The group of guards and the noble had reached the plaza. As they moved, the other villagers saw Raelyn being held by those guards. They were all shocked and worried. They already had an idea on what that noble would do.
However, all they could do was stare. They were powerless. They had no chance if they resist. Also, from the guards alone, they already stood no chance. They had no fighting experience whatsoever to fight the guards who were soldiers of the kingdom. Thus, all they could do was stare and pray for someone or something to save her and some pray for her well-being and survival.
"Hello there, may I get attention."
The noble's party turned to their back to look at that calm voice.
There they saw a man in black clothing and his face was concealed by a black mask. Beside him was a person wearing a full plate armor holding a sword.
Because of this, the guards' alertness rose.
"You, you were there. I told you people you have no business here. So why are you here and called us?"
The scribe said.
"Well, I came here in concern for that girl."
Xyn pointed at the Raelyn.
"What about her?"
"I know what you'll do to her. And I won't let you."
"And who are you to say that? Just in case you don't know, this is Baron Vick Shrim's domain."
"So?"
"S-So!?"
"He may be this land's lord, but he doesn't deserve any of my respect."
"What did you say!?"
The noble exclaimed.
"A ruler should take care of their subjects. And you, you are doing the opposite. Ultimately, the way you do it, I find it displeasing."
"So what if you find it displeasing?"
"I demand you hand her over to me."
The noble clicked his tongue.
"And who are you to make any form of demand?!"
The noble barked. Xyn merely smiled at the pathetic nobleman.
"That's right. Who are you to make a demand? You're nothing more than a mere peasant."
The scribe remarked.
"A mere peasant you say?"
"You damn human."
Criswell quietly said while holding back her anger and the urge to murder the one who disrespected her master – no, she would likely make him suffer more before he dies.
"In that case, this one that you called a mere peasant warns you. Hand her over to me, or someone will die."
"Hah! Are you the one who will attack us? Don't underestimate our guards, they're one of the elites, so I doubt you will stand a chance."
"Elites huh. Then this open space is perfect to test them out… Last chance mongrels."
"M-Mongrels?!"
The noble gritted his teeth in anger to the words of Xyn. However, Xyn merely smiled behind his mask.
The noble grabbed and pulled Raelyn's hair. He then gazed close at her with a nasty look on his face and he said.
"I will never release her!"
Xyn did not feel upset, but rather he felt joy.
As planned.
He thought.
"Your choice."
"Lord, there is no need for you to trouble yourself. Let me handle them."
Criswell whispered to Xyn.
"No, I will handle this. I will be fine."
"I, I understand."
Then the scribe spoke as though mocking Xyn and sounded like he was confident.
"Now then, you said someone will die. But I see no one, I guess you're just all t—"
The scribe's words were cut. Blood suddenly flew to the ground. The guards and the noble were all surprised as well as Raelyn. They all looked at the scribe, his head was already about to hit the ground and blood was spilling out of his body.
All their eyes went wide. The man was beside the scribe all of a sudden and was holding a black dagger.
"That's because you'll be the one to die first, you won't even get to witness any other deaths."
"What? How did he get there!?"
"I didn't see him!"
There were confusion and commotion among the ranks of the guards.
"What are you doing? Kill him!"
The nobleman said in a panic.
The pair of guards near Xyn immediately took action. They pointed their spears to Xyn and charged.
Too slow.
Yes, they were to slow. Too slow that Xyn could calmly turn his head to look at each of them back and forth. They gave no threat whatsoever.
So much for being so-called elites. They don't even deserve to be called elites, if they were a bit faster, I would accept them as being elites.
Xyn looked at the other guards. The others looked so serious.
Hm, what if he wasn't referring to them all but only to some of them. Yeah, I should keep a note of that, I can't lower my guard.
Xyn looked at a guard approaching him.
Oh, he's spear is closing in. Well, I guess it's time to kill them.
Xyn conjured another cool looking black dagger on his other hand. Before the spears' blades could touch him, he moved forward as if to avoid them. Then when the spears crossed each other, Xyn turned around, as he did, he extended his arms, and in his turn, he beheaded the two guards in one fell swoop. For a moment, one could see a graceful arc of the blades' trails.
After that, he headed towards where Raelyn was in a swift and halted right in front of the Baron. Then he said.
"You're hurting her. You shouldn't do that."
"Aaaaah!"
The Baron's frightened loud scream rang out, and in his fear and surprise, he let go of the girl's hair and he fell to the ground.
Xyn then threw his blades to a pair of guards on his left and right side, and the black blades pierced their heads. In the shock due to his skills, the two guards holding Raelyn loosened their grip unconsciously.
Xyn smoothly went behind the guards holding Raelyn in a swift motion. In an instant, he grabbed the back of their throats, before the guards could react, Xyn had already pulled them causing Raelyn to be released from their grasps.
After he pulled them, Xyn lifted them up. The guards struggled as they could, but his grip wouldn't budge. Then, he cast a silent spell called [Voltaic Touch]. Electric current came forth from Xyn's hands and crawled on the two guards in his hand.
Their body shook in the electricity filling their body. For they can't resist the current of electricity, their internal organs burst and their eyes exploded. As their eyes exploded in their eye sockets, Xyn immediately threw them away. He didn't want to get dirty by their blood.
"Are you fine?"
Xyn asked Raelyn.
"Y-Yes."
"Good. Now then, you need to get away from here."
In a swift, Xyn carried Raelyn with both arms, like how a gentleman would carry a gentle maiden.
"Aaiiee!"
Surprised and unprepared caused Raelyn to shriek.
"Hang on, don't worry this will be quick."
Xyn ran in great speed towards where Cel, Cludio, Ela, and Ento was standing and watching. Of course, he was not moving really fast just for the sake of Raelyn.
Guards tried to charge at him however Xyn merely evaded them with ease.
Then, there was a group of guards holding spears and swords blocking his path. However, this was not a problem for Xyn. However, the only thing was that he was carrying a girl.
If he was to evade them, Xyn would need to move while minding that he was carrying the girl, and that might prove difficult. If he headed straight and evade, one might hit Raelyn, and that would be bad. Xyn was planning to return Raelyn in perfect condition, so he would need to do something that won't put the girl to harm.
Xyn halted in his tracks, then before some guards could strike, he jumped above. He jumped so high that the spears of the guards could not reach them. As they flew above, they were flipping mid-air, due to that, Raelyn tightly clung unto Xyn even more.
Of course, Xyn could just jump without flipping, but he did it anyway because he thought it would be more stylish and theatric.
As his feet faced the ground, he saw that Cel and the others still were still far from reach if he gets back on the ground, so he cast a spell, then he took a step on the air and did a slight jumping motion. He remained on the air until he landed to where Cel and the others were.
He lowered down Raelyn.
"You'll be safe here."
"R-Right. Thank you."
"Oh Cel. Don't let her get dragged again, okay?" Xyn said.
"Ah, eh, Yes sir!"
Don't worry, I'm not a type of guy that steals someone's girl, Xyn was about to say that. But he decided not to because he thought it would be somewhat out of character at the moment. Also, it felt wrong saying that all of a sudden.
"Wait, are you really a magic caster?"
Cludio asked him.
Xyn turned to look at the who asked and answered.
"Yes I am."
Then Xyn turned back to face the guards.
"Don't just stand there! Get him and kill him!"
The Baron shouted.
The guards began to charge towards Xyn. But, before they could even move up to a meter, Xyn cast a spell called [Blink], then he vanished in an instant with no trace of him left from where he stood.
"Now then, let's see what your soldiers can really do."
A cold voice whispered on the Baron's ear. Having an idea who it was, the Baron quickly grabbed the sword from his waist and swung it at the source of that voice. As expected, Xyn trivially dodged it.
The Baron swung multiple times before the guards reached him. The guards that could attack took the opportunity, however, none were able to hit him.
"He's fast. Then, [Agility Boost]."
The Baron said something, it sounded like he cast something. The Baron charged at Xyn and there was surprisingly new about his movements.
He got faster? Is it because of what I heard Agility Boost? Boosting his movement speed. I don't know a spell which can enhance physical abilities.
The baron seemed to have cast something to make him faster in order to catch up to Xyn's speed. However, the speed was not even enough to hit Xyn.
Too bad for them, I also worked on my physical speed.
He trained himself in order to move faster which could be very useful in terms of evading and attacking in melee. However, he didn't work a lot on his strength because he liked being faster. Also, he was a magic caster so a lot of strength was not really needed, what he needed was speed to evade attacks.
After the Baron cast that speed boost, a few of his soldiers seemed to have cast the same thing, there were about four of those soldiers.
As expected, the two sword wielders and two spear wielders guard were faster than before. Xyn grew curious, so he decided to grab one of the soldiers by the throat and moved a little away from the others. While he took the soldier's spear.
"You. What was [Agility Boost]. Answer me quickly."
He firmed his grip to compel the soldier to immediately speak.
"I-It's Martial Art!"
"Martial Art huh."
At the same time, one of the soldiers thrust their spear forward. Therefore, he used the soldier he was holding as a meat shield and therefore the soldier stabbed his own ally. Immediately, Xyn let go of the soldier and then he thrust the spear on his hand towards the soldier who stabbed his own ally.
Instantly after that, Xyn dodged attacks from behind.
Starting to get annoyed and a bit worried, Xyn decided to stop evading and now begin to attack.
As he dodged to the side from an attack, he grabbed a spear from one of the guards which boosted themselves.
I haven't really learned how to properly use a spear. But I know thrusting is the normal method of use.
He dodged another sword and then he moved to the back of the soldier he took the spear from, he turned the spear around and pointed the blade to his back, then he thrust backward and stabbed the guard which he stole the spear from.
No one's really strong here. What a relief.
Another guard swung his sword, but just like previously, he grabbed his weapon and pierced it on the guard's throat. Another one attacked, but he did the same thing.
He kept using their own weapons against them.
Cludio, Ela, Cel, Ento and Raelyn were all left dumbfounded and stunned as they watched the fight. It was almost as if they could not believe what they were seeing.
Xyn Draven Nightfall was overpowering the guards. The guards looked like they had no hope to win against him. None of their attacks hit him, not even one. He merely moved so smoothly as he dodged, and he moved so nonchalant and worry free which bewildered everyone.
Not only that, he wasn't even using a single spell to kill them one by one but rather stealing their weapons and use it against the owner. It was a one-sided fight. It was one versus many, and the former was winning.
"Is he really a magic caster… or a warrior?"
Ento, the village chief, asked.
"We saw him use magic back on the road, he also said so… So he definitely is a magic a caster… But didn't you just see him cast magic a moment ago?"
Cludio said.
"O-Oh yeah... I just couldn't believe my eyes."
"Even though a magic caster, he's tremendously capable in physical abilities."
Cel said.
"His movements are flawless and swift, that's something a magic caster shouldn't even possess."
Ento said.
"I agree, normally magic casters would focus on their magical abilities, that's why they won't have the luxury to train their body for physical skills, right?"
"That's right, Father."
Cel said.
Raelyn herself had never witnessed him in action nor have she met him or know his name, that was why she was more surprised than the others. She did nothing but gaze while dumbfounded, and shortly she asked in curiosity.
"Who is that man?"
"Xyn Draven Nightfall… He really is strong."
Ela said while having a relaxed smile on her face as though saying everything will be alright.
Xyn stabbed the last guard with the guard's own weapon. What laid on the ground before him was several dead bodies of the people he killed. The ground had been sullied by their blood. However, they were not brutally killed but rather they were given a quick and swift death through a single strike.
The Baron near Xyn trembled in fear as he witnessed the bloody sight before his feet. Not only did he fear him due to him killing his men, but he also feared Xyn because he was his enemy. He wouldn't be this frightened if that was not the case, but regrettably, it was.
Xyn moved his sights to the Baron. He moved closer to him, and as he got close, the Baron pointed his blade towards Xyn while at the same time trembling. In addition to the Baron's fear, Xyn decided to use a spell that would only double the fear he felt.
He silently cast the spell he made himself which was for the purpose of having fun. Also, he was planning to use it to annoying kids, of course, he would not use it to its full potential due to the reason it might be too much for kids to bear.
He used the spell [Gaze of Fear].
The spell can make the gaze of the caster to emanate fear. To make it simple, if Xyn gazes to a person, that person would begin to feel fear. Of course, it has an effective range.
On top of the Baron's own fear, as he looked at Xyn, his faced twisted into the expression of terror. Well, he was in terror and despair. He was unable to move and was frozen stiff as his weapon remained raised. No one knew how he saw Xyn in his perspective.
Xyn whispered on his ear.
"You've seen what I can do? Do you still wish to fight?"
What the Baron all could do was move his eyes and answered in a shaking tone.
"N-N-No."
"If you do something like that one more time, I will be your opponent once again."
Xyn disabled his [Gaze of Fear] so the Baron eased up slightly.
"Get out of my sight."
At Xyn's whisper, the Baron immediately took action and ran away from him. He frantically ran – as though his life was on the line – to the outside of the village. There he rode his horse and fled away.
No need to kill him. I might have some use for him.
Indeed, even though Xyn didn't like him, he thought perhaps he can make use of that Baron's authority. Of course, Xyn still didn't have a concrete thought yet on how to use him due to the reason he didn't know a lot of the kingdom. If Xyn decided there was no need for him in the end, then he will have to kill the Baron.
If it ends to that, then he would need to execute the plan he just came up with in a different way. Well, he wouldn't fully need the Baron anyways, the Baron was just for a backup plan, just in case.
Cel, Cludio, Ela, Ento and Raelyn slowly walked to approach Xyn. Xyn saw them so he also headed straight for them.
At the same time, the other villagers came out from where they hid and walked to the plaza where the battle occurred.
"It appears I made quite a mess. Please do forgive me."
"Ah, you know there's no need to ask for forgiveness."
The village chief said.
"Really?"
"Yes, you saved one of the villagers, and with that I deeply thank you. But I have one question though, why did you let him go?"
"…He is the lord of this domain. I can't just kill a noble of this land as though he was some commoner. If I killed him, things might not end well for you if the news reaches the kingdom."
"…I, I see. I understand."
"Alright. Then now I should clean my own mess."
"Uh no need for that, Sir Nightfall. Boy!" Ento called a man, he looks like he was in his twenties. "Can you take care of their corpse?"
"O-Of course!"
The man said and then he went into action.
"Is he going to be alright doing that?"
Xyn asked in surprise that one of the villagers would just clean the bloody corpses of the ones he just killed.
"Yes. In fact, he is the one who takes care of every dead in our village. After all, many of us die."
"Why is that?"
"Well, hunger, illness. Also, the ones he abused."
"That's horrible."
"It is..."
Xyn looked around while narrowing his eyes. He was confused about something.
"You're surprisingly calm about this."
Xyn asked the village chief.
"Well, in truth, we had thought of rebelling, and we know we would have to kill. We've prepared for that, however, we lack the arsenals and strength to do so… We are almost at our limit so we thought of something like that."
Ah, so that's why he worriedly asked me why I let him go. They wanted to kill him to end their suffering. Just how much hardship did they get through because of that noble?
Xyn thought.
"I understand. Even I would rebel if I were treated that way. I would especially be enraged if he abused any of the women in my village."
"I'm glad you understand."
Then amidst all the talk, a child's voice rang out and it called to Raelyn.
"Raelyn!"
"Elyn!"
They hugged each other. The child was a girl, perhaps about the age of five or six. They had the same hair color and eye color of Raelyn. It seemed that the girl was Raelyn's sister.
"Don't worry, your big sister is okay now."
The girl's eyes were teary at first, but now as they hugged, tears flowed from her eyes.
Then amidst that heartwarming moment, Cludio asked in a worried tone.
"But you do know he will be back right? And will perhaps be furious."
"Oh he will be back, I already know that. I acted aware of the consequences. In fact, I think he would be back, anytime tomorrow, or if in a miracle, he would be back later this night. Well, depending on the distance of his home. And when he returns, he will return furious."
The faces of the villagers were stuck between happiness and worry. Happy that the Baron has been given a bit of taste of his own medicine and was in despair. However, they were worried about the fact that the Baron will return, and having an idea of what that Baron would do to the villagers.
However, Xyn had already anticipated this would happen in the course of his plan. In fact, he wanted them to feel this way. That's exactly why he let them see him in action against the Baron.
Yes, Xyn wanted them to rely on him. They will be in need of his powers.
"But worry not! I am here! If he still remained as what he always was! I will free you from that nefarious noble! I will never leave you until it is done! Never."
The faces of the villagers lightened up and smiles began to appear on their faces. There were even cheers heard among the villagers.
Xyn turned his head to look at Criswell behind the crowd of villagers. Criswell nodded as Xyn gazed at her. It signifies that Criswell understood Xyn's actions.
Xyn Draven Nightfall smiled wickedly behind the mask and laughed inside his mind.