Ryan's Fury 1

Ryan and Tori approached the town. Normally, at this time, the townsfolk would be preparing dinner, with smoke rising from chimneys across the houses. But tonight, only the tavern remained lit, and the once grand wooden castle had been reduced to ruins. Beneath the blanket of snow, the remains were marked by large, uneven mounds, with only a few charred pillars hinting at what had once been. The general store's door was smashed, and inside, it was pitch black. The former male owner lay dead at the door, next to what appeared to be his child. The child's head was barely intact, and their small body lay pale under the snow's reflection. A few houses in the distance had also been ransacked, their doors broken down. Several men lay inside, their bodies sprawled out, stripped of clothing, and the rooms were in disarray. On the walls, large blotches of dark red and purple-black splotches marked the path of blood, no doubt the owners' blood.

Ryan's face turned ashen. Although he had expected the town to be in ruins, seeing it firsthand was another thing entirely. As he examined the scene, he noticed that only the men and elderly women had been killed, while the young women and girls were nowhere to be found. It was all too clear where they had likely been taken.

"Punishment from heaven can be forgiven, but self-inflicted punishment is unforgivable," Ryan muttered as he slowly approached the tavern. From inside, he could hear the raucous laughter of the bandits, mingled with the sound of women's screams. Ryan's face hardened. His mind flashed back to the war decades ago, where the massacre caused the deaths of tens of millions—a staggering figure for a country of just 400 million people at the time. His mind raced with images of mass graves, tiny skeletons, and pale skulls. The anger boiled within him, his head nearly exploding with rage, but his steps remained firm and unyielding.

"Tori, stay outside. I'll handle things inside," Ryan said, his voice cold, as if coming from a distant place, but the meaning left no room for argument.

Tori felt the chill of Ryan's words, as if they had frozen his very soul. He had planned to say something, but instead, he merely bent his head and stood outside the tavern. He wasn't sure why, but one thing was clear: the bandits inside had no idea what kind of wrath they were about to face.

Through the cracks in the tavern door, Ryan could clearly see inside. The large tallow candles lit up the room brightly. About thirty bandits sat around, drinking and feasting on meat. The fire in the hearth crackled with intensity. Surrounding them were a dozen or so women—some in their thirties, others barely teenagers. All of the women had bruises and contusions on their bodies. They served the bandits, who occasionally grabbed them, eliciting screams and laughter from the men.

"Ha ha! After selling these women off to other places, we'll make another fortune. The bosses are probably having a nice chat with that noble girl by now," one bandit laughed, holding a woman in her twenties, groping her as he took a large swig of alcohol.

Another short man, holding a young girl whose face was numb and detached, chuckled as he bit into a piece of meat. "Yeah, they're probably 'chatting' in bed. She's a noble lady, after all. A knight, but still a noble, right?"

"Ha ha, I say, brothers, now that we're all fed and drunk, shouldn't we take a rest?" someone else shouted from the group.

"Bang! I'm here to send you all to hell for your rest," came a cold, ominous voice as the tavern door suddenly burst open, and a chill wind swept through.

"Brothers, grab your weapons!" The bandits shoved the women aside, scrambling for their weapons, only to see a lone, slender figure enter.

"Ha ha! Look who's here. The type you like, big guy... ah!" The bandit, who had just spoken, was interrupted when his arm holding the weapon was severed, and it took him a few moments to realize what had happened.

Ryan stepped into the tavern, his gaze immediately falling on the women. His mind cleared—he not only had to kill these men, but also had to save the women. He decided to first disorient the bandits. The thugs didn't know what hit them. They all stood up and pushed the women to the ground, but none of them thought to use the women as shields. Ryan couldn't believe the lack of intelligence among these criminals.

"Kill him! Kill him!" the bandits shouted as they charged at Ryan. But Ryan didn't cast a fireball this time. Instead, he used wind blades. Most of the bandits were either naked or barely clothed, making them perfect targets for the slicing, penetrating wind blades. Ryan unleashed a barrage of wind blades, slicing through arms and legs. Those who were struck in the abdomen or chest immediately dropped dead, while others had their throats severed.

In less than three seconds, over twenty bandits had fallen, most of them groaning in pain, while the remaining few were paralyzed with fear. They raised their weapons, their legs shaking, and some of them even lost control of their bowels. They couldn't believe their eyes—this young-looking boy had just done all this. The biggest, once the most arrogant, now had a massive hole in his chest and was bleeding out. His legs were barely functional, and his head was half severed. The short man, who had once liked young girls, had his head roll away from his body, while the body took another step forward. The skinny bandit, who preferred young boys, lay on the floor, wailing in agony. His screams echoed in the cold night, sharp and haunting.

"You all deserve to die. After you die, you'll go straight to hell," Ryan's eyes blazed as he stared at the remaining bandits. Tori, hearing the screams, rushed in, his body shuddering when he saw the scene.

"Tori, take these women and get them dressed. We're taking them with us to Harry City," Ryan ordered, recognizing the sound of Tori's footsteps behind him.

"What about these men?" Tori asked, his eyes bloodshot. He had seen too much suffering lately, with Holman the steward dying in his own home, his wife and son also dead, while his daughter and daughter-in-law were inside the tavern. Despite his disdain for Holman's character, they had worked together for a long time.

"Take them first. I'll deal with them later," Ryan replied, just as one bandit rushed toward the women. With a swift motion, Ryan cast a fireball that exploded in the bandit's chest, creating a hole the size of a bowl. The bandit fell, lifeless, to the ground.