Village

Not long after, when everyone's condition had reached a state of near-satisfaction, Colin began to take action.

A dozen or so people filed out one after another.

[There are some beasts ahead, but they are too far away to be worth your time.]

The prompt ahead had changed? Colin was surprised; he remembered that yesterday it had mentioned the presence of some treasures in that direction.

"This means someone must have taken the treasures. It seems their harvest was quite good."

Colin shook his head, not feeling too much regret. After all, everyone has their own opportunities, and he wasn't the protagonist; it was impossible for every good thing to fall into his lap.

Even the top spot on the Leaderboard, Colin estimated he wouldn't hold for long; he just didn't know when he would be pushed off.

[To the left, not far away, there is a river. There are some dangers there, but as long as you don't venture too deep into the woods, everything shouldn't be too troublesome. If you're lucky, you might even wait for beasts coming to the river.]

[To the right, there are a large number of Aberrations, but there are also some special treasures. Perhaps it's worth a try.]

There wasn't really a good choice among them, Colin muttered to himself. The information provided by the prompt would update after moving a certain distance.

Colin currently guessed that the information provided by the prompt should only offer new descriptions when there was a place containing benefits or dangers.

For example, if there was a treasure chest or something similar to the right, the prompt would only point to that location.

Unless he arrived near the location of this treasure chest or monster, the prompt would only point that far.

However, just as Colin was feeling a bit disappointed, the prompt regarding the rear left him stunned.

[Behind you, about an hour's distance away, there is the thing you desire most.]

"The thing I desire?"

Colin's expression turned puzzled.

In his current situation, the thing he desired most was the treasure hidden beneath the underground palace.

As for anything else, Colin couldn't think of anything he currently desired.

Even for the treasures in other directions, the prompt hadn't described them as things he desired.

What exactly was there?

If he remembered correctly, that direction had been full of barrenness and desolation yesterday, but today it had changed.

"It seems the prompt ability also changes as one's personal capabilities improve."

About an hour's journey.

After thinking it over, Colin decided to head toward the rear.

He was very curious about what was there.

Subsequently, Colin handed the "Wristwatch" and "Compass" to Number One; he had no need for the functions of these items.

With the prompt at his disposal, he could clearly know both the time and direction, so handing them over to the second team was just right.

Watching them leave, Colin began his own movement as well.

He carried his Hurricane Lamp and, leading a group of subordinates armed with axes, walked quickly toward the rear.

The entire team of fourteen moved in a roughly diamond-shaped formation.

In this way, theoretically, except for from below or above, Colin could defend against any accidents from the other four directions at a moment's notice.

Of course, this was only in theory.

Within the gray, terrifying fog, Colin and his group had been advancing on the level dirt for nearly twenty minutes.

However, while they were still some distance away, Colin suddenly stopped in his tracks.

From an angle, he saw a dilapidated dirt and stone road extending from the right side, stretching forward.

"Stay alert."

Colin said in a low voice, then lifted his foot again, but this time he slowed his pace.

The prompt had only stated that there was a certain level of danger ahead.

This was on the condition that he remained cautious; otherwise, even a single Aberration could cause them significant damage.

Soon, Colin reached this gravel road.

As he walked, he observed that there were many withered weeds and such under his feet on the dirt path, and on both sides of the road were large tracts of abandoned farmland.

"Why does it feel like these weeds only withered recently?" Colin wondered to himself.

After a while, Colin's heart suddenly skipped a beat; silhouettes appeared in the thick fog within his line of sight.

"Looks like houses."

Moving a bit closer and identifying them simply, he could tell that these appeared to be low-lying dwellings.

They were somewhat similar to the early rural adobe houses in Colin's memories.

[You perceive that this is a small village of less than ten households, and all the villagers in the village have turned into Aberrations.]

Colin wasn't too surprised by this prompt.

After all, where there were fields, there were houses, and naturally, there were people.

"Tighten the formation, prepare for combat!"

Colin issued the command, having no intention of bypassing this place; after all, the round trip would take nearly two hours.

He needed to replenish the blood he held in his possession.

And if his expectations were correct, there were only thirty or forty Aberrations inside; others would only flee upon seeing such a number of Aberrations.

But for Colin, who possessed the Sufferer Hunter badge, this quantity was merely the level of a "vigorous workout."

Dealing with these Aberrations would provide him with a significant reprieve from his blood crisis.

Soon, the structures of the small village became increasingly clear: withered trees, earthen walls, thatched huts, and a well appeared one by one.

Coming into view were also the corpses scattered across the stone road, wrapped in flesh and blood.

The clothing on these remains had not yet fully rotted, and one could see the marks left by blades and swords.

They didn't die in that catastrophe; they were already dead before it even began.

Colin had his suspicions.

However, at that moment, as Colin and his group arrived, some of the closer Aberrations stirred from their slumber, standing up one by one, swaying from near to far.

Their hollow eyes turned toward Colin and the others, eerie and terrifying.

Bang!

Colin threw a hand axe, causing the head of one Aberration to explode on the spot, snapping the servants who had been nearly frightened out of their wits back to reality.

"Kill!" Number Two roared.

Dozens of Aberrations lunged forward from the front.

While Aberrations possessed extremely high attack power, they were also incredibly fragile, even inferior to an average person.

Colin took out another axe and stood behind the group; whenever he saw someone unable to hold their ground, he would hurl an axe.

The moment they cut down the first Aberration, fear was driven from their hearts, and they fought with increasing ferocity.

Although the Aberrations did not fear death, they were simply unable to withstand the slaughter from Colin's side.

However, just then, a roar suddenly erupted from the village well, and a large stone was pushed out from within.

An Aberration over two meters tall, soaking wet and reeking of rot, charged out.

Its head seemed to have been smashed into its chest cavity by something, making it look like a headless monster.

This Aberration rushed over at an incredible speed, brandishing the white claws that had sprouted from its hands.

Its target was the few ordinary servants on the periphery.

Colin narrowed his eyes; if the creature managed to break through, it would be like a wolf among sheep.

Without any hesitation, Colin immediately activated Hunting Moment!

The next second, Colin launched himself forward like a cannonball, iron axe in hand, leaping above the creature and hacking down onto its back.

The axe fell, pinning it to the ground instantly and kicking up a massive cloud of lime dust.