Mason was furious. "Did you miss, you idiots? How can you be A-rank if you can't shoot a stupid mercenary and a pervert by a sneak attack?"
Mason's group traveled at full speed following the elven brothers. They arrived on a hill, and the scouts saw Lucien's group coming down the road.
As Marie and Anne walked ahead, Mason thought Lucien and Mia were threatening them or something. The elven brothers recognized Lucien as the n.a.k.e.d man and Mia as the hooded woman as she wore the same clothes.
Mason and the elven brothers concluded that approaching Lucien's group could scare him by causing the girls to be hurt.
Then he ordered his two elite archers, who were the strongest adventurers in the group below him and the woman in heavy armor, to kill Lucien and the hooded woman from a reasonable distance.
It should be straightforward for the elite archers to hit targets at this distance; they used powerful magic bows and had high skills.
The arrows came out half a second after another and flew at super speed. But it broke less than thirty centimeters from the targets, leaving the archers shocked. "What the f.u.c.k was that?!"
Mason did not have a good view of that distance, but it was not difficult to see that Lucien and Mia had not fallen, and he worried about Marie and Anne. "We have to get close quickly, or he could hurt the girls!"
Then the group headed towards Lucien, concerned for the safety of Marie and Anne. The archers were very confused and thought that Lucien and Mia had some protection treasure, as it made no sense for the arrows to just break without reason.
No one in the group had such high agility to see Lucien's swift movements except one person.
The woman in the heavy armor was still in the middle of the group normally, but beneath the beautiful helmet, there was a strange smile. "What quick movements... My eyes could barely follow..."
-----------------
Marie and Anne were perplexed and looked at Lucien waiting for an answer, but he just kept patting Mia.
Marie tried to get some information as it looked like he had senses good enough to notice the enemies coming far. "Are they mercenaries?"
Lucien saw the large group coming quickly and noticed an emblem on flags and equipment they used. It was the same emblem that Marie and Anne had on their clothes. A sword and staff above a word, which Lucien couldn't read yet.
He didn't need to be a genius to understand that they are people from the same guild as the girls, but he still couldn't understand why they attacked him that way... But about attacking Mia, he didn't even want to know the reason...
Lucien continued to stroke Mia gently while speaking calmly to Marie. "They are your guild's people."
Marie and Anne were even more surprised... and afraid now. They saw Lucien kill many people without changing his expression... and the deaths of Brian and Gerard were very brutal.
Marie didn't know why adventurers would attack Lucien and Mia, but she thought it must be some misunderstanding. She could already imagine a situation where Oya chewed some adventurer's head.
"Lucien, let's hear what they have to say first, please."
He didn't answer and watched the group approach. It seemed to have more than fifty adventurers, and a big fat man was leading the group with a great ax in his hand.
Mason didn't even notice that Marie and Anne looked nothing like prisoners. He stopped less than twenty meters from Lucien and began making demands in a threatening tone.
"Release the girls! You can get out of this situation alive if you cooperate with me."
Mason hoped to intimidate Lucien, but the strange red-haired man continued to look at the adventurers behind him and ignored his request.
Lucien, still hugging Mia, looked at the group of adventurers and shouted words, which left almost everyone confused. "Who shot the second arrow?!?!"
Marie started to beg Lucien to stop. Anne didn't know how to react. Mia could only enjoy Lucien's gentle touch. Oya faced the adventurers sharing his master's displeasure.
Mason was furious and squeezed his ax while shouting at Lucien again. "Who do you think you ar-"
"WHO! SHOT!! THE!!! SECOND!!!! DAMN!!!!! ARROW?!?!?!?!?!?!?"
Lucien's scream sounded like an angry demon, but he didn't move a step and kept patting Mia, making the whole scene very bizarre.
Before Mason could say anything else, Lucien disappeared. He used all his speed and turned a blur while he ran towards Mason with his red dagger ready.
*Clang*
Lucien was faster and stronger now than when he fought Gerard. The pleasure and desire he shared with Mia did both of them well. Still, he was surprised when a woman in heavy armor managed to intercept his attack before hitting Mason.
The woman blocked Lucien's dagger with a large silver sword. He felt that she was not as fast as he, but their strength is similar as none of them could move an inch.
L.u.s.t couldn't help but comment on Lucien's mind. "Don't kill her! She has great potential, even at that age."
Mason was unable to see Lucien's agile movement, but after his aunt blocked the attack, he thought the stranger was done.
But then he realized that she didn't seem to have an advantage against the red-haired man. He didn't think twice and attacked Lucien with his ax in a cruel blow.
*Roar*
Everything was happening very fast, and everyone just got more and more confused as unable to follow the swift movements.
Oya saw Mason attacking Lucien and jumped on him quickly. He fell to the ground, and Oya was about to bite his head while her sharp claws were already penetrating his armor. But then she heard Lucien's voice. "Oya!"
The mama tigress is very intelligent, and her connection with Lucien only improved. She did not understand words completely, but she understood the intention and would obey her scented master as a good tigress she was.
Lucien had already dismissed thoughts of killing the woman in heavy armor as she could be a good partner, as L.u.s.t said. But about men... They would never have a good end if it depended on him.
He maintained the strength on the dagger, giving no advantage to the woman's longsword as he spoke calmly to her. "Drop the sword, or the fat man's head will become food to my tigress."
Jeanne, the woman in the heavy armor, did not know what to do. She was not the kind of person who would give up easily in battle but promised Mason's parents to take good care of him, her nephew.
She also couldn't just give the archer to the strange man to do whatever he wants with him. She can't help but curse Mason for getting in trouble with someone so strong that even she, one of the most powerful rank-A adventurers, couldn't easily beat.
But the big tigress was just waiting for a sign from the man and would devour Mason's head. Jeanne had to think about her family first and try to negotiate. "Are you going to kill the archer?"
The adventurer group wanted to help Jeanne and Mason, but they were in a dangerous situation. Any movement of them could cause the red-haired man or the big tigress to kill their companions, so they could only watch everything in fear.
Marie and Anne were very nervous. They knew this group because they are famous for being good people. Marie wanted to beg Lucien to stop, but she knew he was not easily influenced. And she was not in good relations with him now.
Lucien was not going to lie without reason, and he had already decided that anyone who tried anything against his women would not end well. "The archer tried to hurt my woman. What kind of man would I be if I don't do anything?"
Jeanne understood that the man should love the hooded woman very much. She could only blame herself for allowing Mason to make a surprise attack before they found out this enemy is not someone they could offend.
"I understand. I'm so sorry for attacking you and your wife. I will give you the archer, but you have to send your tigress to leave my nephew."
Lucien knew that someone gave the order to the archer, but he wanted to start the punishment by the owner of the hand that acted against his adorable Mia. "I want to see who the archer is. Or I will kill everyone."
Jeanne could feel both coldness and seriousness in Lucien's tone. She could no longer sustain the groans of pain that Mason made as the tigress's claws pierced his chest. Then she called out the name of the archer.
All adventurers were terrified of the situation. Especially the two archers. They were very scared and thought about trying to shoot Lucien while Jeanne was keeping him still.
But if they hit her or something went wrong, they would be very dead. So they hoped she or Mason could handle the situation. But the archer who shot Mia was unlucky. When Jeanne called his name, he knew he was very screwed.
The poor man started to sweat cold, and his body moved involuntarily. He ran away by fear, trying to keep his life.
Lucien saw the archer running away and couldn't help but smile. "Oya! Bring me him alive."
*Roar*
Mama tigress understood Lucien's order. She jumped off Mason and quickly chased the archer. Her speed was very high, and the poor man was unable to run for long. Oya bit his leg and dragged him to Lucien as the man cried and struggled in vain.
"AHHHHH! PLEASE COMMAND IT TO STOOOOP."
"PLEASEEEEEE... AAAAAAAH!"
Lucien was very pleased to hear the archer's screams and drew back his dagger, letting Jeanne breathe. She had to use all of her strength to keep holding on to his attack. But Lucien seemed to be very comfortable as if it was nothing to him.
Jeanne stepped back to care Mason's wounds as Lucien went towards Oya and the poor archer.
When the adventurers saw Jeanne and Mason away from Lucien, they thought it was time to attack and prepared themself for it. Archers aimed their arrows. Wizards prepared their spells. And warriors, the shields.
Jeanne was one of the most powerful adventurers in Portgreen and was already considered by many even as S-rank, but she knew that Lucien was as strong as she, and faster.
There was also the big tigress and the hooded woman beside him. So she couldn't help but be angry when her group was about to attack Lucien. "You idiots! Do you have shit in place of the brain?! Put your weapons down and let me handle the situation!"
The adventurers followed Mason's orders, but everyone knew that Jeanne is his aunt and the strongest adventurer of their group, so they would not go against her orders. Everyone lowered their weapons, causing the archer to lose hope completely.
Marie had already lost count of how many times she begged Lucien to stop, but it was no use. She knew that the bizarre show would not end with the archer and could not help but began to cry. Anne tried to comfort her while also thinking that the situation would not end so quickly.
Mia didn't want Lucien to make enmity with all those adventurers, so she tried to ask him not to go too far. "Lucien, we're fine, so you don't have to kill him."
Lucien looked at Mia with a lovely and tender smile, making everyone confused about what kind of devil he was. "When I meet your mom, and she finds out you were attacked, and I didn't do anything, how will she let you be mine?"
Mia couldn't handle the pleasant feelings when Lucien talked about meeting her mother to ask for her to be his. So, she nodded while making "mm" sounds and let Lucien do what he wanted.
The archer has never felt so much pain before, while Oya keeps bitting his leg, but the worst was yet to come.