Chapter 1.19: Is this how mortal weddings look?

Riot took advantage of this opportunity to vent his grievances to his pillar of support, his big sister.

"Now I’ve become as strong as a hero like she always wanted me to do," said Riot as his tale came to a close. "But, I feel bad, Phu! Now that she lacks vitality, I’m stronger than ever. Do you think she will hate me?"

"Wow. That’s quite the adventure! If the problem is her lack of vitality, I can fix that by taking her back to my sect. Don't worry so much about receiving her vitality. Didn't you risk your life to protect her? Consider it as compensation. As for rescuing Micky and smashing Black Tyrant, I was here to do that anyway," Miracle giggled as she tussled Riot’s hair. She originally had no interest in making this girl her retainer, but hearing Riot’s story had changed her mind. Since her brother benefitted from this Micayle’s misfortune, Miracle didn’t mind giving the girl some good fortune in return. "However, now that it's a request from my brother, I must, of course, accomplish it as soon as possible. But first…"

Miracle glanced around at all the pirates who were swarming in this direction. After calculating that her brother wouldn’t be in danger if she removed all those Wonder Corp weapons, she said, "Ah, no, forget it. These people are all humble, and the heroes are all on the ship. It seems the leaders are even Extremes. This should be fun. Well, handle your business out here, little Luck. You can fight to your heart’s content. I wanted to take their weapons, but...I won't. How could you feel any pressure without a bit of danger? Anyway, you won’t die out here. Oh yeah, here…"

Miracle took out an onyx slip and passed it to Riot. Riot grabbed it without hesitation and inspected it curiously. Miracle smiled warmly at her little brother, knowing he trusted her completely. She said, "This is a physical spell developed by my master. Even a hero can bind it, but you have to become a hero with elemental power or a valor creature with flesh power. Once you have either one, wrap it up in your power until it feels like it's part of you. That’s how you bind treasures. I have already received permission to give it to you, but you must swear on your life that you’ll never teach it to anyone else! Anyway, senior brother Singapore had some things to do, but Duval is in the area. The Black Tyrant is running an operation here, but the core of their forces are in a different part of the slums. I asked him to protect your little friend, Haan. So try not to die. I’ll be home at the end of the week."

"I swear on my," To Riot’s amazement, after speaking, Miracle had already vanished from his line of sight. Turning around, he barely saw her figure in the distance.

"I remember last time we sparred. I had almost caught up to her. Now, what level of power has my sister obtained…?" Riot couldn’t help but marvel, rubbing his eyes in shock.

"Lucky, we could use some help!" Axel shouted from nearby.

Riot looked over and saw Axel had finally caught up and joined Mikah in fighting back those pirates. They originally followed Riot out here and only fought these pirates to protect him while completing his breakthrough. Riot felt warm and moved in their direction. However, after one step, Riot found himself shooting forward like a missile.

His forward momentum felt akin to a cannonball. Riot didn’t let himself get distracted, instantly entering the fray. He sidestepped the first enemy, dropkicking one of the enemy pirates in the chest. That pirate’s chest caved in, and he coughed out blood and bone chips. Riot was shocked, as were Axel and Micah and the remaining pirates. However, Riot only paused for a breath before charging at another pirate and beating the latter with his own bat. Using this bat, Riot quickly disposed of five goons in the surrounds like he was smacking bottles in an antique shop.

"He’s a hero!"

"Retreat!"

"That shooter is a hero too. Let's get away from these little freaks."

As the pirates fled, Axel and Micah surrounded Riot with worry in their eyes.

"Yo Luck, are you really a hero now? I think I might have just broken through!" Mikah asked with stars in his eyes.

"Kind of. I’m a creature of valor," Riot shrugged his shoulders.

"A creature of what now?" Mikah stared dumbfounded.

He truly didn’t understand what had just happened or what this term referred to.

"Who was that girl over there?" Axel asked, scrutinizing his friend carefully. He seemed far more focused on the identity of that girl than the monstrous display of his friend. If Axel knew he was a creature of valor was, he definitely wouldn’t have lost focus.

"She’s my sister! What, why are you making that face?" Riot asked suspiciously. He would definitely attack Axel if the latter disrespected his big sister, friend, or no friend!

"Huh?! N-no…nothing," Axel’s face flushed red seeing the intensity in Riot’s gaze.

"Hey, guys...do either of you know how to get to Haan's place?" Riot asked quietly.

"Huh?" Axel and Mikah displayed their confusion in unison.

"Yeah...we know," Axel answered Lucky, receiving a suspicious gaze from the latter. "When Micky got cursed, Haan left so she wouldn't be in your mum's way. We ran into Haan, and I walked her home."

"Okay..." Although Riot felt suspicious about why Axel would want to be alone with Haan, there were more pressing matters at hand. "So Axel will lead us to Haan's place."

"But Lucky, what about everything going on here? What about my teacher?" Mikah asked doubtfully. Why were they suddenly changing the plan so much?

"My sister's here, so everything here will be okay. However, Haan...I don't know if she is okay or not." Riot said skeptically. "I think..."

Before he could say anything else, Flash Northson dashed over from the caravan.

"I told you, idiots, not to fight," Flash barked as he stopped in front of these disobedient brats and glanced around at the groaning pirates on the ground around them. He felt rather impressed. Although the opponents were all humble, they had weapons that were anything but meek. However, Flash's eyes widened in shock when he saw the elemental particles gathered around Mikah. "Hm? Early-stage Power Hunter? Mikah, that's amazing, ahahaha! Good, good. You held your own. We’re leaving, now!"

"Senior brother Flash, I know where the core members of the Black Tyrant are right now!" Riot spoke up fervently, "They're trying to snatch my other friend for that dogshit young master."

"We'll talk about it in the hovercraft." Flash immediately dashed back towards his vehicle at a speed the kids could almost match.

The kids didn’t dare to argue as they rushed behind Flash Northson.

Riot glanced back at that distant caravan one last time. He saw a collection of bright lights and heard many soft bangs. There was even smoke coming from the caravan and panicked voices that Riot couldn’t make out clearly.

"That’s what it's like having strength. That’s what I need," Riot smiled, placing the onyx slip in his robes and following after his friends. He didn’t believe his sister would be thwarted here. She was already a true hero the last time they met. What about now, three years later? Miracle had reached a height he couldn’t even identify.

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10 minutes ago…

After blasting the humble pirates away, Flash Northson paid them absolutely no mind as he rushed toward the caravan. However, a few dozen of the patrolling gangsters immediately ran after him. Flash continued without looking back at all. A little girl had already been dragged inside, and Flash couldn’t waste any time. In five breaths, he appeared outside of the ship. Flash dashed in and threw two light kicks to disable the guards at the front. After charging inside, two auras suddenly locked on to him. This was something only true geniuses of the Hero Realm could accomplish, those who had reached the Earth Extreme.

"Hm? A little over two dozen heroes. Two Earth Extremes and five Human Extremes? That’s actually quite impressive," Flash was stunned by this line-up. Since these aurae had foolishly locked on to him, he could easily track them with his awakened soul sense. Still, Flash was growing a little worried. Even though Flash reached the Profound State, there was a limit to how much he could accomplish alone. "Let’s take it slow. I’ll try to talk to them first. If things go south, I’ll immediately dispose of the leader and rescue the girl. If I want to run, who can catch me?"

Flash released his white profound aura as he marched to the ship’s bridge. A cyan tornado of energy manifested around him. It seemed to contain a mysterious shredding power. The caravan wasn’t a magic treasure, so Flash used raw power to crash through the walls, steadily approaching the bridge's several figures. Every time a pirate tried to stop him, blood and limbs flew into the air. It was a gory path of dominance.

"Intruder!"

"Boss, there's an intruder!"

"His aura is white…"

"It's a fucking profounder, shit!"

"Hm? He actually dares to slaughter my men?" reacting to these sudden reports, a burly middle-aged man seated in the captain’s chair furrowed his brows. He looked at the chubby grey-haired senior in front of him with an aggressive glare. "Edgar Giovoncci, weren’t we completing a fair trade? Why is a profounder of the World Government attacking my fucking ship!"

This hulk of a man wore a beast fur robe and a crown made from wonder beast bones. He radiated a fierce and intimidating air, making the area around him seem like a desert in the sun.

Black Tyrant Legion Gang Master, Luther Graves.

"A profounder?!" Edgar and the other merchants in the room all revealed horror-stricken faces.

"Father!" the bound and ragged Micayle’s eyes lit up in excitement when she heard these words. "Mikey must have done it, and he got acknowledged by the profounder. Father, we can go home now!"

"Shut up, you worthless little slut," said a skinny man with a cold glare. He was actually from the Giovoncci Merchant Group! "What are we going to do if the profounder catches us exchanging treasure with the Black Tyrant Leader?"

"You bitch, you’ve doomed us!" said another elder merchant.

"Damn it, head, I knew we should’ve stopped her bastard brother from leaving the camp!" another elder cursed.

Edgar Giovoncci frowned as he looked at his foster daughter. A profounder had come to cause trouble on the most lucrative deal of his career? Edgar really did feel quite disgusted at the sight of Micayle right now. This deal was going so well, and now her brother had ratted them out? But how did the boy even find out about this? Shouldn’t it be impossible?

"Big Brother Tyrant, something doesn’t make sense. Logically, a child like him wouldn’t know a thing. How could we possibly be exposed? Could it be possible that the World Government was already watching this caravan?" Edgar frowned as he asked the burly Black Tyrant Leader. The latter glared back angrily.

The air 400 meters around the Black Tyrant Leader started to distort like heat in the summer. Edgar fell back three steps, clearly intimidated.

Boom!

"That is exactly right," Flash Northson crashed from the wall with a pirate’s neck in his hand. He tossed the man aside and glanced at the bound and ragged girl on the floor. Next to her was a pale-faced kid who looked horrified when Flash’s gaze fell upon him. "It was actually just a coincidence that my new disciple happened to mention this matter to me on our way to his home. Imagine my surprise… oh? This must be the famous young master of the Black Tyrant. I know I’m a fey, but is this bound woman your so-called bride? Is this how mortal weddings usually look?"