only felt a tightening in his chest and his whole body trembling uncontrollably.

"Looks like you’ve decided to shield all the criminals." Akar’s eyes showed undisguised murderous intent. "A militia member who intentionally protects criminals—if I recall noble laws correctly, that’s enough grounds to strip them of their militia status and treat them as a criminal."

Overwhelming terror and the sense of impending death surged in the boy’s heart. He desperately wanted to scream or flee, to escape the monster before him.

But no matter how he struggled, his body wouldn’t move, as if turned to stone.

"I..."

"Whoosh—"

A sharp sound tore through the air once more.

The militia boy had only managed to utter a single word when his head, like his brother Yabos’s, exploded like a smashed watermelon.

Without the slightest mercy, Akar swung his warbow again, shattering another boy’s skull. Then his gaze turned to the rest of the terrified boys who had collapsed in shock.

At that moment, there was no emotion in his heart—only a surge of murderous rage.

Just thinking of how his eldest brother Arsen had loved him, and now the only remaining blood relative had been tamed like a dog here—Akar burned with the urge to kill. In fact, that was exactly what he was doing: he had no intention of letting anyone who had hurt Aches go.

Especially these boys who had deliberately flattered Yabos.

Akar knew well that one explosive fire arrow would be enough to kill this group of boys. But he also knew that once his identity as a Bloodline User was exposed, someone as shrewd as the Kalel Village Chief would immediately admit fault, and might even throw Yabos’s parents under the bus to protect his family.

But from what Akar had learned from Aches’s underlings, Yabos’s parents weren’t the only ones involved in the month-long beatings—other sons of the village chief had participated too.

Akar didn’t intend to let a single one of them off!

"If you do something wrong, you should be punished. But I’m not a demon, so I’ll give you all a chance." Akar looked coldly at the group of boys. "Whichever hand you used to hit Aches—cut that hand off, and I’ll spare you. If you used your foot, then cut off your foot."

At first, the boys who thought they had a chance to survive were hopeful. But when Akar finished his sentence, their hopeful gazes turned vacant.

Fear and despair drove these still-young boys to cry out and wail in anguish.

But Akar remained unmoved.

From beginning to end, his indifferent gaze never wavered. "I gave you a chance. You just didn’t cherish it. So now, I’ll have to help you."

"I—I didn’t hit him!"

Just as Akar was about to smash another head, one boy finally cracked under the pressure and screamed, "I was just watching! I didn’t lay a hand on Aches!"

"Me neither!"

"I didn’t hit Aches either!"

It was as if something had been awakened. The boys began to shout desperately, some even yelling things like "I’m in the militia!" or "You can’t kill us!"

"You see?" Akar smiled faintly. "Everyone says they didn’t hit Aches. But with so many footprints on his body, and the fact that he can’t even stand now—are you saying he fell on his own?... So, show me the evidence. Prove you didn’t hit him. Or... prove who did."

"He!" The boy who first started shouting pointed at another boy closest to Yabos’s corpse. "He and Bobby held Aches down so Yabos could hit him! Then... then him, him, and him—I saw them rush in first to kick Aches to the ground."

"Koen, you traitor!"

"Koen also hit Aches!"

"Yeah! Koen kicked Aches too! He hit the hardest!"

The boys whose names had been called out quickly reacted as one of them took the lead, all turning their accusations on the boy who just pointed them out. One of them, in a panic, lunged at Koen and punched him in the face, silencing whatever Koen had been about to say. Then, realizing what was happening, the boys began to beat Koen mercilessly.

They attacked him like frenzied beasts.

At first, Koen struggled and even tried to fight back. But alone, he was no match for several others. Before long, he could only shield his vital parts. Yet, against this group of boys whose fear of death had awakened their most brutal instincts, his defense was meaningless. It wasn’t long before his screams and pleas for mercy were the only sounds he could make.

Soon, even those sounds weakened and eventually fell silent.

Still, the crazed boys didn’t stop. They continued assaulting Koen’s corpse without pause.

It wasn’t until someone lifted a rock and smashed it down hard on Koen’s head that the others finally seemed to wake from their madness. Seeing Koen lying completely still, they let out panicked screams and turned to flee.

At that moment, Akar—who had been watching coldly the whole time—finally flicked a few hidden Flame Pebbles, piercing through several boys’ thighs.

Screams of agony filled the air.

But more than the pain, it was the realization that Akar was unlike any adult they had ever known that pushed them into total collapse.

They fell to their knees, begging Akar for forgiveness.

"We’re sorry! We know we were wrong! Please forgive us!"

"We—we shouldn’t have hit Aches."

"Yes, sir, we understand now!"

Seeing their tear-streaked, pathetic faces, Akar’s tone remained ice-cold. "You don’t know you were wrong. You’ve only just realized you’re going to die."

Everyone looked up at Akar, their faces filled with disbelief.

"I already told you—anyone who hit Aches can keep their life if they leave behind one hand or foot." Akar looked at them quietly, his expression unwavering. "Or, if you’d prefer to keep your body whole, that’s fine too. I’m very accommodating. I’ll gladly fulfill that wish."

Faced with this, terror once again overtook the boys, and another snapped.

One boy suddenly lunged at another, crazed, and grabbed his throat with both hands. "It’s all your fault! If you hadn’t insisted on going after Aches, none of this would’ve happened! You hit Aches—you should face the consequences!"

He shouted as he tightened his grip.

The boy being strangled realized the other was really trying to kill him. He flailed around, then quickly grabbed a rock and smashed it against the attacker’s head.

The first strike stunned him enough to loosen his grip slightly. The next few strikes followed in a violent burst.

Even after the attacker lay on the ground, his head bloodied and broken, the terrified boy didn’t stop. He kept smashing down mechanically, over and over, until another corpse lay before him—and still, he didn’t stop.

"Stop!"

A loud shout rang out.

A large group of villagers rushed over.

Men and women alike—they were clearly the boys’ parents.

But Akar quickly noticed several militia members armed with weapons moving through the crowd. Concealed behind the villagers, they were clearly trying to get close enough to ambush him.

However, before the militia could act, the villagers who saw the four corpses on the ground immediately changed their expressions.

"What are you doing?!" one villager rushed forward and kicked the boy holding the rock, sending him flying.

He turned briefly to look at the boy who had been beaten to death, then turned back with a face full of fury and hatred. He charged forward, clearly intent on killing the one who had murdered his son the same way. But another villager rushed in and quickly stopped him.

"Calm down!"

"Your son killed my son and you expect me to calm down? Fine—let your son die by my hands, and then try calming down yourself!"

Then, very soon, a relative of the boy who had been killed by the rock suddenly rushed forward, kicked down the father who had tried to stop him, and immediately reached for the boy still holding the rock.

But likewise, that boy had relatives too. They quickly stepped up to stop him.

In an instant, the scene descended into utter chaos.

"What do you think you're doing!" A powerful roar suddenly rang out.

Soon after, an elderly man with white hair, flanked by over a dozen fully armed villagers, stepped forward to face the crowd.

When he saw the two headless corpses lying on the ground, he staggered momentarily, but quickly regained his footing with the help of those around him.

Akar, observing the man's reaction, immediately recognized his identity.

The Village Chief of Kalel Village.

"Can someone tell me what happened here!? Why are Yabos and Lot dead!"

Although the Village Chief appeared to be asking the crowd, his eyes were fixed on Akar with undisguised hatred and fury.

"It was him! He killed Yabos and Lot!" shouted one of the boys who had been sobbing and begging moments earlier. Now, as if he had found someone to rely on, he suddenly jumped to his feet and pointed at Akar. "He even said he was going to kill us all!"

All eyes, now burning with hatred, immediately turned toward Akar.

"Sir, don’t you think you owe us an explanation?"

"There definitely needs to be an explanation," Akar nodded seriously. "I am Aches’s uncle. My nephew and his mother have been under the care of your Kalel Village for the past month, so I’m here to return the favor... As for those who beat up my nephew—tell me, would it be more convenient for you to kill them yourself, or should I do it?"

Hearing Akar’s words, the Village Chief of Kalel Village stared at him in disbelief, as if he hadn’t heard correctly.

But before the Village Chief could respond, a young man—clearly Yabos’s father—let out a roar and charged at Akar. "You dared to kill my son? I’ll have your life!"

Facing this reckless charge, Akar was equally unforgiving.

He once again used his warbow like a warblade and swung it into the man's chest. All that was heard was the crack of bones breaking, and the young man was flung back, crashing into a nearby stone wall. He fell backward into a pile of rubble.

The intense pain made him cry out, but those cries soon faded, replaced only by the sound of labored breathing.

It was clear he would not live much longer.

Yet Akar didn’t spare him a single glance. He simply propped his warbow on the ground, his expression cold as he said, "The first."

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