A powerful aura slowly rose from the man in front of them.

The numerous dark guards raised their cold glinting daggers, holding them across their chests as they glared coldly at the person atop the iron cage.

They could sense the immense strength emanating from this man before them.

Leon's expression also grew solemn. She narrowed her eyes and whispered to the crowd behind her:

"Protect Lady Lia."

But Lia showed no fear. She simply folded her arms beneath her chest, coldly staring at the man before her.

The man looked somewhat unkempt, with stubble on his chin and worn-out clothes.

It was a stark contrast to the ornate great sword on his back.

He was a somewhat famous adventurer from the south.

Known as the "Berserker" warrior - Cindy Kaia.

Three years ago, he was already a peak third-tier warrior with formidable combat prowess.

Of course, to put it nicely, he was an adventurer.

In reality, the profession of adventurer was just another type of mercenary who would do anything for money.

For a long time, Cindy Kaia had disappeared from adventurer circles.

When he reappeared, he was wielding a luxurious greatsword and had killed his former employer, defecting to the Reiser family.

It was said that the sword he carried was a gift from the Reiser family to win him over.

As such a "renowned" adventurer and now a lapdog of the Reiser family,

Lia naturally recognized the man before her.

Seeing this, she sneered mockingly:

"What do we have here? A dog of the Reiser family, coming to my territory to throw a fit?"

Cindy jumped down from atop the cage, standing in front of the path cut through the cage, blocking the beastkin's escape route.

"I wouldn't dare, Lady Lia," he said.

"It's just that these goods are very important to us... Could you perhaps turn a blind eye and let us take them away?"

His tone was very sincere.

However, hearing his words, the cat girls in the iron cage behind him became frightened and started to panic.

"Help... help us..."

Before they could finish speaking, Cindy drew the greatsword from his back and slammed it hard against the iron cage.

The cage shook violently, accompanied by Cindy's warning voice:

"All of you be quiet! I don't want to damage the merchandise."

Under this extremely threatening tone, they fearfully closed their eyes, not daring to make another sound.

As Cindy's voice rang out, several warriors wielding weapons emerged from the surrounding darkness.

They slowly advanced towards Lia and her group, almost encircling them.

Seeing this, Lia clicked her tongue twice:

"And if I don't want to let you take them away?"

Cindy sighed.

"That would be a shame, Lady Lia."

"Apart from you, I'm afraid all of your dark guards would have to die here."

Lia's gaze instantly turned cold as she stared at Cindy:

"Causing trouble in my territory and wanting to kill my people?"

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"Are you not taking my Kravina family seriously, or has Viktor's absence for a few days made you itch for punishment again?"

Cindy shrugged, adopting an indifferent attitude as he said:

"Lady Lia, I'm just someone who does jobs for money."

"Besides, when did I say I was going to kill your people?"

He looked over the dark guards beside Lia, his eyes flashing with greed.

"Well-trained beastkin slaves are quite valuable..."

"How could I bear to waste them?"

The surrounding warriors slowly closed in, forcing Lia's dark guards to continuously shrink their standing space.

Seeing this, Lia let out a slight sigh:

She had figured it out.

That merchant called Hanna was deliberately pushed out by these slave traders.

Through the method of being forced to confess, they lured her into this trap.

"Perhaps I've been spending too little time in my territory lately, making you develop some misconceptions."

In the Karensia Empire, which had no slavery system, the act of buying and selling slaves was a crime.

Similarly, smuggling beastkin into the country was also a criminal offense.

However, if these two points were combined...

The slave traders only needed to find an excuse to avoid their crimes.

The beastkin could be said to have been discovered in some forest within the empire.

Or they could claim the beastkin had smuggled themselves into the empire and were just caught by them.

Whatever the reason, as long as they could explain that they didn't intentionally bring the beastkin into the empire,

Then the slave traders could sell them to anyone under the guise of capturing and freely disposing of beastkin.

As always, beastkin had no human rights.

However, in the Kravina territory, even if these beastkin disappeared, no one would dare say anything.

Because beastkin had no rights, even if this "merchandise" was robbed, the slave traders could only swallow their bitterness silently.

But now...

"You think that by relying on the Reiser family, you can come and test the Kravina family?"

Clearly, only the support from the Reiser family could give these slave traders the courage to seek revenge and rebel.

These beastkin slaves were undoubtedly meant to be transported to the south.

As soon as she finished speaking, Lia slowly raised one hand.

On that delicate hand, she wore a black fingerless glove.

Six differently colored gems glittered brilliantly under the moonlight.

Lia smiled as she looked at the warriors surrounding her, her tone filled with disdain.

"You seem to think..."

"That you have victory in the bag?"

Suddenly, she flipped her palm, and a violently burning flame erupted from her hand.

The blazing light illuminated the entire port incredibly brightly.

It seemed as if it would incinerate everything around.

Countless people widened their eyes, looking at Lia with shocked and disbelieving gazes.

They seemed to have realized something, but it was already too late.

[Third-tier Magic: Explosive Flame]

Instantly, along with the instantly formed magic circle, surging hot flames shot straight into the sky.

The flames immediately flew upwards, transforming into a cloud of fire.

Constantly falling towards the ground were huge and scorching fireballs.

The intense heat light slammed hard into the surging sea surface, causing a burst of white steam to rise and envelop the entire port.

Fireballs continued to fall, creating one fire pit after another on the surrounding ground.

The scorching temperature seemed capable of baking even the ground until it cracked.

Countless people stared wide-eyed at the crimson sky.

"A... a third-tier mage?"

"Wasn't it said that the young lady of the Kravina family was just an ordinary person? This intelligence must be completely wrong!"

These warriors, with an average strength of only second-tier, were helpless in the face of such a terrifying third-tier magic.

Even Cindy stumbled back several steps in bewilderment, moving away from the range of the falling fire rain.

There were many more warriors who were closer to the magic.

The moment the flames licked their bodies, they suddenly erupted into violent fires.

The flames engulfed them completely, leaving only red-hot armor and charred bodies.

With a thunderous sound, the burned warriors fell to the ground one after another.

They didn't even have a chance to resist.

"The Kravina family... actually has two genius mages?"

A hint of surprise flashed in Cindy's eyes.

It seemed somewhat reasonable that if Viktor could become a fourth-tier mage at the age of twenty-nine,

His sister Lia being a third-tier mage made some sense.

But...

"This level is not enough, Lady Lia."

Cindy smiled and swung the luxurious greatsword behind him.

A fierce sword wind howled out.

Under that sword wind, the flames burning all over the ground seemed to be covered by a white dusty smoke, completely dissipating.

At the same time, a powerful blood energy emanated from Cindy's body.

Fourth-tier.

This was also reasonable. Three years ago, Cindy was already a peak third-tier warrior.

After three years of accumulation, plus the cultivation from the countless wealth of the Reiser family,

Even a dog could successfully advance in rank.

So Lia didn't feel surprised. She just calmly looked at Cindy, her gaze seeming to hold a hint of mockery.

After the flames were extinguished, Cindy looked at the flickering remnants of fire and saw Lia and her people surrounded by the flames.

He wanted to say something to demonstrate his strength, but as if realizing something, Cindy suddenly froze.

Between the flames, it seemed... someone was missing?

Cindy instantly became alert, a chill suddenly rising at the back of his head.

He instinctively raised his greatsword and turned to block.

A silver dagger clashed with the greatsword, but almost in the blink of an eye, a second dagger suddenly thrust out from the darkness.

Swoosh!

A sharp wind tore through, leaving a long bloody gash on Cindy's face.

He swung his greatsword, unleashing a violent sword wind that forced Leon back dozens of meters.

After doing all this, Cindy shouldered his greatsword.

The blood energy appearing on his body seemed to grow even more intense.

A violent aura coursed through his meridians, and Cindy's eyes turned blood-red.

Along his body, his muscles seemed to swell slightly.

The tattered clothes wrapped around his body couldn't help but burst open, completely torn apart.

He was like a beast poised to strike.

"Tsk, I've changed my mind."

"I'll kill you all now."

"Then I'll take the money and run. The Kravina family can settle their grudges with the Reiser family."

He grinned, a chilling intent along with intense violence surging towards Lia.

"No matter how powerful Viktor is, he's just a newly advanced fourth-tier mage."

"The same goes for you, just a third-tier mage."

"I've killed plenty of third-tier mages like you before."

But under this threat, Lia shrugged without the slightest panic.

"There's something you should know in advance."

She spread her hands, her eyes holding a hint of playfulness.

"When did I ever say I was a mage?"

"Huh?"

Cindy was slightly stunned.

He hadn't yet grasped Lia's meaning, but in a daze, Cindy felt it.

Behind him, the sense of crisis came again.

He thought it was Lia's annoying dark guard again, so he raised his greatsword and swung it forcefully towards his back.

But the next second...

A giant hand made of lava firmly grasped the greatsword.

In a flash, Cindy seemed to see a black windbreaker flicker before him.

Soon after, the other party extended a hand.

He didn't even see the speed of the other person's movement before his neck was firmly gripped.

"Ugh..."

His body was slowly lifted, his feet leaving the ground as he was raised towards the sky.

The greatsword slipped from his hand, but it didn't fall. Instead, it was tightly gripped by that lava giant hand.

Cindy struggled with his muscular body.

But his body, which he had been so proud of, felt like a burden at this moment.

The constant struggling and the weight of his body only made him more suffocated.

He tried to use his hands to pry open the hand of the man in front of him.

But it was completely useless.

No matter how he slapped or struggled against that unknown, immense strength,

The man before him remained unmoved.

He could only see the flash of azure in the other's eyes.

Streams of runes and magical power flowed continuously along his arm.

[Strength Boost (Medium)]

[Strength Boost (Large)]

[Strength Boost (Huge)]

As the air in his body gradually depleted, Cindy began to feel suffocated.

In his daze, he saw a one-eyed black crow standing on the man's shoulder.

The crow's eyes also flashed with that eerie azure color.

"What were you saying just now? Something about a fourth-tier mage? Sorry, I didn't quite catch that."

Viktor's cold gaze seemed to carry an extreme killing intent.

He spoke each word slowly and deliberately...

"You."

"Could you say that again?"