Chapter 78: Extermination

The flight continued uneventfully for two full days, father didn't even stop to rest. By the dawn of the third day, land was finally at sight. We were high in the air, far above the clouds as we approached what looked like a small fishing village. I could see a few boats close by the shore with some humans in them.

Father came to a stop, as he glanced at the peaceful village below and spoke. "This is your first target, use whatever methods you want and exterminate them!" He said in a chilly tone. I gulped and nodded in acknowledgment, before hopping off his head.

'Now, since It's a seaside village, I suppose the fastest way to handle this is that' I thought as I turned to attention to the sea. Just as I was about to start, my gaze was unconsciously drawn to a group of young children playing on the beach and throwing sand at each other.

A frown made its way onto my face, a small part inside of me argued that this was wrong, that these people were innocent, yet for some reason, I had no empathy towards them. It was truly as If I was looking at mere bugs, we were not on the same level in the first place.

I knew for a fact that had this been in the past, I would have without a doubt been repulsed by the idea of killing humans, even children, but now I no longer felt any way towards them. They were simply there, and I could care less. Was thinking this way wrong? Perhaps, did I care? No. I came here for a mission, and I was going to finish It!

I shook my head, ridding myself of all useless thoughts before I descended towards the village. They were soon going to meet their maker, the least I could do is show them who is responsible. This was my way of trying to show respect, though they don't deserve It, It was still undeniable that they were innocent.

I lowered my altitude, my large figure emerged from the sea of clouds. The children immediately spotted me and began to jump in excitement while pointing at me in wonder, a few adults raised their heads in curiosity and surprise.

"Look! What is that?"

"Oh, old Jan! You also came out!"

"Yes, I just heard the commotion, what's going on?"

"I don't know, some sort of giant bird appeared?"

"A bird? It doesn't seem to have any feathers though?"

"Woah, mother look how big It is!"

"Nathan, go back inside the house with your little sister! I have a bad feeling about this,"

"But mom I want to watch the giant bird!"

"Just listen to what your mother is telling you, stupid boy!"

Various conversations reached my ears as I circled around the small village. The people did not seem to recognize my figure as that of a dragon, 'Did they never hear about a dragon before?' I wondered as I glanced at the small crowd of people that began to gather at the center of the village while pointing at me in curiosity.

They didn't appear to be afraid, just curious. 'It seems like the humans have been living in peace, I only sense a few people who seem a little bit uneasy, other than that, I'm only sensing curiosity oozing out of them, interesting, there are no guards or any people like that for that matter, Is It because it's a small village?'

I quickly shook my head, I was getting sidetracked again. Taking a deep breath, I came to a stop right above the center of the village and glanced down at the people below. I did not know why, but the way they were all studying me and pointing their fingers at me irked me.

'I don't like it,' A frown made its way unto my face. I quickly unleashed my bloodlust letting it soar through the sky, the humans did not understand what happened as one second I looked completely harmless, the next I was a demon that crawled out of the abyss.

Almost all of them fell to the ground in shock and fear, the young ones and elderly passed out immediately leaving a few able-bodied people on their knees. "Kneel!" I spoke in a harsh tone, my voice coming off like a clap of thunder in their ears as I fully unleashed my pressure on the small village.

The few small boats that were on the sea were crushed, their owners already met their demise in the water, being the first casualties. I didn't add anything and simply reached out to the water mana as the sea heeded my call. The water began to churn violently as large waves crashed on the shore.

The humans had their heads planted in the ground, they were unable to raise their gazes to see what was happening. The few that were still conscious shook uncontrollably under the pressure, I could feel their emotions, the fear that overwhelmed them alongside the confusion over what was going on.

Sadly for them, I had no intentions of explaining myself. I unleashed a roar that terrified the humans, the ground shook beneath their feet as the water receded unusually far, exposing the seafloor. An abnormally large wave rose to cast a shadow on the small village below.

They did not know what was happening before It was too late. The wave crashed against the fishermen's village completely erasing it from existence. I watched the entire ordeal with a calm gaze as the water washed the humans away, I heard their screams of pain and agony, I heard their prayers as they pleaded to their gods for salvation, one that was never bound to come.

And just like that, the village was gone. The small houses, the people, the children, the elderly, all gone in the blink of an eye. 'They really are too fragile,' I inwardly mumbled while shaking my head with a sigh. With my first mission completed, I turned back towards the cloud and flew to my father who was waiting for me.

"Good, but next time make It faster!" He said, to which I nodded in acknowledgment.

"Yes, father!"

"En, let's go, you will first clear out all the seaside villages by the end of today before we delve deeper towards their main cities," He explained before flapping his wings and moving towards our next target, with me following in toe.

What transpired after could only be described by one word, a massacre. None of the villages we visited stood any chance, they were simply akin to chickens in the slaughterhouse. They had no guards, no nothing, just a bunch of helpless villagers. I did not enjoy slaughtering weak opponents, ones that had no chance of fighting back whatsoever.

'It's all for the sake of my rite of passage,' I reminded myself as we made our way towards another target.