Chapter 409 – The Trapped Town

“Dammit, must everyone die at the hands of these beasts today?”

Standing atop the town’s wall, the Baron covered in blood let out a furious roar.

The attacks of the goatmen always came with lightning speed. Among the three assaulted towns, two had been easily overrun as if crushing dry weeds and smashing rotten wood. Although these bloodthirsty goatmen lacked proper equipment and wielded only stones and clubs, their strength far surpassed that of ordinary humans. A horde of goatmen, each over two meters tall and commonly reaching two to three meters, was simply more than the remote desert towns could withstand.

Now, the remaining forces from the three towns had gathered in the last bastion—Hazelwood Town. The desperate townspeople had resolutely set fire to the Hazelwood Oasis, which had sustained generations of their livelihoods. Relying on the raging flames, this final town barely managed to slow the goatmen’s advance.

But… fire does not burn forever. When an oasis’s grove is completely consumed, its extinguishing will be as swift as its ignition.

Hazelwood was merely a ring of battle trees surrounding the town. In fact, after just one afternoon, the roaring flames that had devoured the townspeople’s wealth and halted the goatmen’s assault gradually died down.

At this moment, although the forest’s embers still held a few sparks, the brutish goatmen fearlessly charged toward the town over the ashes. In the eyes of the trembling townspeople, these goatmen adorned with colorful war paint were no different from demons emerging from Hell. The scorching heatwaves from the smoldering ashes did not hinder them in the slightest; instead, the spark-filled air incited their frenzy.

“What do we do, what do we do?”

Watching as the goatmen had already slain half the militia and were charging toward the walls, the Baron felt his heart bleed with anxiety, his eyes streaked with bloodshot veins.

But panic holds no meaning on the battlefield—an anxious mind only brings danger to a warrior.

“Meeeh yaaah ahhhh!”

Just as the Baron’s heart burned with urgency, a goatman, unnoticed, had scaled the wall. Now, this warrior standing at least two and a half meters tall let out a terrifying roar as it swung its massive bone club down fiercely toward the Baron.

In desperation, the Baron could only instinctively raise his sword to block. But before the blood-soaked bone club, the slender sword seemed pitifully insignificant. When the club descended, the Baron and his blade would be smashed into pulp by a single strike—the strength of a goatman was utterly beyond what an ordinary human could withstand.

“It’s over, I’m going to die!”

As the bone club, larger than his own head, drew nearer, the Baron’s mind went blank with stunned resignation.

If nothing unexpected occurred, the enfeoffed Baron of these three towns would meet his end on this bloodstained wall. And soon, the entire town would follow his fate—the goatmen’s raids never left survivors, for they delighted in pulverizing their “prey” into paste before carrying it back to their tribe.

However, just as misfortune often arrives abruptly, fortune too can descend in the most unexpected ways.Just as the Baron had closed his eyes awaiting death, the anticipated attack never came.

Trembling with fear, the Baron opened his eyes with a final shred of hope, and he swore he had never felt such tearful gratitude toward a girl in his life.

“As a Noble, you should face death with wide-open eyes. Closing them only makes you appear more of a coward, nothing more.”

Accompanying the crisp reprimand was a spray of drifting blood. Before the Baron, the goat-headed man suddenly widened his eyes in disbelief as his head began to slowly slide from his neck. The thick, resilient wool, comparable to soft armor, now seemed utterly fragile. Along with the goat-headed man’s bones, blood vessels, and muscles, it was all cleanly severed by a single blade stroke. The cut was so precise that the head remained perched on the neck for a moment longer.

Turning his head almost mechanically, the stunned Baron looked toward the girl standing nearby, wiping her dagger. At this moment, the girl with wheat-colored skin resembled an elf under the moonlight—her figure agile yet elegant.

Clearly, the one who had appeared here was Aisha, who had followed Ovakain to rescue them.

“Don’t thank me. My skills are nothing special. There’s someone far more formidable below who is your true savior.”

With a kind smile, Aisha spoke to the Baron while simultaneously ending the lives of at least three more goat-headed men. Moving through the shadows, Aisha danced like a butterfly fluttering among flowers. Even in the pitch-black night, her light figure, clean and precise techniques, and seamless killings were interpreted into a kind of dance beauty.

“But this alone isn’t enough. Although the Apprentice-Level warriors of the goat-headed men and the town’s Apprentice-Level rangers have wiped each other out, for now, the ordinary goat-headed men probably can’t handle a Stalker who comes and goes freely. However… there are just too many goat-headed men. The killing efficiency of two Apprentice-Level practitioners likely won’t be enough to repel the bloodthirsty goat-headed men before they breach the town and unleash a massacre.”

Thinking of the terrifying sight of the overwhelming number of goat-headed men charging together, the Baron’s eyes dimmed once more. The support of two professionals could protect him and a small portion of the townsfolk, but most would not survive. The town would be utterly destroyed, and all his family’s wealth would vanish… unless the “more formidable savior” the girl mentioned was truly powerful enough to single-handedly slaughter the entire goat-headed army.

“How is that possible? To achieve that, one would need at least Formal-Level strength. Why would such a great figure come to this remote town?”

Clutching onto a final thread of hope and a last trace of despair, the Baron leaned over to peer down at the base of the wall.

In the next second, the previously despondent Baron widened his eyes in astonishment.

He witnessed a scene he could never have imagined in his wildest dreams!

The goat-headed men, who had been chasing three towns into panic and slaughtering militia squads as easily as chasing chickens and dogs, were now being slaughtered themselves!

Yes, it was a slaughter. In the Baron’s eyes, this battle could only be described as a massacre!A dark-haired youth was wreaking havoc through the army of goat-men. Everywhere he passed, dust mingled with goat-men’s blood to form a crimson mist, while severed limbs and shattered remains were flung into the air. His speed of slaughter and movement was so extreme that, to the Baron’s eyes, the youth seemed to have transformed into a bloody storm. Every goat-man caught within it was shredded as if fed into a meat grinder. Even as the fearless, frenzied goat-men continued to assault the whirlwind of death, the highly efficient cyclone of slaughter showed no sign of stopping.

“This… this…”

The Baron clutched the edge of the city wall, speechless. Truly, the extreme ups and downs he had experienced recently were… utterly overwhelming!

(End of Chapter)