The inside of the hall had been dim and gloomy, but now that there was a huge hole in the ceiling and that warm light descended upon Thorn and company, the hall was a lot brighter.
Rose's party stood a few dozens of meters away from Arnold Alch's gang.
Thorn wasn't surprised to see Arnold Alch, Captain Fou Tre, and the knights because he had seen them through his wind a little early. Rose and Cure Song, however, were flabbergasted, they couldn't pinpoint the reason for such lofty individuals to kidnap normal civilians.
In Thorn's arms, Caroline Darrel looked over at her family and was so happy to see them alive that tears of joy flowed down her face.
The Basic Build cultivators heaved a sigh of relief after making sure the intruders didn't represent a threat to them.
Lois Cae even giggled, her breasts slightly bouncing. "Hehehe… Oh, little Thorn, you really think you can defeat us? Could it be that you have accidentally filled your head with air? Hehehe…"
Thorn placed Caroline Darrel on the floor, stepped forward, and prepared himself to do violent battle.
Cure Song didn't stay idle either, he skillfully took his heavy armor off and revealed his powerful muscles and white skin. Now, the only clothing that could be seen on his body was his black shorts. On each of the both sides of the shorts, there was a silver Ryyk Blade. After grabbing the hilts of his weapons, he looked ready to dart into battle at any given moment.
Off to the side, cold sweat appeared on Rose's forehead. (This is bad, really bad. Even though we would have enough problems just from facing enemies with higher cultivation, they outnumber us and we have to protect these many civilians; not to mention we don't have experience fighting as a team, but our opponents surely have…)
The fight was about to erupt when all of a sudden, Arnold Alch shouted: "Wait! Wait! Wait! W-we can solve this in a pacific way, can't we?!"
All gazes settled on Arnold Alch, seeking further explanation.
Arnold Alch got nervous and embarrassed after being stared by Thorn in such a context. "S-since you were carrying that little gorgon with you, it should be correct to assume that all of you were contracted to rescue the civilians, am I right?"
"That's exactly what happened." Expressionless, Thorn nodded.
Arnold Alch cleared his throat and continued: "Then, wouldn't it be simpler if your party and the civilians promise that you won't tell anyone what happened here nor would you interfere with our business in the future? That way we could promise that we'll let you go and won't pursue the matter any further."
Arnold Alch's offer surprised all of them, but then, the people who were present in the tournament yesterday remembered how much love Arnold Alch had shown toward Thorn, and this caused odd expressions to appear on their faces.
Thorn and Rose contemplated the matter for an instant and reached the same conclusion: (Fair enough.) They weren't heroes, but pragmatic bastards. Killing Arnold Alch and company wouldn't be easy, and if they could end the job without wasting that much time and energy, then they would gladly accept the offer.
But just when they were about to nod their heads, Cure Song spoke out: "Thorn, Rose, I'm sorry. It seems like we'll have to part paths here."
"What?! But we just started to get acquaintances, did you get scared of my godly strength or something?!" Thorn asked agape. (What's wrong with this rascal all of a sudden?) He wondered.
"…" Rose stared at Cure Song, a worried look on her face. She could easily imagine what was going on with him. After all, she had already grasped some traits of his personality.
"I can't accept Arnold's offer." Cure Song clenched his hands into fists fiercely. "I just can't bear egoist people who think that, because they are rich or have a higher status, they can trample on the lives of the weak and poor!" His infuriated voice made clear how serious he was.
*Clap* *Clap*
Thorn and Rose slapped their foreheads in frustration. Their new companion's naivety made them feel ashamed.
Cure Song continued: "So, you two don't need to get involved with me anymore. You can accept Arnold's offer, but I'll definitely kill some of them today, and then I'll escape by myself to execute the rest of them another day!"
Complicated emotions surged in Arnold Alch's heart. (Oh, you have no idea how much I had wished to meet a person like you back then.) Closing his eyes, he lowered his head, and softly asked: "… Are you sure?"
"I don't need that disdainful consideration from a trash like you. And let me give you a little spoiler, today you'll regret your actions." Cure Song said confidently.
*Sigh*…
Rose sighed deeply, and began to walk toward Ral Bal and the rest of mid Intermediate Awaken cultivators as she put on her black fist guards. "Thorn, protect our backs and the civilians'. This is a good chance for you to get used to your Third Pace. Cure, with your two Awakened Skills, you should be able to defeat the Captain. Since I'm the weakest, I'll play with the small fries." She said calmly, having finished her calculations of their probabilities of victory.
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Looking at her small back and listening to her words, Cure Song was taken aback, and then, his respect for Rose reached an unprecedented level. (So, you are unwilling to let go the benefits I could bring you. Is this what you meant when you said 'people' are just 'benefits' to you? The logic is indeed cold and cruel, but… somehow… it feels warm...) He drew his Ryyk Blades and strode toward Captain Fou Tre without a hint of fear.
Thorn shrugged and said: "Our party leader has spoken. Savor the last moments of your lives guys." Afterward, he closed his eyes and remained unmoving.
Arnold Alch, Captain Fou Tre, the knights, Ral Bal, and the mid Intermediate Awaken cultivators stared in utter shock at Rose and company's actions.
Arnold Alch: (What the hell is wrong with their heads?!)
Captain Fou Tre: (Are they even feeling our Auras?!)
Lois Cae: (They are lunatics! Lunatics I say!!!)
They had seen how powerful Thorn and Cure Song had been in the tournament, and they were sure that such strength was far from being comparable to theirs. As for the young girl with red curly hair, she was at the Second Level Basic Awaken stage! She was basically a common civilian!
It was absolutely no wonder they would view their actions as pure madness.
By that point, Thorn ended his preparations.
*Swiiish*…
In an instant, all the captives appeared behind Thorn and around Caroline Darrel, unshackled!
"!!!" When Arnold Alch and company looked at this scene, their hearts trembled in fear and disbelief. The speed of the wind Thorn had just controlled to transport the captives had reached a level they couldn't react to! And he had soundlessly and instantaneously broke the chains that only Basic Build or superior cultivators could damage!
At Final-Star Control of the Skill, one was ten times stronger than at Final-Star Use of the Skill; but at Final-Star Memory of the Skill, one was a hundred times stronger than at Final-Star Control of the Skill. And normally, cultivators at the Basic Build stage had an understanding degree at either the First or Second-Star Control of the Skill. Using his cultivation in Complex Energy and his cultivation in Mystical Energy at the same time with the Final-Star Memory of the Skill, Thorn's Awakened Skill could unleash a power superior to an ordinary Ninth Level Basic Build cultivator with an understanding degree at the Second-Star Control of the Skill. Even though he was at the Second Level Intermediate Awaken stage! In other words, he was surmounting almost five entire stages of cultivation!
Naturally, Arnold and his gang found this as ridiculous as lighting falling from a blue sky. After all, even the most powerful Arrogant Awakened Skill could at most boost the strength of something up to 100 times, which was a surmount of about two entire stages of cultivation.
(The gravity wasn't the main propulsion of the high speed at which they fell!) They promptly came to this realization.
When Cure Song was five meters away from Captain Fou Tre, he abruptly became invisible, and then charged forward, his Berserk Speed skill bursting into activity.
A frown appeared on the Eight Level Basic Build gargoyle. (It was actually an Arrogant Awakened Skill! It seems like he didn't use its maximum potency in the tournament. Now that he boosted his speed 100 times, this kid is much faster than me! But it is only speed, what has he up his sleeve to be this confident to face me?!) He flapped his demonic blue wings and flew up. It wasn't safe to fight the invisible Cure Song in melee combat. Big bubbles filled with water one by one appeared around him, and they then began to shoot water bullets like Gatlings toward where Cure Song's Aura was at.
But, to the gargoyle's amazement and terror, his water bullets passed unhindered through Cure Song's Aura!
(Oh, damn it!) Instantly, Captain Fou Tre activated his Metallic Endurance Racial Skill like if his life depended on it! Only now did he comprehend the nature of Cure Song's second Awakened Skill!
However, the weak parts of his body splintered anyway! His eyes, his veins, his thin tendons, and even his spinal cord!
Cure Song had just now attacked Captain Fou Tre with his Ryyk Blades, which were S2-class zenanium armaments with the feature of changing their length when swung at high speed.
The property of his armaments and his No Thing skill turned his attacks ranged and able to pass through any defense!
Furiously flapping his wings, Captain Fou Tre managed to exit Cure Song's attack range, but his wounds were already so severe he even spat a mouthful of blood.
Gnashing his teeth, Captain Fou Tre began to assault Cure Song with a barrage of water spheres which resembled cannon balls and had an even greater destructive power. "Let's see for how long you can keep your intangibility skill active!" He bellowed in rage.
It was at that moment when Lois Cae, Davis Toc, and Xale Henr sprang into action. They were now aware of the severity of the situation they were in. The opponents in front of them wouldn't be easy to deal with, and if they let a single one of them escape, they would face terrible consequences. After all, for any knight, the punishment for putting in risk the lives of their own kingdom's civilians was the capital one.
With that in mind, they unhesitatingly used their Awakened Skills to attack Rose, Thorn, and the civilians!
The harpy Xale Henr engulfed Rose in dazzling flames.
The dullahan Davis Toc made the ground around Thorn shoot out yellowish metallic spikes.
And the elemental elf Lois Cae sent wind blades at every single civilian.
Yet, neither screams echoed out nor blood sprayed out, not even the scent of burned flesh wafted out.
The flames had been totally extinguished, and Rose continued sauntering forward as if nothing had ever happened.
The wind blades had been completely nullified the instant they appeared, and the civilians hadn't even noticed that they had been attacked and protected.
And the metallic spikes had been utterly pulverized before they could even touch Thorn's body.
The scenes left the three knights shocked to their core. When they saw the imperturbable figure of the standing Thorn who had his eyes closed, they felt as if every inch of their bodies were being closely watched and that they were naked. Unavoidably, terror seized their hearts.
Knowing that this wasn't the moment to think about how could Thorn be this ridiculously strong, the three of them slowly nodded at each other, and began to perform a combined attack.
The ceiling shattered into hundreds of big chunks, then the chunks were set ablaze, and explosively fell impulsed by powerful wind blasts. The picture was exactly like a meteor shower.
*BOOM!!* *BOOM!!* *BOOM!!* *BOOM!!* *BOOM!!* *BOOM!!*…
Deviated by Thorn's wind, the 'meteors' slammed heavily into the ground, away from the civilians.
Close to Thorn, the little girl without cultivation had already been hugging her mother, both of them shedding sweet tears.
After the booming sounds entered into her ears, Caroline Darrel slowly lifted up her head, and her eyes caught sight of Thorn's back. At that moment, her entire soul became calm. Somehow, his back seemed manly to her, and gave her the feeling that, in spite of the villains' presence, she was already completely safe, and that it didn't matter what the villains could do, from now on, they wouldn't be able to hurt her, or her family… or anybody else.