“We had a deal!” Piers roared.

As a group of armed men wearing a mix of black and navy blue police uniform surrounded Piers, I simply stood there, dumbfounded at the turn of events.

“…What?”

What the hell is happening?

They are the police, right? Why are they here?

Piers never encountered such people in the novel. It’s one of the factors on how he was able to become the shadow leader of the underworld market, though he did suffer some minor setbacks.

I wish I could say that it was my fault, but I don’t think just by me meeting with Piers would cause a butterfly effect that would lead the military to appear.

So what the hell is happening?

“You too! Freeze!”

Unfortunately, one of the men too considered me a suspect as he had raised his gun at me and a few others followed suit.

“Damn it.” I raised both hands, signifying my surrender. Right now, I don’t think I could take them on. Although I had and my new ability, I still don’t know if I can manage multiple people while avoiding getting killed.

However, it’d be bad if I was also taken into custody.

Looking at Piers, it was very much clear that he thinks I set him up. After all, I did threaten him and no one should have known his location and identity, but if I were to be taken in together with him too, then that misunderstanding would be clear, but that would mean having the status of a criminal on my name, which would complicate things than it needs to be.

So, my best choice right now is to escape. Luckily, MERLIN erased any tracks of me wearing my mask, so the police should have no idea who I truly am, and I gave Piers a false identity, so I should be good.

Haa, although it sucks to lose a free ride to success, it’s better than having to be a criminal and having to hide away.

Looking at Piers, it seems like he has given up resisting as he let himself be captured by the other officers.

That’s to be expected, since his magic isn’t suitable for offense, much less when they knew who he is and what his ability can do. Though, he could’ve at least put up a fight.

The officers also took out a thick collar and placed it around his neck. It should be that kind of collar that could restrain a Maven’s ability to manipulate their mana, rendering them unable to use their ability.

As I stared at him, he had caught me staring and glared at me with bloodshot eyes.

Yeah, sorry, Piers, but you're really not worth the effort, so I simply shrugged my shoulders at his glaring.

An officer motioned for his men to apprehend me.

Well, it’s time to make my escape.

I calmed my breathing and waited patiently for them to draw close.

Seconds later, as soon as one of the officers touched my arm, my new ability, , activated.

Everything around me seemed to have slowed down, but it was only because my senses were heightened greatly and my brain was processing my surrounding at an almost inhuman speed.

There are five guards in total surrounding me, including the one who commanded them. Except for that officer who simply stood there a far distance away, two were using rifles and were aiming at me, and the other two with swords surrounded me—one in front keeping me at bay and the other was right beside me, taking my arm.

If I make a small error in my movements, then I would be riddled with bullets or sword slashes, but I was not too worried.

That’s what is for, anyways.

A passive ability that would only activate when I’m in the presence of danger.

Basically, when I’m in any form of danger, in this case, apprehension, this ability would automatically activate and make me process objectively, smoothly, and efficiently on how to counter that form of danger.

This kind of ability coincidentally works well with my kitsune mask thanks to the additional speed boost.

So in under a second in real-time, I found my answer.

Using , I conjured a thin yet strong rope and made it slither down the arm of the officer and into the handle of his sword.

Then, before any of them could fully react, I whipped the sword to the other officer in front of me as I turned around to push the officer beside me away.

Now, the officer in front of me will either dodge the incoming sword or parry it, and soon, I got my answer.

That officer decided to parry the sword upwards, sending the sword straight up to the sky.

The two officers in the back had reacted and pulled the trigger, but that was easily avoidable since their trajectories are constant and their target is obvious, so I didn’t pay it much mind.

I jumped and strongly kicked his hand, causing him to let go of the sword he was holding as it propelled to the officer on the left.

Alright, that’s two unarmed.

The bullets easily flew past me as I was on the air, then I swiftly tackled the officer down and conjured another rope to bind him.

The officer on the left used his gun to block the sword. I was hoping for him to dodge, but that’s good too.

Then, I raised my hand and the sword that was airborne landed perfectly on my hand, then I flung it towards the officer on the right to which he does the same as the left officer—he blocked the sword using his gun as a shield.

Panting, deactivated as I looked back at the officer I pushed. He was still on the ground, struggling to get up. It seems that I may have used too much force there.

—Bang!

Although I heard the gunshot very clearly, I didn’t react to it until the moment the bullet touch my right shoulder.

In that instant, activated again and my right shoulder reflexively turned towards the direction the bullet is going.

“Ugh!” Unfortunately, my body isn’t fast enough to dodge it, much less when it’s already in contact with my skin.

Although the bullet didn’t pierce through my shoulder, it did leave a deep scar from the point it touched my skin and to its right, and it was only thanks to the additional effect of my kitsune mask.

Looking up to see who had shot, it was the officer who commanded them first.

“Shit…” The other officers have finished subduing Piers and had noticed us, and they seem to be joining the fray.

Alright, now I really got to make my escape.

I planted my hand on the ground and began concentrating the mana there.

Officers with firearms began shooting at me, while the others with swords came charging towards me, probably thinking that I was going to attack them.

With my other hand, I conjured a thick transparent plating that helped deflect the bullets.

The swordsman officers came close, but a web-like crack appeared where I planted my hand, and I knew that it was ready.

They drew their swords, ready to hack me down, but in that instant, I released the concentrated mana on the ground, causing the ground to break in a series of cracks.

A thick cloud of dust instantly covered the surroundings as the ground became uneven, causing the police to lose balance.

In that window of opportunity, I took my suitcase and escaped.

Of course, I didn’t use the path I took when I first entered. Who knows if there are more of them. So, I went through the forest and intentionally took the longer route to Dublin City.

*****

***

*

“Haa… haa… haaa…” After I knew I was a safe distance away, I stopped and sat down to rest.

My hand, which I used to escape them, was damaged, just like how I first used in Goldwyvern City.

I just recreated the process but towards the ground, which was why the ground shattered as if a powerful earthquake just happened.

And my right shoulder…

I touched it, making me wince in pain.

Unfortunately, the main downside of is that the danger has to be touching me for it to activate, but I think I can fix that due time.

Haa, this is really gonna leave a mark, isn’t it? But I should be fine, right?

After all, mana does circulate within me and simply being awakened as a Fragmentary or a Total Maven would give one major boost in one’s health and physique, which means that my healing abilities are much better than the average people, which I’ve learned through… experience.

Anyhoo, I could just take a healing potion, but it’s just a scar so I don’t think it’ll be necessary.

“MERLIN, you there?” I tapped my earpiece as I called out.

[Always, sire] she replied.

“Haa, what the hell happened there? They’re the SWAT team, right?”

[Apparently so. However, for your first question, that… unfortunately, sir, I do not have the answer of.]

“So not even you, huh?”

Maybe it was an infighting between him and his colleagues?

Regardless, he still has a role to play in the future, which is to help power-up the protagonist, so it’d be bad if he wasn’t there to do it.

So, I should save him from his predicament in the future.

Or not. Since the role he played didn’t make much of a difference, aside from reinforcing the bonds of Max’s friends and making them, together with Max, a bit stronger.

I’ll think about it if I get the chance to.

After I rested enough, I got up and began making my way back home.