Now that the witch was dead, all the Rodenti who participated in this fight and were still alive felt the particles rushing into them. They all cheered, knowing that the danger was over, especially since the remaining chimeras seemed to collapse on the ground. They were still alive but no longer able to move due to something that the witch was doing to make them 'work'. But without that power source to sustain them, the chimera spiders were unable to maintain their bodies.

More specifically, it seemed like there was some part of the connection between human, or Rodenti, and spider that was still dependent on a power the witch had. Likely a passive skill or something that she had already done a while ago. And since the Energy was already spent, even if she was using her power for something else, that effect was already active and wasn't going to be removed just because the Witch of the Night Trance was unconscious. However, now that she was dead, it seemed like the skill was attached to the witch herself and not to the chimera spiders. It wasn't working as an item or something.

With the threat of the chimera spiders and the Witch of the Night Trance gone, we all took a sigh of relief and prepared to grieve at the same time, preparing to deal with those that we had lost. Or at least, that was my plan. But it quickly became obvious that someone else had different plans.

We saw a group of humans walking out of the house where the children were supposed to be, dragging the Rodenti offspring and the two elderly Rodenti who didn't participate in the fight. They were pointing their weapons at the children and the elderly while walking towards the rest of us.

"Wait, friend. Why you do this?" Rex asked them, stepping forward with both hands up, trying to be as unthreatening as he could.

"Rex, wait!" I called, but before I could reach him, one of the humans grabbed my Rodenti companion by the neck and pressed a knife against his throat. Rex was doing all that despite the fact that he had just lost one leg. Sure, his wound was no longer bleeding, but he was still being forced to move by putting weight on the stump.

"This is what's going to happen," the human Village Chief started speaking. "All of you rats will drop your weapons and come here one by one so we can put some chains around your arms and legs. If you don't, then we're going to start killing the children. Once we make sure that you're not going to hurt anyone, then we'll take you out of this forest and drop you somewhere far away so you won't ever bother us again."

As the chief spoke, I was sure that he was lying. If they wanted to just get rid of the Rodenti, they could have made sure to keep a few hostages while the rest left. The whole putting them in shackles was completely unnecessary. I was positive that what the humans actually wanted to do was to kill the Rodenti as soon as they were all trapped and couldn't do anything against their attackers.

With a quick glance, I could tell that even without that threat, the Rodenti wouldn't be an issue for the humans. Their numbers had been severely reduced. Only six were left, and even if that wasn't the case, I had heard some of them talking about going back home, as if they had been trapped here for a while and were trying to find a way to get back to their original village or something.

In other words, unlike the humans, who seemed to be actually leaving this place, the Rodenti weren't. They got trapped here and were just building houses so they could live somewhere. They had no intention of staying either way. Something that, if the human chief had at any point asked or talked to any of the Rodenti, he might be able to figure that out.

Still, there was a part of me that wasn't surprised by that threat. The man was already extremely hostile to the Rodenti. And something in the way that they spoke about these beings, it was obvious they had never had any intention of making a lasting alliance with them.

With a quick glance around, I noticed that not everybody from the human village was participating in this. A good number of people were just watching the events unfold from the sidelines with worried expressions. It was almost just as bad, but the key word there was, almost. Not to mention that the ones standing in front of me, pointing weapons at children, literal children, were the ones who I was hoping to be the most helpful during the fight. Yet, now I realized that with the exception of Jacob and Camila, they were nowhere to be seen during the battle.

Another quick scan of the area allowed me to see how my companions were reacting to this. Astrid was just staring angrily at the man who had a knife to Rex's throat. Riley was at the back of the group looking focused and moving their hands quickly and quietly, likely preparing some sort of spell to attack these people. But Michael seemed to be the one taking it the worst. He was just staring at the chief with confusion and utter betrayal.

"But why? The witch is not going to bother anyone anymore. You don't have any reason to fight each other," the Silkbound Marksman said.

But the village chief just scoffed. "Not a reason? They are giant rats. Things that shouldn't exist. Why do we have to treat them as if they have a place here? They don't. They were animals in the old world and should still be treated as such," the Village Chief replied, and a few other people who were holding the children hostage seemed somewhat uncomfortable with his words.

My best bet was that the reason why they hated the Rodenti so much had to do with the fact that some people died because of them. Not because of some moral standing that humans should be coming first. That was likely just the chief's idea. And people just decided to go along with it because it would fit their revenge as well.

Michael continued to plead with the people for them not to do that. He was arguing that they could all live in peace together and that having defeated the witch was proof of that. The village chief came back with a response about how they were not the ones who defeated the witch and that if it wasn't for us, they would still all be dead, and that the Rodenti didn't do anything. But in fairness, I wasn't paying attention to it.

I had noticed that Rex was standing on top of a large chunk of rock, a pillar that he created at some point during the fight and that had ended up falling down. It was a good 5 meters [16.4 ft] tall, although right now it was lying on the floor and his foot was very close to it. I stepped over the pillar and touched it with my own foot before asking the System.

'Sys, could I use this piece of stone to send a message to Rex?'

There was a pause before the System replied.

[That is possible. As long as both user and Rex are touching the rock formation, the particles present in the stone will be able to transmit messages as if both users were touching each other.]

With my eyes, I tried my best to have Rex understand what I was trying to do. But eventually, I had to gently point with my finger before the Rodenti, with a frown, reached out with his foot and touched the stone.

Cassandra: Can you hear me?

Rex's eyes went wide, and he sent a message back.

Rex: Yes.

Cassandra: Great. Do you think you could escape that guy?

There was a pause before his reply came.

Rex: Not without killing. Dagger too close neck.

Cassandra: And what about killing? Do you think you could kill not just him but also the others that are holding the children?

Rex glanced to the side. Once the man had grabbed him, he was smart enough not to let the Rodenti close to the children.

Rex: Yes. Rex can, but don't want.

Cassandra: I know, little man. But we might not have a choice here. If we want to save the children, we might have to pick between them and the humans.

Rex frowned.

Rex: Both bad choices.

Cassandra: I know. But I think saving the children is a better choice than letting them die.

Rex didn't reply, but I could see it in his eyes that he agreed with me. He just didn't want to say it.

Cassandra: Can you kill them all quickly?

Rex: Yes.

Cassandra: Okay, then here's what we're going to do. I'm going to try to reason with the chief, but if things go south, I'll give you a signal. The moment I say Michael's name is when you are supposed to move.

Stepping away from the rock that was on the ground, I tried talking with the chief.

"Calm down. Look, you haven't done anything that you can't take back just yet. People are scared, and we've all been through a very traumatic experience. You all more than us. How about if we just put our weapons down, you let the Rodenti go back to their village, and you never have to see them again? I promise I'm going to take all of them out of here, and we're going to find someplace else for them to live. Is that okay?"

I turned to the Rodenti, most of whom nodded at my suggestion, but a few were still angry, staring at the humans. No one could really blame them. After all, the humans were essentially betraying our trust by kidnapping the children.

"We can't trust you? You're friends with these giant rats. We can't believe anything you're saying. People like you are at fault for everything!" the chief spat out his words. A strange madness in his voice.

I rubbed my eyes. "Look, you are the only ones who are not being trustworthy here. Okay? The Rodenti came and did their best to help and kill the witch, and they are not the ones stabbing everybody else in the back. So how about we just stop for a moment, let the children go, after all they had nothing to do with any of this, and then we can go from there? You are already in much bigger numbers than the Rodenti. It's pretty obvious that if a fight were to break out, you would have the upper hand. And as much as you call them beasts and animals and whatever, they are smart enough to know when they are on the losing side of a fight. So please, let's stop all this and have a conversation. How about it?"

"As if I were going to accept any deal that comes from them. They are monsters, and they deserve to be treated as such. I was honestly doubting if they would even care about their own children. As far as I remember, rats are supposed to eat their young."

And with that extremely disgusting comment, I decided that there was no reasoning with the chief. With a sigh, I just yelled as if I was giving up a command.

"Michael!"

Everybody turned to the archer, ready for whatever he might be throwing at them. But what they didn't expect was the fact that Rex was the one doing something. My Rodenti companion spread out both his hands to the ground and made a motion with his claws as if he was trying to sink them into the earth. To the side, various pillars shot out from the dirt, all aimed directly at the humans. But only the ones that were holding the children. He didn't even bother to try to stop the one who had the knife pressed on his neck. As a matter of fact, Rex closed his eyes as if he were accepting what was going to happen next.

But instead, Riley was the one who stepped up. They threw a strand of silk towards the man behind Rex. The silk quickly flew through the air and tied itself around the man's arm. Riley waved their hand once more, and the silk forced the man to close his hand, stabbing his own shoulder. Then with a jerk of their head, Riley made the silk snap to the side, making the man cut his own neck. Blood poured over the spot where Rex previously was as the Rodenti was picked up by Astrid who closed the gap in an instant.

But that wasn't all. I saw that all the humans who were actively threatening the children were gone. All had their heads impaled by the stone spikes. Yet, there was still someone alive who shouldn't be.

I rushed towards the village chief. He took a few steps back, trying to get away from me, but I was too quick for him. The difference between someone who didn't even have the System and someone who was already at tier two.

With that one quick step, I was already on top of him, and he just snarled at me. "You are betraying your own kind."

"The only traitor here is you," I replied before cracking my staff on his jaw so hard that I broke his neck. There was a trickle of particles coming towards me, but that only felt like the confirmation of what I already knew. The man was dead, and there was no bringing him back.

Everybody was still frozen in shock. Both the humans and the Rodenti, no one truly expected the events to unravel this way. Still, I took charge of the situation and spoke up.

"The Rodenti are going to come with me and my friends. We are all leaving this village. None of you may follow. If you want to leave this place, you're free to do so, but you cannot come with us. Not after this." I gestured to the chief.

Turning back to the Rodenti, who had lost their own village chief, I asked, "Do you want to take the bodies of your dead, or should we just go?"

They just shook their heads. "We go. The dead are gone. Live with us."

We all started walking away, leaving the humans behind. By the looks on some of their faces, I could tell that they wanted to say something. Maybe even ask about our powers. Ask for help. Or anything, really. But they also understood that whatever they might want to ask was no longer an option. The chief had made sure that no one was able to continue this relationship in any form.

And all of this happened before we were even able to check the new skills we gained, much less the level up. Sometimes I really hated having to deal with other people.