READ NOVEL ONLINE Chapter 33: Purge
"So yea, that is how we took back the city and fort from the Blood Duke." William finished his explanation to Mia while they sat around the campfire and watched the sunset in the distance. Mia, listening to William's tale and adventure, stayed silent, which made the giant man nervous.
"Ah, Mia? Are you listening?" William asks the former guild receptionist and looks at her, to which she suddenly returns to reality after finishing processing all the information.
"Yea, sorry. I couldn't believe you experienced such a crazy adventure. From destroying undead army to slaying dragon and daemon is just beyond what we asked you to do." Mia said to William and expressed shame that she failed to assess William's unique quest properly. Even though it was the guild master who recommended William to the expedition, Mia signed his quest contract and last to see him go on that Day. After hearing what he accomplished in a few weeks, Mia is amazed and regrets sending William to the higher tier than his signed adventurer rank.
"Don't worry about feeling bad about the guild sending me to war. After all, I decided to go there and fight the vampire for my curiosity." William reassured Mia and her guilty feeling since there is no point in regretting it. After exchanging a few stories, William got called by Sir Dolven to discuss the next plan since William will begin his escort mission tomorrow morning.
"Ah, William. Thanks for coming. After talking to the prince, we decided to investigate Greenhill for any survivors and determine what happened to the south region's outpost. I'm sure we will find our answer by the time you return from Deron." Sir Dolven shows the map to William and explains the next destination. William agreed with the first part but was concerned with the second, checking up the outpost that somehow allowed orc raiders to pass their security.
"Are you sure about checking the outpost without me? I have a bad feeling about this." William said his reasoning, which gave Sir Dolven second thoughts on checking the outpost. But since he is the senior commander, he has an obligation and duty to review the military border.
"I know what you mean, but I still have to check if there is a problem within the outpost." Sir Dolven said to William and placed his finger at the map where Greenhill's name is marked.
"We will be here for four days and wait for you. When you return from the escorting survivors to the city, we will go together and check the status of the outpost." The old commander informed William that William agreed since he could make it back in three days using his bike.
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Next Day,
After breakfast, William and 40 survivors of the Greenhill said their goodbyes to Sir Dolven and the rest to begin their march. With little help from the Duchess, William's small band received enough supplies and a large wagon to take weak refugees. Their destination to Deron was uneventful but slow since all 40 survivors were women and children, but they made enough progress to arrive in the city of Deron on the third Day in the late afternoon.
"Hello again, captain druid, we had a situation, so Sir Dolven sent me back, but I will be heading back soon," William said to Captain Silvi when her soldiers opened the city gate to welcome the refugees.
"I received a message from the Duchess two days ago through messenger bird, so I know the situation. I had my troops prepare the buildings for the citizens and food for them from the long walk." Captain Silvi said to William and instructed her soldiers to take in the survivors. With his job done, William prepares for his return trip by refueling his bike and checking his equipment. As he was about to finish his maintenance, Mia came to William with a new request of her own.
"William, I want to join you on the trip to the capital. I have to let the main guild know what happened to the Greenhill branch, not to mention I think it is better to establish a guild branch in Deron since this place will be busy with new business in the future." Mia explains to William that he didn't mind having a companion and it will be better for the guild to know the situation regarding Greenhill and Deron.
"I don't mind, but we have to let Captain Silvi know I will be returning to the main force with an additional person." With everything ready to go, William and Mia went to where Captain Silvi is. When they finally found the captain, William realized something was off as he saw Silvi's distress before he got to talk to her.
"Silvi, is there a problem?" William directly asks the young druid, to which Captain Silvi turns to face the giant man.
"Remember how I said I received the message from the Duchess through messenger bird? That was the last message, and I haven't received any other messages from her or Sir Dolven. I'm afraid something must have happened if they didn't send a second messenger bird after the first one." Silvi explained as she told William that there is always a second messenger bird around the third Day. But now, it was overdue after receiving the first message. If the main force couldn't send messenger birds, they would have sent an emergency magic message to notify her. There is no messenger bird nor the magic message that tells her that something must happen to the main force.
"I see what you mean, Sir Dolven told me they would wait for me in Greenhill until tomorrow, but if they couldn't send the message, that must mean something must have happened to them. I will head out right now; also, I will be taking Mia with me to the capital since she will personally inform the main guild about this incident." William afterward grabbed Mia and went straight to his bike without hearing Silvi's reply or Mia's. With the engine revving like thunder, William and Mia left Deron with the max speed, making Mia scream due to the suddenly increased speed she never experienced before.
Because of Space Marine's body, William didn't require any sleep or rest as he rode for 7 hours to reach the location where he met the orc raiders. Using his helmet, William scans the area to find the sign of the main force's track and heads towards where Greenhill is. As this is going on, Mia finally got used to the bike after fainting four times while holding William's back.
"They indeed left the campsite after we left. I'm sure they are at Greenhill waiting for us, or at least I hope they are waiting," William then revved his engine and followed the path which led to the ruins of Greenhill.
After riding for another 8 hours on the road, William and Mia arrived at Greenhill but what he saw was his fear come to real life. Sir Dolven's force made it to Greenhill and set their basecamp at the same location where they made camp before outside the town. But that same place where William met other adventurers was no more as the base camp of the Order of the Black Flames was destroyed, and corpses of the knights are everywhere.
The knights' bodies are impaled to the wooden stake with their heads missing. Not to mention the wagons holding volley cannons were utterly destroyed, including the weapons. Using his helmet, William saw the casualties but couldn't find three commanders or any survivors from this massacre.
That was until he found a large monument made out of human heads and large metal in the shape of a unique mark. The maker was colored with the soldiers' blood and flesh, but what got William's attention was the head placed on top of the marker.
The Mark of Khorne, the very symbol of the Chaos God of Blood and Skulls, has the enemy commander's head to add onto Khorne's skull throne. The head of Sir Dolven was on top with a smaller marker carved onto his forehead.
Seeing this, Mia collapsed to her knees while William stood with his hands shaking with rage overwhelming his body. The same source fuels the Chaos God engulfs William's emotion, to which he pulls out a power sword to cut the marker in half. With the marker destroyed, William picks up his friend's head and covers it with a clean cloth.
"Mia, I need you to take Sir Dolven and hide until I take care of the people who did this." William gives Mia the head of the former commander and summons the new unit to begin his first purge.