Shocked expression were the only thing seen on the bullies' faces. They were in a daze, but unlike when they were under the effect of "mind tampering," they've regained their consciousness. In other words, they wouldn't forget what was presented before their very eyes.
It had been burnt into their minds, and it certainly had left an extremely deep impression on them, and it definitely wasn't a good one.
The scrawny boy whom they knew as Jogrin was nothing like they saw him as.
The pair of blues of eyes was nowhere to be seen, and were replaced with those that were light gray in color. Meanwhile, the very same kind of blue was in liquid form, trickling down from his eyes, down his face.
The large backpack also vanished, and what was in its place was a long tail that had the shape of a spine and a pointy tip. It was a black glow, and just looking at it made them feel revolted. The dark glow also filled up Jogrin's actual spine, pelvis, and the bones of his legs. Despite the glow was fainter than that in the tail, it was still enough to give them the creeps.
Furthermore, the person in question was afloat, staring down at the ground. To be more precise, he was staring at a pile of silvery dust right below him. They couldn't figure out what the dust actually was. In fact, nary a clue did they have about what even transpired, or what Jogrin was.
They were afraid of the sight of Jogrin, yet, they couldn't take their eyes off of him because they felt like they'd be consumed the moment they did. Hence, they didn't even notice the reactions of the four youngsters who were their bully targets a few minutes ago.
Their chins and their chests were drenched in acidic vomit, but this wasn't something they had their minds on. They've already got too much to pick up on, the vomit was nothing in comparison to the levitating boy in front of them.
"I'VE HAD ENOUGH!!!!!"
A voice that belonged to a girl screamed, and those words reverberated within the enclosed space they were all in.
Garty, who was next to Zenover, sat down on the ground, leaned against the wall as she pulled on her hair with both of her hands. The voice just now was hers.
Out of the four, she was the only one who had never seen Jogrin without his disguise. With his real appearance, as well as what he'd done, witnessed by her all at once, it was no wonder that she'd have such a reaction.
Because of her outburst, the bullies, who were in the same situation as Garty, also began to scream amok. Some dreaded as their legs gave out, some started running for the exit. Their lack of cohesion caused them to fall on top of each other.
Ignoring all that was going on around him, Jogrin didn't take his eyes off the pile of silvery ash as he descended until his feet touched the ground. The full set of armor donned by the Royal Knights was reduced to the pile of ash. As for the person wearing this armor, no trace of him could be found anywhere.
As the dark glow dissipated in a way that made it look like it was returning to the tip of Jogrin's tail, more people came into this space.
"What in the world happened here?!"
A man with a mustache walked in from the alleyway, behind him were six people wearing said armors, fully intact. The man exclaimed in surprise, with slight horror mixed in. Those led by him also gasped as they froze in place.
What they witnessed was a bunch of young looking boys and girls falling on top of each other, screaming for their lives. Four of them stood apart from the group, but their conditions weren't that much better than the rest. Lastly, the scrawny boy who suddenly raised his head and gazed at them without making a sound.
"Immediately separate these civilians from each other, and call for backup!!" Kapel commanded the Knights to do as he said so the bullies at the bottom wouldn't be suffocating from having all the weight on them.
"Jogrin!!!" He ran toward Jogrin and grabbed his shoulder.
Kapel's grip was strong, and cracking noises could be heard from Jogrin's shoulder. Realizing that, Kapel let go while continuing to glare at Jogrin, but his eyes also displayed a tinge of worry. However, Jogrin didn't seem to care that Kapel broke the bones in his shoulder, since they healed up almost instantly.
"It's a long story, it'll take a long time, so tend to those guy first. Don't be too hard on them... Don't worry, I won't go anywhere."
Kapel kept glaring at Jogrin for a while, then turned towards Zanphia and the others. They were in a trance, except Garty, who was bawling her eyes out.
"I can't take this anymore!!! What's even going on!!! No more!! NO MORE!!!!!"
"Ms. Baham, please calm down. I am here to help."
"NOOO!!!! GET ME OUTTA HERE!!! I CAN'T TAKE THIS!!!!"
Her screaming once again roused the group of bullies, or rather, they'd become victims a while ago.
The Knights were pushed away as more of the victims ran for the alleyway.
"Backup won't arrive until 15 minutes!! We can't hold them here for that long!!"
One of the Knights, Fron, reported to Kapel while still attempting to hold the victims in place. They had tranquilizers on them, but it was against protocol to use them on civilians, so they had no choice but to use their brute strength, but it was nowhere near adequate.
With their combined strengths, the victims easily overpowered the Knights who spent years training their bodies.
Kapel was aware that these people were highly panicked and not in their right mind. In other words, these victims were also a group of mobs, so letting them out of here in this state was an absolutely terrible idea. He had to do something about this.
"Everyone, please stay put!!!" The Knights continued to try in vain.
All Kapel could do now was only leave Garty and the other three, and go help the Knights. He stood at the entrance to the alleyway, and adeptly threw those who ran at him in a way that would give them little to no harm.
Contrary to his large build, his movements were smooth and gentle, and looked like something out of Taichi. However, "little to no harm" was a tall order in such a circumstance. Even though Kapel tried not to, he kept making the victims, who were running amok toward him, fall on the ground. Those who fell still got back up since they were desperate. Leaving aside the falls, he still managed to not directly damage them.
Jogrin glanced around him while perceiving emotions from each of the individuals present. He realized that there was nothing he could do other than wait. If he struck more fear in those victims, things would only go downhill from there.
He could sense that backup was coming here with much haste, but it'd still be a while before they got here, which was all the more reason why Kapel had to put his attrition up for a challenge, especially since these victims would just kept flocking at him. Not that Kapel knew where the backup was exactly.
He returned his gaze at the pile of silvery dust, and clicked his tongue at it.