202 – Monster among Monsters

The previous guard jogged toward them with a smile and handed Caius his guild card. "Thank you, Sir Caius. Sorry for the inconvenience. We just checked to see if it's valid or not and haven't changed anything. We have also sent the news of your return to the Adventurers Guild."

While taking back the card, Caius asked with some worry, "Just how many have died outside, any idea? Also, did the city receive any major attacks?"

The guard puffed out his chest and answered, "No, Sir; our city is still safe. No necromancers would dare attack us while our Lord is present." He paused, glancing at the other members of the Eclipse while continuing, "I am not sure of the death count, but according to what I heard, almost everyone who went outside last month..."

He suddenly stopped and stared deeply at Eric, Lyria, and Livy. Upon realizing something, he quickly took a few steps back, pulled out his sword, and roared loudly, "Who the hell are you three? You three are not members of the Eclipse!"

He was shocked because there were three tall individuals wearing cloaks, and all three were foreigners; they were so handsome and beautiful that even he, who had received training not to judge people by their looks, was dazed for a moment.

Foreigners at this moment also meant Necromancers!

With the guard’s loud shout, every soldier's attention was drawn toward the Eclipse members. That roar was to warn everyone present that there were infiltrators who had sneaked in.

In a flash, all thirty soldiers grabbed their weapons and surrounded them. They looked grimly toward Caius and the others.

It didn’t take long for everyone to notice the three odd people who looked completely different from the usual inhabitants of this region.

The three were extremely tall. The man was very handsome, and the two girls were out-of-this-world beauties. They seemed like some extremely wealthy nobles of some faraway lands with great figures. However, the guards were not young adults; they had gone through rigorous training and wouldn't lose their minds over some beautiful people, especially when they were already on high alert.

Even Caius and Brunhild were intimidated by the ferocity all the guards and soldiers suddenly showed. After all, there were too many of them, and they would definitely lose if all of them suddenly attacked.

Despite this, Thorne took a step forward with a frown and tried to explain, "You guys are misunderstanding. We met these three during our mission and were rescued by them. If not for them, we all would have already died at the hands of necromancers."

Eric was touched. He nearly patted and hugged Thorne’s shoulder while calling him "brother" intimately. But he held back, or else people might think he was gay.

A late-stage Rank 2 guard wearing silver plate armor snorted, "Three Rank 1s rescuing a veteran Adventurer team? Do you take us for fools?" He pointed his weapon straight at Thorne and ordered, "Move aside, or else you all will be considered traitors to Batley City!" His tone was filled with menace, leaving no room for compromises.

Thorne’s frown deepened, but he didn’t step back. Eric, Lyria, and Livy had saved their lives from their ultimate doom, and during the journey, they had also become a lot closer—if not friends, at least trusted acquaintances and temporary companions. He simply couldn’t step back when they were facing trouble within his own city.

Elianor, Garrick, and Eilif also came to their senses and took a step forward beside Thorne to defend Eric, Lyria, and Livy.

Garrick and Eilif grabbed their weapons, which were strapped to their backs, but didn't pull them out, as it was just a warning toward the guards. They thought they were being "generous" and the guards would "understand."

Meanwhile, Elianor was cursing Thorne’s ancestors in her heart. This was the perfect opportunity to impress Eric and make him look at her in a different light, but the bald-headed, dual-swords idiot took that opportunity away! What if Eric suddenly developed a romantic interest in Thorne because of this? If Eric called Thorne "brother" intimately due to this incident, then she would kill herself and Thorne with poison!

Brunhild and Caius were a lot more mentally mature and knew that by stepping forward, it would only make the guards feel more provoked and the situation would become more unstable.

So, they both smiled "kindly," though their smiles came out bitterly. They truly hadn’t expected it would turn out this way. They had brought Eric, Lyria, and Livy to the city to welcome them with pleasantness and gratitude, and had been very happy about it, but now this had happened. Not to mention, they still wished to purchase weapons from Eric and the girls, and the entire city might also benefit from their contribution.

Caius sighed and looked toward the highest-ranking soldier present at the scene.

"Gillian, these people are my friends and our lifesavers. You might not believe us, and I also won't force you. Just treat them as any new visitors to the city. I will pay the necessary Mana Stones accordingly."

Gillian, who was also an early-stage Rank 3 Warrior, stood straight while holding his spear in his arm. Normally he wouldn't create trouble for some Rank 1s who were also friends of nobles in Batley City and would give them free passes, but this was a direct order from the City Lord, and he absolutely didn't dare to mess it up after the recent incident with the city's space gateway.

He shook his head toward Caius and Brunhild, and said sternly, "Caius Valerian, Brunhild Pierce, both of you are nobles and should understand the procedure. The City Lord's mansion has recently ordered us to reject all visitors, and we are not going to ignore such a command."

He then glanced toward Eric, Lyria, and Livy and continued with a steely tone, "There are two ways from here: either they come with us for a thorough checkup, or they must leave the city immediately."

In fact, he didn't have the authority to send a suspect outside freely, but he still provided this option out of respect for both Caius and Brunhild, as they both came from very reputable and respected noble families with long histories in Batley City.

Caius frowned. He absolutely couldn’t send the three outside. If he did, then he would be spitting on himself for being too low, and he was certain his teammates would also be very dissatisfied with him.

He also couldn’t allow any of them to go through checkups either. Eric and both the girls came from some very scary backgrounds, and they also possessed multiple Tier 1 and 2 weapons and such things. Guards were a bunch that may even steal—or rather "confiscate"—Tier 1 potions, much less weapons and armor of such wealth.

Caius took a deep breath and denied without hesitation, "I cannot allow either of those."

Gillian glowered; he was enraged.

He also didn't hesitate further and imposed his full spiritual pressure over Eric, Caius, and everyone on that spot.

"Then I will forcefully apply the law!" He pointed his spear toward the bunch and was about to order the guards to apprehend them all, when he was stunned.

After the entire Rank 3 pressure fell over everyone, except for Caius, Brunhild, Eric, Lyria, and Livy, all of them fell down; among them, only Thorne was able to raise his bald head and glare at Gillian while lying flat on the ground.

Although Brunhild wasn't completely flattened like the others, she had to put her hands on her knees to keep from falling over.

Eric, Lyria, and Livy were indifferent to Gillian's pressure. Although Lyria's and Livy's Constitution stats were far lower than an early Rank 3 Warrior's, they had fought and killed a Rank 3 Mana Beast; their spirit was burning so high that this much pressure was just child's play to them; perhaps even an early-stage Rank 4 wouldn’t be able to force them down. They were of completely different breeds altogether. Having broken through multiple limits on all their stats, they were a class of their own, which the world had never witnessed.

Eric glanced at Thorne, who was trying his best not to kiss the ground, and felt pity arising from deep within him.

His brother was being raped right in front of him! If he couldn’t even protect his brother's dignity, then Brother Panther would definitely mock him in his dreams!

Eric turned to look at Gillian, who was staring at them in shock, as he hadn't expected him, Lyria, and Livy to be completely unaffected by his pressure.

"Enough!"

BOOM!

Every soldier and whoever was there, except for the Eclipse members, Lyria, and Livy, fell to the ground, as if someone had yanked them toward the earth with an unstoppable might.

All of them lost consciousness collectively and stayed still, looking as though they had all died; only Gillian was able to stay conscious because Eric had intentionally left him out with the last bit of his consciousness.

Eric could have knocked Gillian out as well, but then the following trouble just wouldn’t stop.

Eric could only sigh and felt his low-profile life needed to be seriously planned; or else, at this rate, they might end up provoking Master Ranks within the Silvia Kingdom before they knew it.

It was not so easy to spread spiritual pressure all around; Eric was only able to do that due to his high Intelligence stat and, more importantly, due to his high Mana Control; despite all that, he was already feeling slight lightheadedness.

Gillian, despite being a Warrior, could put pressure on the bunch because all of them were together in one spot; even so, he had put in huge effort.

Eric walked toward Gillian with a steady gait.

Everyone from the Eclipse team was completely shaken while glancing at the soldiers and guards who, just a moment ago, were filled with the spirit of justice, and now were all knocked unconscious with just a single shout.

Caius subconsciously trembled looking at Eric, who just walked past him.

Knocking down over thirty Mana Wielders completely within a split second was something perhaps only Master Ranks were capable of, as that not only required great Constitution but also very high Intelligence stats.

Caius used to think that Eric just had a very high Strength stat, but never expected that his Constitution and also Intelligence were so high as to be able to do something like this against dozens of trained soldiers and even against a Rank 3 Warrior. And both Constitution and Intelligence stats were the most difficult stats to train!

Just how could this even be possible?!

Caius at this moment realized that he had far underestimated Eric.

He was a monster among monsters!

Brunhild was also going through similar emotions as Caius while watching Eric's broad back.

She glanced back at the calm Lyria and Livy and understood that both the girls had long been aware of Eric's true depth. No wonder he was the leader despite being a minor rank below them.

Brunhild used to think that Eric, though very strong, was also very easy to hang out with; now it seemed all that was just the surface, and inside him—perhaps a God or a Demon was residing.

Elianor, Garrick, Eilif, and Thorne, who were still on the ground, gawked widely.

They had never seen such a reversal of a situation. Everything happened in a flash: one moment they were all terribly suppressed, then the next moment all thirty Mana Wielders were suppressed to the point of losing consciousness.

They almost thought they were hallucinating.