Chapter 67: Erasing Memories

I finished reviewing the guild’s status and my companions. I walked over and sat down beside Manaia, listening to them all talk about what had happened in the GRB. "Did you see how fast he was?" one of them asked. "That sword strike... it was like a bolt of light. I’ve never seen anything like it before." Another nodded. "Yeah, and his voice when he gave orders... it sent shivers down my spine, but the good kind. He’s a true leader." A third, unable to help herself, sighed. "And... he’s so handsome. His eyes sparkle when he smiles." A smile spread across my face. I couldn’t help but interrupt. "I see you’re talking about me." They all blushed and laughed in unison. One of them, with a smile, replied, "Yes, we were talking about how handsome you looked while fighting, and how incredible it was to see you command an army." I just laughed, enjoying the peaceful atmosphere. I told them about the huge amount of material we needed to build our guild hall and be able to live in a bigger, more spacious place. "Wood, stone, and gold?" Lira said with concern. "I don’t know where we could even start looking for all that. We don’t know of any mines nearby." The cat girl, Jayde, chimed in with a predatory smile. "We don’t need to do it ourselves. After how strong we’ve proven to be, we can take a banner to the neighboring villages, and they’ll all surrender to him. Even the Demon King living on this island is probably terrified and will flee this place. We can just plunder whatever we need." The idea was malevolent, but practical. Besides, they were our enemies; it would be considered merciful as long as we didn’t exterminate them down to the last man, woman, and child. The other warriors nodded enthusiastically. "Yes, that’s how it’s done. We’ll do it for our leader!" Jayde’s look and the rest of the girls’ eyes told me there was nothing wrong with her proposal; they all looked excited. After this battle, their eyes had changed drastically; there wasn’t a single shred of fear left. Each of them now longed to get revenge on their former oppressors, and it was no wonder. Even Riven, the best of them, had never dreamed of facing an orc face-to-face, and now she could block the blows of a Demon King and live to tell the tale. Or Anya, who could summon a sea of fire capable of sweeping everything away. I could understand their excitement about going out to intimidate monsters just as they had been intimidated themselves. "Alright, who wants to go collect resources and put all those creatures on the island in their place?" "I do...!" they all shouted in unison. I saw out of the corner of my eye that Lira didn’t look very excited; it was as if she were still distracted. "Lira, Manaia, I need you to stay behind to guard the village. Under no circumstances should you leave here." Lira nodded seriously while glancing at Manaia, understanding my true intentions with this order. "Understood, Jax," Manaia replied. "We will protect the village until you return." "If anything happens," I continued, "use the new guild chat function. It’s a private and secure communication channel that was unlocked upon entering the top 15, something incredibly convenient in the absence of a cell phone." They all ran and grabbed their things. They were dressed in normal clothes and were only carrying their weapons, since everything else had been destroyed, with the exception of the mages and archers who had not entered the fight. The warriors, for their part, had ended up in rags with only a few pieces of armor still hanging on. We walked towards the lizard-woman village. Upon arriving, they all saw the blood that was still there and the dismembered corpse of the matriarch rotting on the ground, even the mountain of corpses I had left in my wake to rescue her. The contrast of the stacked bodies told a very sad but true story. Several of the warriors accompanying me intuited what had happened, but they did not dare to say anything out of place or insinuate anything. I felt bad, but I reminded myself that I had no other choice on that occasion and, besides, they had brought about their own destruction. I said nothing and just asked Jayde to look for the Omaishi. Since there was no one there, it didn’t take her more than 3 minutes to find it and hand it to me. I stored it in my inventory and then I told Anya: "Reduce this place to ashes." Anya didn’t hesitate. She invoked a sea of flames with her [HellFire] ability that reduced the entire town to ashes. With her new level, this was a job that was far too simple for her, eliminating any trace of whatever had happened in that place. "Jayde, now I will fulfill my promise," I told her. "We will go to the cat village. Remember at all times that you are important to me, so I won’t let them lay a single finger on you. Enter with pride and not as a defeated person." Jayde guided us, and when we arrived, we did not hide, but instead walked directly toward the gates. The guards sounded the invasion alarms and the entire feline army gathered in front of us with their weapons drawn. Seven male cats with white beards and long whiskers came out, dressed in tunics that reached the floor, and stood in front of us. Although the cats did not have the ability to observe levels, they felt a great danger. The cats’ levels varied from level 25 up to level 69, which was the strongest elder. An elder with a deep voice stepped forward. "What is the purpose of your visit, strangers?" Jax turned to Elnara, completely ignoring the elderly cat, and said: "Launch an arrow as a greeting." Elnara understood the hint and pulled out an arrow, using her [Meteor Strike] ability. The arrow went up into the sky with a beautiful arc and fell right in the center of the village. The impact made the earth tremble, leaving a huge crater. Jax walked towards the elders, his gaze fixed on them, showing no emotion. "You have two options: surrender or die." There were no negotiations, no exchange of gifts, just a direct and blunt threat.