Chapter 385: The Beginning of the End

As Aurus continued to hack and slash through the sleeping people of the village one by one, the manner in which he killed them gradually grew more grotesque as time passed. At first, he would probably be satisfied with only killing them through a simple decapitation, wanting to obtain the Wind energy particles that came out of it as fast as possible. Though, for some reason, as if another instinct related to the primal instinct of bloodlust had awakened, this didn't continue for long.

By the time around 25% of the people in the houses were now dead, the method in which he killed them now started with him cutting off their limbs, waking them up from their peaceful slumber, only for them to scream out in agonizing pain. Unfortunately for them, they wouldn't be able to voice out their suffering as they would soon be decapitated the very next second. For those that lived alone, it was not a problem. But for those that had loved ones in their houses, those that were last to be killed definitely had a traumatic experience before being killed off as well.

When the number of people killed in the village had already reached 75% of its total population, a scream was eventually heard resounding throughout the village, stemming from the fact that Aurus had decided to inflict multiple lacerations on the person before cutting off the person's limbs. Though, just before Aurus could inflict the final blow that would allow the person to meet its demise, the person hurriedly ducked its head to save itself some time to warn the others. With the person's sacrifice, the remaining population of the village had been alerted of what was happening.

As the remaining people got out of their houses, they noticed that only a quarter of the houses in their village had their lights on, prompting them to hurriedly search through the houses that still had their lights off. Inside, all of them were met by the most gruesome sights in their lives.

Some of them had only seen simple decapitations with tons of blood flowing everywhere, but in some houses, blood could be seen splattered everywhere as the victim's limbs were shoved into the victim's orifices. Nevertheless, to these village people, who hadn't even seen violence of this level, their wills instantly crumbled, wondering what kind of maniacal person would do something like this.

Fortunately, or unfortunately for them, the culprit that killed their people had soon appeared in front of them, radiating an aura similar to those that brought death and destruction wherever they went. Without hesitation, those that had the ability to fight stood in front of the culprit, while those who were fearful for their lives or those that couldn't fight hastily fled away from the village, not wanting to imagine themselves being the next target of the culprit.

Of course, to Aurus, whether or not the remaining people fled for their lives did not matter to him. As he checked how much he had comprehended his Epiphany, he had already reached Level 16, a decent jump compared to what it was before. Although he had lost all rationality, he knew that he would be able to catch all of those fleeing before they could get too far.

Then again, he still had to take care of the people currently in front of him, wanting to defend their village. Naturally, in front of Aurus, who was currently covered in the various blood of people he killed, their last ditch defense was purely a futile effort. Manifesting a ball of wind over his right palm, he then threw it at those wanting to fight against him.

Due to how his abilities had been enhanced by the Epiphany, the ball of wind did not even register in the sights of the people as the ball soon exploded, turning all of the people in an unrecognizable amalgamation of tattered flesh, muscle, and blood. After that, Aurus utilized his teleportation skill, appearing in front of the fleeing people like the grim reaper before swiftly ending their lives with a simple swipe along their necks.

After making sure that he had taken care of all the people that had fled the village, he then checked how much his comprehension over his Epiphany had improved, reaching the level of 17 after killing all of the people from the random village he appeared in front of. Allowing his instincts to make the next move, he then utilized his teleportation skill to head towards another village, making sure to skip over any town or city he passed by.

Surprisingly, even though Aurus's rational side had already disappeared, the primal instinct in his body seemed to have gained a sense of rationality of its own, warning his body that he wouldn't be able to eradicate all of the people inside a town or a city just yet. Nevertheless, he was certain that he would be able to do so once he killed a few more people…if a thousand was a few.

Whoosh!

Since he had a teleportation skill, he soon appeared the second village he would eradicate within ten minutes due to its proximity from the first village. Though surprisingly, by the time he had arrived there, all of the people in that village were already at the front gates, waiting for his arrival to take revenge on the previous village that was eradicated.

Naturally, Aurus was quite surprised to see this, though such emotion couldn't be seen on the outside. As for the villagers, they all look at the being in front of them covered in dried blood with seething rage, only knowing of the identity of the being due to one of the villagers warning them of this being before they died.

"Go back to where you came!" one of the villagers could not help but shout as they noticed Aurus just standing in place, thinking that the latter was fearful that a lot of people had banded up to fight against him. Soon after, the other villagers gained more confidence after seeing him not move for even longer, throwing out jeers and boorish remarks that would even put drunkards at inns to shame. Well, if one were to know of such a catastrophic event happening near them, then it would be no surprise that one would not hold back on the curses.

Unfortunately for them, Aurus did not care as to whether they want to capture and torture him or submit him to pain equivalent to the number of people that died under his hands. Instead, he was just thinking of the simplest yet most gruesome way to eradicate all of the people in this village at once.

Although he sought pleasure in killing, that was only when the person was vulnerable, or so the primal instinct said. The thing that his body greatly prioritized at the moment was his survival. With that, he teleported above all of the people that had gathered in front of the village before conjuring a ball of wind at least five times as large as the one he threw at the first village.

After infusing more and more Wind energy particles into it, he eventually threw it at the center of the village, causing a large explosion that was in no way inferior to the strong explosives of the modern age. Within an instant, the second village was eradicated to the point that only a crater remained, signifying the fact that there used to be a village on top of the crater. As for the lucky ones that were barely out of the wind ball's range…only their upper torsos remained.

Not long after, a great amount of Wind energy particles that even someone at Tempest Cliff wouldn't be able to accrue had surrounded Aurus like bees swarming a nest. These Wind energy particles were then absorbed by him, transforming them into more experience that would increase his comprehension over his Epiphany. By the time he had finished absorbing all of those Wind energy particles, his comprehension had already reached Level 21, over 20% of the way to reaching the highest level an Epiphany could be comprehended.

Making sure that he would be able to use all of the strength he had obtained from increasing his Epiphany, he then did a few movements that would use up all of his energy, taking around a couple of hours to eventually feel like he could use all of it. With that, he then teleported to the next village, this time at greater speed.

Whoosh!

Naturally, with news regarding the previous villages, the third village was no different from the state of the previous one. Almost all of the able-bodied villagers were at the front of village, thinking of themselves as responsible for the safety of the other villagers. Surprisingly, there was also a slight change to the villagers themselves.

Before, the people that Aurus had killed had no strength whatsoever to speak of. At the first village, the strongest being among them was near the peak of what a Rank 1 class holder could achieve. For the second village, the greatest strength had reached the level of a Rank 2 class holder. As for this village, there were surprisingly a few people at the peak level of Rank 2 while a couple of people had even reached the strength of a Rank 3 class holder!

If it was any other person, seeing a Rank 3 class holder in a small village like this would make them fearful, wondering why the village hadn't become a town yet under the leadership of this great strength. But to Aurus, only one thought lingered in his mind when he realized that.

'Oh. More experience.'

Swoosh!

Without holding back, Aurus decided to kill all of them with a large blade made of wind, making one swift horizontal slash as all of the people were bisected, even the buildings. After that, he decided to rain down blades of wind on the village, wanting to make sure that he had obtained all of the Wind energy particles he could get from the village.

And with that, Aurus had eradicated his third village, with the first one ending up in a state of abandonment, the second one totally gone, and this current one in a state of tatters. Checking that his comprehension level was halfway to reaching Level 25, he decided to stay at the village to adjust to the strength before continuing onto the next village in mind.

After doing so, he then left for the fourth village, aiming to eradicate at least five villages before aiming for the larger towns.

…

While a great portion of the villages near the destroyed three were in a state of turmoil and panic, one of the nearby towns had obtained an urgent report from one of the panicking villages, being notified of the being that was going around and destroying villages left and right.

Red Juniper Town, inside the town's only manor.

Although most of the people in this town were fast asleep, the only manor in town had all its lights open, showing that the town's leader was wide awake.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

"Come in," the voice of a middle-aged man resounded from the other side of a door, prompting the young boy that knocked to enter with haste. Entering the room, the young boy could see a middle-aged man sitting in front of a desk, reading a book with the light in the room on.

Closing the book as he noticed the young boy's fearful expression, the town leader looked at him and asked, "What's wrong? What information did you guys from the information center receive?"

The young boy, who was a part of the information center the town leader mentioned, lightly nodded as he tried his best to not stumble over his words. "We've obtained reports that Delverid Village, Ferunel Village, and Maratisk Village have been destroyed by a single person within these past few hours. Other sources have said that the person is heading to another village to destroy them, or perhaps destroy all of the villages within our vicinity."

"W-what should we do, leader? They're asking us for reinforcements, so should we give them some?" the young boy asked, prompting the town leader to remain silent as he pondered over the whole situation. Eventually, the town leader let out a sigh as he responded, "Although it pains me to say this, there is no need to give them reinforcements."

"Eh? Why?" The young boy asked in response.

With an as a matter-of-fact tone, the town leader replied, "Because they won't need them."