The night atmosphere in the city seemed quiet, with only a few people seemingly still outside. Some buildings seemed to have tall towers, which in the past had only existed in the Lotus Capital. Rafe looked away when he saw seven soldiers in full armor patrolling near the city fortress.
"I don't even recognize the insignia on their armor," Rafe muttered, furrowing his brow.
Rafe quickly jumped up and stepped directly in front of the seven soldiers. Suddenly, the seven soldiers were shocked to see a young man suddenly step in front of them. They reflexively grabbed their weapons while staring at Rafe.
"Unbelievable. You're here," a sword-wielding soldier said.
"Hehehe... I'm pretty famous after defeating Xavier," Rafe said with a happy laugh as the soldiers seemed to recognize him.
"Of course! You serial killer!" snapped the soldier with the shield.
"Huh? Serial killer?" said Rafe in a shocked tone.
"Don't talk so much, give me the sign and beat him up!" shouted the tallest soldier, pointing his spear at Rafe.
"What's wrong with them?" muttered Rafe, surprised at the soldiers' reaction.
The soldier with the wand immediately pointed his wand in the air. At that moment, a fireball shot into the air and exploded like fireworks. Rafe's eyes widened in shock, even more convinced that something was wrong with him right now.
"He can control his mana from this close to me? That's impossible, it doesn't make any sense," Rafe said.
"Die!" shouted the soldier, drawing his spear as he intended to stab Rafe.
"I'm from the side!" said the two sword-holding soldiers simultaneously.
Their swords were suddenly engulfed in flames. The warrior with the shield immediately stood in front of the warrior with the staff. Another warrior seemed to be clenching his fist, which was already engulfed in flames.
"I don't know why you're attacking me, but I don't want to die before I can get married and have lots of grandchildren," Rafe said, clenching his right fist.
With just one finger, Rafe deflected a spear attack aimed at his neck. The two soldiers attacking from the side immediately lunged at Rafe, but they were surprised when the flames on their swords suddenly disappeared as they approached Rafe.
The two soldiers looked shocked. In addition, Rafe dodged both of their sword strikes by simply twisting his body. The soldier who had clenched his fist immediately jumped into the air and brought the firecracker in his hand down on Rafe's head, but the flames in his hand suddenly died out.
"What happened?" muttered the soldier with the fist.
"I should be the one to ask you that," Rafe replied casually, using his left hand to deflect the soldier's fist coming from above.
"You bastard!" the man holding the spear shouted, intending to attack Rafe again.
This time Rafe used the fingers of his right hand to grab the spear as it shot toward his neck, the sharp tip of the spear seemingly held in place by Rafe's index and middle fingers. The soldier tried to pull the spear out, but he couldn't because Rafe's fingers were clamped.
"Then die!" the speared warrior shouted as he mobilized his mana to create magic that enveloped the tip of his spear.
The wind began to blow gently from the area of the soldier's spearhead, but nothing happened. Even the speared warrior was stunned that he couldn't use his magic.
"Burning Lance!" shouted the spearman as he tried to use another spell, but the magic faded before it took shape.
Two warriors with swords tried to attack Rafe, who was facing the spearman and the empty-handed warrior. But Rafe deftly dodged their attacks without moving from where he stood.
The barehanded man tried to kick Rafe in the head, but Rafe ducked immediately and stomped on the spear in his hand. At that moment, the soldier holding the spear was knocked to the ground.
The two sword-wielding warriors slashed their swords at Rafe's waist, but Rafe quickly pulled out his enemy's spear and used it to deflect the two swords aimed at his body.
The sound of the clashing weapons was accompanied by sparks from the friction of their weapons. Suddenly, from behind Rafe, a knife-wielding soldier lunged forward, slashing the knife in his hand at Rafe's buttocks.
But Rafe smiled as he stomped his foot on the ground, his body flying up, his left knee hitting the bare-knuckled soldier. Meanwhile, Rafe's right leg kicked the hand of the soldier with the knife until the knife was thrown away.
"He's aware of my existence?" muttered the soldier holding the knife, grimacing in pain.
"One of the absolute rules for an assassin is to target the enemy with the strongest and most troublesome attack, like a sorcerer. Instead of attacking fellow assassins again," Rafe said with a smile, placing both feet on the shoulders of the soldier who had been holding the knife.
"Stand down!" shouted the soldier holding the shield.
The air around where Rafe was fighting was extremely hot. Flames in the shape of a dragon seemed to be rising above the warrior holding the staff. The five soldiers who had gathered around Rafe immediately jumped back.
"Hehehe..." Rafe chuckled as he watched the fire dragon magic shoot towards him.
A powerful explosion sounded as the fire dragon magic hit the spot where Rafe was standing. Dust began to fly from the surface of the destroyed ground, and flames also scattered in all directions. A thick layer of dust began to cover where Rafe had been. The five soldiers who had stayed behind smiled happily as their friend's attack had landed with a thud.
"He won't be able to dodge your attack," said the soldier holding the shield.
"Yes. I even used half of my manpower to use the fire dragon magic earlier, he would have been torn to pieces," the warrior with the wand replied.
"No problem, we were ordered to take him alive. But if he's so strong, it's okay to kill him," the soldier with the spear replied.
"Uhuk-uhuk, the dust is so thick," Rafe said as he coughed in the dust. He waved his hand to shake off the dust so he wouldn't inhale it.
Suddenly, the seven soldiers there were surprised to hear that Rafe was still alive. After the dust cleared, it was clear that Rafe was standing, pinching his nose with the middle finger and thumb of his right hand.
The area where Rafe stood seemed to have become a depression in the ground due to the effects of the fire dragon's magic earlier. Flames also seemed to be scattered throughout the earthen basin.
"No way, can he survive my attack?" muttered the soldier holding the wand.
"It seems that the security chief's worst suspicion has been proven. He's not on the same level as D-rank adventurers, but he's probably on the same level as C-rank adventurers," said the soldier holding the shield.
"Why are you attacking me? I just wanted to ask the name of this town," Rafe asked in a nasal voice because he was still covering his nose.
"Hey, answer my question," Rafe grumbled when none of the soldiers answered him.
"I didn't expect you to still be able to fend off my attacks. No wonder so many D level adventurers and warriors have died at your hands," the wand wielding warrior said as he raised his wand in the air.
"Do not deflect my question! Don't you know I'm a member of Party Neutron, huh?" grumbled Rafe as he removed his hand from his nose.
"Oh. So that's the name of the criminal organization you belong to?" said the sword-bearing soldier.
"Huh? You don't know Neutron?" asked Rafe with a surprised look on his face, even though the news of Demon King Xavier's death at Neutron's hands had spread to various places. Neutron's name should also have been known throughout the world during their adventures.
"Neutron, Newtron, or Proton, we don't care! The point is that your criminal organization will also be hunted down by the soldiers of Rhymus City!" said the spear-wielding soldier.
"Your brains are not right," Rafe said with a confused look on his face.
The wind began to blow hard and centered directly over the soldier holding the wand, suddenly dozens of fire arrows shot from Rafe's right side in the distance. From Rafe's left and behind him, various types of magic also shot out, attacking Raff at the same time.
"What is this? Why are there so many people all of a sudden?" muttered Rafe as he felt the presence of many people approaching his body out of nowhere.
"They seem to have arrived," said the soldier fighting with his bare hands.
Continued...