Armipotent

Tang Shaoyang was not expecting how the villagers would react to him. Not just to him but also to the siblings. He sensed the annoyance of the guard toward the siblings when they arrived at the village. Rene seemed to be fearful of the guards as well instead of feeling safe.

"Wait there! We will attack if you come closer!" Despite Rene's testimony, the guard kept their spear on Tang Shaoyang. The second guard ran inside the village. He most likely called more people or maybe the village chief.

Rene was panicking while the brother woke up from the yell. He looked around before starting to cry once more. Rene wanted to explain the situation to Tang Shaoyang, but she wanted to calm her little brother first.

"Just take your time." Tang Shaoyang took a bottle of water and handed it to Rene. The little brother calmed down after getting the water. The guard who left earlier came back with more people. At least twenty people armed with the same wooden spear came out.

"You cause trouble again, Rene!" A young man who led the people from the village yelled out, pointing his finger at Rene and her little brother. The little brother hid behind his sister while Rene lowered her head.

Looking at how scared Rene was, Tang Shaoyang stood before her, facing the young man and the villagers. "She is not to blame. I am just escorting them back to the village."

"I don't speak to you, stranger! This is our village's affair. You don't say anything when I speak!" The young man pointed his finger angrily at Tang Shaoyang.

Tang Shaoyang did not expect such a development. He wanted to use these villagers to be his guide, getting to know more about the terrain of the eleventh floor or at least this area. If they were hostile toward him, then he could not ask them to be his guide. Of course, there was another way to make them his guide. He could use his force, forcing them to listen to his request.

'Wait. The guard was level 7 and cautious when they saw me, but this young man was different. There must be something that makes him confident.' Tang Shaoyang used [Detection] on the young man.

[??? — Level 127]

'I see…. That's what makes him arrogant, huh?' He checked the other villagers and found out that their level was between level 32 to level 61. Without a doubt, these people must be the strongest group in the village. The guard earlier was nothing compared to these people, but they were nothing compared to him. 'Do they not have detection skills?'

"But this matter is related to me. They are just following my request, yet you are being harsh on them." Tang Shaoyang tried to play it nice.

"We have rules, and one of the rules is not to bring people to our village. The siblings have broken the rule, and they deserve to be punished! You are not part of our village; you better keep your mouth shut and leave! Leave before I make you regret coming here!" The young man clearly did not want to talk it out with Tang Shaoyang, but he did not recklessly attack Tang Shaoyang too.

Tang Shaoyang was about to respond, but he felt someone tugging at his coat. Rene was the one who pulled his coat, shaking her head. "It's okay, Sir Tang. You can leave. Thank you for saving my life and my brother's."

He furrowed his brow and squatted down. "What's the punishment?" There was no way he would leave after knowing the sibling would get punished. Rene did not want to speak and shook her head.

Even though she did not answer him, he could tell how harsh the punishment was for not daring to speak about it. From the look of it, it seemed this was not the first time Rene had received the punishment.

"They will bring my sister to an empty building, and she will not return until the next morning," Rona replied in a very low voice, but Tang Shaoyang heard everything clearly with his sharp hearing. He frowned when he heard the suspicious punishment. "Did your sister bleed? Or hurt somewhere?"

"Rona!" Rene tried to stop her brother, but the little brother did not listen to his sister. "No, but she will walk limping and return with swollen eyes. She will usually sleep all day after getting punished."

Tang Shaoyang's frown deepened, and he looked at Rene. The girl's height was at his chest or even shorter, then he looked at her face; Rene was, at most, fourteen years. "You…." Before he could say anything, tears started to fall from her eyes. He was angry deep inside, but he held himself pretty well not to burst out.

"Do you want to leave the village with me?" That was the first thing coming to his mind, taking her and her little brother out of the village. There was no way he would leave the sibling after knowing what would happen to her.

"They will hurt you—" Rene could not finish her words as the young man yelled once more. "Come here immediately if you still want to stay in the village, Rene!"

Tang Shaoyang smiled. "Do you think they can hurt me? Just answer me, do you want to leave with me or do you want to stay in the village?"

"I want to leave the village. The other kids and adults keep bullying us. I don't want to stay in this village." Rona replied while shaking his head.

Tang Shaoyang rubbed Rano's hair and stood up. He turned around. "It seems Rene will not be staying in this village anymore. I will bring her little brother and her with me."

Ptuii!

The young man spat and raised his finger once more. "I kindly tell you to leave, yet you keep intervening with my village's affairs. Leave the village without Rene, or you will never leave the village. Make your choice!"

Tang Shaoyang shook his head, letting out a chuckle. "What about the third choice?" He no longer entertained the young man after saying that. His figure blurred and appeared in front of the young man. He grabbed the young man's neck and raised him into the air. "The third choice is you die!"

The young man's face turned red. He could not breathe. He hit Tang Shaoyang's arm, hitting as hard as he could, but he failed to break free. The young man tried to open the grab, but it was also futile. His feet were kicking the air as he could no longer breathe. Just as he thought he would die, the grab on his neck loosened. He fell to the ground, holding his neck as he tried to breathe in air as much as possible, coughing very hard in the process.

Tang Shaoyang squatted in front of the young man and pulled his hair up, pulling the young man's face closer to his face. "What about the fourth choice? You stay here obediently, and I will leave with Rene and Rona, okay?"

The young man pulled his sword from his waist and swung the sword toward Tang Shaoyang's head. "What about the fifth choice! You die h—" His voice stopped abruptly as he saw the sword stop one inch away from Tang Shaoyang's cheek. He felt like his sword hit something hard, something like a boulder. Realizing he was in a dire situation, he opened his mouth and yelled. "What are you guys doing? Kill him!"

Before the villagers could do anything toward Tang Shaoyang, they saw a giant fireball shoot upward. The black fireball was twice bigger than their body, and it was shot toward the sky. The black fireball exploded in the sky as the heatwave hit everyone on the ground. They realized that Tang Shaoyang was far scarier than the beasts around their village. Everyone froze on the spot and did not dare to make a single move.

Even the young man now was terrified, realizing he f*cked up. The man right before him was a monster in human skin.

Tang Shaoyang pushed the young man to the ground, and he stepped on the young man's crotch. He heard the crack noise before it was followed by the young man's agony scream. The young man held his bloody crotch, rolling around on the ground.

However, Tang Shaoyang did not kill the young man. He killed no one even though he could farm level for his Authority. He did not want the sibling to see that, though the sister seemed to have gone through far more traumatizing experiences than this. It was not good for her to experience another traumatizing event, so he left these people. "It's so satisfying to crack some nuts."

Tang Shaoyang returned to the siblings. "Come with me, Rona. Your sister must be tired after carrying you all day." The little boy was obedient this time. He did not resist Tang Shaoyang, but the sister seemed to be in a daze, looking at the villagers and getting frightened. He picked up the sister with his right hand and walked back, carrying the brother on his left and the sister on his right.