Earth's Greatest Magus

As the tension in the air between the two groups continued to grow, it became increasingly apparent that a fight was about to ensue between the 80 or so warriors of Yori's village and the thirty members of the Ironcrest clan.

Watching all this unfolding, there was something within Emery that told him to jump in and help those people. However, he eventually decided not to.

He had absolutely no plans of making things difficult for himself for a group of people who had nothing to do with him, especially those who had tried to trick him into helping them.

Before long, swords were drawn, bows were pulled, both groups were brandishing their weapons at each other. However, just as they were about to be unleashed and set off a battle, the already transformed Yori roared out loud, accompanied by a burst of powerful aura that was above his realm.

"EVERYONE, STAND DOWN!!"

At that moment, it was as if everything came to a halt. The roar was so sudden and so powerful that it caught everyone's attention and shattered the atmosphere altogether, stopping the fight from progressing.

Staring at the Ironcrest clan's magus with a fierce gaze, Yori spoke with suppressed anger. "You are going too far, Rezek. It's our right to choose the tribute, and it has always been the way. Your Lord will not allow this!"

From the willingness to be sacrificed for the sake of the village to the actions he did right now, Yori had managed to give Emery some positive impressions of him. It was indeed an act that only a principled and caring leader could do.

However, the old man's actions were destined to be in vain. Seeing their attitude so far, Emery did not believe those guests would listen to him.

In the next second, what happened unfortunately went as Emery expected.

The magus named Rezek just chuckled as he said, "You are a fool, aren't you Yori? Do you really not get it? The increasing taxes, the tight deadlines..." His chuckle turned into laughter. "Our patriarch does not want your small tribute. What he wants is your land."

As soon as he finished saying those words, with a motion of his hand, the 30 warriors behind him came charging towards the villagers. Various roars echoed loudly through the air before sounds of swords clanging, claws clashing, and spells exploding poured in.

All hell broke loose as the two sides, numbering in the hundreds, engaged in a battle to the death.

Even though the things that the Ironcrest clan did to Yori's village were unfair, arguably heinous, treatment towards the latter as stated, Emery had heard about the territorial wars that were constantly being waged between the Wolf bloodline clans.

What happened in front of him could have been something common. Hence he should not throw himself into becoming embroiled in such a situation. It was not his place to get involved in this matter.

Hence, he took a few steps back and continued to watch from the sidelines.

Still standing where he had been, the magus called Rezek had a smile on his face when he saw Emery's decision.

Yori once again let out a loud howl, and with his aura as the village chief, he managed to raise his village's eighty warriors' battle power. However, despite their superior numbers and solid teamwork, they were still quickly overwhelmed by their opponents.

In just a short duration of five minutes, half of the eight warriors had fallen to the ground, either died or incapacitated. From the looks of it, it was only a matter of time before everyone was taken care of by the Ironcrest clan.

As he continued to observe the battle, Emery realized that the Ironcrest had no qualms about killing those with Earth realm cultivation, but they were willing to do the extra work if it allowed them to capture the Sky realm warriors.

The only two who were able to hold their ground and fight off Ironcrest's people were the chief Yori and his son. With their transformation, the two brown-furred wolves were able to match the saint-level warriors of the Ironcrest clan, especially the latter who was capable of fighting three at the same time.

"That one is quite valuable, so do it properly!" shouted Rezek, a frown could be seen on his face when he saw the stubborn fight that Yori's son was doing.

It was blatantly obvious what these Ironcrest people were trying to do. The only reason they tried so hard to capture the strong villagers instead of killing them was to turn them into slaves.

Once again, Emery fell into thought, hesitating whether or not he should help them.

Before he could make up his mind, there were already only a dozen left standing. Naturally, the father and son duo were among these people.

As more and more Ironcrest warriors took down their opponents, they quickly joined in the attempt to capture the Saint level half-blood. It was evident how much they valued the young man.

Despite the fact that various kinds of restraining spells and rope artifacts were thrown, it still took them quite an effort before they finally managed to completely restrain him.

"NO!!" shouted Yori as he rushed into the crowd surrounding his son like a gust of wind.

Immediately afterwards, he twisted his body while extending his sharp claws, becoming a tornado of destruction that forcibly pushed the Ironcrest warriors away. He then quickly used his claws to free his son from the restraints.

The latter naturally didn't let the village chief have his way just like that. They immediately strike back, inflicting countless sword and claw wounds on the old man. Nevertheless, ignoring the blood and wounds all over his body, the old man shouted, "Go, son! Run!!"

At that moment, Emery felt a certain memory buried within his mind being unlocked when he saw the sacrifice Yori made for his son. It told him that a similar situation happened to him a long time ago, where a certain bandit had come to harm someone he cared about.

While Emery was distracted by the newfound memory, it was at this moment that the Ironcrest magus, Rezek, took action. He disappeared from where he stood and charged at the old wolf, using a powerful battle art that crushed both of the latter's hind shoulders, which effectively rendered both of his arms useless.

"Father!!" The son screamed as he saw the bloody, tragic sight of his father.

HOWWWLLL!!

The young man was completely enraged to see his father's condition. The anger he experienced even allowed him to increase his strength. Unfortunately, with a dozen or so saint level warriors surrounding him, there was nothing he could do even with his increased strength. He could only struggle helplessly.

Everything, from start to finish, took less than ten minutes. In the end, all the able-bodied warriors of the village were neutralized by the Ironcrest warriors. Their village head fell to his knees in agony, a pool of blood gathering beneath him.

"Please, let them all go..." said Yori as he stared at Rezek. "We will do anything! anything for the Ironcrest!"

Walking up to the old wolf, the latter chuckled as he said, "You know how this goes, Yori... You need to die, so all your bloodline will be easily taken care of."

Not waiting for a reply, Rezek pulled out a dagger and immediately drove it straight into Yori's heart. The villagers could do nothing but scream and cry when they saw their village chief groaning in pain. A moment later, his head fell down and didn't move anymore.

Yori's son was furious, his eyes turned bloodshot watching his father's life disappear from this world. He screamed out loud his desire to get revenge and killed the Ironcrest clan, but he was quickly silenced by the Ironcrest saint warriors around him.

After killing Yori, Rezek ordered his subordinates to gather the rest of the people hiding in the village out into the open. These people were forced out and quickly dragged into the field when Ironcrest warriors started burning down the hut they were staying in.

The sacrifices a father made for his son, the heartrending cries of women and children as they watched their home burn, everything became the spark and brought back Emery's memories of his dead father and the tragic massacre of the Ambrose household.

"Marauders!! You Batrads?"

In confusion, Emery saw the Ironcrest people as the marauders who had brought him pain. Such emotions, coupled with an urge within that had been trying to make him act, unconsciously caused him to transform.

[Night Transformation]

As dark fur covered his body, Emery gazed at the one in charge, the Magus figure. The man will be his first

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