"owaaaaaaaa…
"poooo…
"mummmm…
Cries filled the classroom.
Desper didn't stop smashing the monster's head until he realized he was breaking the wooden floor. The monster's head had been completely crushed.
"Haaa… hoooo… haaa… hooo…"
His body was numb. The scent of blood nauseated him. Sounds were muffled in his ears, and the world spun in his vision. His face had turned brown as the monsters' blood mixed with the green paint.
Desper forced himself to stand and glanced around with half-open eyes. He trembled when he saw that only about forty children were still alive, far less than half of their original number.
Among them, four of the six teachers were still alive, trying to avoid his gaze, clearly ashamed. They had hidden among the children to protect themselves from the monsters.
Desper said nothing and moved slowly. He couldn't blame them. He himself had escaped and allowed the massacre to happen.
'Don't look down. Don't look down.'
He repeated it in his mind as his legs kept hitting warm, soft obstacles as he walked toward his sword.
He could see the blood covering the floor at the edge of his vision, but he refused to look at their faces. He didn't want to see their final expressions. Were they in pain? Were they terrified? Was it fast? He didn't want to know.
He slowly pulled his sword from the stalker's neck, keeping his gaze upward, then walked toward the hole.
"Haaa… hoooo… haaa… hooo…"
His breathing was heavy and audible. The three wounds on his chest had stopped bleeding, but they still burned. Fortunately, they weren't life-threatening. A Medium-Purity pill would be enough.
As he reached the hole, he saw many figures running toward him from all directions.
"My son… please be alive…"
"Aria! Where are you?!"
"Max…"
"Noah…"
Parents called out for their children; their faces filled with fear. Desper didn't stop. He kept walking away.
"Ahhhhhhh…!"
"My soooon!"
"Nooooooo…!"
When they reached the school, another wave of screams erupted behind him.
Suddenly, Desper dropped to his knees. He couldn't hold himself anymore and vomited violently.
Only after his stomach was empty could he breathe again. He stayed there, breathing harshly.
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaah…!"
He screamed, slamming his fists into the ground again and again.
After about three minutes, he stood and was about to move when A cold voice came from the roof of a nearby house.
"What are you doing here?!"
Desper turned his head and recognized it.
"S… Silas?" he stammered.
Silas landed and grabbed him by the collar.
"WHY DID YOU COME HERE?!"
His cold tone was gone, replaced with anger.
Desper looked at him with dull eyes. "Leave me alone, Silas."
"I TOLD YOU NOT TO OVERESTIMATE YOURSELF! YOU ARE STILL TOO WEAK!"
Desper's face trembled. "I said… leave me alone."
He pushed Silas's hands away and walked away. Silas was about to shout again, but then he noticed the corpses of the five stalkers outside the classroom.
His eyes widened when he saw the four pairs of ears on each of their heads. He frowned, his gaze shifting between Desper and the bodies.
"So you were hiding your true power," he murmured.
He had always been skeptical about how Desper had killed the lizardmen in the first Spatial Crack and survived the blow of an O-5 monster in the second. Now, it all made sense.
Desper ignored him and kept walking. Suddenly, his foot caught on something, and he stumbled. He was about to fall, but Silas caught him.
Silas placed Desper's arm over his shoulder and helped him walk.
For a moment, Desper was surprised. He expected more scolding, but Silas said nothing. He simply guided him through the streets in silence.
As they walked, Desper heard the village around him.
Some people were relieved to be alive. Some cried over their loved ones. Some still trembled in fear. Others groaned in pain.
After a while, Desper spoke, his voice filled with emotions.
"I thought I wasn't afraid of death. I thought I had nothing to lose." He paused for a second and added, "But I was wrong… I'm just a coward."
Silas shook his head. "No one wants to die. Men, women, elders, children, cultivators, even monsters. None of them want to die. Having nothing to lose doesn't mean you should die for others. In fact, you should never sacrifice yourself for anyone."
Desper didn't respond. The guilt still weighed on him.
Silas saw that and questioned, "How many were killed?"
"I don't know… but over seventy."
"And how many did you save?"
"…Fewer."
"No. You saved much more."
"Huh?" Desper frowned, confused.
"What do you think we have been doing during the last five days?" Silas asked.
He didn't wait for Desper to answer. "We were killing the monsters attracted to the Beacon and those that came out of the Spatial Cracks. What do you think would have happened if we hadn't done?"
Desper's eyes widened as he realized. If they hadn't attracted the monsters to the Beacon, they surely would have attacked the villages. Even the monsters of the Spatial Cracks would have attacked them first to satisfy their severe hunger before going to the Beacon.
"Every day, we save a lot of people, even if they don't see it, and even if we don't feel it. However, you should know that we save as many as we can, but we can't save them all. You should carve that into your mind."
Desper opened his mouth, but no words came out.
"It is even against the rules to sacrifice your life in a village or a town."
"Huh?!" Desper was stunned again.
"A cultivator's life is more important than that of normal people. Save them today, and they might die tomorrow. But if you keep your life, you might save another village tomorrow, and another, and another."
Desper furrowed his brows and made up his mind. "I get it."
"Good." Silas nodded and changed the topic. "Regarding your hidden strength…"
Desper's body stiffened. He didn't know how he would explain that. However, Silas's next words surprised him greatly.
"I don't know why you hide it, and I also believe that you aren't a Zlodei, so I won't ask you about it or tell anyone. But there is one thing I need from you."
He paused for a second. A memory flashed in his eyes. "Just use it wisely, and don't ever get arrogant or overestimate yourself because of it."
Desper was astonished. From their first meeting, he hadn't liked Silas. The more time he spent with him, the more he hated him. But now, he felt that Silas was a different man. Desper reckoned that his brother's death had shaped his personality that way.
"Thank you"
Silas didn't react.
After five minutes of walking, Desper asked, "Where are we going?"
"You will see," Silas replied. "We should be there soon."
After a couple of turns, a large black building appeared before them. Desper guessed that it was the village chief's home, as it resembled the one from in his village. In front of it, a crowd had gathered, forming a circle around something he couldn't see.
"Move away," Silas shouted as they passed through the crowd.
When the people saw Silas's clothes, they moved aside. Desper's clothes were mostly covered in blood, so they couldn't tell that he was a sect disciple.
As they reached the center, Desper saw Eland and the rest of the team. They were surrounding a man whose body was tied with ropes and whose head was covered.
Eland was surprised when he saw Desper's state, but he ignored it for now and removed the cover from the man's head.
"Please… please forgive me," the man cried. "I didn't want that to happen."
Desper's eyes widened. "A Lurker?"
"Yes," Silas replied.
Desper was about to cut another part of his lip as he bit it, his face twisting with rage while looking at the man who was the reason behind the monster attack.
"SHUT UP!" Eland snapped angrily. "In the past, you had the choice to either join the sect or leave its territory. Because of your actions, the monsters attacked the village and killed many people."
The people surrounding them cried, screamed, cursed, and threw rocks at him. They had lost the people they loved because of him.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I didn't know that I would attract the monsters. I swear I didn't know," the man said desperately.
Monsters were naturally attracted to cultivators. The Beacon attracted all the monsters in the area toward it, but if monsters passed by a village and sensed a cultivator's Essence fluctuation there, they would attack it.
"Stop lying! You have a mark on you!" Eland said furiously.
Desper remembered reading about that in the New Disciple Book.
Whenever someone's Origin awakened, an array under the village would mark them and hide their Essence fluctuation for only two days. Another array would inform the sect, so the next day, the sect would send someone to either escort them to the sect or send them away from its territory to prevent them from attracting monsters. Most people chose to join the sect; others, though rarely, took the second option.
Both options forced the person to face monsters. Some people were very afraid, so they escaped their village before the sect sent anyone, then hid in another village. They were called Lurkers.
Eland proceeded with the trial. "According to the rules of all the sects around the world…"
The man trembled as he heard that. He knew what was coming next.
"You, whatever your name is, are sentenced to death," Eland finished, then gave a firm nod to Arkan.
"NOOOOOOO… PLEASEEEE… NOOOOO—"
Arkan held his spear tightly. His hands were shaking; apparently, it was his first time doing this.
He still walked toward the man and lifted his spear high into the air.
"NOOOOOOOOO—"