It's been two days since I left.

  The blazing sun has been scorching my skin since I left the last tree this morning, but thankfully, a nice breeze is following me.

  “At least the only thing that has been kind to me is the wind ever since what happened.“

  Ever since then, the nightmares never stopped. It was… unpleasant. The trauma will always linger like a ghost haunting me with a knife just at my throat.

  I'm restless.

  My body aches — almost as much as my heart aches.

  Supplies are running low. I've been hunting for food, but I am no expert at that. Killing some rabbits by sheer luck, just by being fast enough to end them with my sword. However, getting two of them took me a few hours. The leather flask that I brought with me has been keeping me alive.

  “A river would be great before this flask runs dry, or I'll suffer from dehydration.“

  I'm immortal, but being in pain is not desirable.

  No one likes pain.

  Especially as someone who can't die.

  “Finally… a forest.“

  Hoping to find shelter and water, I trudged into the forest. It's not a dense forest, but anything will do to escape this sweltering heat.

  A few steps in, I glanced at the tall but not too tall trees, decorated with luscious shades of green. The roots, twisted in and out of the earth, make it a rugged yet perfect spot to wind down. I place my sword beside me as I rest against a tree.

  Looking up, I returned my gaze to the flowing leaves with the sun peeking at me. This life is not the one I'm used to. I've lived in luxury whole my life with everything being in my grasp. Some things I took for granted, like a roof over my head and delicious food. But now, everything fell apart.

  I'm not complaining, I hate complaining. I have to adapt to this new way of life if I want to have my revenge. Unconsciously, my grip tightened on the sword until my knuckles turned white.

  “Relax, Ren, you shouldn't waste your energy now… You need to rest your mind.“ With that, I close my eyes, trying to get some shut-eye.

  Not too long after I closed my eyes, a piercing scream tore through the whole forest. Waking me up with a rapid heartbeat, as I thought it was Sarella's. I ready myself, looking at every corner to spot an enemy, only to see leaves rustling and falling from their branches, carried by the wind.

  Again, a feminine scream was heard, ringing my eardrums. This time, I can figure out the location from which it came. Gathering my belongings, I quickly head towards it. Avoiding every root that sprouts from the ground and using some to get leverage on speed.

  Slowly, I could see red, red blood, from bodies like mine and in front of me… a village in chaos, houses roaring in flames just behind a rickety wooden fence.

  “H-help!“ A cry came from my left, near the gate.

  A mother and a child are confronted by…?

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  It was haunting and torturous to witness. Tightening my chest every second I breathe.

  What the hell…

  Four-legged like any other animal, but big. Around one and a half meters in height, while its long body stretched to two meters. Muscular body covered with black-greyish fur. Huge crooked horns were sprouting out of its eye slits, with sharp thin teeth protruding out of its mouth, drooling—hungry for flesh.

  I've never seen such a beast in my life before, and never have I known it existed! There were no such reports on these types of creatures before in my ruling.

  Could it be the beasts from the olden age?

  Why now?

  My hands were trembling, and my heart was racing.

  Of course.

  You again—fear.

  Strange horns… it could only mean that they're demons, but unlike Mortivus and the dead demon soldiers, who looked humanoid.

  This is different.

  And what I can think of is:

  Like in our world, we have humans and animals.

  This means that with demons…

  It's the same.

  This beast is their animal.

  I steady my breaths. It's going to be difficult, but better to risk it than watch them die.

  “Hey, you ugly beast, come here!“ Its head is moving frantically, searching for my voice. Then, finally, it's looking at me.

  Just as I figured, it's blind. Relying on sound only to attack its prey. As long as the mother and child don't make any sound other than the crackling of fire, then it's fine.

  “Don't make any sounds, it reacts to them!“ I warned them. Seeing them cover their mouths, huddled together while nodding, I can finally take on the beast.

  It charged with its claws, trying to slice me in half. The momentum it was going was fast and wild, but I managed to evade. With my back foot planted into the earth, I slashed from the right as hard as I could, mutilating its foot.

  The roar from the beast was filled with rage. I knew that it would go mad.

  It's painful, isn't it, you bastard?

  Trying to get back up after failing to stand, I quickly slashed its furry neck. Half, no, not even half, my cut wasn't deep enough to completely decapitate it.

  “I have to—”

  It slammed into me, gashing my chest. I tumble down and crash into a tree. Almost the strength of a bear, but stronger.

  Using my sword to stand back up, but it was too late.

  The bastard was already charging at me.

  “You—AAAH!“ My right shoulder was stabbed by its dark horn, making my arm limp, while my back crashed through the tree behind me due to its momentum.

  My organs feel like they're crushed. I gasp for air, trying my best to regain my composure. Luckily, it was stunned by the tree, putting it in a daze. I tried my best to squirm out of its horn and got on my feet.

  I need to run, heal my shoulder, and slash its neck in one go. That's the only way to end it.

  I dash to a nearby tree, counting the seconds for my wounds to heal. A roar again blasted the whole forest, looking for me, it's slowly trying to hear any sounds that I'll make.

  Crack.

  No—don't move!

  I glance back at the beast and see it smile. What an eerie sight to see.

  Shifting its body, it ran, limping, towards the boy and mother.

  “Shit!“

  This is probably the only chance I'll get before it kills them.

  Sprinting at full speed, vaulting off a boulder, and soaring through the air.

  Everything blurred except my target.

  I grip my sword with both hands.

  “North to South.”

  A technique Fuery once used whilst we were sparring.

  A downward slash powerful enough to cut a man in half... But for Fuery, he could do that while standing.

  I'm not him, so I had to improvise.

  As the blade meets the beast's neck. I feel every tear of flesh, every burst of veins, and the crack of bones until it gets through.

  Blood gushed out of its open wound, marking the earth with its vile blood.

  It's finally dead.

  The mother could be seen relieved with the death of the beast, “Thank you—really, for saving me and my son's life.”

  I swung my sword to the ground, ridding it of blood. “I was just passing by… I'm sorry that I wasn't fast enough to save them.”

  “You've done more than enough. That 'thing' caught our people off guard. Thankfully, my boy and I are safe if it weren't for those men stalling it until you came.“ Her eyes suddenly widened, shifting her steps to run to the village, ”We need to help the others, let's go, boy!“

  It seems that they don't know me. That's great. With this immortality, there could be some who harbor malicious intent, especially toward a former king. I'll need to be careful from now on.

  Trailing behind her, I noticed that the village wasn't particularly small, but it wasn't too big either. A humble village. To the right, three houses were in flames and ruined, people can be seen working together to put them out.

  The damage was bad enough to render the residents homeless.

  Some people were injured and are being treated on my left. Beside them were people mourning what seemed to be their loved ones.

  Harsh.

  All of this is from a single beast.

  Damn it.

  “You were the one who killed the beast, right? Thank ya so much! If it weren't for ya, the village would've been done for.“ In front of me was an old man, almost bald, with a grey stubby beard and a hunched back. In his hand is an aged wooden cane supporting his frail legs, “Oh, how rude of me! The names Alfred, the village chief.“

  “Ren.“

  Walking alongside me, he stared with curious eyes, “Surprising how you have no wounds even though you just killed a beast. You're an exceptional fighter, huh?“

  “Haha… you could say that.“

  “Well then, let's go back to my house. We should treat our savior as best as we can!“ He laughed.

  Is he really the village chief with this cheery attitude? What a peculiar old man.

  As we waltz through the village, a house decorated with vines is in view, old but not unmaintained. Behind it were wheat farms, shining gold in the sunlight. Chickens pecking the ground, roaming freely from the nearby chicken coop, and I've noticed that as we walked that there are quite a few water wells in the village.

  With abundant supplies of food and water. All I can say is it's a good and peaceful place to live.

  But…

  Are they able to truly be at peace after what happened?