After choosing to leave, they regretted it.

"I handed this matter over to Christina before I left. As long as there is any movement, they will run away immediately."

Aize nodded, then shook his head, and then looked at the black-haired heroine:

"Uriel, can you go to the Anlin Plains with Constantine again? Among the people here, only you can control the crazy Leah."

Uriel nodded, then said with a smile:

"What? Do you want me to tie her back?"

"Yes, that's what it means."

"well?"

The young hero was stunned for a moment.

Of course, she had wanted to do this for a long time, but Aize had been stopping her from doing so for his own reasons.

Being so direct suddenly made her feel a little uncomfortable.

In response, Aize just shrugged expressionlessly:

"There's a saying in my hometown: 'Leave a way for others so we can meet again in the future.' If possible, I really want everyone to be decent. But now that she doesn't want to be decent, then let's help her be decent."

"Haha, I'm happy to do this job. So, let's get going now without further delay."

"Do not."

Aize shook his head.

"I'm not busy. I have some trouble here right now, so I need you two to help me deal with it first."

Chapter 118 Kill me

On the road at night, a large group of soldiers were marching quickly with torches in their hands.

There are several hundred of them in total, not too many or too few, but they are all the elite in Brian's army.

In the center of the queue, there was a carriage.

Rufus, the commander of this operation, was sitting inside.

She leaned against the window, glancing at the team outside with a smug smile.

"Over 600 soldiers, 100 knights, 20 combat magicians, and 10 guards—a force of this size and quality is more than enough to handle a small demon invasion..."

As she spoke, she cast a mocking look at the other passenger in the carriage sitting opposite her:

"...But this time, they set out to take on just one person, or even just one village. What do you think about this, Miss Alicia?"

Alicia was sitting there with a serious expression.

Although he was not injured, there was a glowing object made up of small magic circles interlocking around his neck, which was the so-called magic collar.

It sounds complicated, but the effect is actually very simple.

It is to directly attach the destructive magic of the explosive system to the human body, and it will explode directly under certain conditions.

It's essentially the same thing as the delay magic used to blow up Aize's mansion.

The pink-haired girl's lips trembled when she was asked. She looked at Rufus with a resentful look in her eyes.

"...I thought His Excellency the Duke wouldn't be so ruthless."

Alicia is still willing to work for Brian and is willing to do anything except kill Aize, just asking him not to attack her village.

From her point of view, no matter what, she had worked hard for Brian for so long that she couldn't be completely heartless.

Unfortunately, there really isn’t.

Alicia herself is a deeply sentimental person.

Not understanding humans very well, she took it for granted that others would be the same.

The result is what it is now.

No matter how similar their appearance and body are to humans, no matter how comparable their intelligence is to humans, their nature is more like that of animals.

Rufus made no secret of his ridicule towards her thoughts and behavior:

"Ruthless? Hahahahahaha—if the master was ruthless, you would have been blown to ashes during the day. Remember, what he said is also what I said. Tonight is your last chance!"

"Woo..."

"That guy is most likely in your village right now. After we arrive, you have twenty minutes to resolve the problem. If you can't, then we will do it for you - eliminate the Brave Aize and your village together!"

Alicia's gaze grew darker, while the smile on Rufus's face grew even wider.

Then the carriage fell silent.

A well-trained army can move at a very fast speed.

Although they set out a few hours later than Aize and his team, their arrival time was almost the same, and the target mountain was already within sight.

Rufus got off the carriage and took a deep breath.

Then he waved his hand:

"superior."

The terrain had been scouted by familiars, and the battle plan had been finalized on the way here.

So now, there is no need for any extra words. All branches of the army and teams quickly and quietly occupied the designated positions.

They were just waiting for an order and would immediately take action and raze the village to the ground.

Without the Knights around, Aize is a waste, and the half-bloods in the village are a mob. The only threat is the unidentified witch.

But it’s okay because we’re prepared.

The advantage is literally mine.

Rufus smiled triumphantly, then turned to the carriage and clapped his hands:

"Your turn, Miss Alicia."

The pink-haired girl clutched her sword tightly, stepped down from the carriage with a bleak look on her face, and stared fiercely at the blue-haired butler in front of her with lifeless eyes.

Rufus didn't care and just raised his hand and snapped his fingers.

As if receiving some kind of signal, the collar-shaped pattern on Alicia's neck emitted an even brighter light.

"Remember, you have twenty minutes. If you don't complete the task before then, this thing will explode. Of course, if you try to transform the neck into something other than a human, it will also explode, and—"

As he said that, Rufus snapped his fingers again.

A small magic circle immediately appeared beside her. The center of the magic circle, like a broadcast camera image, showed Alicia's first-person perspective.

"No matter what you say or do, we can see it here. So remember, no tricks!"

Alicia sighed silently and had no choice but to walk towards the village.

The familiar mountain road has not changed much.

In the past, every time Alicia finished work and was eager to return to the village, she would think the road was too long.

But today, it was too short.

In the blink of an eye, we reached the end. As the forests extended on both sides, the view suddenly became clear and the scene of the village appeared before us.

Contrary to expectations, there was not even a single villager in sight, and all the buildings within sight were dark, with almost no light visible.

Only Aize was standing alone in the open space of the village square, letting the cold night wind from the mountains blow his hair and clothes, silent.

It seemed as if he had anticipated her arrival and was waiting here on purpose.

The moment she saw that figure, Alicia, who was feeling depressed, actually felt an inexplicable sense of security.

As for why he was here, Alicia didn't find it strange.

Because he always seems to know everything.

After all, he is the legendary hero who turned the world upside down by himself.

But soon, thinking about his current state and what he was about to do, a strong sense of sadness instantly swept away the sense of security.

As before, she looked away, not daring to look directly into Aize's eyes.

On the contrary, Aize seemed very relaxed. He smiled and spoke first:

"I've been waiting for you for a long time."

"……Um."

"Let me tell you, everyone in the village has been evacuated, so no matter what you say or do next, don't worry about being seen."

Alicia smiled bitterly and said:

"Thank you."

"Based on my understanding of the Duke, I can probably guess your current situation. But let me ask you: What orders did he give you?"

"...I'll kill you, or they'll destroy this village and kill everyone..."

Aize sighed softly.

Things have come to this point, even his own army has been dispatched. If Brian wants to kill Aize, he can use any means he wants, and he doesn't necessarily have to rely on Alicia.

The reason for doing this is essentially a test of compliance.

Test whether Alicia, this "prop", can still be used.

If it can’t be done, just destroy it on the spot—just rely on that annoying thing around your neck.

If possible, they would probably take this opportunity to take away at least some of the half-bloods in the village as hostages to ensure that Alicia would never dare to resist again.

This kind of funny gameplay really didn't surprise Aize at all.

"So, what's your choice?"

"My choice is... tonight, one person's death is enough."

After saying that, Alicia drew out her knife with a serious expression, raised it, and pointed it at Aize.

Aize smiled lightly, drew his sword, and prepared for battle.

The two of them just confronted each other silently, and time passed by little by little in the evening breeze.

In the end, it was Alicia who made the first move.

The slender figure swayed, and then rushed over suddenly, raised the weapon in his hand, and slashed at Aize.

Aize frowned and took the blow with a slight movement.

I didn't even feel any force on my wrist.

"If this is your choice, it's pretty careless, isn't it? The fake fights in front of the kids before were worse than this."

In the previous competition, Alicia reacted to Aize's murderous intent and killed Aize instantly.

Although there was a reason why Aize deliberately exposed her flaws to trick him, if they really fought, she would definitely not last more than a few rounds. Just the moment she spoke was enough for her to slit her neck several times.

Not to mention that deformation and mimicry such as tentacles are useless.

They weren't fighting seriously at all, they were just swinging their weapons around randomly.

Aize frowned and thought for a moment, and roughly understood Alicia's thoughts.

Then, during another parry, he suddenly dropped his weapon, not even making a symbolic attempt to resist, and let the opponent's blade slash towards his neck.

As expected, the blade stopped a few centimeters away from his neck.

Aize smiled and simply threw away his sword.

"You don't want to kill me, you want me to kill you."

"Woo——"

Alicia's hands were shaking as she held the knife.

"You think that once you're dead, the village will no longer be valuable as a hostage and won't be attacked again, right? A half-baked attack like this..."

"wrong!"