Chapter 209: Subjugation Battle of the Church of Love, Summoning a Storm (11)

At the news of an attack, Elsi and I dashed out without hesitation. The chieftain ran out of the tent with us. He tried to stop us as we ran.

"I cannot make our guests do this."

"No. We want to see exactly what is going on for ourselves."

The sentry said elves were being attacked. If elves were fighting among themselves, it would be their civil war, so he wouldn't have reported it, and if it was a fight between elves and humans, he likewise wouldn't have interfered. But the fact that the sentry came in calling it an attack meant the elves were fighting something completely unknown. And it also meant that unknown entity was indiscriminately slaughtering the elves.

"Hurry and guide us. Elsi. Prepare for battle."

Just in case, we had left Mila and James behind in the barracks. I unwrapped the holy sword I had prepared for any unforeseen situation. The deep blue sword blade emitted a sharp glow. I hadn't used it once since the last trial, but the blade was still keen. Elsi looked at my holy sword and tapped it with her finger, as if fascinated.

"Cleric. You use a sword too. Fascinating."

"Do not touch it. It is incredibly dangerous."

I snatched the sword away from Elsi with a horrified face. The damn sword was specialized for betrayal, so it was awkward to even use it with allies around. Elsi, perhaps thinking my worry was just me being an old nag, replied with a slightly pouty expression.

"I also know how dangerous a sword is."

"I am saying this because it is a truly dangerous sword."

"Over there! You can see it over there!"

Just as I was about to soothe Elsi, the chieftain pointed far ahead and shouted. Elsi and I looked in that direction simultaneously. Both Elsi and the chieftain could not hide their dismay at the scene unfolding before us. At the boundary line between the forest and the plains, where a field of reeds grew tall, a one-sided massacre was taking place.

A massive beastfolk seized the scruff of the neck of an elf trying to flee into the forest and hurled them to the ground. The elf couldn't even put up any resistance, splaying their limbs out like a frog and vomiting blood. The beastfolk mounted the fallen elf, letting out a strange scream as it began tearing the elf apart.

"Uwaaaaaah!"

"Uwaaagh! Uwaaagh! Uwaaaaagh!"

Raw and desperate screams rang out. The chieftain seemed to have frozen in shock at the barbaric sight witnessed right before his eyes. Elsi, too, had stiffened at the wild appearance of the beastfolk. There wasn't just one beastfolk. There were about three of them, looking around here and there as they searched for their next prey.

"What are they? Which tribe do those bastards belong to?"

I asked the chieftain as I surveyed our surroundings. It was faint, but I could feel a sign of human presence aside from those three beastfolk. The chieftain narrowed his eyes and spoke.

"I do not know. I know of no tribe with warriors of such a build. Going by their appearance, they look like the Dogville Tribe, but I have never heard of them having such terrifying warriors."

"What the?"

I checked the status window.

Name: Maxi

Race: Mutated Beastfolk

Level: 29

Stats

*These are stats with trait effects applied.

Strength: 78

Agility: 120

Intelligence: 0

Luck: 56

Traits

Grace of the Demon Race

Has received the power of demons.

In exchange for intelligence dropping to 0, all other stats are doubled.

Ruler of the Plains

Movement speed is doubled in plains or grasslands.

Sharp Claws

When attacking an unarmored opponent, all damage lands as a critical hit.

"What the fuck."

These bastards were not normal. I could easily infer that much from the fact that their eyes were rolled back and their muscles were bulging like meatheads juiced up on steroids, but seeing it directly through the status window still left me bewildered.

"Hmm... where on earth did those guys come from?"

The chieftain muttered. I pointed at the beastfolk one by one with my holy sword and spoke to Elsi.

"Elsi. Think you can take on the guy on the far left and hold out?"

"That is more than enough. Can I kill him?"

"No. You must not kill him. I'll take care of the rest and try to subdue him. Just hold him down and buy as much time as possible."

"Understood."

I grabbed Elsi's hand as she tried to run off. As Elsi turned her head, I spoke.

"Elsi. Don't die, okay? Understood?"

Elsi grinned at my words and nodded her head.

"I will not die. And, once this battle is over..."

"Uh-uh! Hurry up and go!"

Fuck. That was almost disastrous. When I cut her off, Elsi dropped her tail and ran off with a sullen expression. The chieftain and I charged at the two beastfolk gathered separately.

"Uryaaaaah!"

When we shouted, the beastfolk whipped their heads around and lunged at us with their claws out, without even attempting a search. As if starved for the smell of blood, their upper bodies were completely covered in blood, and there was no focus in their eyes. Their claws were already long enough to rival daggers, and their mouths protruded heavily, truly taking on a form similar to a werewolf.

"Keuaaaaaang!"

With a howling roar, the beastfolk's claws cleaved through the air. Having narrowly dodged the claws, I saw my priest's robe torn up like a rag. I took a wide swing with the holy sword gripped in one hand. The beastfolk that tried to block my holy sword by biting it had its head sliced clean off along with its upper jaw.

"Uwaaaaagh!"

I had disposed of one beastfolk in a single stroke, but the chieftain seemed to be struggling to face his. The beastfolk, shaking the chieftain with a firm bite on his shoulder, bared its claws and began gouging his stomach as if intent on killing him right then and there. The chieftain's eyes rolled back as he screamed.

"Ughhhk! Ughhhhhhhk!"

"Chieftain!"

Elsi stared over here with a surprised face. I hastily shouted to her.

"I'm going over, so stay focused!"

"Underst... Ugh!"

Elsi was struck by the beastfolk while looking over here to answer. Rolling heavily across the ground, Elsi used her momentum to spring up and widen the distance. The beastfolk lunged at her again, baring its claws.

I lunged at the beastfolk who was currently busy showing off the chieftain's innards in real-time. As I charged, it hurled the chieftain toward me. The chieftain, having lost consciousness in one hit, was thrown like a ragdoll, and I wasted time catching him. Seizing the opening when my field of vision was directed at the chieftain, the beastfolk's claws flew toward me.

"This fucking bitch!"

It might have been unfortunate for the beastfolk, but the difference in our specs was vast. I grabbed the beastfolk's front paw with one hand and tossed it to the opposite side. Falling headfirst onto the ground, the beastfolk convulsed with a miserable yelp.

"Yelp! Yelp! Kkheung!"

"You fucking bitch!"

"Yipe!"

I stomped on the beastfolk's neck to end its life, then poured heal onto the chieftain. The chieftain gasped, regaining his consciousness. He panted and looked at his surroundings, letting out a sigh of relief upon seeing the beastfolk's corpse sprawled on the ground. Fortunately, he seemed to have held onto his life, so I stood up from my spot.

Despite having taken a hit, Elsi was leisurely playing around with the beastfolk.

"Stay still. I'm going to go grab that thing."

I sprinted toward the beastfolk Elsi was holding down. The beastfolk was panting with its tongue hanging out. I ran past Elsi and threw a punch straight into the beastfolk's stomach.

Pow!

Fur erupted and fluttered from the beastfolk's back skin. Blackish clumps of blood gushed out of its body as it hovered in the air. A light gust of wind momentarily spread around us, and after floating in the sky for a brief second, the beastfolk sprawled out flat on the ground.

"Kuhuk!"

I dusted off my hands and looked around. Fortunately, the beastfolk, subdued in one hit, was not dead yet. I cast heal on the beastfolk and spoke to Elsi.

"Elsi. There is someone nearby. Find them and drag them to me. And you there, sentry!"

I called out to the sentry, who had been spacing out until the situation ended. He stared at me with a dumbfounded expression before pointing at himself and speaking.

"Are you talking to me? Elf?"

Boiling with anger, I shouted.

"Yes, you fucking bastard. Your chieftain is dying over here, so what the hell are you doing there?"

"Right! I need to take the chieftain!"

"Hurry up and take him, and tell them to send a few more villagers because we need to move these corpses. Understood?"

"Understood!"

After the sentry disappeared, I surveyed my surroundings. I stabbed the two beastfolk that were already corpses once more just to double-check, and I severed the arm and leg tendons of the beastfolk bastard thrashing about on the ground. Now, this bastard wouldn't be able to do anything even if it wanted to. As if to prove those words, the beastfolk merely flopped around like a mackerel tossed onto the floor, unable to attack me. I flipped the beastfolk over and inspected its body here and there.

If a demon had given it power, it would either have a mark or be holding some object, so I had to find a trace of it. Only bursting muscles resided on its limbs, and its abs were so solid they wouldn't yield even if pressed with a finger. I flipped the bastard over again and examined its back.

"Oh."

"Cleric! I caught a suspicious one."

Right on time, Elsi dragged over a person she had caught. He was a man wearing stereotypically suspicious attire. He was wearing a pitch-black hood pulled down low, had suspicious tattoos on his arms, and wore a heart-shaped necklace. I checked the status window.

Name: Karl

Class: Church of Love Taming Priest

Level: 28

Stats

Strength: 33 (+25)

Agility: 45 (+26)

Intelligence: 60 (+20)

Luck: 44 (+20)

Traits

Minion of the Demon Race

This human is under the command of demons.

Stats increase by 10% of the corresponding demon's stats.

Demon Beast Tamer

Can control demon beasts or their subordinate beings.

"Wow, fuck. This guy is an important figure, isn't he?"

"P-Please spare...!"

Clang!

I picked up the mace I had tossed aside on the ground and smashed the priest's head. The priest rolled his eyes back and fainted. I threw him next to the beastfolk and spoke to Elsi.

"Elsi. Take a look at this."

"What is it."

I showed Elsi what I had just found. A bright red magic circle was drawn on the backs of the enhanced beastfolk we had caught. No, rather than drawn, it was more accurate to say their flesh had been gouged out in the shape of a magic circle. Elsi shuddered upon seeing the deeply carved mark.

[Dark Magic Circle: One of the Demon's Spells. Paralyzes the target's rationality and enhances their body.]

I explained while reading the status window that popped up above my head.

"It's a Dark Magic Circle used by demons. Looks like we've obtained some good evidence here."

This made it certain. The beastfolk that attacked humans were not beastfolk from the plains. They were fake beastfolk being controlled by the Church of Love. Elsi spoke.

"Why are they doing something like this?"

"Because they need beastfolk."

"I do not understand what you mean."

The more they attack humans, the more frequently humans will retaliate against beastfolk. If they bring beastfolk who were attacked by humans and desire retaliation into the Church of Love, they can create even more beastfolk war machines. They use those to attack humans again, and when humans retaliate against the beastfolk, they convert them into the Church of Love once more.

The Church of Love's purpose was not slave emancipation. They were just bastards who needed stronger slaves. I saw the villagers approaching from afar. I picked up the limp Church of Love priest and the beastfolk.

"Let's head to the village."