Chapter 136
Chapter 136: Actually, I'm a Summoner
A powerful aura slowly rose from the man standing before them.
The many Shadow Guards raised their cold, gleaming daggers, holding them across their chests as they fixed the figure atop the iron cage with icy stares.
From the man before them, they sensed an extraordinarily powerful force.
Leon's expression also turned somewhat grave. Narrowing her eyes, her low voice carried through the crowd behind her.
"Protect Miss Leah."
But Leah felt no fear. She simply crossed her arms, hands cupped beneath her chest, and regarded the man before her with cold indifference.
The man looked somewhat unkempt—stubble dotting his chin, his clothes worn and tattered. Compared to the ornate greatsword on his back, he cut an utterly incongruous figure.
He was an Adventurer of some renown in the south.
A warrior known as the Savage Ghost—Cindy Kaya.
Three years ago, he had already been a peak Tier-3 warrior of considerable combat strength.
Of course, to put it charitably, he was an Adventurer. In truth, the Adventurer profession was simply another name for a mercenary who worked for coin.
With enough money, anything could be arranged.
For a long stretch of time, Cindy Kaya had vanished from Adventurer circles.
When he reappeared, he was wielding a lavish greatsword—having cut down his former employer and defected to the Rether Family.
Rumor had it that the sword he now carried was a gift from the Rether Family, offered as a bribe to secure his allegiance.
An Adventurer of such "illustrious" reputation, now serving as the Rether Family's lackey.
Naturally, Leah recognized the man before her.
At the sight of him, she let out a mocking laugh.
"And here I thought it was someone worth noting. A dog of the Rether Family, coming to throw a tantrum on my territory?"
Cindy leaped down from the top of the cage and positioned himself in front of the cut-open passage, blocking the Demi-humans' only way out.
"I wouldn't dare, Miss Leah."
"It's just that... these goods are rather important to us. Might you look the other way and let us take them?"
His tone was entirely sincere.
The few Cat-girls inside the iron cage behind him, however, heard his words and were seized with terror, breaking into a panicked frenzy.
"Save... save us..."
Before they could finish, Cindy drew the greatsword from his back and slammed it down hard against the iron cage.
The cage shuddered violently, accompanied by Cindy's warning.
"Keep it quiet. I'd rather not damage the merchandise."
Under that thoroughly menacing statement, they squeezed their eyes shut in fear and dared not make another sound.
As Cindy's voice faded, several armed warriors emerged from the surrounding darkness.
They advanced slowly toward Leah and her group, nearly encircling them entirely.
Watching this unfold, Leah clicked her tongue twice.
"And what if I don't want you to take them?"
Cindy let out a sigh.
"What a shame, Miss Leah."
"Everyone here except yourself—I'm afraid your Shadow Guards won't be walking away from this."
Leah's gaze instantly turned several degrees colder as she fixed him with an icy stare.
"Making trouble on my territory, and now threatening to kill my people?"
"Are you saying you don't take the Clavena Family seriously—or is it that Viktor's been gone a few days, and that's made you all itch for trouble again?"
Cindy spread his hands with an air of complete indifference.
"Miss Leah, I'm just someone who gets paid to do a job."
"Besides, when did I ever say I was going to kill your people?"
He surveyed the Shadow Guards at Leah's side, a flash of greed crossing his eyes.
"Well-trained Demi-human slaves fetch quite a price, you know..."
"How could I bear to waste them?"
The surrounding warriors closed in steadily, forcing the Shadow Guards around Leah to compress their formation tighter and tighter.
Seeing this, Leah let out a quiet sigh.
She had figured it out now.
The merchant called Hanna had been deliberately pushed forward as bait by these slave traders—extracted through forced interrogation to lure her into this trap.
"Perhaps I've spent too little time in the territory lately. It seems to have given you all sorts of wrong ideas."
In the Carencia Empire, where no system of slavery existed, the buying and selling of slaves was a punishable offense.
And smuggling—bringing Demi-humans into the Empire's borders—was equally a crime.
But if one combined both points.
The slave traders only needed a pretext to absolve themselves of guilt.
The Demi-humans could have been discovered somewhere in the Empire's forests.
Or they could have slipped across the border on their own and simply been captured.
No matter what justification was used, so long as they could claim the Demi-humans had not been deliberately brought into Imperial territory—
The slave traders could legally seize the Demi-humans and do with them as they pleased, selling them to anyone they liked.
It came back to the same truth: Demi-humans had no human rights.
However, within the Clavena Territory, even if these Demi-humans disappeared without a trace, no one would dare say a word.
Because Demi-humans had no rights, this kind of "merchandise," even if stolen away, left the slave traders with no recourse—they simply had to swallow the bitterness in silence.
And yet now...
"You think that by latching onto the Rether Family, you can come and test the Clavena Family?"
Evidently, the only thing that could give these slave traders the nerve to seek revenge and push back was support from the Rether Family.
These Demi-human slaves, without a doubt, were bound to be transported south.
The moment Leah finished speaking, she slowly raised one hand.
On that slender hand was a black fingerless glove.
Six gemstones of different hues glittered brilliantly beneath the moonlight.
Leah smiled as she looked toward the warriors closing in around her, her tone carrying wave after wave of contempt.
"You all seem to think..."
"You've already won?"
Suddenly, she flipped her palm—and from within it, a roaring, furious flame erupted.
The rising firelight illuminated the entire port in brilliant, blinding brightness.
As if it would burn everything in its surroundings to cinders.
Countless eyes went wide, gazes filled with shock and disbelief, all locked onto Leah.
They seemed to realize what was happening—but it was already too late.
【3rd-Tier Magic: Blazing Eruption】
In an instant, the Magic Formation materialized, and surging, scorching flame shot straight toward the sky.
The fire leaped upward in a heartbeat, transforming into a vast cloud of flame.
From it, enormous, blazing fireballs rained down continuously upon the earth below.
The intense, searing light came crashing down onto the churning sea surface—white steam burst outward, shrouding the entire port.
The fireballs kept falling, smashing into the surrounding ground and igniting fire after fire in their wake.
The blistering heat seemed capable of scorching the very earth until it cracked.
Countless people stared wide-eyed at the crimson sky.
"A... a Tier-3 Mage?"
"Weren't we told the eldest young miss of the Clavena Family was just an ordinary person? This intelligence is completely wrong!"
These warriors averaged only Tier-2 in strength. Faced with such terrifyingly powerful Tier-3 Magic, they were utterly helpless.
Even Cindy stumbled back several steps in bewilderment, retreating beyond the reach of the spreading firestorm.
Many of the other warriors were not so fortunate—they were standing far closer to the magic.
The moment even a single tongue of flame latched onto their bodies, it instantly exploded into a raging blaze.
The fire swallowed them whole, leaving behind nothing but scorched armor and bodies charred to black.
Boom. The burnt warriors collapsed one after another.
There had not been even the slightest chance to resist.
"The Clavena Family... actually has two genius Mages?"
A flicker of genuine surprise surfaced in Cindy's eyes.
Viktor had reached Tier-4 at the age of 29.
If his younger sister Leah was a Tier-3 Mage, that seemed, in a way, almost reasonable.
But still...
"That's not enough, Miss Leah."
Cindy smiled, swinging the lavish greatsword from his back.
A fierce gust tore through the air from the blade.
Beneath that sword wind, the flames burning across the ground were smothered as though covered by white ash, extinguishing completely.
At the same time, a powerful surge of Blood Energy radiated from Cindy's body.
Tier-4.
That, too, made sense. Three years ago, Cindy had already been a peak Tier-3 warrior.
After three years of tempering—and with the limitless wealth the Rether Family had poured into his cultivation—
Even a dog could have broken through to the next tier by now.
So Leah felt no surprise. She simply watched Cindy calmly, and in her gaze, there seemed to be a trace of mockery.
Once the flames died out, Cindy looked through the lingering scattered fire and spotted Leah and her group, still encircled amid the blaze.
He was about to say something to showcase his own strength—but as if catching on to something, Cindy suddenly froze.
The flames... seemed to be missing a person?
Cindy's guard shot up in an instant. A chill crept up from the back of his skull.
By reflex, he raised the greatsword and spun to block.
A silver dagger and the greatsword collided—but in nearly the same breath, a second dagger came stabbing out of the darkness.
Slash!
A sharp blade of wind tore through the air, leaving a long bloody gash across Cindy's face.
He swung the greatsword and sent a violent sword wind surging outward, driving Leon back dozens of meters.
Once he had dealt with that, Cindy rested the greatsword against his shoulder.
The Blood Energy manifesting across his body seemed to grow several degrees denser.
A savage, brutal aura coursed through his meridians. Cindy's eyes turned crimson.
Following that surge through his body, his muscles seemed to swell and expand.
The already tattered clothes clinging to him could no longer bear the strain, splitting and tearing apart entirely.
Like a beast coiled and ready to pounce.
"Tch, I've changed my mind."
"Kill you all right now."
"Then I take the money and run. Whatever grudge you have with the Clavena Family, go settle it with the Rether Family yourselves."
He grinned, baring his teeth—a bone-deep chill mixing with overwhelming savagery as it crashed toward Leah like a wave.
"Viktor might be impressive, but he's nothing more than a freshly advanced Tier-4 Mage."
"And you're the same—just a Tier-3 Mage."
"The Tier-3 Mages I've killed... there's no shortage of ones like you."
Yet under that threat, Leah simply shrugged without the slightest hint of panic.
"There's something you'd better know in advance."
She spread her hands, a glint of amusement in her eyes.
"When did I ever say I was a Mage?"
"Hm?"
Cindy paused.
He still hadn't grasped what Leah meant—but in a daze, Cindy sensed it.
Behind him, a sense of danger had surged again.
He assumed it was that irritating Shadow Guard of Leah's once more. He grabbed the greatsword and swung it hard toward his back with full force.
But in the next second—
A giant hand made entirely of lava clamped down on the greatsword and held it fast.
In that daze, Cindy caught what seemed like a flash of a black Coat sweeping past.
Then a hand reached out.
He hadn't even registered the other person's speed before his throat was seized in an iron grip.
"Ugh..."
His body was slowly lifted off the ground, feet leaving the earth as he was raised into the air.
The greatsword slipped from his grasp—but rather than falling, it was gripped firmly by that lava hand.
Cindy thrashed his powerful body frantically.
But the physique he had taken such pride in felt, in this moment, like nothing but a dead weight.
The more he struggled, the heavier his body bore down—only deepening his suffocation.
He tried to pry open the man's hand with both of his own.
But it was utterly useless.
Whatever force this was and wherever it came from, no matter how hard he struck, no matter how desperately he fought—
The man before him remained completely unmoved.
All Cindy could see were the flashes of azure-blue light in those eyes.
Wave after wave of Runes and Magic Power flowed unceasingly along the man's arm.
【Strength Boost (Medium)】
【Strength Boost (Large)】
【Strength Boost (Colossal)】
The air inside him grew thin. Cindy began to feel himself suffocating.
In a daze, he saw a one-eyed black Crow perched upon the man's shoulder.
In that Crow's eyes, too, flickered the same eerie azure-blue light.
"What did you just say? Something about a Tier-4 Mage? I'm sorry—I didn't quite catch that."
Within Viktor's cold, indifferent gaze lay what seemed like an absolute, boundless killing intent.
The words left his mouth one by one, slowly and deliberately.
"Could you."
"Say that again?"