Jacob was amazed by Francis’s mom. Her attack had left him hurting like a b*tch.

Holy sh*t, she’s going for the kill!

Jacob ducked the next bolt. Mrs. Rossi was at the 3rd level of Mana in the Cockroach realm, but she was moving her hands and arms so much that it was easy for him to anticipate her moves.

“Maria, what the hell?” Mr. Rossi screamed.

“This bastard is always leeching off Francis, Julius!”

Jacob looked toward Francis for a second and caught nothing but a sneering disdain for him. Before he could look at him better, his mother threw another bolt and then started sweating and panting.

She’s not controlling her Mana. These bolts consume a lot of it, and she doesn’t know how to optimize the expenditure, nor is her aim good.

Jacob did not fear for his life. He knew he could handle this woman, but he was currently struggling with another decision.

Do I kill her?

It was a legitimate question. She just tried to fry him for no other reason than he had Francis pass as a liar. Maria was out of her damn mind.

On the one hand, Jacob knew that killing her would prevent further problems from arising in the future. But, on the other, it would not only reveal his hand but also scare every single other citizen: no one would ever trust him anymore.

This was going to be his first hard choice, which would define all his other decisions. If he made a wrong decision now, he would compromise all the excellent work done so far

On a visceral level, Jacob honestly wouldn’t mind killing the woman. However, in life-and-death situations, people like her were a liability. In this changing world, they needed people they could trust and rely upon. If Mrs. Rossi were to behave like this again in a crucial moment, people would die.

Jacob didn’t like his options one bit, so he just screamed: “Fred, for fu*k’s sake, come here! This madwoman is trying to kill me!”

Frederick had been waiting for him to do something himself and was not expecting his call. However, he still came out from behind a door and looked at the woman with a stony expression.

“Mrs, please, calm down,” Frederick put on a faint smile and gave Jacob a nod.

“This is not of your business, brat! That piece of garbage over there is framing my son for his lies and deception. I’m not going to stand it anymore. He is the reason Francis never excelled! Francis always liked that little loser and let him drag him down! So now I will squash him myself!”

Wow, I did not know that Maria had such strong hate feelings toward me. Of course, I knew she wasn’t my biggest fan, but I did not expect this. Well, what can you do: people are just sh*t like that.

“Mrs. Rossi, there is no way I’m going to let you harm Jacob. He’s been helping me all over the town to bring people to safety. He’s also Juliet’s trusted aide.”

“That little whore who beat up her own father?”

This is not going to be solved with good manners.

Jacob looked around him and found a little keepsake, an iron-made model of a vintage car. From this distance, he could probably bash that woman’s head with it.

“Mrs. Rossi, I don’t think you understand. If you try to haram Jacob again, you will be considered a criminal. And criminals in a post-apocalyptic world? They get sent to the gallows, and with gallows, I mean that someone will shoot you dead in an alley or extend you the same courtesy you gave Jacob.”

Frederick’s tone was authoritative and full of confidence, but Jacob had been through enough situations like this one to know exactly what was going to happen.

“And you have to consider the optics, see—”

Maria Rossi shot a bolt toward Frederick’s face while he was still talking.

Jacob hesitated for a second, tempted to get rid of two problems in one move. But then, he swiftly empowered his arm with Qi and threw the iron model he just grabbed toward the bolt.

Being pure electricity and Mana, the bolt swerved toward the car, attracted to the metal that suddenly popped up in his trajectory and then discharged on a radiator right next to Frederick.

That bolt had been strong enough to kill Frederick on the spot if he had been caught right in the face. That coward was strong, but he still lacked experience.

Jacob saw the woman's jaw go slack with amazement when he grabbed a ball of marble the size of a fist – a typical Italian ornament for wealthy houses – and threw it with all his empowered by Qi strength toward her stomach.

He hit her right in the guts, and she fell the second after, vomiting and screaming.

Jacob supposed that in a world where people could shoot bolts from their fingers, throwing a marble ball at someone shouldn’t count as an attack.

As Julius Rossi ran toward Jacob, Frederick body checked the burly man into the ground, probably breaking a few bones.

With both the adults down, only Francis stood motionlessly in front of them.

Jacob was disappointed.

Another person maybe wouldn’t have been cold enough to notice, but his friend had not advocated for him. Francis had not spoken a single word to his mom to avoid Jacob’s death.

In his past life, they had been friends so tight that nothing would have come between them. Now, in any case…

Jacob would not say he was an emotional person, but this stunk. It fuc**ng stunk to high heaven.

The past mattered only to a point, and that point was the line between who would save your life and who would not. He had never imagined Francis wouldn’t advocate for him.

“What now?” Frederick asked him.

It felt even dirtier thinking of that douchebag as a partner instead of Francis.

“Leave them to the Demonic Beasts. We can’t have murderers in our midst; they will not be allowed into the school or inside the wall we will build. They both attacked us with no motive, and you are my witness.”

Jacob pursed his lips and forcefully closed his eyes. He had been close to healing their bond to put his life back on the same tracks it had been in his previous one. So close. A little chat would have let him explain things and maybe bond again. He had been ready to even apologize for his behavior. But now, it was too late. Francis would never forgive him for what he just did to his mother, not judging by the look he was giving him.

There only was pure hatred on his friend's face.

“Goodbye, Francis…” Jacob turned his back and gestured to Frederick to follow him.