Chapter 4: Corroding Black Liquid

"There's no way."

The kids believed that they were out of trouble now, especially the boy who was sure that the assassin was no longer a part of this world.

'Was this one hiding, waiting for the right time to strike?' He thought, glaring at the man who had him pinned against the wall.

He didn't look anything like the three assassins he dealt with earlier.

While the assassins were mostly on the leaner side, this man had a heavier and more intimidating build, his sturdy chest protruding slightly.

His mane, although thick, was well trimmed, and his long brown hair was parted sideways.

The pressure from his presence alone was domineering and the boy could feel the killing intent from his piercing gaze.

His bulky arms exerted more pressure than that of the assassin, so no matter how hard the boy tried, he just couldn't pull it off.

"What were you about to do to her?"

His voice roared like a lion trying to warn opportunistic predators not to touch the cubs in his pride.

"Huh? Why do you think I was about to do anything to her?" The boy managed to respond despite the great pressure being exerted on his throat.

"Papa?" The girl called, quickly swallowing what she had in her mouth.

"Huh?" The man responded, quickly turning to her.

"Papa, what are you doing?"

She dashed toward him at that moment and with her arms wrapped around his leg, she began to pull him back.

"Let him go, you're hurting him!" She cried. "Why are you doing this?"

Those words were enough to snap open the eyes of the man which were blinded by anger and anxiousness at the moment.

Letting out a gasp out of realization, he quickly let go of the boy's throat, allowing him to crash down on the floor.

It was like all the initial tension suddenly melted away.

"Ughh." He groaned.

His gaze was quickly beginning to fade now as he stared at the two.

"Papa?" He muttered. "He's your fa…."

He wasn't able to finish that statement as his system suddenly shut down at that moment.

He had endured quite a lot since today and was supposed to have passed out a long time ago, getting his throat squeezed twice in a day turned out to be the most he could take.

"Are you okay?" The girl asked as he rushed to the boy, raising his head to place it on her body.

"Lunaire." The man called, reaching out for him.

She shot him a sharp gaze filled with hostility at that moment forcing him to retreat his hands a bit.

"Why did you do that to him?!" She screamed, baring her teeth at him.

"I…uh…"

"You what?!"

Her expression slowly turned to one of sadness as she turned to him, her hand slowly brushing his left cheek.

"Lunaire has never screamed or looked at me like that before." The man muttered.

'What exactly happened between those two?' He thought.

"Um…. Lunaire." He called. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt him. He was pointing a knife at you, and I thought he was going to hurt you with it." He tried to explain.

"He used that knife to cut off the crusts." She retorted, pointing at the table.

His gaze shifted to the table at that moment to see the sandwich which had two bites taken out of him already.

His eyes widened in realization as he quickly shifted his gaze back to her.

"He made the sandwich for you?"

"Mmm." She nodded. "He's also the reason why you can still see me now."

Taking a deep breath, the man said, "I see."

'She always takes my side even against her mother, never thought I would see the day she would take someone else's side against mine.'

His lips curled up in a smile afterwards as he took a step toward her.

"Don't worry; he just passed out; he'll be fine." He assured her.

"But he's injured." She said,

"Injured? Let me see."

He reached for him, but before he could touch him, she shot him a gaze of disapproval. She was afraid that he would hurt him again.

"Don't worry, I just want to see how serious the injury is; his mana flow felt too unstable when I grabbed him."

She was still reluctant but because it was her father, she finally agreed to let him pass.

To find out where exactly the injury was, the man slowly parted his hand around his body, and when he reached his shoulder, his eyes widened as a gasp escaped from his lips.

"What happened to his shoulder?" He asked, turning to his daughter.

"He said it was just a cut." She responded, a confused expression on her face.

"No." The man shook his head. "That can't just be a cut."

Slowly moving him away from his daughter's body, he removed his shirt before placing him down on the floor.

The wound on his left shoulder was still wrapped with those bloody white clothes.

The boy's breathing was starting to get unstable now as he kept turning his head like he was in a struggle.

After staring at him for a while, the man turned to his daughter.

"No matter what happens you have to trust me, dear." He said to her, "His life would be in danger otherwise."

"Okay." She nodded.

Getting her approval, he proceeded to slowly unwrap the wound on his shoulder, revealing the deep wound, which had some black substance oozing out of it now.

The stench from the black substance was suffocating, forcing the girl to cover her nose with her hands.

"I knew it." The man sighed.

"What is it?"

"He got hit with corroding black liquid, I guess it must have been the ability of the assassin that was after you." He disclosed. "To someone of a higher level, it's not that deadly, but to someone who hasn't even reached level ten yet, it can be extremely life-threatening."

"What's going to happen to him?"

"The liquid starts by attacking the bone, heavily corroding it before switching to the bloodstream and mana line draining every vitality from it and eventually killing the victim."

A gasp of shock escaped from her lips at that moment as she pressed her mouth with her hands.

"You can save him, right?" She asked.

"Luckily, it hasn't been long since he got hit, so yes." He nodded.

Opening his left hand, some kind of black armband appeared in it, and without hesitation, he slid it onto his left shoulder before tapping it.

The armband quickly retracted perfectly wrapping his wound and preventing the black liquid from leaking out.

Opening his hand once again, a black capsule appeared in it.

"This was supposed to be for you in case you were seriously injured, but I guess he's going to make use of it now." He said before opening the boy's mouth and throwing the capsule in there. "It's a good thing he isn't conscious right now."

"Why?"

"Because he might not be able to endure this next part."

Placing both of his hands on his body, he began to infuse his mana into his body.

The boy suddenly began to struggle at that moment, shaking his head vigorously as his breathing grew heavier and more unstable.

His groaning was also getting louder now but the man didn't stop the mana infusion while using his gaze to assure his worried daughter that everything was alright.

After struggling for about a minute, the boy finally let out a very loud scream that would catch the attention of anyone close by.

Fortunately, there was no one close by at the moment.

After that scream, the whole area suddenly fell into silence; his breathing had returned to being stable, and he was no longer struggling.

"That's it, he should be fine now."