CHAPTER 23
Ren, along with his cousin and hooded friend, immediately set out as soon as it was the break of dawn. They had only used their abilities to cover the distance shortly before continuing their journey into a remote village deep in the mountains.
It was a very small town, quite lively but with very few people living in it. Everyone could instantly tell they were new here as they set their eyes on them, and they all made sure each of them felt at home here.
Free food and accommodation, and it seemed as well that these people didn't have a ruler either. They just lived their lives like everyone else should while being governed by many unspoken rules.
"Have any of you noticed anyone strange among all these people?" Ren asked, pacing around in the room they had been offered.
"How about we start worrying about the fact that not a single person here has the blessing of the gods, as they call it; it's almost as if they are rejects of the other nations." The other boy said, slowly taking off the hood he had on him. "That said, this is only a border between Raijin cho and bi..."
"Let's just keep quiet," Ren cut, slowly taking a seat. "We only came here to look for someone; I don't want us talking our way into trouble."
There was a long wait of silence amongst the three of them, but they had to deal with it; having just arrived here, the people most likely expected them to settle in for the moment before anything else.
They couldn't let anyone know that they had come here looking for something or do as much as mention the existence of the so-called gods worshipped around here.
Scattered all around the continent, these people were actually the many who had been banished when the oppression from the gods' disciples began. They fled far away from the nations as much as they could, living a life of nothing but bliss ever since then.
Ren had been basically tapping his foot on the floor while looking out through the window the entire time. It slowly began to dusk and still, they couldn't tell what exactly they were waiting for.
"Let's step out, maybe tread lightly until we get a bit more information," Ren said, springing up from the chair he was sitting on, "Let's return here before the sun sets completely, and then we can draft our plan of approach from there."
With that, the three of them all left the room simultaneously, heading towards different directions. Something felt off about this place and the people around, and they wanted to know more.
They had come here looking for someone, someone that could possibly give them a profitable lead to an answer, and for so long all that happened was them being thrown off track.
"The moment I step out of this door, there's a high chance I'll be walking into a whole lot of trouble, perhaps ones prepared specifically for me, though," Ren thought, slowly reaching for the door leading out of the room. "Which is why I came perfectly prepared for everything that could possibly happen... It's high time I see this ruler for myself."
With that he quickly shut the door behind him, his trailing instantly trailing towards the shifting shadows beneath his feet. His shadow was moving uncontrollably under the dim light that shone into the building.
It took a moment for him to put his shadow under control once again as he quickly stepped out afterwards.
And as he stood under the fading light of the dusking sun, he couldn't help but smile at himself as the thought of his plan continued to run through his mind.
From that point on, each step he took was slower and a bit steadier, almost to the point that he wasn't even walking. Of course, there were people walking around, but not a single one of them batted an eye towards him.
After doing this for over half a minute, he turned around slowly towards the line of people that had just walked past him with his shadow all stretched towards theirs.
They were all swallowed in instantly, but something felt strange, something that confirmed every last one of his thoughts, and he was quite sure of it.
He didn't need anyone to tell him that every last person he had just taken into his shadow was no longer there. And this time, the people didn't just look away like they had done before.
Everyone now had their eyes on him; they were glaring with a clear intent of rage while slowly moving towards him as well.
No commotion or words between them; they all just moved in unison towards him like they wanted to rip him apart or something.
"I'm really tired of this crap." He mumbled, raising his hand as his shadow stretched forward once again, linking with that of everyone coming towards him. "You won't be coming back from the dead this time."
His shadows not only stretched past the slowly raging group of people, but also circled the entire town, allowing him to feel the energy flow of his friends.
A wide grin crept across his face as dark slowly began to emerge from his shadow. Not a single corner of the very small village was left untouched, and as soon as the creatures were out of the shadow, they quickly began doing what they were brought out to do, wreaking as much havoc as possible.
In an instant, all the houses were torn down as the people wailed in despair, and as for the ones who were surrounding him a moment ago, they vanished the moment he released the creatures from within his shadows.
"Whoever it may be, I highly doubt that they will be staying in hiding for much longer." He mumbled, slowly descending into his shadow.
Within the space of his shadow, he was able to see the entire span of the village with the aid of the eyes he had set everywhere.
The population of the people was slowly dwindling, mostly vanishing into thin air. Not a single house was left standing, and after about an hour, there wasn't anybody left either; they had all vanished.
He rose from within his shadows once again with there being no sign of apparent life left within the village. He knew well enough that there was someone orchestrating all this from the backstage, and surely they were bound to be victims at some point.
And now, he was just waiting for that very person to finally show themselves, and he stood at the centre of the village staring at the sky.
And just then, he felt a searing pain run through his back, prompting him to turn around, but no matter how he tried, he could not even turn his head halfway through.
Something had been lounged against his back from behind, and it had quickly wrapped around his neck and legs as well, preventing him from turning around.
"So that's how you managed to turn all those people into puppets." He mumbled with a slight chuckle as the wide pool of shadows he had covered the entire village with slowly began to engulf him, coating every inch of his body.
The strings that had been attached to his body instantly began to fall off, and after a few more seconds, he rose from his shadows once again, facing a human figure that remained floating in the sky.
They were dressed in a white robe and veil with strings attached to every end of their fingers. There was a while of silence between the two of them before they raised their hands once again and sent the strings flying straight towards him.
Ren didn't move an inch, letting the strings pierce straight into his shoulders, but this time the veiled figure proceeded to pull him up from the ground as they quickly began wrapping their strings around him.
It only took a few seconds for him to become a human-sized cocoon and, just like that, it dropped straight to the ground.