"That's... General Aiden's White Fire." The man's eyes narrowed as his gaze shifted towards the gauntlets and greaves that Aidy was wearing, recognizing the distinctive light flames the equipment emitted. "So you were the group behind the attacks on our guinea pig collection facilities," he said with a mix of anger and curiosity.

"Guinea pig? Guinea pig!?" Harthela exclaimed, her voice filled with disbelief as she reacted to the word the man used to describe her fellow demihuman brethren.

In the subsequent attacks on Aehia, Harthela's settlement was among those ravaged, leaving her with a deep-seated resentment towards the human supremacist group responsible for the destruction.

"You're saying that the Aether folk and Beast folk your nation has been kidnapping and murdering are nothing more than guinea pigs to you!?" she asked, her tone laced with outrage and indignation.

She witnessed everything, all the while lamenting her powerlessness to stop the atrocities being committed against her people. Men were killed in gruesome ways, and women as young as twelve and up were used as playthings for the sadistic pleasure of the raiders. While the elderly and disabled were left to suffer and die in the ruins of their homes.

But they weren't satisfied with just inflicting pain and suffering. They made sure their victims were hale and hearty, so they sold them as slaves or used them for their country's unspeakable purposes.

"Hmph. Oh, so the one in the armor is also a guinea pig, huh?" The man snickered, his eyes narrowing with a hint of disgust. "You should be grateful that we even bothered to experiment on your kind. It's for the greater good of our nation, after all. Your lives are expendable in the pursuit of progress and advancement."

The man's words dripped with arrogance and superiority as he looked down upon the armored figure. His belief in the righteousness of their actions was evident, as if he truly believed that sacrificing lives for the sake of progress was a noble cause.

"You scoundrel!" Harthela exclaimed, and she was about to lunge at him, but Aidy quickly grabbed her arm, holding her back. "Don't let him provoke you, wan," Aidy whispered, her voice filled with both concern and determination.

"Prioritize defending miladies; Aidy will handle this." Aidy's eyes narrowed as he stared at the enemy, his grip on Harthela's arm tightening.

Harthela was about to acquiesce, but Miyabi interjected. "I don't mind, Aidy." My dog-eared maid's face turned towards her, surprise and concern evident in her eyes. "But, milady, it could be dangerous, wan," she protested.

'Yeah, that's why.' Miyabi wanted to retort, but she held her tongue. "Harthela." The silver-haired priestess turned to her, hoping that her battle-junkie thoughts would not leak out.

"Remember the vow you made when you received my blessing. You wished for power, and I granted it to you. This is an opportunity for you to prove yourself and show that you are worthy of the power we bestowed upon you." Harthela nodded, shaking Aidy's hands off her arms as she straightened her posture.

"I understand, milady," she replied, her voice muffled from the helmet she wore. "I will not let you down. I am ready to face whatever challenges lie ahead and prove myself worthy of the power you have bestowed upon me."

"Aidy, support Harthela in any way you can," Miyabi said, looking directly at Aidy. "Aidy understands, wan! Let's go, Harthela!" The two nodded at each other, readying their weapons and stepping forward with determination.

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'Heh, all according to plan,' Miyabi thought to herself, unable to repress the smirk that crept onto her face. By having her guards leave her to fight their assailant, Miyabi hopes that their assailant will come at her instead.

That's the situation Miyabi has been counting on. Right now, the twins are nothing but damsels in distress, but Miyabi can't keep my combat-freak nature at bay for long. She also wanted to have a bit of fun every now and then.

And even if Mr. whatever his name is decides to face the two head-on, well, at least Miyabi could see Harthela version 2.0. in action.

Miyabi always wanted to see a double-shield wielder in action, so it would be a dream come true to witness Harthela unleashing her full potential. Although she still hopes that they'll be targeted so she can fight, the silver-haired priestess would be satisfied just by being able to observe Harthela's skills in combat, all the while gnashing her teeth with envy.

Seeing Harthela and Aidy step forward, "Hmph." The lazy-faced man crossed his arms and let out a dismissive grunt. "Just because you low-lives managed to win against General Aiden doesn't mean you stand a chance against me," he smirked, his eyes filled with arrogance.

"Yo, who da hell you think you are, huh? Underestimatin' Aidy like dat?" Unlike when the dog-eared maid Aidy talks to her mistresses, she spoke like a street thug, her words laced with a fierce attitude.

In truth, because she was formerly General Aiden, the man's words struck a nerve deep within her.

"Ya better keep an eye on that yap of yours," she growled, her voice dripping with venom. "'cause Aidy ain't nobody to mess with."

These words of hers marked the true start of the battle. Taking advantage of her new beastkin form, Aidy lunged forward with speed comparable to that of a Ki-augmented warrior. The next moment, she was already closing in on her opponent with her gauntled fist cocked back, ready to strike.

But Aidy was in for a surprise. The man she was facing was no ordinary opponent. Even though she moved with incredible speed, his eyes were locked onto her every movement, anticipating her attack with an eerie calmness.

As Aidy's fist came hurtling towards him, he didn't dodge. He didn't need to since his Aether wand was already aimed directly at her. "Holy Fire Arts, Fire Slug," he calmly whispered, and a blazing projectile shot out from the tip of his wand, colliding with Aidy's fist in a fiery explosion. The force of the impact sent her flying backward, stunned and disoriented.

'How!?' Aidy thought, her mind racing to comprehend how he had reacted so swiftly and effectively. However, time wasn't something she had on her side.

Before she could gather her thoughts, a hail of Fire Slugs rained down upon her, each one causing a fiery explosion upon impact. She rolled and threw herself outside, not wanting the others to be caught in the crossfire.

"What a bad dog you are," the man mockingly taunted, his voice dripping with disdain. "Didn't your owner teach you how to bite strangers? How could you be so useless?" he sneered, his words laced with arrogance.

"Shut up!" she shouted, her voice filled with frustration and anger. Aidy didn't want to admit it, but she knew this man was out of her league.

'Hopefully he only has Energy Manipulation Lv. 6, upper tier,' she thought to herself, trying to gauge the man's abilities. That's the only explanation she could come up with for why he was able to effortlessly unleash explosion after explosion without showing any signs of exhaustion. As much as she could sense, there weren't any external sources of energy that he could be drawing from.

'Worst-case scenario, he's Lv. 7, lower-tier.' At that thought, the blood drained from her face. Aidy knew of only one unit from the principality with troops that possessed such high levels of power.

"Tindalos," she whispered under her breath, her voice trembling. The Tindalos unit directly reports to the parliament and is known to be a gathering of elite soldiers with unparalleled strength and abilities.

"Oh-ho, so it seems you knew of our Tindalos unit," the man said with a sinister smile, confirming Aidy's suspicions. "It may be late, but allow me to introduce myself. I am Gareth, a Second Lieutenant in the Tindalos unit."

"Now that you know my true identity," Gareth continued, his voice dripping with arrogance, "you may now die." Aether coalesced around Gareth's outstretched wand as he prepared to unleash a devastating spell.

"Holy Fire Arts, Flame Bomb!" Aidy's heart pounded in terror as she watched Gareth's spell take shape. A great ball of fire erupted from his wand and hurtled towards her with deadly intent.

Death seemed imminent as Aidy frantically searched for a way to defend herself. The flames grew closer, but just as they were about to engulf her, an armored figure emerged out of nowhere. It was Harthela.

"Get away!" Aidy screamed, her voice filled with both relief and fear. "Don't worry, I will protect you."

Clad in gleaming armor with elvish runes etched across its surface, she stood tall and spread her arms wide. Without a shield or materializing any weapons, she seemed to rely solely on her body and guts to protect Aidy.

As the flames drew closer to Harthela, the rate at which they approached accelerated. Conversely, the heat it exuded diminished, losing its intensity as if being consumed. And when it finally reached Harthela, the flames were absorbed into the armor, vanishing into thin air.

""Huh?"" Aidy and Gareth, ally and enemy alike, were bewildered by the sight before them. The flames that had once threatened to engulf Aidy and Harthela had been completely neutralized by the mysterious power of the armor.

"Ahaha, sorry I'm late," Harthela said, her voice muddled by the helmet that covered her face. "I forgot that the armor had very little power, so I could only move for a few moments."