After finishing the quest paperwork and getting paid, Dash, Shel, Marle, and Lilin were invited by Astrid to attend the village party. But the four of them chose to help prepare the party instead, and asked Astrid to tell the villagers not to treat them specially.
\So, Dash helped carry tables out of the houses to set up in the village square. Shel helped the women make food, and Marle and Lilin did too, though Lilin mostly stayed quiet and just kept sampling the food.
Night fell, and the party was in full swing. Music played, and the villagers began dancing cheerfully around the bonfire lit right in the center of the village square. Dash, Shel, Marle, and Lilin clapped along on the sidelines to the music played by the village musicians.
Feeling this sense of community with the diverse villagers—who were all cheerfully dancing or talking to anyone without prejudice—made Dash, Shel, Marle, and Lilin feel like they were right at home.
However, the merriment and cheer couldn't last forever. Suddenly, the village bell rang. Everyone immediately turned to look at the village entrance, which was only fenced off by fields and gardens. Dash, Shel, Marle, and Lilin looked over, their faces growing dark and furious.
They stood up, staring toward the entrance as mounted knights from the Grandias Kingdom rode into the village. The village chief, who had been in the middle of the party, immediately ran to greet them along with several men, speaking to the knight leading the group.
"What do they want here?" Shel asked, seething.
"Huh... they're truly disruptive," Marle replied, furious.
"Grr... knights from Grandias," Lilin muttered, grinding her teeth and reaching for the spear on her back.
"Calm down, don't be rash. As long as they don't bother us, don't move," Dash said, trying to soothe his three girls.
Dash looked again toward the knights. He immediately recognized four people with them—it turned out Garin and his friends were among the knights. When their gaze met Dash's, Garin immediately turned to the mounted knight in front and spoke to him, until the knight turned to look at Dash. The knight then appeared to speak with the village chief and pointed toward Dash, Shel, Marle, and Lilin, who were standing frozen, ready to act if necessary.
Dash could see the village chief arguing emphatically with the knight, and the male villagers behind him also supported the chief's argument with the knight. Suddenly, the knight turned back to look at his men, and one knight dismounted, drew his sword, and threatened the village chief, who was immediately pulled back by the men behind him. But the chief still seemed stubborn, and finally, the knight wielding the sword began to raise it. "Craaash," he slashed at the village chief, who managed to dodge but still got injured.
Blood flew, screams started ringing out. The mounted knight who was upfront and looked like a commander drew his own sword, pointed it toward Dash, Shel, Marle, and Lilin, and yelled out an order. "Kletek," Dash cracked his neck and knuckles, giving a wide smile. Then he turned to look at Shel, Marle, and Lilin, who were also smirking and visibly enraged.
"Let's go," Dash invited.
"Yeah," Shel, Marle, and Lilin replied.
As the knights advanced and began threatening the fleeing villagers, Dash, Shel, Marle, and Lilin stepped forward toward the knights, who were now beginning to dismount.
"Capture the Dragonkin, the Half-Orc, the White Wolf, and the Succubus! If any villager protects them, arrest them and bring them before me!" the commander ordered his men.
"Hmm... okay, I'm already right here in front of you," Dash said.
"Huh," the commander, hearing a voice right by his ear, immediately spun around to look forward, but a large palm was already clamping down on his face before he could react. "Crack," Dash tightened his grip and "boom," he smashed the knight to the ground until his head was driven into the earth in an odd position. Dash patted the commander's horse, and the horse immediately whinnied and ran off.
"Krek," Dash cracked his hands, looking at the ten or so remaining knights behind the commander, who all looked confused, shocked, and scared. Then Dash looked toward Garin and his friends, whose faces were still battered and toothless. Dash gave them a friendly smile while releasing his full gray Dragon energy wirthout changing his form..
"You guys wait right there. You're next," Dash said.
Shel, Marle, and Lilin landed behind Dash. They stared at the now commander-less knights, and at Garin and his friends, who flinched in terror when they saw the girls.
"The village chief is fine. He's being treated at the Guild now," Marle reported.
"Good. Now let's finish them off. Don't let anyone escape this village," Dash ordered.
"Roger that!" Shel, Marle, and Lilin yelled in unison.
"Syuuut," the three of them immediately shot off, while Dash stood tall, arms crossed.
Shel landed in between two mounted knights. Both her hands immediately grabbed the heads of the two knights on her right and left, as she smirked. "Crack," both her hands were instantly enveloped in a greenish-yellow aura, and she squeezed the two knights' heads until they were crushed. Blood instantly drenched Shel's face, but she looked thoroughly satisfied.
Meanwhile, Marle stomped her foot in the air, then shot forward, slicing the necks of three knights using her ice sword with incredible speed. Lilin landed behind the knights and skewered three knights simultaneously with her spear, which was engulfed in flames, burning them to cinders. The two remaining knights spun their horses and tried to flee the village, but Shel hurled two stone axes that instantly lodged in their heads. The two knights fell, and only their horses ran away.
Seeing the knights he had brought successfully slaughtered, Garin collapsed to the ground, his body shaking violently. His pants were instantly soaked, and his face, though swollen from bruises, was utterly pale. His three friends could only stand frozen, but water was clearly dripping to the ground from their crotches, and then they too fell, sitting on the ground. Dash, Shel—who was resting a stone axe on her shoulder—Marle—who was carrying two ice swords—and Lilin—who was twirling her spear—stood surrounding Garin and his friends.
"Now, what should we do with these guys?" Dash asked.
"Y-you... you bastard, you don't know who I am! I'm the son of a famous noble in the Grandias Kingdom! You're making a huge mistake if you kill me... my kingdom definitely won't..."
"Splat," Shel instantly crushed Garin's head before he could finish talking, using her stone axe. His blood splattered everywhere, including onto the faces of his three friends behind him.
"Annoying," Shel said casually.
"What about the others?" Marle asked, glancing at Garin's three friends, who were now completely terrified.
"No leftovers, right?" Dash replied casually.
"Okay," Lilin responded.
She immediately pointed her palm, which was cloaked in a red aura, and then "blaz," a red flame spear shot out and set the three of them on fire. "Gyaaaaaah," the three screamed loudly and rolled around on the ground until they finally stopped moving and were charred black.
After that, the four of them looked toward the villagers, who looked terrified and stared at them with strange, fearful looks, including Astrid, who was among the villagers. Seeing that, Dash turned around, then put his arms around Shel, Marle, and Lilin.
"Let's get out of this village," Dash suggested.
"Yeah, let's go," Shel agreed.
"I agree. I didn't want to stay long in this village or any other from the start," Marle said.
"I'll go along... but I don't like the way they're looking at us, even though we just helped them," Lilin said, looking annoyed.
"That's why it's best we leave," Dash countered.
"Alright, I get it, my husband," Lilin replied.
Dash turned to look at Astrid, who flinched immediately when their eyes met. Dash smiled.
"Hey, tell them this was our doing, not the villagers or anyone else! Don't worry about getting caught in the crossfire!" Dash yelled.
Then he turned and walked, embracing his three girls, toward the edge of the village, stepping over many knight corpses and a pool of blood on the road, accompanied by the stares of all the villagers, whose faces now looked like they were saying thank you, especially Astrid, who wiped away her tears and smiled.