The Village's Taboo (3)

"Ha…ha…this is…exhausting." Elena pants.

The wave of villagers targeting her, Tain, Alice, Andre and the village elder seemed unending. Her fist and clothes tainted by their blood—yet their population appears to be increasing rather than the opposite.

"Shot's ready!" The village elder shouted.

Hurriedly, Elena stepped aside as the village elder fired his third shot. Blood and flesh splattered across the surroundings. Even so, the efficiency of the villagers did not waver for a single moment.

Before the massive crowd could enter the small door frame—Andre threw himself along with the couch onto them—halting their progression from accelerating. Although it was simply a temporary measure—the barricade he had unintentionally built gave all of them a few moments to breathe.

"Does another exit not exist around here?" Elena asked.

"No. This house was modified to become like this by that devil. Ensuring that I won't be able to escape." The village elder answered while reloading the gunpowder into his cane.

The entire atmosphere felt heavy. Their only means of escaping had been invaded. The only reason all of them were still alive was because they were persistent in surviving this ordeal.

"Uhm…I have a suggestion." Tain blurted out despite the dreadful circumstances.

"What is it?" The village elder questioned.

"Can't we just…break through the walls…?" Tain answered anxiously.

While this idea would indefinitely seem unreasonable in any other type of scenario—this current situation fitted the requirements. The decaying walls are undoubtedly fragile, and they might be able to break with just enough exertion of force.

"That's a good idea. But none of us have enough physical strength to…" The village elder stopped his sentence midway as he glanced at Andre.

"W-What?"

"Andre. Amongst everyone here, you are physically the strongest. Break down the wall."

"Elder…I'm already having a hard time making sure those people don't enter…!" Andre argued.

Andre certainly has the most suitable physique for Tain's proposition. But at the same time, he is the only person amongst the five of them that could continue obstructing the devil's puppets from having their way with them.

"...Then, allow me to lend you a hand." Elena spoke up as she stood in front of Andre.

Extending her arm towards Andre—a bright, yellowish glow emerges from the air—floating in front of the palm of her hand. The prominent light grew darker by the seconds as it soon went from a bright yellow to a dark, orange hue that radiated faintly.

The moment the color of the luminosity changed—it started shaping itself into something unknown as it seems to materialize into reality itself. Just before Elena could go further with her ability—the aura she conjured immediately shattered into smithereens as a blinding flash of light promptly followed afterwards. The particles of her aura swept away along with the wind's current.

"Impossible…" She mumbled beneath her breath.

Elena looked anguished, as well as bewildered by what had just occurred in her range of sight. The very thing she had mastered to an extreme degree—the ridiculous amount of effort she had put into—rejected her for the first time in her life. Her own aura—as of this current moment—she is can no longer utilize it.

Despite feeling devastated—this wasn't the time to mourn. Hardening her heart—she leaned towards Andre's ear.

"Andre, prepare yourself." She whispered to him.

"Wha-" Before Andre could comprehend her words—Elena immediately pushed him away as she took the responsibility of barricading the people from entering in his stead.

"Andre! Now's the time! Punch the wall before Elena collapses!" The village elder screamed.

Although Andre hesitated at first—upon seeing Elena using every ounce of her strength to thwart their opponents plans fuelled Andre's conviction. Hurriedly, he began throwing a barrage of punches towards the wall.

For a wall that has been supposedly deteriorating since ages ago—it still felt very hard, and resisted Andre's strikes. Even so, he did not stop his onslaught—swinging his arms like a madman at the wall.

Soon however, the consequences of his action took a toll on his limbs. Blood trickled from his pair of battered arms—his skin having been torn off in the process as his flesh was exposed to the air. Debris of wood that had pierced his flesh made unimaginable pain to course through Andre's entire figure.

But at the same time, the wall took considerable damage as well. The shape of Andre's fists had been implemented into it, and seems to be on the edge of breaking down.

Andre knew just a few more attacks would be enough for the wall to succumb to his punches. But the agonizing pain was too much for Andre to bear. The fiery determination presented inside of his eyes looked dull—the embers that burned dazzlingly gradually dispersed as time went by.

"Hurry…!" Elena muttered.

She could hardly continue preventing the people from entering. She was exhausted both mentally and physically. But she wasn't going to go out so easily. She swore to serve Tain for as long as possible. And that oath of hers cannot be broken now.

The situation was appalling. Everyone inside could feel it—they were destined to die right now.

"This is the end, huh…" The village elder murmured to himself.

In the spur of the nightmarish present—brilliance suddenly struck Andre.

"Everyone!" Andre cried out—bringing all of them out of their disheartened thoughts.

"Ready yourselves. On the count of three I'll break the wall. And when that happens, Elena, I want you to grab Alice and Tain and run quickly. Elder, I'll carry you on my back so prepare yourself."

Andre's words reignited their will to live. His words became a beacon of hope to them, and they weren't going to waste the remaining hope they had left.

"One."

They patiently waited as Andre backed away from the wall.

"Two."

Taking a deep breath—Andre composed himself for the outrageous performance he would execute.

"...Three!"

As he bawled his final words—he leaped into the air—crashing into the weakened wall as his entire bodyweight, in addition with the momentum of his leap—teared through the planks.

The plan was set into motion instantaneously—the village elder rushing to Andre to be carried. Meanwhile, Elena abandoned the couch and snatched both Tain and Alice into her arms as all of them fled from the place.

"Everyone! Follow Andre! I'll show you all where the horses are!" The village elder roared.

'This is it. This is their chance to escape!' He thought while guiding them to their methods of transportation.

…

'Damnit…everything is fucked up.'

Amidst the crowd of the mindless natives—a male humanoid figure emerges from their shadow. His entire figure encompassed with pure darkness as he took a stroll.

'The subjects are in disarray…that bastard finally decided to rebel. For a plaything himself, to think he would bear his fangs against his owner… This isn't good. I need to fix this… If not, master will be enraged.'

…