221

[Owl]

Seeing so many birds attacking, the sky seemed to darken as if curtains had been drawn, and everyone's expressions changed.

Hermond and some mages quickly combined their powers to open a large portal, attempting to use the same trick to banish the birds.

However, there were too many birds, and the portal's capacity was insufficient. Most of the birds swooped through, and the cacophony of their calls filled the air.

The birds that darkened the sky flew into the village, surrounding Hermond's team, their beaks and claws striking repeatedly.

The mages struggled to respond, in a state of disarray. Fortunately, these birds were not armored like the eagles before, or the mages would have faced severe casualties.

The Aesir warriors fared better, finding the bird attacks more of an annoyance than a threat, with their claws unable to harm them.

Seeing this, Forseti's body began to glow with divine flames, spreading across him. The magical cloak he wore flared, and he shot out from the layers of birds.

A fiery trail followed him, filling the air with the smell of burning feathers...

As the saying goes, to catch the bandits, capture the leader. These birds were clearly being controlled.

Forseti flew over the village, searching for the one responsible for the birds.

After a quick survey, he couldn't find anyone who seemed to be controlling the birds. Frowning, he decided to head towards the largest building in the center.

"Boom—"

Two guards stood at the door, one controlling wind, the other thunder. Wind and thunder struck at Forseti, causing him to falter momentarily.

Forseti's flames blazed brighter, his speed increasing. He slammed into the thunder guard while wielding the sword of Rivendell.

The guard's thunder shield shattered before the immortal steel blade.

Forseti then turned to the wind guard, who was airborne, avoiding the sword's edge.

Forseti immediately swung his sword again.

"Judgment!"

The power of judgment emanated from the blade, piercing the wind guard's chest.

With the guards defeated, Forseti flew into the building, quickly opening doors and searching.

"Wow—"

A wooden door flew open, and several bronze-armored eagles attacked.

To an Aesir, there was no difference between bronze and earth. The eagles' attacks were futile against Forseti.

With a burst of flames, he incinerated the eagles.

Inside, he found a man with an owl's head. His large, round eyes glowed dimly, creating a sinister effect.

The owl-headed man, seeing Forseti, panicked and tried to escape through a window.

Forseti's body blazed as he shot forward, grabbing the man's neck, which could rotate unnaturally.

"Gu... gu gu..." the owl man croaked in terror.

"Can you speak human language?" Forseti asked.

"I can... ugh..."

"You're controlling the birds outside. You have two options: call them off, or I'll twist your neck twice."

The owl man hesitated.

"Three, two..." Forseti counted down, tightening his grip.

"I'll call them off! Gu Gu..." the owl man quickly conceded.

"Wow—"

The birds outside scattered and disappeared into the sky.

With the birds gone, Hermond and the others regained the upper hand, swiftly defeating the inhuman robbers. Corpses littered the ground, and some surrendered, huddling in corners.

The owl man, evidently the leader, was interrogated by Forseti and Hermond.

"Did you attack the Holy Sanctuary a few days ago?" Hermond asked.

"Supreme Sanctuary? Goo." The owl man seemed confused.

"It's the village nearby," Hermond clarified.

The owl man suddenly remembered and quickly said, "I was wrong to attack your village..."

"So, you should attack other villages, Owl?"

The owl man croaked several times before speaking, "Otherwise, should we starve? Most of us can no longer work like normal people. We live as robbers..."

Both Hermond and Forseti were silent.

The various defects of the Inhumans indeed made it difficult for them to engage in normal labor. Robbery was their most viable option for survival.

"It's all because of the Kree!" the owl man exclaimed. "I was a physician in the Mayan Empire, but they captured and turned me into this!"

Forseti pondered. "Do you know where the Kree base is?"

"I do." The owl man hesitated, then looked terrified. "You're not going to send us back, are you?"

"Of course not," Forseti replied. "The Kree are the root cause of this disaster. Eliminating them would solve the problem at its source."

"Eliminate the Kree? You must be joking! They are powerful beings from the stars. If we could defeat them, we would have done so ourselves. In fact, some Inhumans have attacked the Kree, but we couldn't even break through their sub-bases, let alone their main base."

"That's because you're too weak," Forseti said. "Except for you, the other Inhumans here are not much stronger than regular humans. You can only bully villagers."

"Humans?" The owl man seemed to pick up on something. "Are you also an alien?"

"No, he's a god," said the young mage, Cagliostro.

"A god..." the owl man mused.

Hermond asked, "Owl, how many of the Inhumans here are relatively normal?"

"None of us. We are all Kree experiments, discarded as defective and unworthy even for dissection," the owl man replied.

Forseti said, "You seem relatively normal, except for your appearance. Your ability to control birds is quite powerful."

Owl responded, "My ability only appeared after I was released. Apart from my appearance, my body has serious defects."

"What kind of defect?"