In the Bonny Village, numerous charred and blackened-horned villagers could be seen.
Perhaps they were already undead, or maybe, for some reason, they continued to exist in this tragic, scorched form. Regardless, these horned villagers mindlessly maintained the rhythm of their past lives.
Even though their homes and dwellings lay in ruins, they continued their activities, seemingly driven by some kind of inertia.
"Look over there," Touko pointed to a large workbench in the center of Bonny Village. "That guy… he doesn't look burned at all."
Aoko squinted and looked carefully. She immediately saw a male horned villager wearing only shorts and a hood, wielding a massive butcher's knife as he busied himself at the workbench. Near him, several charred villagers were working together to carry over a large pot, nearly as tall as a person.
"No! I'll be a good girl! I don't want to become more virtuous... please don't put me in the jar…!"
A teenage girl with golden hair was dragged out from one of the few intact houses by those villagers. She was brought close to the man holding the butcher's knife. Her body was already covered in scars, and her tattered burlap clothing was soaked in blood.
She struggled with all her might, but her body was too weak, too wounded—she had no chance of escaping the grasp of the charred villagers.
Meanwhile, the butcher-like man at the workbench was in the middle of butchering another human body.
He methodically chopped the corpse into bloody chunks, carefully selecting the pieces he needed.
The butcher-like man glanced coldly at the girl before giving the villagers an order to bring her forward, as it was time for him to begin jar-making.
The girl was lifted onto the workbench in despair. Beside her lay the mutilated remains of another victim. The butcher, muttering to himself, raised his massive knife and began measuring her body, seemingly deciding which limb to remove first.
"It's getting harder to find those filthy sorcerers these days," the man complained. "Now I have no choice but to use a golden tree mongrel like you to craft a new jar. You should be grateful. After all, only by being placed into the jar can you wash away your sins and become a better person..."
The girl's mouth was already covered by the villagers, and her frail body had no strength to resist. All that awaited her was being butchered by the horned man and sealed into the jar.
That was how it should have ended.
But just as the butcher was about to drive his massive knife into the girl's emaciated thigh, a blade as brilliant as the light flashed through the air, severing the horned butcher's arm. A follow-up magic projectile struck the knife, knocking it aside and preventing it from harming the girl.
"Among all the people and things that disgust me, you lot rank in the top ten," Aoko hovered in mid-air, her cold gaze sweeping over the villagers of Bonny. "I think I understand now why Queen Marika sent her army to wipe you out."
"In a way, the fact that you're still alive is proof of Messmer's failure as the leader of the expedition army."
Without waiting for a response, Aoko lightly swung the Carian Glintstone Staff gifted to her by Rellana. Dozens of Carian Glintblades materialized in the air and rained down upon the villagers like a deadly storm, wiping out the horned villagers in an instant.
Glintstone sorcery required staff as a casting medium, but a sorcerer's intelligence and magical reserves were just as crucial.
Aoko was able to conjure such a vast number of Carian Glintblades at once due to her deep understanding of the spell formation and her seemingly limitless magical power.
The butcher-like horned man was instantly struck in the head by multiple Glintblades and died on the spot. Around him, dozens of other horned villagers met the same gruesome fate, their bodies collapsing lifelessly to the ground.
Touko landed beside the girl and quickly undid her restraints. She traced several runes in the air with her fingers, and golden light enveloped the girl, healing her wounds.
"Y-Your Grace…! A messenger of the Golden Tree!" The weak girl's eyes widened as she watched the golden healing magic at work. With great effort, she spoke, "Have you… finally, come to save us? Is my nightmare finally over…?"
"Can you explain what happened here?" Touko asked while maintaining the healing spell. "We came from Ensis Castle and happened to pass through Bonny Village."
"The horned ones… they destroyed our village…" the girl murmured. Touko could hear the numbness in her voice, the result of enduring too much suffering. "They said… we, the people of the Golden Tree, are sinners. And sinners… must be put into jars to become better people…"
"Father… Mother… they were put into jars too," the girl continued. "The rest of the villagers… were either taken to dungeons… or sent here, to Bonny Village…"
Worried that continuing the conversation would overburden the girl's already fragile body, Touko decided to give her a potion first, then used a sleep spell to let her rest.
While Touko was healing the girl, Aoko had already begun a systematic purge of Bonny Village. She slaughtered all the remaining villagers and horned butchers, then ended the suffering of those trapped inside the jars—releasing them from their agony, which was, in a way, a mercy.
After a thorough investigation of Bonny Village, Aoko discovered some records detailing its horrific customs.
The butcher-like men were known as Greater Potentate, and their daily duty was to use living humans to craft Living Jars.
The author of these records was a former Greater Potentate, but his writings revealed a deep loathing for Bonny Village's traditional craft. He left behind only some recipes for large jar bombs and this record before abandoning the twisted village for good.
In addition to the records, Aoko also found an intact giant snake skin under a large tree on the outskirts of the village. In front of the tree, a vague, shadowy figure knelt in worship.
She had no idea what the snake skin signified, but she knew one thing—such a massive serpent in the Lands Between was never a good omen. After all, even one of the demigods, Rykard, had fallen after being devoured by the God-Devouring Serpent.
When Aoko returned to Touko, she saw that Touko had lifted the girl into her arms in a princess carry. It seemed that the once-cold Touko had now firmly decided to save her.
"Let's take her to Ensis Castle," Touko said calmly. "Rellana wanted us to report on the situation here, didn't she? There's no better witness than one of the victims."
"No problem," Aoko nodded. "With this, I believe Rennala will trust us even more. After all, we just cleaned up a lot of filth for her and Messmer."