Our Family Has Fallen

Count Bastia’s annexation of Hamlet holds certain positive significance; even if he’s just maintaining surface order, it still provides ordinary people some respite.

Most directly, in the areas controlled by Bastia, although much of it is mountainous, the density of villages and towns is greater. In contrast, much of Hamlet, despite being flat, is swallowed by wild-growing wilderness, with dense forests obscuring human settlements.

These mobs had never been to Hamlet, so when they broke away from the refugees, they wandered aimlessly through the vast wilderness like headless flies.

Eventually, by chance, in the evening twilight, they noticed smoke rising in the sky and found a small village they might never have otherwise discovered.

The mundane presence of humanity is the most comforting to the heart of a mob.

And thus, the Looters attacked the small village without hesitation, turning it from a peaceful settlement into Hell in an instant with rape, plunder, and pillage.

But a small village of less than thirty people couldn’t possibly satisfy the needs of a hundred-strong raiding party.

Most were still starving, desperately needing a larger plunder to satisfy them.

Fortunately, they tortured the villagers to discover the location of a nearby town, a settlement of a hundred people, enough for them to revel.

This is why they appeared here tonight.

Meanwhile, the Barbarian Tribes also needed a massive brawl to regain their state.

Survival was the most important thing, regardless of what happened next.

Compared to the boisterous Looters, the Barbarian Tribes seemed a bit calmer, but only slightly.

It’s only their hunting prowess keeping them temporarily calm; in reality, their eyes were filled with a savage brutality ready to be unleashed.

Their imprisoned rage dared not be unleashed on fully armed Knights like Bruce, but against ordinary people, there was not a moment’s hesitation.

Trying to have these mobs infiltrate in an orderly manner and then attack was essentially impossible; they were the embodiment of chaos.

If most were not without weapons—those that had weapons only having farm tools—they would probably be even more frenzied.

The earthen wall and wooden gate were breached in an instant, and the Looters swarmed in, setting the quiet town ablaze with war.

Cunning Fox watched the chaotic assault of the mob with a mocking expression, his face appearing even more sinister.

But seeing the gate breached so easily, he understood that a town encircled by an earth wall had little resistance. If he entered too slowly, he would lose out.

”Attack!”

At the command, the Barbarian Tribes surged forward. Although it’s hard to say their assault was better than that of the mob, being a mix of different tribes, they would be stable when together, but would quickly collapse once they made a move.

These people had stayed in Bastia, picking up imperial vices.

The situation spiraled out of control the moment they broke in; neither the Barbarian Tribes nor the mobs could differentiate between themselves.

They stormed into houses without caring if someone was a man, woman, or child. They killed the men they saw and seized the women, greedily plundering everything in sight.

The Looters’ frenzied laughter mixed with screams... wails... pleas for mercy... curses.

Someone set a house on fire, the wooden and thatched structure turning into a massive torch in an instant. The blazing flames cast a horrid, blood-soaked scene, as if Hell had descended.

Yet death awakened certain presences in the town...

In a secluded barn, an evil Sacrilege Ceremony was underway. A drooping-headed sacrifice was strapped to an altar, covered with signs of various tortures.

Beneath, black-robed followers prayed for blessings from the deity.

Normally, in the Flesh Rite, the power granted by the deity was slight, but today, a powerful force descended upon these followers.

Unprecedented ecstasy and frenzy filled their minds, their mundane bodies growing strong, muscles bulging with abnormal growth, becoming fit in a short time.

The Priest conducting the ceremony seemed overwhelmed by the surge of immense power, screaming in madness.

”Go slaughter! Seize your Ascension!”

The barn door was flung open, and the Looters engaged in slaughter and plundering met the even more frenzied Heretics.

The followers would respond to the gaze of the deity with the utmost frenzy.

”Heh heh heh~ Tasty little child...” a Looter grabbed a child hiding in the haystack and flung him to the ground, snuffing out a little life instantly.

Beside the child lay his murdered father, blood soaking the earth.

On the other side, the pinned-down mother saw this scene and let out a heart-wrenching wail, paying no heed to the Looter squirming and writhing like a maggot on her body.

But the person paid no mind, instead picking up the body, speaking nonchalantly to a few others.

”I tell you, the best meat is tender and delicate like this...”

Yet the others couldn’t care less, fighting over the ownership of the woman instead.

”Hurry up, it’s my turn.”

”Screw you! Get your own, I was here first.”

”...”

At that moment, several black-robed followers burst in, their grotesque faces attacking the nearest people.