"Don't hurt Lucius! He's a good guy!"

Maryanne's outburst startled the three soldiers. The archer slightly lowered his aim as he looked down at the bag on Lucius' back, tilting his head as he shouted.

"What the hell are you doing out here in the middle of the night with a child?"

"What are you so scared of, Garrick. He's just a kid himself, and he's only got one good arm!"

The gigantic, bald-headed soldier let out a deep belly laugh as he saw that the hooded bowman had raised a middle finger up in his direction, lowering his bow in the process. However, the stern expressions returned to their faces when the third soldier spoke.

"Garrick! Roland! Don't let your guard down! That could be any manner of abomination, wearing the skin of a child to fool you. What kid do you know that could survive walking through this forest in the dead of night? It's pitch-black out there and crawling with powerful creatures! Everything about this is suspicious.", the leader continued to stare at Lucius, eyes narrowed as he carefully observed the young man's every move, "Put down your weapon. The best I can do is not kill you, but you're getting tied up! This is your last chance to cooperate before we use force!"

The leader continued to hold the threatening sword out in front of him as he slowly approached Lucius.

"You want me to put our lives in your hands? I won't do that. If you aren't willing to trust me, I'll just be on my way."

Lucius tried to step back and create some distance between himself and Lieutenant Tiber, but the soldier matched his movements, carefully maintaining the gap between them as he shouted orders.

"Roland! Disarm him. I'll cover you."

The largest of the soldiers gave a swift nod when he heard the order, before cracking his knuckles and stretching his neck as he stepped forward toward Lucius. The rippling muscles on his chest clenched and relaxed a few times as he walked.

"Put down that toothpick, kid. It's no use against me anyway."

Lucius' eyebrows furrowed as he felt magical energy enveloping the approaching soldier's body. The shade of the man's skin darkened several tones, becoming a shiny bronze that glistened particularly brightly on his bald head. The man's muscular physique, combined with the color and shine of his skin, reminded Lucius of Roman armor—in particular a certain style of cuirass made to resemble human muscles.

A large, bronze hand reached swiftly toward Matriarch's Fury, prompting Lucius to flick his wrist and swat the hand away with the tip of his sword. A loud clanging sound, like a spoon hitting a metal pot, echoed through the area as Roland's hand was knocked away. Stepping back, Roland glanced down at his hand with narrowed eyes. The sword hadn't cut him, but he was confused as to why he still felt pain, unaware of the weapon's magical nature.

"Last warning—just let us leave..."

Lucius gave the warning as his frustration rose, worried that he would end up killing one of them and cause the situation to spiral out of control, if this didn't stop soon.

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"Too risky. Now that you know our position, you need to stay here until we're ready to leave. Roland! What are you waiting for?"

Roland shook off his uncertainty as Lieutenant Tiber urged him into action. He shifted his gaze from his pained hand back towards Lucius, lowering his stance and spreading his arms like a wrestler as he charged forward. Lucius nimbly sidestepped, a heavy scowl covering his face, before leaning down on his front leg as he thrust forward like a fencer, stabbing hard into Roland's left arm with the tip of his sword.

"Ahhgg!"

Roland's magical defense was strong, but it couldn't withstand the tremendous piercing power of the [Extraordinary]-grade Matriarch's Fury. Even in his anger, Lucius held back, letting Roland off easy with only some pierced flesh and a great deal of pain. On the bright side, a warm flood of energy flowed into his body as his sword stole some of Roland's life energy, easing the constant ache in his injured arm.

Lucius leapt back after his successful strike, proving he wasn't an easy target before giving his opponents one more chance to change their minds. Roland held up his bleeding arm for his companions to see as the group's demeanor heavily worsened.

"No normal kid could break Roland's defense... What the hell are you?"

Garrick raised his bow again, notching a new arrow as he took aim at Lucius. At the same time, Lieutenant Tiber suddenly dashed forward with inhuman speed, leaving a blurry afterimage in the air behind him as he raised his sword to strike Lucius down. Lucius jumped back, narrowly dodging an arrow that struck the cobblestone walkway where he had just been standing. The arrow was obviously magical in nature, the impact sending small pieces of broken rock and dust flying in all directions as the cobblestones exploded.

At the same time he dodged the arrow, Lucius focused on his aspect, empowering the magical ability of his soul. Lieutenant Tiber's eyes widened as the target in front of him suddenly vanished. But as a well-trained soldier, he didn’t lose focus, continuing forward and pulling his sword down in a powerful swing on the spot where his enemy should have been.

Beads of sweat dripped down Lucius' forehead as he looked at the sword inches away from him. He had only narrowly avoided the strike thanks to his stealth, but in the next moment, Tiber let out a shout of exertion. The mirror-like sword beside Lucius suddenly released a flash of glowing light, and a bright white shockwave spread out in a circle a half dozen meters around the sword.

Lucius raised his sword up into the path of the wave of light to block, but the light passed directly through the blade, crashing into his body and hurling him through the air with great force. He managed to land on his feet, the shockwave had merely knocked him back and wasn't meant to directly damage him. However, the impact had jarred his injured arm, sending searing, white-hot pain coursing through it. Gritting his teeth, he bit down on his shirt to prevent himself from crying out in pain, standing still for a few moments as the worst of it subsided. Then he looked up at Tiber, brow heavily furrowed and nostrils flaring as he clenched his fingers tightly around the handle of Matriarch's Fury.

"Where the hell is he?"

The three soldiers stepped back slowly, hurriedly scanning their surroundings for the missing boy, when Lieutenant Tiber suddenly froze in place. Lucius had materialized directly behind him, pressing Matriarch's Fury against Tiber's neck. Roland and Garrick looked on in shock as their commander's life was threatened.

"I could kill you now, but you're still alive. Is that proof enough for you that I'm human?"

The bald man, Roland, was the first to react, scratching his head for a few seconds before suddenly letting out a loud laugh as he slapped his leg.

"He's right, Tiber! Ahahaha!"

Garrick lowered his bow, covering his face with his free hand and shaking his head as he let out a sigh.

"Why are you laughing? This is pathetic. We got taken out by a brat."

Tiber slowly lowered his sword, and Lucius watched as the weapon vanished from the man's hand. That was when he noticed the storage ring on Tiber's finger—not as high quality as the one he owned, but evidence that they had closed an anomaly at some point. Tiber raised his now empty hands up into the air, taking in a deep breath before he spoke.

"Okay... You're human."