Chapter 526: Life Draining Sword

Upon getting close to the village, he was surprised to see that the occupants weren’t even human. Instead, they were all lizardmen. However, they weren’t like any lizardmen that Julius had ever seen. They were much more human-looking than the monsters he had come across in the past.

However, he noted that there was a sickly atmosphere around them. Almost as if they were infected with something. Their eyes weren’t completely alive. They weren’t like anything he had seen either; from what he could tell, they had a mixture of human and reptilian traits.

They had the same stature and overall appearance as humans, but with patches of scales over their skin. They also had long tails and yellowish eyes, like a lizard’s. At this point, he didn’t even know if they were actually lizardmen; that was just what he was assuming. For all he knew, they were some kind of totally different species.

His appearance didn’t go unnoticed at the very least. The lizardfolk watching at the edge of the village spotted him and quickly came out to greet him.

“Are you the one they sent to us?” One of the lizardmen asked him right away. The other two guards were bearing simple swords at their sides.

Julius shrugged. “I think I am.”

“Good, come with us. You are just in time, the next attack will be happening in a little bit,” the guard instructed him. Julius noticed that his yellow eyes were still just as lifeless. He also didn’t know if he was imagining it, but there was some hidden hostility.

He didn’t know why, but he didn’t bother to argue and followed behind. As he was walking through the village, he noticed it was pretty packed with people. A large number of young children were all huddled around the corners, staring at him with scared expressions. He couldn’t lie, despite looking like lizards, the children were absolutely adorable.

However, he narrowed his eyes when he saw an abandoned area off to the side. Placed in this area was what looked like a bunch of dead bodies. All of them looked like they had been burned. Not a single ounce of moisture remained in their bodies. They were dried husks.

“Here we are,” the guard who had escorted him said, dragging his attention from what he had just seen.

“What is here?” Julius asked, confused.

The guard pointed at the small green sword lying on an altar. “Take this and use it to fight.”

“This thing? What’s so important about it?” He asked and looked at the sword with trepidation.

He hadn’t gotten a good look at it yet, but from what little he had gleaned so far, the sword wasn’t a particularly nice-feeling item. It looked nice and bright, but to his senses, it sort of felt like his crown, but only more unsightly. Shrouded underneath the life mana, there were the same signs of sickness he had felt coming from the forest and these people.

At least his crown was openly evil. This thing was trying to look all nice, but in reality, it wasn’t.

The guard looked at him with narrowed eyes. “They didn’t tell you?”

Julius frowned and looked at the guards. “No? I was only told to protect this place. What were they supposed to tell me?”

“You will use this sword to defend this place from the monsters attacking. It will give you the strength to do so,” the guard explained.

“How?”

“It takes the vitality of the citizens and uses it to empower whoever they send to our village.” Although his expression was blank, Julius could feel something simmering underneath the surface.

His aura wasn’t as strong as normal, but his senses were still pretty good. He had a feeling right away that this wasn’t the first time they would see the sword in action. He didn’t blame them for their resentment either. From the sounds of it, the sword wasn’t a very kind item.

“Is there anything else I am supposed to protect?” He asked.

“No, your only job is to make sure the monsters don’t break through, no matter the cost and no matter how much vitality you have to drain.”

He glanced at the sword and back at the village, biting his lip in concern.

Was this the trial? Why would he be sent to this place? To help take control of this sword and ensure it stopped hurting people? Was it to test his skill with life mana, so that he could use it without being forced to suck out the vitality of the villagers?

Or perhaps, it was just like Terrandor said to him. He simply needed to protect this village.

It wasn’t like he was as strong as he was used to. Furthermore, he didn’t enjoy the idea of sucking out the vitality of these people.

Julius was about to ask the guard another question when the entire village suddenly went into a panic. People were running by him, toward the center of the village, where a large protected building was.

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It would appear that Julius didn’t have much time to question the details of this trial.

The green sword was shoved in his hands, and with no other choices, he went over to the edge of the village to at least see what kind of monsters he would be dealing with.

***

Upon his arrival, he grimaced. Given how weak his body was, he hoped these monsters would be much weaker. He was wrong. These monsters were freaking strong. He could tell right away.

They weren’t like any monsters he had seen before. The first thing he noticed about them was that they were pitch black, with a sheen that reminded him of a puddle of oil or ink. The only color he spotted was their frenzied yellow eyes.

They were vaguely wolf-like, with four legs and sharp-looking claws.

He was barely able to observe them before they snapped their gazes to him. Then, in a burst of speed, they dashed toward him.