Chapter 85: Hero Jack! (Not)

In the Wolf Den Dungeon, the hunters' shouts of excitement mixed with the wolves' cries of pain. 

A distance in the back, Jack was supervising. This was a fancy word to say he was doing Jack shit: aka motivating the troops. 

"Keep going! Make sure that no one suffers any injury! Rotate, one after the other! Stay in formation and call out when you're wounded!" He shouted over and over. 

He had shown them the basics of group battle while marching and was making sure that they stuck to the plan. Luckily, the wolves were no Zhuge Liang and even the inexperienced villagers were able to show decent prowess at the moment. 

Then from time to time, he would personally make a move. He would dash lightning-fast and execute a peerless strike that would have the heavens themselves sing its praise. 

How could he be lightning fast with 6 AGI? ….Well, this was from the villagers' perspective. As for the heaven singing? Jack had somehow convinced them that the constant clucking was proof of being chosen by the gods...Yep XD 

Every time they heard the "divine" chimes, they would cheer and exclaim in awe, some even praying to a certain Prowlar, apparently a god of hunting. Jack felt like a complete superstar at this moment, the small wolf basking in the glory too. 

As for why he intervened…it wasn't to be helpful or even encourage them. Hell no! He could have done all that from the back. He had a much nobler goal…of course, it was for the XP! Sure, the gains were quite pitiful given their numbers, but it was better than nothing. 

As the saying went: a tiny piece of cheese may not be enough for even a bite, but accumulate enough and you might get a meal out of it! (Or a rat plague, who knows) 

That's how they wandered the plain, under the order of the mighty Jack, the divine envoy! They were the perfect soldiers. They valiantly bled all over the place and didn't dare wonder why all the meat and pelts were disappearing. 

It all made for a vivacious group: 

"Woo!" (Happy) 

"Kill them all!" 

"Drink their blood!" 

"Stab all their orifices!" 

"Follow the herald to victory!" 

Then there were tons of pitiful monster wails in the background. It was such a sweet melody! 

Ah, this all brought back memories. Back then, he would go on courtesy visits along with the paladins of the church. Everyone would welcome them with respect, reverence, and smiles on their faces.

Of course, the travels themselves were always extremely bloody. After all, as a powerful faction, the Church of Light always had plenty of quests related to it. This included its eradication— all year long.

As Jack watched the villagers, he saw the shadow of his old minions, a very faint shadow. This was perhaps the only one thing he missed from being the Herald of Light. But, he didn't regret his choice in this new life one bit. 

This time he would create his own faction from scratch, making sure that it was as amazing and epic as possible.  He would have more freedom and as much fun! But just as he was reminiscing, he suddenly noticed that their group had stopped advancing. 

Jack turned around, observing his surroundings. Were there enemies? But even after looking for a while he really didn't detect anything noteworthy. Why had all the villagers suddenly stopped then? 

"Woo?" (Wondering) 

"Sir, we can't go any further than this." One apologetically said while hanging his head low. 

"Why?" This sure was perplexing. 

"We're already way too far from home. We really can't!" The same man continued. 

"Are you 100% sure? Even if I lead the way and promise to bring you guys back afterward?" Jack offered. 

They seemed to be hesitating, but that's when the elder who had been drinking back then chimed in: 

"No, we really can't! This is the rule of our village and there is no way that we will go against it! Or would you ask us to renege our traditions?" He spat out, almost threateningly. 

He was so adamant, and it was clear that he wouldn't change his mind. The others nodded in agreement.

Jack felt a headache coming. Should he try to convince/force them somehow? It was probably possible, but it would take way too much effort. 

No, he gave up on it. Jack showed a kind and understanding smile as he nodded. He looked like a benevolent angel at this moment. 

"Don't worry you all. I understand perfectly, and I won't force any of you." He gently told them. They instantly sighed in relief as they began to smile radiantly. 

"Alright, wait for me here. I'll be right back." On that note, Jack quickly disappeared.

"Wait, you can't go alone! It's way too dangerous!" They knew how perilous scouting could become. 

"Don't worry about me. This is the least I can do." He waved them goodbye, his back looking heroic. He wasn't too worried, for he was used to baiting monsters. 

As they waited for his return, they began to discuss: 

"This sure felt amazing!" 

"Of course, it's the first time we kill so many!"

"We need to thank him properly. It's all thanks to his help."

"You're perfectly right. He is such a kind soul. It's unbelievable!" 

They all nodded, happiness and warmth in the air. But just as they were enjoying the moment, they began hearing howls. This was nothing too strange, and they even initially ignored it. 

— Howl! — 

— Howl! — 

But then it kept going., no matter how much they waited. With every subsequent sound, their faces twisted more, and their heartbeat accelerated. 

— Howl! — 

— Howl! — 

— Howl! — 

— Howl! —

— Howl! — 

They shared distressed looks: 

"What the heck is happening?!"

"That's at least eight wolves, right?!" 

"Since when are there packs so big?!"

"I don't know, but it's eery. We can only hope they leave." 

But, they were bound to be highly disappointed. The howls were quickly approaching. It was as if the creatures knew their position. How?! They gripped their weapons hard as they gulped. 

"This is bad news!" 

"We need to leave now!" 

"But he still isn't back!"

They only wanted to flee, but they remembered Jack's kind smile. They couldn't bear to abandon him so quickly. But the situation was becoming riskier and riskier by the second. Just as they were beginning to panic, one shouted with enthusiasm. 

"Wait, I see him! He's back!" 

They rejoiced as they saw Jack bolt right toward them. Then he stopped straight in their midst, nonchalantly greeting them.

"Sup guys!" 

— Howl! — 

— Howl! — 

— Howl! — 

— Howl! —

— Howl! — 

"Envoy, we have to go now!"

"The wolves are coming!" 

But that's when he looked at them as if they were still half asleep or had a screw loose. 

"Of course, they're coming. I went through the trouble to aggro them all! Now, let's kill them, shall we!" He happily summoned his weapon. 

As they saw the huge grin on his face and heard the howls, they suddenly froze. Wait, aggro? Did he mean that he had voluntarily brought them here?! So much for a kind man risking his life to scout! 

This was going to end badly…

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[A/N] Hype! PRIV Mass Release Time! ????

Day 1: Skeletal Chicken Tier (5/6) ☠????

Creator's Thought

Well, it wasn't a lie that I was a god's chosen. Or more accurately I used to be one, aka the champion of that horribly annoying goddess! As for me tricking them with white lies and bringing danger to them....meh whatever. Morality = Shackles, especially in a game.