“We got company!”
Not knowing the identity or the reason as to why these people came to the settlement, Emery whispered the news to Julian and then casually made his way towards the entrance of the pub.
Soon enough everyone could hear the loud sound made by the incoming group.
Twenty men dressed in long brown coats riding some kind of mechanical horse galloped across the main street of the settlement without inhibitions and stopped right in front of the pub, raising a cloud of dust in their wake.
They seemed to become a little tense seeing the Nexus soldiers standing outside the pub, but apparently, they managed to firm their resolve as they got off the mechanical horses and proceeded to take out their weapons.
Each and every individual of this group held the Nexus faction’s proud invention [Solar Rifle], and from the glimpses of under their coats, they were all also wearing the [Solar Armor]. However, it was apparent from their appearance that these people were not Nexus soldiers.
With all the ruckus the group caused with their arrival, Minister Otto alongside Julian took a peek from inside the pub to see what was going on.
“They are most definitely Stildar’s men. The question is, why are they here?” Julian said.
A person stepped forward from the group. It was a man who had an intimidating look with a prominent scar marred the right side of his face. He looked at Thrax and the five soldiers who stood guard in a condescending manner.
With what he thought was an intimidating tone, the man said, “Get out of the way or you will be sorry.”
Thrax nonchalantly took a step forward, towering over the other party confidently while saying, “If you come for a drink, drop your weapon and ask nicely. Perhaps, I will let you in…”
Instead of doing as asked, the man spat at the group and said, “You moron! Do you not realize your own situation!? There are twenty of us while only five of you, so think carefully before you say nonsense!”
Thrax leisurely raised his finger and started pointing at the group standing in front of him. “One… two… four… ten… Hm? Twenty? I only count nineteen.” He said in a confused tone.
“What! Are you stupid?!” Even though he said so, the scarred man still turned to his men to check the authenticity of Thrax’s words. It was at this moment that Thrax took another step and grabbed the man, holding him hostage and as a shield for his colleagues’ possible aggression.
“I mean minus you moron!… now kindly, tell me why you’re here, or I’ll snap your head!”
The scarred man’s face quickly changed as he realized that he couldn’t budge the huge arm that strangled him at all.
This action naturally escalated the situation as the atmosphere outside the pub instantly turned tense. All nineteen men aimed their guns towards Thrax, while the five Nexus soldiers quickly did the same toward these brown coats.
Emery, who had been observing the situation, was already prepared for a clash to erupt. He casually took out his magic staff while at the same time, a small green rune started to form on the hand hidden behind his back as he was ready to cast [Jade Root] on all nineteen uninvited guests.
But then, much to his surprise, the scarred man dropped a small glowing ball from his arm as he loudly said, “Freedom!!”
KABOOOMMM!!!
The small glowing object released an explosion that sent everyone flying a few steps and covered the entire area with a thick cloud of dust. It wasn’t a very lethal explosion, at least not for Rank 9 people present on the premises, but it was enough to light the chaos amidst the tense situation.
With his spirit reading, Emery quickly noticed suspicious movement from half a dozen people inside the pub. He could see how they were taking out hidden weapons and aiming them toward Julian.
“Julian watch out!”
Hell broke loose as shots were fired among each other.
Emery quickly cast the [Jade Root] he had prepared and immediately restrained several of the aggressors. He was about to cast the spell once more and take control of the situation when he suddenly found himself being shot at.
A rain of energy rays shot towards Emery. It was clear that these people attacked with the intention to kill. Unfortunately for them, all of their shots were stopped by a translucent shield-like barrier.
Clank! Clank! Clank!
With his new magic staff, Emery used the light element spell [Bright Shield] to block any attacks. Still, the shots were surprisingly powerful enough to create some cracks in the barrier.
Reinforcing the spell once more and maintaining his vigilance, Emery raised his staff to the air and cast [Light Missile]. Numerous rays of light flew through the air in arcs, shooting toward the rebels at breakneck speed.
While retaliating with [Light Missile], Emery also used multiple [Bright Shield] spells to protect the innocent people inside the pub. Of course, on the other hand, he still cast the [Jade Root] to subdue the rebels one by one.
Thrax burst into laughter as he charged at the rebels, knocking those who weren’t entangled by Emery’s [Jade Root] unconscious. On the other hand, Julian used his shield to deal with the ones inside the pub.
The old marshall also took out a longer version of the rifle in the rebels’ hand and aimed it toward the attackers.
BAAMM!
One shot and the body of one of the rebels flew through the air crashing into the wall of the pub.
Unfortunately, all attacks became less effective as the [Solar Armor] was durable enough to hold against any attacks. Even Thrax’s blows that could easily create craters were able to be stopped by the energy shield the armor generated.
Emery had to use his full power to strangle the ones entangled by his roots to finally make them pass out. Eventually, after countless hits, sounds of screams and broken bones echoed in the air, all of the rebels lying helplessly on the ground.
“Huh! This is not even enough for a warm-up!” said Thrax loudly as he knocked out one of the rebels with his kick.
Even though the battle seemed severe with all the shootings, in reality, it was over in less than ten minutes; and although the pub had become a complete mess, there were no civilians killed, leaving Otto surprised.
“Are… are you all really just Rank 9 acolytes?!”
After making sure all the rebels were taken care of, Julian approached the bearded old man and said, “Mister Shane… are you ready to talk now?”