# Chapter 4 - The Search Party
Watching as Apolo's figure disappeared into the horizon, the village chief had a conflicting look on his partially transformed face.
Canceling his transformation and reverting back to his human form with only his pants on, he had a thoughtful expression as he looked towards where Apolo's body flew.
"What a pity... sigh... according to the information anyone that can bring the head of Apolo would be rewarded with a city to rule. But too bad, being a newly awakening who has not even mastered his powers it is very likely that my punch has killed him."
The village chief thought with gritted teeth as regret was written all over his face.
Looking back to where he had chased Apolo from, he frowned and started considering going for Apolo's corpse but ultimately he shook his head and thought
"With how bad he was bleeding, it is very likely that his corpse is being munched by chaos beasts already. I can't leave my community defenseless. I'll just have to send some warriors later to retrieve whatever might be remaining of his corpse."
With that he took off with speed more than twice the one he used to chase Apolo.
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Just like before, the small community was still bustling with activities, though it looked like the festival had ended but still children were running around playing with what looked like kites. All of a sudden, one kid closer to the outskirts of the community shouted
"Chief is back!"
This caused the other children to start singing and dancing wildly, they all dropped their kites and ran to the old man almost pulling off his pants.
Now, with the cold and ruthless expression gone, the village chief now had a friendly, fatherly and encouraging smile on his face. He rubbed his hands on the heads of the children and watched as their mothers were running to usher them inside.
Smiling slightly, he made his way to the village square where the men and youth were already waiting for him.
Everyone had their smiles disappear and confusion creeping in when they saw him alone. Unable to hold back, a young man stood up from his chair and asked
"Chief, you didn't catch him?"
Though the others remained silent, the village chief could guess they all had the same thought in their heads.
Without answering him, the village chief cleared his throat and said aloud
"I want a group of ten warriors gathered this evening."
With that he stood up and was ready to go but then stopped and gave another order
"Spread the news that the possessed hybrid is out but don't specify the location. Just say he was found in the wilderness."
With that he walked away.
The others were confused, not understanding their chief's train of thought.
"I don't get the chief, if we were to catch that boy dead or alive wouldn't we be granted an entire city to rule?"
The boy from earlier grunted in frustration
"Sheng! Watch your tone. The chief is wise, he definitely has his reasons. We have flourished this much because of him and his wise decisions. If this is his decision then there must be a reason."
An elderly man, clenching his fist in anger, scolded the young boy.
The others nodded and immediately they started nominating those that would go for the mission.
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Later that evening, when the sun had set and the moon now hung up in the sky illuminating the tall and large ancient trees which then cast shadows with tentacles stretching across the jungle.
Under one of the huge trees, coincidentally the one Apolo had climbed earlier during the day, the village chief was standing with his mace in hand hanging on his shoulder, opposite him were ten strong physically fit men all with serious expressions.
Clearing his throat, the village chief started speaking
"I know y'all are still confused about what transpired between me and that possessed hybrid. Actually, I've killed him."
"Gasp..."
Almost all of the people there gasped when they heard the chief, still this revelation brought in more questions.
"As for his corpse," the village chief continued, "it flew into the wilderness."
The village chief then continued to explain what happened between him and Apolo while the men listened attentively. He explained everything in detail, how he had made the decision to kill him when he couldn't catch him.
One of the men, seemingly getting what their mission was, opened his mouth and said
"Sir, you want us to go and retrieve his corpse?"
"Correct."
Without beating around the bush, the village chief immediately answered.
"Don't worry sir, we would definitely find and bring his corpse!"
Some of the men echoed in unison. Then almost immediately they set out, using the gentle glow of the moon as their source of light to guide their footsteps.
Watching the backs of his small warriors, the village chief gritted his teeth and shouted out
"Make sure you put the safety of you and your brothers first before anything!"
At last, his voice only echoed across the silent night accompanied by the gentle and uniform creaking of crickets.
With a "whoosh" he disappeared into the night running as fast as he could back to his small community.
Meanwhile, while the ten strong men were making their way into the wilderness with the direction they'd received from their chief, the eyes of a young muscular boy snapped open.