Yes, this was the strongest mercenary here, the Leader of the group who was watching everyone in silence.
Compared to him, Kael…
[Name: Kael Carter]
[Race: Human]
[Age: 22]
[Level: 30 -> 37]
[CE: 3922/14600]
[Talent: Genesis of the Ancients]
[Talent Rank: EX Rank]
[Strength: 127 -> 153]
[Agility: 133 -> 205]
[Speed: 131 -> 183]
[Stamina: 139 -> 189]
[Defense: 143 -> 173]
[Mana: 153 -> 201]
[Intelligence: 106 -> 141]
[Charisma: 114 -> 145]
…
It wasn’t even a fair battle.
Kael was very, very different than before.
Not only had he levelled up to 37, raising his stats to a ridiculous degree, but the Baptism of the Sky Monarch had raised his Agility, Speed, Stamina, Mana, and Intelligence even more than before.
He turned into a monster in his own right, his stats were now comparable to his Dragons. Yes, he was still a little lacking compared to them, but he was getting closer and closer.
A mercenary should stay as far away from him as possible,
But…
Courting Death was indeed a hobby.
“Y-You…
What happened to your eyes!? What are you doing!?”
The Second in Command raised his voice as he and his subordinates instantly summoned their Bonds, prepared for battle.
Even Leon narrowed his eyes and took out his weapon.
“…”
Kael’s face turned solemn as well.
Things… might get out of hand.
“Ria.”
He called in a low voice.
“Are there any beasts here?”
He questioned.
‘If you knock them all out, they shouldn’t be in danger, but just to be sure, you can keep the weakest one conscious.’
Imperia suggested.
She knew her Father wanted to end this peacefully and gave the best option. Kael nodded in understanding, that indeed sounded like the best course of action with no one getting hurt.
But then,
“What is happening?”
An annoyed voice was heard and from the carriage, a man wearing expensive silk clothes that didn’t fade out compared to the clothes Kael saw the nobles back in Drakthar Castle wear, walked out.
He had brown hair and black eyes, his body was on the little chubby side and there was a mole on his cheek.
“What’s the fuss? Why have we stopped?”
He questioned, the annoyance on his face couldn’t be clearer.
“Lord Varys.”
The moment the man came out, the mercenary leader lowered his head as he then pointed at Kael and Lavinia,
“We encountered these two, and because they looked suspicious, we stopped them and asked for their identities — but they refused to comply and even threatened us,”
Varys, the merchant, raised his eyebrow at those words as he glanced at Kael and then Lavinia.
“Oh?”
After a momentary surprise, a satisfied grin appeared on his face as his eyes shone with greed.
“They are indeed suspicious, capture them.”
He ordered.
His grin then widened even further and,
“Make sure you be gentle to the fairer gender, I do not want any marks on he—”
Before the man could even complete his sentence,
Kael’s hand clamped over his face—the Hero’s fingers digging into his cheeks and jaw and—
BAM!
—he slammed the back of his head into the ground with merciless force.
An explosive jolt of agony burst from the base of Varys’s skull, radiating down his spine like wildfire. His vision spasmed—then vanished entirely for a moment.
CRACK
A sickening crack echoed in his ears. Nausea surged up his throat. The back of his head pulsed with raw pain, his life flashed in front of his eyes and suddenly—
Kael, who was now right in the middle of the mercenary group, stood up and lifted Varys in the air.
His hood had fallen down, revealing his face, but he didn’t care. He stared at Leon, who was frozen stiff and—
“Do not force me to act.”
He warned as he then threw Varys’s body towards the mercenary leader.
Leon stumbled as he desperately caught the unconscious, bloodied Varys, his eyes never once moving away from Kael.
The rest of the mercenaries didn’t dare to move either, the Second in Command, who had been talking to Kael all this while, had a pale face, his body was shuddering without stop and… the ground beneath him was wet.
Yes, he had pissed himself in fear.
Kael, however, didn’t even bother looking at him, he just wiped his hand in annoyance and,
“Make sure I do not see any of you again.”
He commanded.
“Y-Yes.”
Leon nodded.
Kael then walked back towards Lavinia, showing his back to the mercenaries but again, none dared to make a move.
In the end, Kael picked Lavinia in his arms and flew away with a distasteful look on his face. Lavinia, who saw his expression, seemed confused.
“I thought you were going to deal with it without anyone getting hurt.”
She commented.
“That was the plan.”
“Then why did you do that? We still do not know who that man is, it could pose unnecessary problems.”
She reasoned.
“I don’t know, I didn’t like his face.”
Kael muttered as he continued flying.
“You didn’t… like his face?”
Lavinia blinked, her confusion was now even stronger.
“Yes.”
Kael, however, did not say anything else.
“I did not know your temper was like this.”
“I didn’t either,
I guess his face was just that repulsive.”
“It didn’t seem that ba—”
“It was repulsive.”
“Right.”
Lavinia just nodded in silence as she continued to stare at Kael’s expression, as if trying to know what he was thinking.
Kael ignored her stare for a while, but soon, it got difficult.
“What is it? Why are you looking at me?”
He questioned.
“Are we going to continue flying? The Ants will have a hard time following us.”
“R-Right.”
After those words, Kael landed on the ground and waited for the Ants to slowly catch up. The journey continued, the sun was about to set so,
“We will spend the night here.”
Kael muttered as he pointed to a cave Imperia had found.
“Is there no town around…?”
Lavinia tilted her head.
“There isn’t.”
Kael lied.
“So you and I will be sharing the cave with Igni and the rest.”
“Alright.”