Dawn of light - Reincarnated as a villain

Chapter 26 - Ravenmoon village II

The moon hung high in the sky, casting an eerie glow over the village of Ravenmoor. In front of a small house, two villagers stood talking in hushed voices. A man, his face scarred and his eyes gleaming with depravity, licked his lips as he leaned closer to the woman beside him.

"Do you remember the taste of that girl's mother?" he asked, a grotesque grin spreading across his face. "So tender, so rich. I wonder how her daughter will taste. Maybe even better..."

The woman, equally twisted, chuckled darkly. "I saw that adventurer who arrived this morning. Such a handsome man... I bet his head would taste divine. Although," she added, her voice dropping to a sultry whisper, "I might just try his dic—"

Her sentence was abruptly cut short.

/Thud/

Her head dropped from her shoulders, thudding on the Land as a gout of blood squirted from her neck, dyeing the man beside her scarlet. His mouth opened in a scream, but the biting gleam of steel stilled it. A sword plunged through his throat, ramming home, his bubbling shrieks ending as his corpse collapsed onto the land.

From the shadows, Zephyx emerged, his cold, emotionless eyes fixed on the two lifeless bodies before him. Without hesitation, he turned and moved to the next house.

---

Zephyx entered the second house silently, his presence undetected by its occupants. Two men sat at a table, hunched over what appeared to be raw meat. They tore into it with their teeth, gnawing and ripping like feral animals.

Zephyx studied them briefly, his lip curling in disgust. He couldn't tell if the meat was from a beast or a human, but it didn't matter. They were both about to die.

With a flick of his hand, he conjured two razor-sharp ice icicles and sent them hurtling through the air. The icicles struck true, piercing the men's skulls with a sickening crunch. Their bodies went limp, collapsing onto the table in a pool of blood.

He moved quickly, methodically. House by house, he slaughtered the villagers with precision and silence. Some he decapitated, others he burned, froze, or impaled. No one was spared, no mercy given.

By the time the village was silent, a crimson trail followed in Zephyx's wake. The only living souls left were himself and the girl he had promised vengeance.

---

The two stood before the mansion, its dark silhouette looming ominously under the moonlight. The girl clung to Zephyx's side, her small frame trembling but her eyes alight with anticipation.

"Let's go inside," Zephyx said, his voice steady.

The girl hesitated for a moment but nodded, following close behind as he pushed open the mansion's doors.

Within, two men stood waiting, their attitudes stiff. One of them held a longsword, its blade glinting malevolently in the faint light, and the other a crossbow, which was already loaded and pointed at Zephyx. Both of these men exuded the aura of Tier-3 warriors, their self-assurance clear in the sneers they hurled at the trespasser.

Zephyx smiled coldly and raised his hand, summoning a shield of wind around the girl to protect her. Then he stepped forward, his movements calm and deliberate.

The swordsman measured Zephyx's aura, his expression twisting into one of derision. "Tier-2? This'll be easy," he spat, lunging forward with a horizontal slash.

Zephyx sidestepped effortlessly, the blade slicing through empty air. Before the man could recover, Zephyx drove his knee into his ribs, sending him crashing into the wall with a loud thud.

An arrow whistled through the air, but Zephyx ducked just in time, the projectile embedding itself in the wooden floor behind him. He turned his gaze to the crossbowman, who was already scrambling to reload.

In a blur of motion, Zephyx closed the distance between them. He drove his blade into the man's chest, piercing his heart, then kicked him across the room. The man's body hit the ground with a sickening crunch, twitching briefly before going still.

The swordsman groaned, struggling to rise, but Zephyx was already upon him. Grabbing the man by the neck, he poured searing fire element into his body. The man screamed in agony, his skin glowing red-hot as the flames consumed him from the inside. His body melted into a grotesque, bubbling mass, the stench of burning flesh filling the room.

Zephyx turned to the girl. Her wide eyes reflected both fear and exhilaration as she watched the carnage unfold. Her trembling lips parted slightly, and for the first time, she smiled—a small, fragile smile of vindication.

---

After ensuring the rest of the mansion was empty using his Shrouded Insight skill, Zephyx finally located the mayor.

Maruck Rikcit was hiding beneath his bed, his corpulent body trembling with fear. Zephyx kicked the bed aside with a resounding crash, exposing the quivering man.

"Ah, Mayor," Zephyx said with a mockingly sweet smile. "What are you doing down there? You said I could come to you if I needed anything, but you didn't even greet me properly. That's so rude."

Maruck's face was as pale as a corpse, sweat pouring down his forehead. He tried to speak, his voice stammering incoherently.

"S-sorry, adventurer, I—I didn't mean—"

Before he could finish, Zephyx's blade flashed. In an instant, Maruck's arms and legs were severed, his stumps spraying blood across the room.

"AHHHHHHHHHH"

The mayor screamed in agony, his voice ringing out throughout the whole mansion. Snot and tears streamed down his face as he writhed on the ground like a slaughtered pig waiting to Butchered.

Zephyx crouched beside him, his voice low and cold. "You know, it really hurts my feelings when you didn't welcome me properly. So, you're going to get punished. But don't worry—I won't be the one to do it."

He turned to the girl, who stood frozen in the doorway, her eyes wide with disbelief. He held out his ice dagger to her, its blade gleaming.

"He's all yours," Zephyx said.

The girl hesitated, then stepped forward. She took the dagger from his hand, her fingers trembling as she gripped it tightly.

For a moment, Maruck's screams filled the room, but then they were drowned out by wet, sickening sounds—the sounds of flesh being torn and stabbed.

When it was finished, Zephyx went back to the room to see the girl sitting next to Maruck's lifeless, mangled body. Her hands and face were splattered with blood, but there was an otherworldly gleam in her eyes. Her cheeks streamed with tears, yet her lips curled into a grin.

She looked at Zephyx, her voice soft but resolute. "It's over... he's gone..."

After she calmed down herself, Zephyx approached her, knelt in front of her, his expression unreadable. "Are you a virgin?" he asked bluntly.