Let's threaten again!

Arriving on the roof of a house right in front of the inn, Cien observed the surroundings outside the inn.

He looked for any presence of the Bahman Army or King Mandora's soldiers.

However, after a few minutes of observation, everything appeared calm and normal as usual.

Feeling that the situation was still safe, Cien jumped down and proceeded to walk casually towards the inn's entrance.

As soon as he entered, Cien noticed the receptionist's facial expression, which greeted him with a somewhat forced smile.

He even saw beads of sweat trickling down the receptionist's forehead.

"Tsk!"

Cien immediately realized that he had walked into a trap. He activated his magic power and began chanting a spell.

"[Pool.]"

A blue circle of magic glowed beneath Cien's feet, and as it vanished, it left a puddle of water up to ankle height in the inn's lobby.

"Uh, esteemed guest, what are you—"

Splash! Swoosh!

The sound of splashing water came from behind. Without turning around, Cien swiftly moved to the side, narrowly avoiding a spear that had just missed his head.

Seizing the opportunity, Cien immediately grabbed hold of the spear wielded by the assailant beside him and delivered a swift blow to the attacker's head.

However, the strike was not enough to render the assailant unconscious.

'Rank 3?'

Cien then forcefully broke the enemy's wrist, who was holding a spear, and took the spear from him. Spinning it around, he then thrust it into the enemy's abdomen.

Splash! Splash! Splash!

The sound of splashing water echoed around Cien once again.

'At 2, 4, and 9 o'clock!'

Cien quickly recited the incantation again.

"[Waterball]."

Cien threw his water ball at the enemy approaching from 2 o'clock, smothering his head and making it difficult for him to breathe.

Then, he struck the enemy's chest from 4 o'clock with the bottom of the spear, pushing him back.

While he held off the enemy from 4 o'clock.

His left hand flicked its fingers, activating a Mana Core in the Fire Glove. He aimed it at the approaching enemy from 9 o'clock.

"[Tongue of Fire.]"

Wooosh!

A blaze of fire erupted, burning the approaching enemy.

Cien then shifted his attention back to the enemy at 4 o'clock, who attacked again angrily.

The swing of the sword was directed at Cien, but he easily avoided it. Then, he swiftly stabbed the enemy's thigh and shoulder with the spear.

The enemy fell. Cien quickly slashed the back of the fallen enemy's leg, making it difficult for him to stand up again.

Cien's attention then turned to the enemy trapped by his waterball. He thought the enemy might break free. However, his estimation was wrong. The enemy was already dead, suffocated.

Seeing that this attack had been successfully neutralized, Cien shifted his attention to someone who had been standing on the stairs all along, merely observing the battle from there.

Cien recognized the person. He was the man who had been standing behind King Mandora during the auction.

'The King's guard?'

Then Cien heard the man clap his hands and start descending the stairs. There was an unfriendly smile on his face.

"An unusual fighting style. The use of low-level spells like waterball to restrain enemies, I didn't expect that. It's interesting, including this pool. You're unique, but from what I can see, your strength is quite low. Rank 4? No. Maybe Rank 3?"

"Well, you're still mistaken..." Cien replied.

The man grinned widely.

"Your appearance is quite intriguing. His Majesty is interested in you. But with strength like this, perhaps you're not something to be hyped up. Now, surrender and come with us to His Majesty. With your low-skill, you won't be able to do anything."

Cien observed the man who spoke so much before him.

Then he noticed that dozens of other soldiers had surrounded the inn from the outside.

Cien frowned. He realized that it was impossible to fight against all of them.

Not to mention all of them, the confident-looking man in front of him alone, who acted like the leader of the squad, would be quite difficult to defeat.

"So, what did you find in my room?"

Cien asked, curious to know if they had searched his room and found Lilinette there.

"Quite amusing... there was nothing in your room."

Cien remained expressionless, although a hundred doubts filled his mind.

The people had already searched his room but found nothing.

Other than Lilinette, both of Cien's weapons, the arrows and the Crimsonagin, were also inside. If they hadn't found anything, it meant that Lilinette had managed to escape and take his weapons with her.

'Hmm, come to think of it, Lilinette used to be a mana user.' Cien pondered.

He glanced around the lobby, but his niece was nowhere to be seen.

'Is she escaping outside?'

If that's the case, there was no point in Cien lingering any longer to deal with these people.

"I have more important matters to attend to," he declared.

"Hm? More important matters? So what? Do you think you can escape from here?" Came the retort from the man who walked closer to Cien.

A wide grin formed on Cien's face beneath his scarf.

Five tiny stones immediately glowing on his right-hand Fire Glove. It should be noted that Cien's Fire Glove was different from the ones he sold to Reiss and Jeanne.

Each tiny Mana Core in Cien's Fire Glove possessed power equivalent to a Rank 2 attack.

This meant that by wearing just one glove, he could unleash magic on the level of a Rank 10 spell.

A large, red magic circle suddenly appeared in the sky above the inn building. It was so enormous that it covered more than a quarter of Ashur's area.

If that magic were to descend upon the ground of Ashur below, there was no doubt that thousands of lives would vanish in an instant.

The leader of the men in front of Cien was unaware of the situation outside.

He still smiled, waiting for Cien to surrender. But everything changed when his subordinate's cry reached his ears.

"Cap-Captain!"

"Hm?"

The leader glanced at the soldier who called out to him. As he turned, he found all the soldiers looking up with pale faces. That wasn't all; he also saw a faint red light.

The leader sensed that something was amiss.

"What's going on?" he asked.

The soldier swallowed his saliva and said they might be in big trouble. He explained that there was a powerful magic that could destroy a big part of the city.

Upon hearing this, the leader was taken aback. He immediately looked towards the cloaked man who had been there all along.

"You! What are you planning to do?!"

"Simple. Just trying to save my own skin. If I can't..." Cien's eyes, visible only through the slits in his hood, narrowed like a crescent moon. He smiled and continued, "Let's die together."

"!!!"

The leader rushed out, wanting to see for himself the magnitude of the threat that made his target so confident.

As he looked up, he froze instantly. The magic circle was far beyond his imagination. He could sense a tremendous power emanating from the magic circle above.

"Rank 8?"

"No, Captain. Rank 10."

One of the wizards in the squad corrects him, recognizing the strength of the magic solely based on its size and aura.

Hearing that, the leader immediately turned to Cien.

"Are you crazy?! How many lives will be lost if that magic falls?"

"Crazy? Perhaps. How many casualties? Hmmm... thousands? Hehehe..." Cien chuckled before continuing, "Do you think I care? I'm not from Mandora, let alone Ashur."

"Aren't you Duke Bahman's old friend?"

"Wow, you even know that! But you know this magic doesn't cover the location of my old friend."

The leader fell into silent anger. He didn't expect the situation to turn around like this.

Against a Rank 10 magic, he couldn't do anything. Even Prince Hanibal would struggle against such powerful magic.

Cien certainly didn't intend to activate his magic. Turning Ashur into a pool of blood was something he wanted to avoid.

It was just a threat, which was why he himself was nervous, afraid that his threat wouldn't work.

Fortunately, his threat worked. The leader immediately ordered his men to lower their weapons. He would let Cien go on the condition that Cien didn't use his powerful magic.

Cien felt relieved hearing that. With light steps, he walked out of the inn. All eyes there looked at him with horror.

Cien looked up at the beautiful magic circle visible in the starry night sky. It was beautiful to him, but to his enemies, it was nothing but terror.

Cien then jumped onto the roof of a house in front of the inn. He immediately ran away. After feeling that he had kept enough distance, he canceled the big spell.

"Sigh... now I just need to find Lilinette. Where did this kid go?"

"Uncle."

"Whoaa!!"

Cien was startled. He saw Lilinette standing behind him.

Cien fell silent, wondering how he hadn't sensed Lilinette's presence at all.

Cien looked at his nephew approaching and handed over his arrows and Crimsonagin.

Cien then lowered his gaze because, upon seeing his nephew's face, the poison within him began to react.

"How did you manage to get out?" Cien asked, avoiding eye contact.

"Commotion downstairs. The door locked. Wanted to break it down. Before that. Escaped through the window."

"Oh, it's good that you're not injured. Come on, we need to get away."

Cien started running, but after only a few meters, he stopped.

He looked back and saw Lilinette completely motionless in her place.

"Lily, let's go!"

"Uncle, if I go there. They might kill me. Being killed by the Mandora soldiers. Wouldn't be so bad."

"Eh... huh?"

"I can die. My death. Benefit the family. They could receive a large compensation. From Mandora. What do you think, Uncle?"

Cien fell silent. He didn't understand what was going through his niece's mind. But for now, he wouldn't let her die for foolish reasons.

Cien walked back to where Lilinette was. He lowered his hood so that he couldn't see the girl's face and body.

Then Cien put down his coffin, opened it, and told the girl in front of him, "Get in."

Lilinette obediently nodded. She got in and fastened herself as if putting on a seatbelt.

Cien also put both of his weapons inside and asked Lili to guard them.

"Listen, Lily, it's not your time to die yet."

Lilinette only listened without responding. Cien just closed his coffin. He carried her again and started running towards the east. His current destination was where Niles was.