A powerful aura slowly rose from the man standing in front of them.
The many shadow guards lifted the cold-glinting daggers in their hands, crossing them before their chests, staring coldly at the man on top of the iron cage.
From this man before them, they felt an extremely strong power.
Leon's expression also became somewhat tense. He narrowed his eyes, and his soft voice spread throughout the people behind him.
"Protect Miss Liya."
But Liya did not feel afraid. She only crossed her arms, supporting her chest, and stared coldly at the man in front of her.
The man looked somewhat unkempt, with stubble on his chin, and the clothes on his body appeared extremely worn.
Compared to the luxurious greatsword strapped behind him, he looked completely mismatched.
He was a somewhat famous adventurer from the south.
A warrior known as 'Wild Oni', Cindy Kaya.
Three years ago, he was already a peak third-rank warrior, with quite impressive combat power.
Of course, to put it nicely, he was an adventurer.
In reality, the adventurer profession was just another kind of mercenary who did things for money.
If you pay, they'll do anything.
For a long period of time, Cindy Kaya had disappeared from the adventurer circle.
When he appeared again, he held a luxurious giant sword and chopped down his former employer, switching over to the Lesser family.
It was said that the sword on him was a gift from the Lesser family in order to buy him over.
This kind of "famous" adventurer, now a lapdog of the Lesser family, naturally, Liya recognized the man before her.
Seeing this, she mocked him with a laugh.
"So this is what it was. A Lesser dog came running into my territory to act wild?"
Cindy jumped down from the top of the cage and stood before the opening cut into it, blocking the demi-humans' escape path.
"Of course I wouldn't dare, Miss Liya."
"It's just that these goods are very important to us… could you perhaps show mercy and let us take them away?"
His tone was extremely sincere. But inside the iron cage behind him, a few catgirls heard his words and became frightened, panicking.
"S-save… save…"
Before they could finish speaking, Cindy pulled out the greatsword from his back and slammed it hard onto the iron cage.
The cage trembled violently, accompanied by Cindy's warning.
"All of you shut up! I don't want to ruin the merchandise."
Under this extremely threatening statement, they squeezed their eyes shut in fear and didn't dare make another sound.
As Cindy's voice rang out, several weapon-holding warriors stepped out from the surrounding darkness.
They slowly closed in on Liya and her group, almost surrounding them completely.
Seeing this, Liya clicked her tongue twice.
"And what if I don't want to let you take them away?"
Cindy let out a sigh, "That would be too unfortunate, Miss Liya."
"Except for you, your shadow guards probably all have to die here today."
Liya's gaze immediately turned colder, glaring icily at Cindy.
"Causing trouble in my territory, and you want to kill my people?"
"Are you ignoring my Clavenna family, or has Victor being away for a few days made your skin itch again?"
Cindy spread his hands, speaking with a carefree attitude, "Miss Liya, I'm just someone who does the job he's paid for."
"And, when did I ever say I was going to kill your people?" He glanced over the shadow guards beside Liya, and a greedy glint flashed in his eyes.
"Well-trained demi-human slaves aren't cheap…"
"How could I bear to?"
The warriors around them continued closing in, forcing Liya's shadow guards to shrink their standing space little by little.
Seeing this, Liya let out a small sigh.
She had figured it out.
That merchant named Hannah was pushed out on purpose by these slave-traders.
They forced information out of him to lure her straight into this trap.
"Maybe I've stayed too little in my own territory recently, making you all develop some strange illusions."
In the Calencia Empire, which did not have a slavery system, trading slaves was illegal.
And smuggling beings into the Empire, bringing demi-humans into the borders, was also illegal.
However, if these two things were combined…
Slave-traders only needed one excuse to avoid punishment.
Demi-humans could be said to have been found in some forest of the Empire.
Or they could be said to have snuck into the Empire from the outside and were conveniently captured.
No matter the justification, as long as they claimed the demi-humans weren't intentionally brought into the Empire, the slave-traders could legally "capture and dispose" of them, selling them to anyone.
As always, demi-humans had no human rights.
But in Clavenna territory, even if these demi-humans disappeared, no one would dare say anything.
Because demi-humans had no rights. Even if this kind of "cargo" was stolen, the slave-traders could only swallow their suffering silently.
However, now…
"So you think that leaning on the Lesser family means you can test our Clavenna family?"
Clearly, the only thing that could give these slave-traders the courage to seek revenge and resist was help from the Lesser family.
These demi-human slaves were undoubtedly meant to be transported to the south.
As soon as she finished speaking, Liya slowly raised one hand.
On her slender hand, she wore a black fingerless glove.
Six multicolored gemstones sparkled with brilliance under the moonlight.
Liya smiled at the warriors surrounding her, her tone full of disdain.
"It seems like…"
"You all think you've already won?"
Suddenly, she flipped her palm, and an intensely burning flame surged out from her hand.
The blazing light illuminated the entire port unbelievably brightly.
As if it intended to burn everything around them to ash.
Countless people widened their eyes, staring at Liya in complete shock and disbelief.
It seemed they had realized something, yet it was already too late.
[Third-Rank Magic: Explosive Flame]
In an instant, accompanied by the magic circle that appeared immediately, surging blazing fire shot toward the sky.
The flames flew upward, turning into a cloud of fire.
Then huge, scorching fireballs fell continuously toward the ground.
The burning light smashed fiercely into the raging sea, sending white steam erupting upward and engulfing the entire port.
Fireballs continued falling, forming blazing pillars as they hit the ground one after another.
The intense heat seemed capable of baking the ground until it cracked.
Countless people stared wide-eyed at the glowing red sky.
"A… a third-rank mage?"
"Didn't they say the young lady of the Clavenna family was just an ordinary person? This intel is completely wrong!"
These warriors were mostly only second-rank. Facing such terrifying third-rank magic left them helpless.
Even Cindy was stunned, stepping back several meters to escape the spreading flames.
Many other warriors were even closer to the magic.
The moment the flames touched their bodies, the sparks instantly exploded into raging fire.
The flames swallowed them completely, leaving only red-hot armor and bodies burned into charcoal.
With a series of loud thuds, the burning warriors collapsed one after another.
They didn't even have the slightest chance to resist.
'The Clavenna family… actually has two genius mages?'
A hint of surprise flashed in Cindy's eyes.
Victor had become a fourth-rank mage at twenty-nine.
His younger sister Liya being a third-rank mage seemed somewhat reasonable.
But…
"This degree… isn't enough, Miss Liya." Cindy smirked and swung his luxurious greatsword.
A fierce gust of blade-wind roared out.
Under that wind, the burning flames covering the ground were swept away like dust, scattering completely.
At the same time, an intense blood-energy surged from Cindy's body.
Fourth rank.
This was reasonable. Three years ago, Cindy was already a peak third-rank warrior.
With three years of buildup, and the Lesser family pouring countless resources into him, even a dog could successfully advance.
So Liya wasn't surprised. She simply looked at Cindy calmly, even with a hint of mockery in her gaze.
After the flames dissipated, Cindy saw the remaining flickers of fire, and within them, Liya and the others standing unharmed.
He was about to speak to show off his strength, but as if realizing something, he suddenly froze.
Within the flames… someone seemed to be missing.
Cindy instantly became alert, a cold shiver running up the back of his head.
Instinctively, he raised his greatsword and spun around to block.
A silver dagger clashed against the giant blade, and in the blink of an eye, a second dagger suddenly stabbed from the darkness.
Slash!
A sharp wind tore open his skin, leaving a long bloody gash across his face.
With a swing of his greatsword, Cindy unleashed a violent blade-wind, forcing Leon back dozens of meters.
After doing this, Cindy hefted his sword again.
The blood-energy emitted from his body grew even stronger.
A violent aura surged through his meridians. Cindy's eyes turned blood-red.
His muscles seemed to swell.
The tattered clothes wrapped around his body tore apart under the pressure, ripping open completely.
He looked like a beast ready to pounce.
"Tch, I changed my mind."
"Right now, I'll just kill all of you."
"Then I'll take the money and run. As for the grudges between your Clavenna family and the Lesser family, let them sort it out."
He grinned, frost-cold malice mixed with raging bloodlust pouring toward Liya.
"No matter how strong Victor is, he's only a newly-advanced fourth-rank mage."
"And you're the same, just a third-rank mage."
"I've killed plenty of third-rank mages. One more won't make a difference."
But under this threat, Liya simply shrugged without the slightest panic.
"There's something you'd better know ahead of time."
She spread her hands, her gaze flashing with amusement.
"When did I ever say I was a mage?"
"Hm?"
Cindy froze slightly.
He didn't understand what Liya meant, but in that instant, he sensed... danger behind him again.
Thinking it was Liya's annoying shadow guard, he grabbed his greatsword and swung it fiercely behind him.
But the next second…
A giant hand made of molten lava pressed down on his greatsword, pinning it in place.
In a blur, Cindy saw a black cloak flash before him.
Soon, the figure stretched out a hand.
Cindy didn't even see how fast he moved, his neck was firmly clamped.
"Ugh!"
His body was lifted upward, his feet leaving the ground as he rose into the air.
The greatsword slipped from his fingers, but instead of falling, it was caught tightly by the molten giant hand.
Cindy's strong body struggled wildly.
But the physique he had always been proud of felt like a burden at this moment.
The more he struggled, the heavier his body felt, the more suffocating it became.
He tried to pry open the man's hand with his own,
But it had no effect at all.
No matter how he slapped or thrashed, that immeasurable strength didn't budge.
He could only see that deep blue glow flashing in the man's eyes.
Runes and flowing magic surged across the man's arm.
[Strength Enhancement (Medium)]
[Strength Enhancement (Large)]
[Strength Enhancement (Super)]
The air in his lungs dwindled. Cindy felt himself suffocating.
In his fading vision, he saw a one-eyed black crow perched on the man's shoulder.
Its eye also glowed with that strange deep blue color.
"What were you saying just now? Something about a fourth-rank mage? Sorry, I didn't quite catch that."
Victor's cold gaze carried an extreme killing intent.
He spat out his words one by one, "You."
"Want to say it again?"