In the end, the battle between Riezel and the two knights was over in an instant.
Now, the two knights who had just moments ago been the hunters were ruthlessly trampled before the hunted sisters.
From the elder sister's perspective, the two grim reaper-like knights, who had appeared terrifying and unbeatable, were suddenly unable to put up any kind of resistance against a young man her age and were mercilessly killed.
Meanwhile, Riezel, who had done all this, furrowed his brow at his still-crackling hand.
'Honestly, the power of this magic can't really be called strong.'
Riezel appeared dissatisfied with the magic he had unleashed.
'If I were still at Level 1, Dragon Lightning would have been way stronger than Arcs Ray, but now, it's just so-so...'
In the eyes of the natives of this world, only the powerhouses within the Realm of Heroes could wield 5th-Tier Magic, but for Riezel, it was just a 'so-so' level of power now. If it weren't for his outstanding MAG and the enhancement from Mage, 5th-Tier Magic wouldn't even have caught his attention.
'Whatever...'
At this moment, the two sisters were still hugging each other, sitting on the ground and staring blankly at Riezel, unable to process what had just happened.
"Are you two okay?"
After checking and confirming that the two sisters had no obvious injuries, Riezel finally spoke up.
As soon as the two sisters heard his voice, they snapped back to reality and looked at their savior, tears welling up in their eyes.
"Th-Thank you for saving us!"
"Thank you!"
Suddenly, the elder sister knelt on the ground to express her gratitude, and the younger sister quickly followed suit.
"Get up."
Riezel wasn't used to being thanked this way, so he instinctively reached out to help them both up.
Such a gesture undoubtedly made the two girls feel his kindness, reassuring them that this powerful young man meant no harm.
Once they understood this, however, the two girls knelt down again.
"What are you doing?" Riezel asked while furrowing his brow.
Unfortunately, the two sisters were too absorbed in their emotions to care about their savior's feelings while kneeling before him.
"Please, save everyone in the village!"
"Please!"
Seeing her elder sister pleading while kneeling, the younger sister understood the situation and quickly knelt before Riezel again, pleading as well.
Clearly, after escaping from danger, both of them thought of their family and the villagers they interacted with daily, seeing hope for their rescue in Riezel's presence.
"Village, huh?" Riezel muttered, turning his gaze toward a village not far from the forest entrance.
Over there, the sound of screams continued to echo.
'Looks like I wasted too much time...'
He realized that, during his magic experiment, the massacre that had happened in the previous village had already reached this one.
"Are you from Carne Village?" Riezel asked calmly, turning to the two sisters.
"Ye-Yes! I'm Enri, Enri Emmot, and this is my younger sister, Nemu Emmot."
Enri Emmot, the elder sister, was just an ordinary villager from Carne Village and a character who appeared several times in the original work. However, while she wasn't an important character, she also wasn't a mere background character.
In the original work, when the massacre spread to Carne Village, Enri and her younger sister, Nemu, fled to the outskirts of the forest, just like now, and were ultimately rescued by the protagonist.
However, now it seemed that the protagonist had no intention of showing up.
'Is it because of my involvement? Or did he stop exploring this area after trading information with me and thus didn't discover it?'
Riezel wasn't sure which reason it was, but that didn't hinder his next actions.
"Alright, let's go."
Riezel turned in the direction of Carne Village and spoke to the two sisters.
"Let's head to your village."
Upon hearing this, the two sisters displayed expressions of joyful surprise.
===
Carne Village, Square.
It was a vast area located in the center of the village.
On regular days, children played here, and villagers would dry grains or carry out their work, making it a lively spot.
However, the liveliness today was a sight no one wanted to see.
"HELP! HELP"
"RUN!"
"AAAAAAHHH—!!!"
One by one, villagers shouted in terror as they fled in disarray.
Some dragged their families along, while others ran alone, creating a scene that looked like a disaster had struck.
In fact, the current situation was no different from a disaster.
At this moment, knights clad in armor rode on horses or moved on foot, pouring in from all directions. They either swung their weapons to slaughter villagers or drove the fleeing ones toward the village square, forcing dozens from various corners to gather in one spot.
"Get them over there! Make them gather up!"
A figure, apparently the captain of the knights, shouted in a voice that was both irritating and commanding, barking orders at the surrounding knights.
His gaze and expression beneath the helmet were filled with cruelty and a wicked thrill, as if he relished the act of slaughter, enjoying the sensation of controlling others' lives as he continued to command the knights relentlessly.
His name was Belius, and he was indeed the captain of these knights.
He had been ordered to attack villages near E-Rantel, so he had done things like this many times before.
During previous village raids, he had always directed his subordinates to attack from all sides, slaughtering villagers while driving the survivors toward the village square. Once everyone had gathered, he would give the order for part of the knights to search the houses and kill the survivors in there while the rest carried out the slaughter in the square.
Additionally, there were knights stationed with bows around the village, so even if someone managed to escape outside, they would be killed by arrows without question.
Once the slaughter was over, as long as they left a few alive and set fire to the entire village, their mission would be done.
Such was the mission of the knights led by Belius.
Today was just a repetition of their previous acts, so there was nothing noteworthy about it.
At least, this was how Belius saw it.
If there had been a few attractive women in the village, he might have felt some other interest, but unfortunately, he had not found any woman who caught his eye at the moment, so he just wanted to revel in the slaughter, enjoying the thrill of seeing the lowly villagers die at his hands.
"Don't waste time, Londes! Let's finish up and get to the next village!"
Belius shouted at a knight who was near him.
"Tch…"
Clicking his tongue in irritation, the knight named Londes flashed his eyes with gloom beneath his helmet.
It was clear he wasn't very happy with this so-called captain.
However, what could he do?
Belius was, after all, a rich son who had been parachuted in.
He was neither a trained knight nor a fellow comrade who had spent time with them but merely a young master sent in by his wealthy family to gain prestige.
He would violate village women as part of his indecent desires during the mission, and after being stopped and scolded by his father, he would immediately take out his anger on the women he had violated, swinging his sword nonstop at them.
In short, he was the kind of scum who made others feel disgusted.
Such scum naturally wouldn't be very popular.
If it weren't for the military discipline that couldn't be challenged and the fact that this mission was a crucial operation coordinated with higher-ups, Londes wouldn't let himself be bossed around like this and would want to duel Belius to settle their differences.
Unfortunately, the mission was still more important for now, since it was for the country, for humanity, and for the god in whom he believed.
"Speed up!"
Convinced of his own reasoning, Londes didn't even glance at Belius and focused on ordering the knights around.
Londes quickened his pace, swinging his sword without hesitation toward the fleeing villagers, cold and ruthless.
"Get moving!"
Belius also waved his sword toward the fleeing villagers, shouting loudly.
In this situation, some surviving villagers were herded into the village square, where adults and children alike huddled together, embracing one another and trembling in fear.
"Kill them!"
After observing the villagers and finding no women to his liking, Belius, full of disappointment and anger, issued his final command.
In the next moment, the knights surrounded the villagers, raising their swords high in front of their terrified faces, ready to swing them down.
Unfortunately—
"Lightning."
A voice colder and more ruthless than anyone else's suddenly rang out from the sky.
*BOOM!*
A bolt of lightning struck down, piercing through one of the knights.
*BOOM!* *BOOM!* *BOOM!*
Before the rest of the knights could react, successive lightning strikes hit one knight after another, surrounding the villagers.
"AAAAAAHHHHHH—!!!"
"ARGH!"
Screams and painful groans echoed through the village square.
"Damn it! Fall back!"
In an instant, the pride and smugness vanished from Belius's face, replaced by a panicked cry.
Londes reacted quickly, urgently commanding the knights to retreat.
One by one, the knights dropped their comrades' corpses, which had been pierced from head to toe by lightning, backing away in horror.
Only then did they notice the figure of a young man appearing in the sky, his hand outstretched toward the ground, sparkling with electricity, looking dazzling and majestic.
As the knights retreated, the young man temporarily halted his lightning attacks and slowly descended from midair, landing on the ground.
Upon closer inspection, the young man had two girls, one big and one small, clinging to him.
"Everyone!"
As soon as the two girls touched the ground, they immediately broke free from the young man and rushed toward the gathered villagers, crying tears of joy.
Now, only the young man who had descended from the sky and a group of knights remained in a standoff.
Ignoring the knights, the young man observed the surroundings with a chillingly indifferent expression.