The silver light of the teleportation circle faded, leaving Luo Feng and the thirty-two adventurers standing once again in the stone courtyard behind the Adventurers Guild.
For a single heartbeat, everything was silent.
Then a low, ancient voice whispered directly into Luo Feng's mind — cold, amused, and familiar.
"You finally see it, don't you… the true face of the 'heroes' your goddess chose."
The voice lasted only a second before vanishing like smoke. Luo Feng's head snapped up, eyes narrowing, but the ancient Evil God said nothing more.
He said nothing aloud. His face remained calm, but his grip on the Adamantite dagger at his belt tightened until his knuckles turned white.
The thirty-two adventurers stepped forward as one. Their faces were grim, eyes burning with barely contained fury. They marched straight into the main guild hall where the Guild Master and dozens of other high-ranking adventurers were waiting for their return.
The Guild Master stood up immediately. "What did you find?"
One of the S-rank warriors — a towering man with a scarred face — spoke first, his voice low and heavy.
"We found nothing alive. Only death."
He described everything in brutal detail: the bodies cut into pieces, the ones burned alive, the ones crushed beneath collapsed houses, the blood-soaked fields, the way the monsters had been allowed to slaughter everyone while the heroes and soldiers used the villagers as living shields and fled.
The hall fell into stunned silence.
Then the anger came like a rising storm.
Murmurs turned into growls. Fists slammed on tables. Weapons were gripped so tightly they creaked.
"They sacrificed an entire village…" one A-rank adventurer whispered, voice shaking with rage.
Another spat on the floor. "Those so-called blessed heroes ran like cowards and left women and children to die in their place."
The Guild Master's face had gone pale, then dark red with fury. He slammed his hand on the table.
"Those bastards… they dare call themselves heroes while doing something like this?"
While the hall boiled with outrage, a scout who had just returned from the northern road stepped forward, breathing hard.
"Guild Master… there is one more thing. A survivor — a young woman, one of Miya's close friends from the village. She was out at the far fruit orchards picking when the attack started. She saw everything. She managed to escape into the forest and has been running toward the capital ever since. She's still on the road… but she's close. She should arrive within the next day or two."
Luo Feng stood perfectly still among the furious adventurers, his eyes cold and distant.
The ancient Evil God's voice had already disappeared, but its words still echoed in his heart.
He had lost everything — his wife, his unborn child, his new family, his peaceful village.
And the ones responsible wore the Goddess's blessing like a crown.
The guild hall continued to rage around him, but Luo Feng remained quiet, the calm farmer's mask still on his face… while something far darker stirred beneath it.