Chapter 222: Decision

The moment Angus sees the Infernal Giant glowing, "Everyone, get away from here!!" shouted Angus as he went towards Anna and Ilgor spot using Beast Walk.

At the same time, Gilford controls Alfredo to turn into defensive mode. But, in less than a second, the infernal giant turned into bright light. *BLAARR* the Infernal Giant exploded and created a devastating hot wave around.

Looking at the approaching shockwave, Angus immediately uses [Unbreakable Shield] to protect Anna and Ilgor. The explosion is very powerful and could push back the approaching Jade, who is still far away from the location.

Using the explosion as a distraction, Farkas and his people decide to retreat. Jayna, who is far away from the explosion, couldn't help but look at the explosion worriedly.

"Angus!!" Yelled Jayna as approaching Angus's location.

After a while, the hot wave recedes and leaves a horrible scene behind. Most of the surrounding people couldn't get out from the explosion and burn to death. Only Gilford, who is protected by the battle golem, survives with some wounds.

Overall the people have scorched to death. Even the surviving one has a horrible wound and will not survive for long. The explosion has the same power as a large-scale fifth circle spell.

Looking at the casualty and his injured people, Jade couldn't help but yell, "FARKAS!!!"

The combatant who was in the front also rushed back, worrying about their family and comrades. As for Angus, the [Unbreakable Shield] managed to hold the explosion and protect him, Anna, and Ilgor.

Still, because of his low proficiency in this ancient power, he consumed a lot of his mana to maintain the shield. Just Angus diminishes the [Unbreakable Shield], Jayna already comes to Angus's side.

"Angus, are you alright?" asked Jayna worriedly.

"Huft.. yeah.. I'm just a little bit tired." said Angus while calming his rough breath and his chaotic mana.

The explosion is so intense that it shocks his body a little bit even after taking cover behind [Unbreakable Shield]. While Angus recovered on the spot, he found the explosion killed more than three-quarters of the Sur village group.

This kind of ambush literally cripples the entire Sur village force. Unlike the other villages, Sur village takes most of their prominent combatants during this trip. 

Now, most of their combatants die in the explosion or by the poison leaving only some lucky high-grade combatant. This practically ended for Sur village. 

Normally, this death by the explosion could easily be avoided since all the combatant has time to take cover and escape. However, because Neil's betrayal poisoned the whole group, most combatants couldn't move properly and get away from the explosion.

If it is not poisoned, everyone could recover it after some time or take some medication. But combining it with a large-scale explosion is like a death sentence to the whole group.

The search and help are going for a while before Jade decides to move from their current position. With the loud sound and colossal explosion, it will undoubtedly attract some beast or lower grade monster.

Currently, the surviving ones still recuperate their wounds from the battle and explosion. The last thing they want to happen is fighting a group of beasts or monsters.

After relocating their spot quietly, everyone immediately rested without talking to each other. The merry atmosphere from before turns into a sad and gloomy scene. None of the people were in the mood to talk about the event.

This ambushing incident reminded everyone how dangerous this dimension is. Every single moment could be their end. Looking at this scene, village leader Jade could only have a long sigh,  especially after he found that Neil was betraying them.

He didn't expect his own son to betray him and his own village. All he could do was blame himself for not nurturing Neil like a good father. By some coincidence, his other son and wife are quite safe beside Isvel, who is still not waking up.

According to Elder Fosa, who is also an expert at healing art, Isvel will wake up in a few hours or days. Because of Angus's quick action and first aid, Isvel's condition is stabilized and fully recovered after a few weeks.

After resting for a few hours, Isvel wakes up but still needs to recuperate and couldn't move much. A moment later, Jade decided to go back towards the village so Isvel and the other wounded people could recover better.

Then, they continue their journey towards Sur village. Most of the journey is safe, and they only meet a few stranded monsters, which the group could deal with quickly.

Another day passes by, and they finally reach their village. The remaining people in the village immediately get heartbroken by the few people that managed to return and survive. 

The majority of people who stay back in the village are women, children, and the retired one with some guard nearby. Jade knows that the Sur village's fate is done. It will be too difficult to even protect themselves now because of the lack of manpower.

Few hours after that, Jade and the others decide to give funerals to all the deceased villagers. Angus and the others also silently attend the funeral ceremony. 

For the Sur village, death is not a special thing. It is normal to be dead because of the various reasons inside this treacherous land. Still, losing a lot of people at once is a different thing. 

Now, they know that they may not survive inside this land. In the worst case, they will be attacked by another group and turned into slaves. Jade also realizes this current situation. The Sur village force is even lower than when he decided to create the village.

If a group with grade six and some high-grade combatant decided to attack them, they didn't have enough force to protect the whole village and would be forced to surrender.

After thinking for a while, Jade decides to call all the remaining high-grade combatants and Angus's group.

"Alright, everyone is here. Now, let's start this meeting." said Jade.

After getting everyone's attention, "As everyone realizes, our forces are crippled because of the previous infernal village. Now, we are just a big group of people with some forces." said Jade.

"It is difficult even to call our current group a village. I gather everyone here to hear your opinion before deciding our next move." added Jade.

"I think we should stay together and recuperate while slowly building our force." said Elder Moi

"I agree with Elder Moi. We still have a lot of resources from our previous business in the ancestral ruin. We could slowly build our forces." said Elder Zeth.

"I am afraid that will be difficult. Our forces are too thin and small. If a high-grade monster comes, we may get overwhelmed already." said Elder Fosa.

"Elder Fosa is right. Our forces are too small. We may not survive against any large-scale high-grade monster or beast, much less the attack of the other villages. I doubt they will just stay still after what happened the last time." said Gilford.

"We still have village leader Jade and the sand turtle to deter any high-grade monster. As for the other villages, as long as we don't provoke them, they may not bother us anymore." said Elder Zeth.

Then, they begin to argue with each other, but none of them reach any conclusion. Everyone knows that the current Sur villages are too weak to survive in this treacherous land. Even with the suggestion to build up their strength slowly, they could only prolong their suffering.

After a while, "Alright, that's it. I have already decided." said village leader Jade who has kept silent until now.

Getting everyone's attention, "Before I announce my decision, as the elder of the villages and my comrade in arms, all you must know and realize our current situation. Unless we join with some other group, we will never survive in this land." said Jade.

"That's why I decided to give all of you two choices. First is a gamble with me and go towards a journey to Firuman join the Heart Kingdom."

"Living a life where the young one doesn't even need to worry about death or stay here waiting for unknown fate slowly builds up our force." said Jade.

Hearing this, everyone in the tent was surprised at Jade's bold decision. 

"Some of you may already know Angus and his friend decide to continue their journey to return to the Firuman." added Jade.

"Actually, I didn't suggest you follow their journey since the exit portal towards Firuman passthrough many dangerous territories. There will be dead in just carelessness. However, all of you also know that our current condition is the same as hanging on to fate." said Jade.

After being silent for a while, " I still have a dream. When I built this village, I only wanted a place for our children to grow up peacefully and away from danger. But, even after all this time, I still couldn't give them a peaceful place for them to grow up." said Jade.

"That's this time. I decided to gamble and follow Angus's journey towards Firuman. Join the heart kingdom to give a better life for our future child." said Jade.