"NOOOO" while Solis was screaming, the knight was reaching closer and closer to Lydus and Atria there was an evil grin on his face.
Every second the feeling was like an eternity just as the knight was about to reach them Solis just left her fight with the two knights and ran towards them but she knew she could not reach there in time.
Just as the knight was about to grab the collar of Atria who was running slowly then Lydus and was behind him everyone felt a sudden mana burst in the environment, and the next moment and sound of collision was heard
BOOM
And the knight who was attempting to grab Lydus and Atria was plastered on the ground at the spot where he was while running.
Everyone was shocked but as they raised their head they saw a white bear standing on the ground behind the knight plastered on the ground and facing the knight's group with a rage-filled expression. A shiver of fear ran through everyone in the group except Solis and Nick as they knew It was Albus.
Solis was still shaking a bit as she has first time seen Albus in that much anger, she was unsure of what to do now.
The knights were looking in horror at the beast in front of them and no one dared to take a step further in such a powerful presence as there was a blue aura radiating from Albus which they couldn't see as none of them was a mage, but they can feel the pressure of mana in their body and be thus cowering in fear.
It lead to a couple of seconds of silence in which only the growling of Albus could be heard.
"Wh- where did this filthy beast come from? Knights go and kill that beast that dared to attack a noble" shouted Cassius while trying to motivate his knights and expressing his displeasure at the same time.
All of the knights saw each other with a look of stress on their faces it was difficult for their bodies to move to run away attacking that beast radiating a monstrous amount of mana was an impossible quest for them.
If there had been a knight that was a high-rank warrior or a mage they could retaliate but most of them were just commoners with no ability to hold or utilize mana.
The only thing they can do with mana is felt the pressure of mana radiating from the beast in front of them.
Then a knight who was standing closer to Cassius with better equipment than the rest of the soldiers unsheathed his sword and shouted "YOU FILTHY BEAST WITH ONLY SUCH POWER YOU DARE TO THREATEN MY LORD, GIVE ME YOUR HEAD AS AN APOLOGY"
Hearing such a response Cassius was delighted he elatedly said "Yes Adiran proud knight of Auwack house, go and decimate that beast I will make sure the loan you were asking for will be passed this time.
And everyone else goes and kills that beast I will grant 10 silvers to anyone who can bring me the head of that beast"
Hearing such announcement greed took over their rationality and the knights present started to murmur among themselves
"10 silver coins, I can go to the tavern and drink expensive liquor with that"
"I can buy 1 slave with that heh heh it has been quite a long time since I bought a slave for myself"
"with 10 silvers I can buy that new armor and have fun with it heh heh "
"But still this is a powerful beast and only 4 of us are warriors that can use mana"
'" Huh? What to fear we are more than 20 and this is just 1 beast and if Adiran can be this bold I am sure we all can kill it together and then earn 10 silver coins from it"
"yes yes you are right"
Hearing all of this Cassius was overjoyed, while he was a little confused a little on some points such as
'Where did that beast come from? Why is he so aggressive to us only? Who is this beast even?'
While he did not have much experience in fighting as a 1st circle warrior but he has a good amount of knowledge of his territory and surrounding regions he has never heard about a White bear magic beast with such power.
As Cassius was having such thoughts he saw a young boy a bit older than him with black hair and some commoner clothes grabbing the hand of the woman from whom he had to take the money and her daughter with both hands and running towards the beast in full speed.
'FOOL they think that beast will spare them, heh, He is just a wild unknown beast
But wait I can't let them die like that I need money or slaves' thought Cassius in his mind.
Just as he was about to scream another order to catch them before they die he saw something that shocked him, All three of them passed by the beast and even stand behind the beast without even fear and the black-haired boy has a smile on his face.
He felt an ominous feeling 'NO NO this can't be
"CASSIUS I AM NICK AND HE IS MY ALBUS AND WE ARE BOTH FRIENDS OF SOLIS, SO HER FAMILY IS OUR FAMILY.
IF YOU TRIED TO HARM OUR FAMILY YOU WILL SUFFER THE CONSEQUENCES OF SUCH FOOLISH ACTIONS
SO RUN AWAY WHILE YOU CAN" said Nick in a loud voice for the entire village to hear.
'Oi Albus, you sure it will work? They will go away with this, right?' asked Nick from Albus while he may be looking like an angry young man from the outside but his legs were becoming jelly the only reason he was doing this was that it was all Albus's plan.
Before Albus could Cassius roared in anger "A BUNCH OF MERE COMMONERS DARE TO THREATEN ME, YOU ALL WILL DIE HERE.
I WILL COMPENSATE MY DEBT WITH YOUR CORPSES AND THOSE BRATS THAT RAN AWAY.
KNIGHTS ATTACK THEM"
Hearing such command and filled with greed In their eyes all the knights went to attack Albus under the leadership of Adiran except 1 knight and 1 other person that stayed behind Cassius.
Everyone in the village knew that a fight was about to commence.