"Herman! What are you doing? Run!" Kiely screamed while staring at the approaching rhino. She didn't even have time to look back at what had made her brother stop in the middle of the road.
The beast soon appeared with nightmarish speed.
She hopelessly shut her eyes in fear and waited to be impaled by those long horns that had taken their mother's life.
BOOM!
After a few moments of silence, Kiely felt strange. She was certain she heard something blowing up behind her yet didn't feel anything hitting her.
Had she died before even registering any pain?
She slowly opened her eyes, and what she saw made her face turn ghostly pale.
The beast had disappeared, but in its place, the entire area had turned into a ocean of pure blood and gore.
The beast's insides, bones, skin, and whatever else was spread across the area, yet none of it had landed on her—almost as if there had been an invisible wall covering her. However, everything around them was bathed in blood and disgusting flesh.
She gulped, wondering how this had happened. There was no one on the road; the only thing she could hear were the mad screams of fleeing townsfolk coming from afar.
She suddenly recalled her brother and noticed that he was still utterly silent and frozen. She turned her head back forward and was shocked, just like her brother.
A very handsome and extremely tall man stood gazing at them with an utter calmness that seemed way out of place in this hellish scene.
While the siblings stayed agape, a few men began appearing over the roofs of the nearby stone buildings.
A man wearing dirty brown leather armor—who was at the early stage of Rank 3 Warrior—was the first to arrive at the scene. He was the only one who had seen what happened, and because of that, his face was extremely pale, as if he had witnessed something incomprehensible.
A pure physical-type Adult Rank 1 Mana Beast had just blown up out of nowhere!
If he hadn't seen wrong, then the beast hadn't *just* blown up—it had been *squeezed* to the point of exploding!
He couldn't comprehend how this was even possible.
He must be imagining things!
After all, how could such a huge beast be squeezed like a fruit in a clenched fist?
He was definitely imagining things!
Yet no matter how much he consoled himself, his body refused to stop shaking in horror.
He had a deep premonition that the masked man, standing calmly in the middle of the road as if on a field trip, was terrible news! If Lord Alvin Vasco didn't arrive soon, no number of Apprentice Ranks would be enough to stop this monster!
Even though the masked man hadn't moved a single muscle, he was certain that the raging rhino's weird death was definitely related to him—he hadn't even flinched when it happened, and only that area was weirdly protected, with no blood or flesh touching them.
This man must have done something! But he couldn't comprehend *what* or *how*!
After a dozen or so people arrived, a robust man—who was at the peak of Rank 3—stepped forward.
He had short, spiked black hair, tanned skin, piercing gray eyes, and a scar shaped like a horn on his left cheek. He was dressed in black leather armor with emerald snake scales and wielded dual serrated swords.
His expression was dark and gloomy. He was currently boiling with uncontrollable rage and shock as he stared at the blood and gore on the wide street.
When he had arrived, the beast was already dead.
"Did anyone see what happened here?" he demanded in a commanding tone.
The raging rhino had been his beast! He was its owner. How could he swallow this calmly? It took immense effort to tame any Mana Beast, not to mention the effort required for a raging rhino to grow to Adult-stage Rank 1.
However, he was experienced enough not to attack anyone before understanding what had occurred—or else he might be the next to turn into blood and flesh.
The man who had seen everything opened his mouth to confess, but at that moment, he saw the masked man slowly raising his head toward him—and then toward his companions.
The moment the masked man's indifferent glance landed upon him, his heart nearly burst like the raging rhino.
He couldn't understand what was happening, but his soul was flooded with horror for this man. There was something about him that instilled a deep, primal dread. Thus, despite opening his mouth, no words came out.
The man who had lost his beast was filled with rage and hatred. The moment he noticed the masked man glancing toward him, he yelled before he could think:
"Was it you, you bastard?!"
He realized the man was only an Apprentice Rank, so he shouldn't be the culprit—but right now, he needed to kill someone to calm his fury and regret.
Just as he was about to leap forward and kill the man, one of his teammates stopped him.
"Wait, Captain Sigismund! This man is only Rank 2—how could he kill a raging rhino, and that quickly? There must be someone else. Or perhaps he used some trick. Either way, Lord Alvin ordered us to capture the siblings alive! In that sense, I'm glad the rhino was stopped before it was too late."
The woman who spoke had long, wavy dark hair and was dressed in a green tunic with gold trim. She was also at the late stage of Rank 3—and a mage.
Sigismund glared at her for dismissing his beast's death. But he was smart enough to recognize his terrible fate if he disobeyed Lord Alvin's orders. So he stayed silent—for now.
And indeed, a mere Rank 2 Mana Wielder—no matter how strong—was far from capable of killing his raging rhino. Even a peak Rank 3 couldn't do it quickly, given the rhino's defense, which was equal to an Elder-stage Rank 1!
A vicious-looking man with wild, storm-like hair—dressed in dark red armor—studied the masked man with great interest before asking:
"What now? Should we capture this man too, or—?" He chuckled darkly, leaving the rest unsaid.
Just as the mage woman was about to suggest something, a flash erupted. It was too fast for anyone to see, and before they could react, another unknown figure suddenly appeared on the scene out of nowhere.
---
The masked man, Eric, who had been staring at the eight-year-old boy for a little too long, finally raised his head to observe the Mana Wielders who had taken positions atop nearby buildings.
He knew that despite these beast tamers' appearances, their beasts were currently slaughtering the townspeople elsewhere.
The emergency mission he received was to arrive and support this town in dealing with their enemies, who were hiding in the wilderness near this town, and they were supposed to be only a handful of Apprentice Ranks. However, now it seemed that their employer had provided the guild severely flawed intel.
He glanced toward the horizon and saw the massive ape wreaking destruction on its wake, occasionally throwing humans inside its mouth and chewing them like snacks. Over its shoulder was a man whose presence clearly suggested that he was a Master Rank.
'A Rank 4 Beast Tamer? A Mage, perhaps?' he guessed.
Whatever the case may be, this mission had failed spectacularly. Thankfully, the employer had included a secondary mission: to rescue his two children, who were the siblings in front of him at this moment.
Despite having already seen their photos, he was still left speechless when he truly came face to face with the twins.
Leaving that aside, even if he had failed to rescue these two brats, this mission shouldn't be deemed a total failure, as the employer had clearly provided them with wrong information. Not only were there over three dozen Apprentice Ranks involved, there was an Adult-stage Rank 2 Mana Beast and even a Rank 4 Mana Wielder. This mission's grade should be raised to a full-blown C or B with an M requirement.
Also, before he could even arrive, his employer seemed to have died or become unavailable, so it was definitely not his fault to leisurely enjoy nature while coming here—definitely not! Even then, he had arrived a lot faster than some other Apprentice Rank would, so this mission's failure definitely shouldn't be on his shoulders—definitely not!
Well, whatever. He hadn't failed yet.
Leaving that aside, he knew that many more Mana Wielders were currently slaughtering the townspeople—which he couldn't understand why. Even the worst criminals wouldn't slaughter indiscriminately unless there was a good enough reason, or else the bounty on their heads would only rise. Thus, this group must have had a good enough reason to massacre these mortals, who were no threat to them.
He had no interest in going to rescue those townspeople. His mission request didn't cover that. Not to mention, the Adult Rank 2 Toross Ape and the Master Rank were heading his way.
Now the question was whether he should create further unnecessary slaughter or just take the twins and leave for the nearest city to hand them over for mission completion.
Just as he was pondering which decision to take, from the corner of his eye, he noticed a flash of light heading toward him. It was so ridiculously fast that one could say it was moving at the speed of light.
By the time he noticed, the flash had already arrived beside him.
He remained calm and unbothered. If it was his enemy, then that person was just seeking its own death. Not to mention, he had already guessed who this was.
As expected, the moment the light halted, a gorgeous, long white-haired woman appeared in a position half-kneeled beside him, her head down.
"W-what?" The Mana Wielders who had been glaring daggers at Eric a moment ago were shocked beyond words.
They had no idea what, when, or how it happened. Before they could notice, a woman had appeared in the middle of the empty street like a ghost. They had only seen a brief flash of light, and then the woman was there.
But they were shocked only for a moment before calming down. Perhaps the woman had been hiding nearby and was an expert in stealth, so they hadn't even noticed her presence. It was possible, and it also made sense, as the masked man couldn't have possibly come to this battlefield all alone.
Even a monkey had better sense than to enter this town at this moment.
But the moment they sensed the woman's rank, they were dumbfounded.
"Master, I have arrived. I hope I am not late," the woman said respectfully with a soft tone, heard by everyone present.
"Hm... Stand," Eric ordered calmly.
The woman stood up, and for the first time, everyone saw her visage.
She was a breathtaking, stunning girl—tall but shorter than her "master." She had a long sword strapped behind her back, even longer than her. However, the most eye-catching feature was the upper half of her face, covered with an intricately designed white mask, and her eyes—left uncovered—were pure golden, radiating an eerie, soul-binding beauty.
One of the beast tamers on the roof, after being shocked for a while—and after hearing the way the woman addressed the masked man, especially noticing the way she was dressed, resembling something of a maid outfit—suddenly gasped in recognition.
"I-I finally remember who they are!" he exclaimed.