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Chapter 16: Mayor Crisis

It didn't take long to finish off the last few Forest Tigers until a system message appeared.

Task complete!

Wiping away the sweat that had started to accumulate on his brow, Makoto sheathed his new sword and went on his way back to Shivercliff.

He was not too far away from the actual village as most Forest Tigers had respawned after being inside the Spider Dungeon for more than a day.

Boran could not believe his eyes after Makoto returned, claiming the rewards for more than half of the tasks on the board.

"I see you have been busy my friend.

I honestly am surprised you were able to kill so many of those damn beasts in a row.

Maybe you actually can help find the people who have started to disappear around here.

Would you be able to look into it on my behalf?"

Many amiss! (Quest)Many Villagers of Shivercliff have started to disappear and the last person that went missing was the Mayor himself!

Investigate his disappearance and you might be able to find the others too!

Search the Mayor's house for clues.Rewards:UnknownPenalties:NoneRequirements:High Intimacy with one of the Villagers of Shivercliff, Level 15.

"That is what I had planned to do from the beginning anyways"

Makoto said with a smile and accepted the Quest.

Boran nodded and Makoto was able to eat a delicious stew at the Inn before he went outside to take care of a few things.

First of all he went to the Blacksmith and repaired his equipment.

His cloak was practically in tatters at this point and the acid had nearly broken his gloves to pieces.

Afterwards he went to the only Merchant in town and was able to sell most of the junk he had gathered for a staggering 6 Silver and 25 Copper.

Happy about his current Situation he asked around until he finally reached the Mayor's house.

It was by far the biggest building in Shivercliff.

Being two stories high and even having something of a little front garden it sure was something to be jealous of.

The door was not locked so Makoto was able to simply enter as he pleased.

Inside, he immediately noticed that a lot of furniture was knocked over and books as well as paper littered the floor, it very much looked like a fight had taken place here.

Careful, as to not step on any personal belongings of the Mayor, Makoto maneuvered through the entrance and found himself in the living room where the same chaos resided.

Unsure what he was even looking for, Makoto decided to first of all observe if anything seemed to be amiss here.

He did notice something strange.

The whole floor was littered with different things but there was not one spot that was actually empty.

Sure enough it would be understandable during a fight that certain things get scattered around the floor but there would also be spots that were untouched, free of any mistreatment.

These did not exist here, it was a perfect chaotic environment.

In a way it looked somewhat artificial, fake you could say.

After investigating the entire house and the two floors above he found the same perfect mess in every room which was more than a little suspicious.

It didn't look like whoever kidnapped the Mayor was actually after money because Makoto was able to find quite a few Silver coins left untouched on a table.

"So we can cross out robbery, but why kidnap the Mayor in the first place then? Even go as far as make it look like there was either a big fight or search... what is the point?"

Makoto was quite confused as there was a few things here that just didn't make sense.

The only possibility that seemed logical was that all of this was a diversion.

He searched through the entire house again but could not find any clue who or why they would want to kidnap the Mayor.

Makoto was about to leave the house, still confused, when he noticed the staircase leading down into the cellar.

That was the only place he had yet to look into but what exactly would he even find down there?

Unsure but having no other choice, Makoto headed down the wooden stairs and found himself in a dark and cold cellar.

Dust had settled all over the floor and immediately he noticed two things.

This was the first room where there was no clutter or personal belongings littering the ground and he could see footprints in the durst that had to be recent.

"Now we are finally getting somewhere. Let's see what the kidnappers wanted down here in this cellar."

Happy to actually have a possible clue, Makoto examined his surroundings.

There really wasn't much to find down here, just the usual basement that is normally used as a storage area.

There was some wooden boxes and one or two kegs lying around but other than that it was empty.

Makoto decided to follow the trail of footsteps in the dust and soon enough arrived at a wall at which the prints just stopped.

Right away an idea entered his mind but it couldn't be...

"A secret door? But why would the Mayor have something like that in his cellar?"

Still unsure if he was right, Makoto examined the wall before him and sure enough found a loose brick that he pressed.

With a rattling of chains the wall in front of him suddenly sank into the ground, revealing an unlit and dark tunnel.

"Well looky here, the little Mayor had a secret entrance and exit... talk about plot twist."

Having no torch at his disposal, Makoto put one hand on the wall next to him and entered the tunnel.

The darkness around him reminded him about the time he spent in the Goblin cave and right away he got a shiver down his spine.

One hand on the wall and one grasped tightly around the handle of his sword, Makoto delved deeper and deeper into the unknown.

It felt like an eternity but finally he could see a literal light at the end of the tunnel.

It was already night outside when Makoto stepped out of a secret exit in the forest.

He was now quite far away from the Village of Shivercliff, a quick look at his map confirmed that.

Still confused at what was really going on here he followed the dirt trail leading deeper into the woods and soon enough he could hear voices.

While hiding between a few trees, Makoto was able to approach undetected and what he saw stunned him.

Bodies.

Dozens of bodies littered the floor, women, children and men lay dead on the ground, some already in different states of decay but all were dead.

All around the bodies were stone pillars and at the center, where the most dead lay, there was a familiar blood red stone altar.

Red cloaked people all around, kneeled in a semi circle in front of this altar and beside it stood a man, his face not hidden by the hood of his cloak and his arms spread wide like the smile that was on his face.

A sudden system window appeared before Makoto.

The Quest 'Many Amiss!' has changed properties!

The Blood Offering! (Quest)A cruel and inhuman Ritual is taking place, with the villagers of Shivercliff already having paid the prize for it all.

These good and honest villagers have all been deceived by the one they trusted most, the Mayor of Shivercliff himself!

As the one leading this wretched Ritual the villagers souls can not find peace until you stop it and bring the Mayor to justice.Rewards:UnknownPenalties:Your Alignment will change from 'Neutral' to 'Evil' if you decline this Quest and let the Blood Moon Cultists finish their Ritual.Requirements:Chain Quest.

This was actually the first time Makoto had seen a Chain Quest.

Logically speaking they should yield incredible rewards but getting them was a different struggle.

Something else that deeply confused Makoto was seeing the Blood Moon Cultists again.

He still remembered how the mysterious tome had spoken of creating a Quest for him and it involved stopping a similar Ritual.

He had until now thought that the Ritual itself only existed because of the Quest that was created but it seemed he had been misled by his own judgement.

These Rituals took place no matter if a player was involved or not, stopping them was hard work as the locations were all well hidden.

It was an incredible coincidence that Makoto was able to find yet another Ritual site but sadly this time he was too late to save lives.

The sight of children, they could not be older than 5 or 6, having their necks twisted in a disturbing angle as well as long blood crusted cuts on their arms infuriated Makoto.

A literal mountain of corpses, arms bent at the wrong angles, faces filled with the horror of death.

Looking into the milky white and dead eyes of these little innocent kids just wanting to live for a better tomorrow hurt, but even more than the emotional pain, he felt an inhuman rage.

And all of this rage and anger was directed at the Cultists kneeling beside all of these bodies, praying to some unholy god Makoto gave not one single shit about.

Without being able to hold himself back anymore, he stepped out of the shadows and with an infernal roar chopped off the arm of the nearest Cultist.

Blood Moon Cultist: lvl 16

Critical hit!

569 Damage dealt!

Before the hooded person could even scream, a blade appeared from the opened mouth and Makoto dislodged his sword while walking past the collapsing Cultist.

His anger increased every single time he saw one of the villagers faces.

A red mist started to appear from his eyes and seemed to trail after Makoto.

The rest of the Cultists had been made aware of his existence and were momentarily stunned seeing this cloaked player giving of so much killing intent that it practically manifested.

Makoto spoke and his voice was so dark and foreign to his own ears that he had some trouble recognizing it himself.

"Are you proud of what you have done?

Are you proud you sacrificed innocent lives for a mad belief you pieces of trash?!

These villagers might have been scared when they died but after I'm finished here you will beg me on your fucking knees to kill you, that I swear!"

His face was a mask of unending rage and with slow but precise steps he approached another Cultist.

He could practically smell the fear surrounding the people around him but even stronger than that was their fanatic belief in their god.

Not caring for his own life, a Cultist jumped towards Makoto with a dagger in both hands.

With a quick movement, Makoto hit the arms holding the dagger with his sword.

Critical hit!

607 Damage dealt!

Two hands, still tightly holding a dagger flew through the air followed by a scream of pure agony.

Normally overjoyed about hearing his enemies scream, Makoto's anger only grew more and he approached yet another Cultist and also chopped both his hands off.

Soon enough all the Cultists at the Ritual site crawled around with stumps instead of hands and every attempt to hurt Makoto did only minor damage and was quickly healed by his 'Blood Rejuvenation'.

One after the other every Cultist except the Mayor, who was still standing beside the altar, was kneeling on the ground and howling in pain.

A cacophony of anguish was audible beneath the moon and finally during this choir from hell, Makoto turned towards the pale Mayor.

"Tell me, how did it feel betraying and killing your Neighbors that trusted you with their lives, dear Mayor."

Makoto asked, his voice dark and cold like the night itself.

The man in question gave off a nervous laughter and was struggling to find words under the unyielding glare Makoto gave him.

"Y-you must understand, I had no choice in the matter. My hand was forced by the divine-"

With a slap from Makoto the Mayor fell to his knees and held his cheek, stunned and unable to say anything else.

"Bullshit. No one forced your hand, you chose to kill the people you swore to protect and that is it. I should stab your eyes out and let you burn alive but that is not my choice."

With a quick punch against his temple, Makoto knocked the Mayor out cold and turned to the disabled Cultists that had even dared to crawl away while he was still biding his time with their leader.

He took his time killing them.

Some of them got their chest opened, still functioning intestines and organs dragged behind them as he made it a sport to slowly kill them.

A few others had all their limbs cut off and tried to wriggle away as Makoto stabbed them again and again until they stopped moving.

The last 5 or so had their tongues cut, eyes poked out, eardrums destroyed and tendons cut at every limb so they could only flop about, unable to see, speak or hear anything, only a flopping sound accompanied by a moan was audible from them.

They all had a taste of his 'Curse Blade' skill and Makoto watched them slowly bleed to death with a truly delighted face.

After disposing of the last Cultist, Makoto quickly looked for loot and then shouldered the body of the unconscious Mayor.

He left the disturbing Ritual site behind, not wanting to spend another minute at that cursed place.

A sudden system window surprised him.

Because of your cruel and inhuman actions in dealing with evil doers, your title 'Dark Crusader' has changed properties.

Righteous Demon:Normally claimed to be the evil that pesters our world you are on the path of good, your actions may be questionable and cruel but you make sure to punish evil wherever it walks and avenge the lives of those who have been killed unjustly.Effects:+15% Damage against Chaotic or Individuals with an 'Evil' Alignment.Additional Effects:+10 Strength and Vitality.

Grinning about his upgraded title, Makoto pushed a branch aside and decided to walk back above ground.

It was still late at night, he was on his way back to Shivercliff and boy would it's residents wake up to a surprise...

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I actually got really hyped just writing this chapter so stay tuned for more to come!

Hope you all continue to enjoy my story and see you all tomorrow! :D