Chapter 540: Heading to the Secret Village

"Be careful," one of the players said, "The natives told us there are traps around the island that can kill anyone who gets too close. They also never allow us to visit the other villages, so we don’t really know what’s waiting out there."

Leon glanced at him before giving a small smile.

"Thanks, but I’m not worried."

He had no reason to be concerned about ordinary traps or the warriors guarding the other villages.

Even if they were stronger than the ones he had just killed, the difference between their strength and his own was far too great for them to pose a serious threat.

With that, Leon turned toward the direction indicated by the compass.

Celeste, Emilia, and Violet followed without hesitation, and the four of them soon left the village behind.

Their next destination was already clear: they needed to visit the remaining settlements, eliminate their leaders, and discover how the enchanted boats were made.

If everything went well, they could finish dealing with the villages while also finding a way to help the players who had been trapped on this island.

The journey toward the next village took them away from the beach and into a dense jungle that covered a large part of the island.

Thick trees stood close together, their branches blocking much of the sunlight, while enormous roots stretched across the ground and made the path difficult to follow.

However, the [World Map] showed Leon exactly where all the villages were with small icons, so he simply followed them.

After traveling for a while, they finally reached an opening where another village had been built deep inside the jungle.

Much like the first settlement, it contained wooden houses and several groups of silver-skinned natives.

A leader and a group of warriors were already waiting near the entrance, apparently having noticed the approaching visitors.

They welcomed Leon and his companions with suspicious smiles, but they barely had time to speak before Leon attacked.

Within moments, the warriors and nearly everyone else in the village had been killed, leaving only the leader alive.

"How do you enchant the boats?" Leon asked coldly as he approached the surviving leader. "Tell me, and I’ll spare your life."

Leon had expected the man to refuse, just like the warriors in the previous village.

He was already prepared to kill him if he didn’t receive a satisfactory answer, but the leader seemed to have no intention of protecting the secret at the cost of his life.

"T-There’s an altar!" the leader hurriedly replied, his face pale with terror. "W-We use an altar to enchant the boats!"

Leon stopped for a moment.

An altar? That was exactly what he had been hoping to hear.

His smile widened as he looked down at the trembling native.

’Bingo.’

"And where’s the altar?" Leon continued.

"I-It’s in a hidden village that doesn’t appear on any compass," the leader hurriedly explained. "I-In the middle of the island, inside a massive hole. It’s guarded by a terrible monster. E-Even you won’t be able to defeat it!"

Leon almost laughed at the man’s warning, but stopped himself.

He had already encountered several monsters on this island, and none of them had been remotely difficult to deal with.

Still, he wasn’t going to complain about receiving directions to his next destination.

"Finally, do you know why you make those offerings to the gods using Eternal Coins?"

"W-We were just told to do it!" The leader’s expression became even more terrified as Leon continued questioning him. "Our villages are blessed because of those offerings, and we’ve always followed the orders given to us! W-We didn’t do anything wrong!"

"Well, thanks for the information," Leon said with a nod.

SLASH!

His sword flashed, cutting down the leader before he could say anything else.

"Wow, I actually thought you were going to spare him if he spoke," Violet mumbled as she watched the body fall. "I guess not."

"Why would I spare any of them?" Leon replied with a cold smile. "Let’s just get rid of everyone now that we have the information we need."

"Okay!"

With the location of the hidden village revealed, there was no reason to waste any more time.

Leon and the girls continued traveling across the island, visiting one village after another and eliminating every native who served the gods.

The battles were hardly worth mentioning, as the warriors were all around the same strength as those from the first two villages.

Most of them didn’t even understand what was happening before Leon and the girls appeared before them, and by the time they tried to defend themselves, it was already too late.

Only the players living in the villages were spared.

Many of them watched the battles in confusion, unsure why the newcomers were suddenly killing every native, but Leon made sure to explain that he was looking for a way to enchant boats so they could cross the sea safely.

After hearing that, the players were naturally relieved.

They had been forced to depend on the natives for far too long, and the possibility of finally traveling to the other islands without their help was something they welcomed.

Leon also continued leaving the equipment dropped by the natives for them to collect, which made the players even more grateful.

Eventually, after traveling from one village to another for around an hour and a half, they reached the last ordinary settlement.

SLASH!

Leon cut down the final leader before turning toward the players gathered nearby.

As he had done in every previous village, he took out all the equipment he had collected and dropped it on the ground for them.

"That’s all the villages dealt with," he said with a satisfied smile. "Meaning the only thing left to do is..."

"Find that last village with the altar," Violet finished, nodding. "It’s in the center of the island."

"Exactly. We’ll need to find a way to get there."

By now, Leon had explored most of the island through his [World Map] after traveling to all thirteen villages.

The only area that remained greyed out was the very center, which was almost certainly where the hidden settlement was located.

Fortunately, the village they had just cleared was also the closest one to that area, so they didn’t need to travel very far before reaching their destination.

The four of them immediately set off, following the direction indicated by the [Beach Village Compass].

Along the way, they encountered several Level 75 monsters guarding the paths, as well as a few traps meant to prevent anyone from approaching the center of the island.

However, none of them presented any real danger.

Eventually, they reached an enormous opening in the ground.

"Here it is."

The hole was around twenty meters wide, with a small barrier surrounding its edge and several signs warning people to stay away.

Judging by the precautions taken around it, the natives clearly didn’t want anyone approaching this place.

Leon, Celeste, Violet, and Emilia barely paid attention to the warnings, though. They simply crossed the barrier and looked down into the darkness.

"This looks way too deep," Emilia remarked. "I’m pretty sure I can survive the fall, but what about you guys?"

"Celeste and I can fly," Violet replied, glancing at Leon. "As for Leon, maybe I can catch him?"

"No need," Leon shook his head. "Remember what I did to slow my fall when we were going to fight the [Spider Mother] back in the [Forsaken City]?"

"Oh shit, you’re right!" Violet said as she remembered. "I saw you use those vines..."

"Yep," Leon smiled. "I’ll do the same thing again."

With that settled, the four of them took a deep breath before jumping into the hole.