Chapter 664 The Villagers Resolve

Liam slowly looked around at the people who had gathered before him. Men and women stood shoulder to shoulder in the middle of the village, some still carrying the exhaustion of sleepless nights on their faces, while others looked as though grief had permanently settled behind their eyes. There were elderly villagers leaning against walking sticks, mothers holding their children close to their bodies, young men trying desperately to appear strong despite the fear that had taken root inside them, and faces that Liam could tell had cried more times than they cared to admit.

Elaris had the appearance of a place that had been forgotten by the rest of the world, but these people were still here, still breathing, still hoping for something even though they had almost run out of reasons to hope. Liam took another step toward the center of the gathering, his gaze passing slowly across them before he finally spoke in a soft voice that somehow carried through the entire village. "I know every one of you has been going through hell these past few weeks. You have watched people you love disappear from you while they were still breathing. You have buried some of your loved ones, while others are still lying somewhere in their homes, trapped inside their own bodies.

You have been living with something you cannot see, something you cannot understand, and every night you have probably wondered whether you would be the next person to disappear." His voice remained calm, but there was an unmistakable firmness beneath every word. "But I am here now. I came here to find whatever is responsible for this, and I will find it. I will hunt it down, and I will kill it. The people you lost deserve justice, and I intend to give it to them."

For several seconds after Liam finished speaking, nobody moved. The silence that followed was almost strange, because everyone seemed to be processing his words at the same time. Liam had not promised them something impossible with an exaggerated declaration, nor had he tried to pretend that he already knew what they were dealing with.

He had simply spoken with the kind of certainty that made people believe him. There was something about his eyes, something about the way he stood completely relaxed in front of an entire village that had been terrorized by an unseen enemy, that made his words feel heavier than they should have. He did not look afraid. He did not look uncertain. He looked like someone who had already decided that whatever had been hunting them had made a terrible mistake by choosing Elaris. One of the older men slowly raised his head, his tired eyes meeting Liam’s, and for the first time in weeks there was something other than fear in them. It was a tiny spark, barely noticeable, but it was there.

Another villager straightened his back. A woman who had been clutching her daughter’s hand tightly loosened her grip. Then someone whispered that they would help him.

Liam heard it.

Another voice followed, louder this time. "Yes!"

Then another person shouted from the crowd, "We are with you!"

The response spread faster than he expected. People who had spent weeks hiding behind locked doors began raising their voices, promising to tell him everything they knew, promising to show him where the victims had been found, promising to cooperate with anything he needed. A few men even stepped forward, their expressions no longer completely consumed by fear. Liam watched them carefully, feeling something tighten inside his chest. He had come to Elaris because the dwarf had sent him here as part of a mission, and initially he had treated the whole thing almost casually. He had thought the investigation sounded far less dangerous than the dwarf had made it seem.

But standing before these people now, hearing their voices and seeing the hope returning to their faces because of something as simple as his words, the mission suddenly felt different. These were not nameless figures on a map. They were real people. They had families, memories, homes and lives, and something had been taking those lives away from them one by one. Liam had no intention of leaving Elaris without an answer.

He lifted one hand, allowing the villagers’ voices to gradually settle before continuing, even though they just said they would help him, he still needed to make it clear. "But there is something you need to understand. I cannot solve this alone. I need every single person here to cooperate with me. If you remember anything strange, no matter how insignificant it seems, tell me. If you saw someone behaving strangely, tell me. If you heard something at night, tell me. Do not hide anything because you think it is meaningless. Sometimes the smallest detail is the one that matters most." His gaze swept over them again. "We are going to find out what is happening here, but we are going to do it together." The answer came almost immediately, a chorus of agreement rising from the villagers. Liam gave a small nod, but inwardly his resolve hardened even further. He did not know what kind of creature they were hunting, whether it was a beast, a mage, a spirit, or something that belonged to a category he had never encountered before. He did not even know whether it could be killed by ordinary means. But none of that mattered now. He had given these people his word, and Liam Carter was not particularly fond of breaking promises.

⸻

Several hours later, Liam and Irina had been given a house near the quieter edge of the village. It was not exactly luxurious, but compared with the abandoned-looking homes surrounding it, it was surprisingly well maintained. The villagers had explained that it was the only vacant house available because the couple who had owned it had died only a week earlier. They had apparently been found together one morning, their bodies lying peacefully in bed while whatever had happened to them had left no obvious physical wound. The information had stayed in Liam’s mind as he walked through the house, his eyes quietly examining everything from the wooden floorboards to the furniture. There was something unsettling about entering a place where people had lived normal lives only days earlier and knowing that those lives had been abruptly erased. A table still stood near the window, a few ordinary household items remained where their owners had left them, and a small cup sat untouched on a shelf as though someone might return at any moment to pick it up.

Liam was still looking around when a knock sounded against the front door. Irina immediately glanced toward him before walking over. She opened the door cautiously and found a young man standing outside. The moment he saw her, his expression became respectful and he immediately bowed his head. "I was asked to bring these for you," he said before handing over a bundle of folded clothes and a basket filled with food. Irina accepted everything with a polite smile and thanked him. The young man bowed once more before leaving, and Irina watched him disappear down the road before closing the door. She carried the supplies inside and placed them on the table, then looked around the quiet room with a thoughtful expression. "They are really treating us like we are their last hope."

Liam glanced toward her, then leaned casually against the wooden table. "Well, technically..." He paused for a moment, looking toward the window where the villagers could still be seen moving around outside. "We are." Irina looked at him for a second before giving a small nod. There was no teasing in her expression this time. She understood exactly what he meant. They were the only people who had arrived with the intention of actually confronting whatever was responsible, and everyone in Elaris was now looking toward them for an answer. Liam straightened and looked toward the door. "Let’s leave everything here for now. We need to walk around the village."

Irina immediately nodded. There was no point sitting inside while the mystery remained outside. Liam opened the door and stepped out, with Irina following closely behind him. The afternoon had begun to fade, leaving long shadows stretching across the village road. Yet despite the fading sunlight, Elaris still carried that same strange atmosphere they had felt when they first arrived. The village looked peaceful from a distance, but Liam could feel something beneath that peace. Something wrong. Something that had been hiding here for far longer than they understood.

He narrowed his eyes as he looked down the empty road.

Whatever was killing these people was still here.

And now it knew that someone had come looking for it.