The man woven in steel armor charged towards them like a rampaging beast, trampling over any who stood in his way without hesitation.

Within a flash he easily bulldozed 5 people, while also throwing three or four of them.

Lightning could be seen crackling around him, as he released his charges of lightning without hesitation, burning the soldiers to a crisp.

He had moved so quick that the captain hadn't reacted for a second, before quickly reacting, as he commanded his soldiers. " Surround the beast!" He commanded.

At this moment, Richard's aura was more akin to beast than man, as if a beast had been offended, and was here to release its rage.

They did not know his connection to the girl, but anyone who witnessed this mission, much less attempted to interfere in t had to be killed.

The vanguard charged forward, using their blades to attack the man, only to find their blades bouncing off harmlessly, at best leaving nicks in the armor.

A backhand was what they recieved as they all went flying, as static was applied to their body, causing them to be temporarily stunned on the floor.

He then lifted his staff, and shouted. "Krackle!"

THHHOOOOM!"

A bright light shone through the crystal, before hitting the vanguard, as the crystal shell on Krackle amplified the visibility of the light, causing an absolutely blinding sensation.

Although the shielders managed to take most of the damage, the great light had temporarily confused their senses.

It was enough time for Richard to knock out another two troops, this time using one of the vanguard to hit two mages and taking them out of the fight, and leaving the vanguardto pin them down.

Seeing the situation get bad,the captain pulled out a bone chilling weapon.

It was a simple cleaver, and yet the mere sight of it rang all the alarms in Richard's mind.

[Grudge blade]

[A blade that reeks of agony and resentment. A rare and particularly dark item, created by Mahayana or western Buddhists, who had to bathe it in the blood of the living victims who were killed by their induced family members, before said family members were killed by their own family members, eventually ending with the death of a fetus by their own mother. in a cascading wave of blood that would last 10 nights of such endless bloodshed.

Being hit by such a blade would cause the victim to suffer the resentment of hundreds of innocent victims, before finally being attacked by the now corrupt child, known as an evil infant.

Only those with dark connections could gain something so evil.

To cleanse the blade of the resentment, and to free the child's soul would require it to be bathed in the teachings of a great buddhist or taoist for 1000 nights of praying, or the blessing of a god of the middle level.]

No wonder, it was such a cursed item.

Reading the description made his blood run cold.

Did this man know what he was using? Did he care?

Had his father been such a vile man?

Would he have used that on her?

Thinking this, Richard angrily, but rationally said the words out loud.

"Cast off!"

Boom!The pieces flew out, hitting the captain holding the cursed item, preventing him from taking advantage.

The heavy grey armor gave way to a slick, metallic blue armor with red and yellow accents, as three horns emerged from the helmet.

His wings and tail made another appearance in this form. As his dragonic wings had taken on almost a beetle like nature.

[Change: Speed Baron!]

The mysterious voice announced.

The captain looked waryly at the new form, unsure of how to react, as Richard rapidly approached him, before rushing so fast, that he could barely even see a blur save for a few streaks of lightning.

He could barely dodge the first attack, seeking to land a blow with the blade

After seeing that description, there was no way Richard would allow that.

Using the speed baron form gave him an unprecedented sense of awareness and speed, as if the world around him had slowed down.

It was a form that complimented the more agile, more limber human form.

Rushing under the blade, he launched a hard blow to the back of the man's head, before launching a flurry of staff strikes using Krackle's disguise.

The man could not even react before a raw shock of pain caused him to kneel, before Richard grabbed the blade roughly and tore it out of the man's fingers.

He did so roughly due to his own inadequacy, causing the man to scream, but he did not as he demanded.

"Do you know what this blade is!?" He demanded fiercely.

The captain coughed and glared at the armored man. "What's it to you?" He cursed, and Richard found himself kicking the man over the head in a fit of rage.

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"Mahayana buddhism. Do you know of it?" I asked him, and all the man showed was a lack of understanding

"This knife. Do you not feel it? The grudge? The anguish?" He pushed. Even as he held the blade, Richard could feel the dark and cruel nature of the blade. Such a thing exuded wrongness, and yet he would dare to use it.

Hearing this, the captain laughed hoarsely. "What of it?

There's a lot of bad weapons in this world. We can't all be picky about what we use to survive.

I don't know what kind of sheltered life you lived, punk, but we can't all afford to be so upright." He staggered to get up, only to be crushed underfoot by Richard, who felt nothing but disgust for the man.

It's true, Richard knew, that not everyone could afford to be picky, and perhaps he could've found himself in a similar position under different circumstances, but having appraised the blade, he couldn't justify it.

Such a vile thing...

The familiar touch surprised him as sister Alexandria slithered over to him, calmly bringing him back to the present.

"Leave him to me." She said softly, moving Richard as he moved numbly, and simply picked the man up-

Snap

-Before putting it back down. Richard put the blade away alongside his anger, choosing to focus his attention elsewhere, his attention already elsewhere as he began to approach her.

Lysandre was unsure what to do as the man approached her.

The voice was so similar...

It sounded just like him, but the way he moved...

He could never have done anything like that.

The last time she saw him, he couldn't even move properly without coughing a lung out.

There's no way it could be him.

But Lyssandra couldn't deny the reality.

As the blue armor faded from view, and the white hair and blue eyes came into view, she knew it was him.

He was so different.

He had wings, webbing, and a tail!

He didn't look human anymore.

But it was him.

That same face, the same look of concern and affection he always had.

The familiar soft-spoken voice came out as he walked over to her a bit unsteadily.

Yes, even the gait was a bit akin to Richard's own gait in his youth, before the curse took that from him.

"Ellie? Are you alright?" He asked, as he came closer to her, kneeling down to help lift her up.

"Richard?" She said as her voice wavered, looking at Richard desperately, the hint of tears on her eyes. .

She wanted it to be true.

For it to be him, even if she knew it couldn't possibly be him.

But so desperately did she want it to be true, for someone she had held so dear for half her life o be back, even if it could only be a delusion.

"It's me Ellie." He said, as he embraced her, indulging in the embrace.

It had always been Ellie who hugged him when he was down, tired, or depressed.

And now, he was finally able to return the favor.

The rest of the group did not intervene as they quietly stood back and watched the two hug one another,

----------------------------------------

"Richard..." Ellie whined, only to be sushed by Richard.

"You always did this to me even when I complained, sister Lyssandre. And now it's my turn." Richard teased as he braided Lyssandre's hair.

After the long embrace, Richard had set to healing her wounds, purchasing potions from the shop.

They weren't a bit expensive, but given he used his points for little else, it was worthwhile to use them here.

And now, he was braiding her hair, much to her complaint.

She never asked how he had come back.

Perhaps she did not want to know, or perhaps she feared that reality would not be be so kind to her. That this would all be a dream.

Whatever the case, they paid no head to the scene around them, stuck in their own little world.

"Never braided my hair." The squirrel teased, only to be blown off by Richard with a flick of his tail

Observing the interaction of the two, Lyssandre couldn't help but ask. "You never introduced me to your new friends" She said casually, as her eyes looked over the group, lingering on sister Alexandria, with many complicated emotions going through her head.

For some reason, this lamia reminded her of someone, though she couldn't put her finger on it.

And seeing how affectionate this lamia was with Richard made her... uncomfortable.

She was worried about the child she knew, someone who had never seen the world, who could be easily fooled.

He wasn't stupid, but naive would be apt to describe him.

Lamia weren't known for being the most of honest people.

Even if it was a stereotype, she couldn't help but worried.

Seeing the worried look on the dragonewt face, she smiled mysteriously, and did nothing else.

She wasn't sure what to make of the boy, who seemed to have dragon blood, given the dragonic features that littered his body.

He seemed docile enough, though with people who had dragonblood, it was a question of docile, or patient. They were part dragon after all, and that blood often lead to certain side effects.

The squirrel was the easiest to understand. A screecher squirrel, a famous C-rank monster known for its rotten mouth, and yet one of the most friendly monster to humans, and one of the most appropriate for a familiar, as long as one could stand their mouth.

Seeing it at the least, was reassuring to her, that Richard had found at least one reliable companion.

Richard was happy to share, though had a hard time finding where to start.

With the familiars?

With the prehistoric dragon?

With the giant wyrm in the room?

Richard eventually decided to start with krackle, who seemed the most inconspicuous.

"Well this is Krackle" he said, and raised his staff, allowing Krackle to reveal itself, as it shattered the staff and emerged, taking Lyssandre by surprise, who had not even detected the young octopus. "They're one of my familiars. They're a octopulse, and this is Atlas, my other familiar." Richard added excitedly, as Atlas willingly disconnected itself from him, crawling onto Lyssandre's palm.

She seemed slightly dazed by the surprise octopus, who was happily clambering on her arm, having taken the initiative to join the beetle.

"He's a symbiotic familiar who transforms into a set of armor, as you just saw.."

"This is Panda, and he's a-"

"MY NAME IS PANDAMONIUM" The squirrel protested thoroughly, only to be interrupted by his master.

"His name is Panda, and he's a screecher squirrel..." The squirrel could only helplessly resign himself in the moment.

"Achil here is a human with dragonblood as you can see, though we're trying to pass him off as a lizard human hybrid. He's a nice child, quiet but thoughtful..." The boy nodded quietly and only giving his indication in this way.

"Sister Alexandria is a lamia, who has been taking very good care of me. She's a nice lady."

Richard omitted some things, as Richard could not reveal the whole truth, whether it be too ridiculous to be taken seriously, or simply too outrageous to hear.

The statements were mostly true, as he shared the experience he had with the group, but omitted the parts about reincarnation, about being blessed by gods, that the "lamia" was a wyrm who had power akin to a god. Supposedly.

Even then, he could tell that what he did tell her was quite astonishing.

They did not touch on how he came back.He could tell for both her and him, it was a sensitive subject that neither really wanted to touch upon.

But overall, it was pleasant for things to go back to the way they once were, albeit slightly different.

For once it was Lyssandre who was vulnerable, and Richard finally got to return the favor.

Yet there were other things plaguing his mind, things concerning a certain family.

The blade really bothered him. It wasn't a normal blade after all.

Where the captain got it was what really bothered him as depraved the description made its creation to be made him think of his father.

Previously, he had thought of him merely as an arrogant and indifferent noble, capable of abandoning his own son for face.

But now, now he was worried that he had underestimated the man, that his methods were more detestable than he had thought. That he was more of a monster than he had thought the man was.

And above it all...

He tried to hurt her. He tried to hurt someone he cared for.

It was becoming clear that the path between the two of them would continue to cross, and Richard welcomed it.

A chance to spite the man who was his father.

He wasn't sure what the man had planned for this city, but he would find it, and he would ruin it.

Player 0 had encouraged him to find some initiative, and now?

Now he had a goal to look forward to.