There was not many people left in the village, many had already died. There were rarely people on the streets of the village. There were many crop fields surrounding everywhere in the village, but all of the had turned red.
Some young people seemed to be burying the dead ones, some were putting the dead bodies on fire in the hope that the infection would not spread any further. Some people were leaving the village out of desperation.
Thorne tried to find the source of the problem himself, but he could not find anything. The only thing that the villagers knew was that red bees were most likely the source of the problem. But Axel knew that it wasn't the case. The demonic plant affected everything in a certain way by releasing special substances in the ground. It was the opposite of what people thought to be true, it was the bees that turned reddish after eating those crops that absorbed the nutrients released by the demonic plant.
Thorne also stated that, after a certain range, the crops did not seem to be affected. This piece of information was in line with what he knew. After discussing the problem for a while and eating the porridge, they went to sleep.
The next day, Axel went to the inside of the village to see everything with his own eyes.
Countless fields of crops appeared in his vision. Thorne and Garrik were accompanying him.
Slowly, he went deeper into the habitat areas, he could hear children crying and men crying. Women crying. Teenagers crying while holding dead bodies. His expression could not help change.
As if a halo of constant death covered the entire area. He could not help but feel bad for them.
They were all crying and cursing; some were begging for anyone, for someone to help.
A little girl came up to him, she said to him in an angry voice,
"You're outsider's aren't you?"
Axel did not respond; his figure was covered in a cloak, and he simply continued to listen to what she had to say.
"You outsider's come and simply watch as if you are watching a rehearsal, if you don't want to help us, then why come? go away and let us rot here, since none of you will help."
Her voice became louder and louder, and soon everyone's attention fell on the trio. The more she spoke, the more the people resonated with her voice; they slowly started to give voice to their own complaints. A part of him wanted to get angry. If the guards only released a bit of their pressure, everyone's mouths would stop. Some of them were so weak that they might even die from that slight show of power.
The little girl continued, "Just because we were not born rich, does that mean our lives are meaningless, does that mean those who died, were their who have died their lives meaningless?"
"You lofty nobles only search for benefits even amid our boundless misery," stated one of the old women who seemed to be on the verge of death. Her voice was low and weak, yet those words reached his ears as if they were whispered into his ears.
"One day, there will be one of us; someone will one day rise from one of us. Who shall bring light to the world and destroy all the pests that spread darkness and leach from it." The little girl said as she left.
Everyone else continued to curse the trio; his two guards also had unsightly expressions on their faces. It wasn't hard for him to understand the reason behind it. They were also commoners who worked their way out of poverty and managed to become a first phase seeker. Something that spoke volumes of their determination in a society where only noble heritage are true rulers and commoners with potential are heavily suppressed.
Axel ignored all the villagers and continued to inspect the entire area, It wasn't until it was almost evening that Axel found some traces. He was standing next to the mountain in the western section of the village. One of the other qualities of the demonic plant is that the nutrient it spreads tries effect those plants that in the farthest the most.
This results in the crops nearest to it being less affected until the plant goes through its next evolution. The trio came back to their tents and started cooking food. Both guards apologized to him vehemently many times on behalf of the villagers. They were afraid that they're young master would just order the 2 of them to kill all the villagers, and they would have no choice but to do just that if he did order them to so.
But Axel obviously wouldn't do that as he reassured the two guards. Since he came with the pretense to help them anyway, and it was something he was incapable of. Maybe one day, if he grew strong enough, he wouldn't care at that time. Yet, some of the words of the villagers did hit in his mind. Their words were true after all, he didn't care about their lives. He was only there for his benefit.
After a while, Axel erased all those thoughts. He was going to get the plant tonight anyway, everything would be over then. After having dinner, all three went to sleep. After approximately 2-3 hours had passed, Axel opened his eyes, he brought out something from his pockets. A round-shaped artifact, something that would mask his presence completely.
But masking his presence wasn't enough; the guards were on alert since they were on a mission, and they would instantly notice it. He brought out another capsule from his pocket and opened it,
It was a special type of liquid that spread through the air, and anyone below the 2nd phase who inhales it is put into a deep sleep. Of course, Axel already ate the antidote, so for a certain period, he's immune to that sleeper gas.
After 5 minutes or so, he activated the cloaking artifact which completely erased his presence. Even a 2nd phase being won't be able to sense him. His father could have secretly sent someone behind to keep an eye on him from the shadows, or the Duskers could have sent assassins to kill him so double precaution was necessary.
He went out and looked around carefully, seeing no one there and the two guards sleeping peacefully, he went on his way towards that mountain. At night, rarely any villagers are seen outside so it simply made things easier for him. He was running towards that mountain in moderate speed.
After an unknown amount of time, he reached the foot of the mountain. Axel promptly started climbing the mountain. The mountain itself wasn't too large, but it was a hassle to find it. He continued to search and search, but there were no traces of it even after 2 hours of searching. He began to harbor some doubts if this really was the right mountain where the plant was supposed to be.
But after starting to search the opposite side of the mountain, he could finally see traces of strange vegetation up ahead. Thankfully, 3 bright moons were hanging high in the sky that illuminated the surroundings, letting him see all things clearly. This was also one of the reasons why he came here at this particular time, it wasn't possible for him to put the guards to sleep in the daytime.
After walking forward for a few more minutes, he saw something he did not expect. A man dressed in mercenary clothes and holding a sharp sword was crouching down and inspecting a plant; it was the very demonic plant that Axel was searching for. The plant was glowing red; it was almost pulsating slightly like a beating heart. The mercenary man was looking at it with obvious desire, as if ready to devour it, but what truly caught Axel's eye was that the mercenary man's entire eye seemed to be blood red; the look on his face was akin to that of a beast.
Axel's eyes widened in disbelief. He couldn't help but curse internally,
'Damn it, Damn it, Damn it, Damn it, Damn it, that bastard actually reached this place before me. It was Ivor, the one who was supposed to get the plant in the first place. The commoner with demon bloodline who eventually became someone who would fight for the good of the common people.'
'This bastard is just a year older than me, but this guy has been working as a mercenary since the age of 12. I'm absolutely no match for him. Think, think, think, damn it. Just what can I do? If only I came here yesterday.' Axel continued to curse his shitty luck internally.
His mind was a mess, this was a scenario he absolutely did not expect. So, he was lost for a moment. He eventually thought that it might be best to snatch the plant since his presence was still absent. If not for that, Ivor would have noticed him long ago. This guy was an experienced battle maniac who faced life and death countless times.
He slowly took a few steps forward, and just as he was about to cut the plant with his sword and run away with it. His artifact stopped working, and he was standing right in front of Ivor with a sly smile on his face.