“You came out of nowhere, attacked my men and now you’re ordering me? WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?” El’Tael roared.

Acma didn’t reply but he laughed a little. Thinking back of what he said just now, Acma knew it wasn’t the best way to start. He wasn’t in control of the situation and he couldn’t deny that the enemy was still hold the advantage. That’s why this enemy officer was so enraged when he demanding him to release the prisoners. He also revealed his intention to save the prisoners too soon.

But why he said that? He couldn’t answer it. He thought a lot, planned a lot, but when it turned to speaking, everything went to dust.

“Sir El’Tael, no need to be so serious”, he said.

“It’s Young Lord El’Tael to you”, Meluinir interjected.

“Oh, where is my manner? Nice to meet you, Young Lord El’Tael, Young Lord Meluinir, Young Lord Sidhon, Young Lord Arturas”, said Acma before turning his head to the left, “... and 3rd Princess Nidhwen”

“Let me introduce myself, I am Lord of Heavenly Villa but you can call me Lord Acma”, he continued after looking back at Meluinir.

Meluinir raised his brows when Acma introduced himself as a lord. It’s not that he believe it, he was just surprised at it.

El’Tael’s face was twitching when Acma ignored him by replying to Meluinir interjection. He slowly placed his right hand on the hilt of his sword and ready to unsheathe it. He hated been ignored, but he hated it the most when it was done by the man who just injured his subordinate. It’s like tearing his face apart. He always dreamed on having a subordinate and leading a military squad. Although he came from a military family, his father never let him do it and after the war ended 20 years ago, his chance only became dimmer. Who thought that he finally able to fulfil his dream when he was called by his father yesterday? He was ordered to escort the 3rd Princess Nidhwen for some inspection. It’s only a simple task but he didn’t care. What’s important was that he got to lead a military squad, a knight squad at that. He even had Meluinir and Sidhon, his two best friends to accompany him.

And then, this vermin attacked his subordinate and ordered him to release his prisoners. Who was he? A killer, a slaughterer. How dare he ordered him, son of a the mighty general of Isebial Kingdom? He want to teach this vermin a lesson. He didn’t care about the vermin’s reputation as a monster or a slaughterer, those reputation were just a hoax or rumours. If the huge python try to interfere, he will use the army to deal with it.

But suddenly, a hoarse voice came from his right which belong to one of the princess’s guard.

“Get yourself on the ground right now and don’t casually speak the princess’s name, you lowly human”

Acma turned his head toward the speaker.

Elemental Knight Eruben LVL 415

“To taunt or not to taunt?”, Acma thought. “Hmmmm... Lets just ignore him, for now”

Dealing with a higher level knight while still entangled with an enraged officer in front of him was a risky action.

Eruben was boiling when Acma ignored him, but he didn’t do anything because his job was to guard the princess. If he wanted to force this black armoured human to compel with his order, he might have retaliated and it could endanger the princess’s life.

“Sir El’Tael, I’m just stating my intention. I didn’t mean to order you. Those people just escaped from the undead. Have been captured right after that nightmare will bring a serious trauma to them. There are a lot of children among them too”, said Acma.

“Do you think I care about what they feel? They were prisoners. Let me tell you straight, this land belong to the glorious Isebial Kingdom and any trespassers will be hunted and killed. They were lucky that they are still breathing”, exasperated El’Tael with a smug face. He relaxed a little after the Sir Eruben also showed hostility against this vermin so he didn’t want to cut the line.

“You’re wrong about that. This land came from Earth, a different world from yours. We were transferred here only four day ago and we didn’t mean to trespass anyone’s territory”, Acma explained.

“Didn’t you hear what I said? I said, this land belong to Isebial Kingdom. Earth, earth, earth. All of you spouting the same thing. I don’t know any place called Earth and I.DON’T.CARE. If I said this land belong to Isebial, then it belong to Isebial”, shouted El’Tael.

Hearing that, Acma paused a little. He willed Sawa to move toward the temple and stop at the barrier. He saw the temple representatives and nodded a little to them. They replied with a forced smile.

Acma knocked on the barrier a few times while looking at El’Tael.

“How about the land beyond this barrier, does it belong to Isebial too?” Acma snickered.

El’Tael’s face turned dark when Acma said that. His troop tried to enter the compound but they couldn’t break the barrier no matter what they did.

“You can’t break this barrier, right? You want to force the people inside the barrier to surrender by using those prisoners, killing them if you have to. How evil. But, considering the enmity between your people and humans, I think you will do that. Am I right?”

“How dare you...” El’Tael gritted his teeth.

Acma cut him off and continued,

“And if threatening didn’t work, you’re going to barricade this place and starve them to death”

“Do you think I’m evil like you? Killing the whole werewolf tribe just because they attack your village”, El’Tael retaliated.

Before Acma could reply, he heard a beautiful voice drifting to his ears.

“Lord Acma, we definitely won’t do that”

The guards opened up a way so the owner of the voices could speak with Acma without anyone disturbing. Her bright eyes were looking straight at Acma as her lips parted with a faint smile that all the onlookers would never forget.

Acma just looked at her without saying anything.

Knight Nidhwen LVL 239 Golden Horned Unicorn LVL 463

“Interesting. Its a Golden Horned Unicorn, but its horn looks like a white bone”

Rather than being mesmerized with the beauty, Acma was more interested with her mount because this was the first time he saw this mythical creature. He looked suspiciously at the unicorn, trying to find a reason why the horn was white when it should be golden. Until he found a silver ring at the base of its horn. It’s a Slave Ring.

“It’s a slave. What a pitiful creature. Maybe that ring is the cause of the colour change of its horn”, he thought. His sight returned to the princess.

“Then, what are you going to do?” he asked.

Acma didn’t have any positive opinion about the beastmen because of their extreme hostility toward humans. He was a bit reserved toward the elves since they only captured the survivors without killing them although they had the power to do so. However if they show their hostility in the future, Acma will make sure that they will regret it for life.

The princess kept quiet. She looked at Acma for a few moments before turning her mount toward the south. Her guards followed closely behind.

Her sudden action made El’Tael puzzled. He quickly turned his mount and tried to get closed to the princess.

“Your Highness, please wait. Your Highness, please ...”

“We will retreat outside the town”, replied Princess Nidhwen short.

“What.. what about the prisoners?” El’Tael stuttered.

“Release them”, she replied.

“Wha.. Why?”

Eruben who was riding next to the princess scolded him.

“Young Lord El’Tael, you’ve been given the order”

“Ye.. Yes, Milord”

El’Tael halted and then returned to his previous position. He began ordering his troops to retreat. Before he leave, he gave a hateful gaze at Acma.

Acma watched closely the retreating army. Although he couldn’t fathom the reason behind their retreat, he was thankful to the princess because she just avoided a bloodbath.

“Alice, follow them until they left the town”

“Yes, Master”

Acma unsummoned Sawa and walked towards the injured survivors who were laid in front of the others. Most of them were unconscious while the others were growling in pain. One of them was a man in his forty with a little boy next to him.

The man was unconscious too. His name was Tan Jian, a level 57 apprentice priest while the little boy was Tan Meng, level 1 and no class. Acma assumed that both of them were a father and son.

With one of his knee on the ground, Acma put off his helmet and smiled at the little boy. The little boy was sobbing and didn’t pay attention to Acma.

“Hi, can I help your father?” Acma asked.

The little boy lifted his head and nodded repeatedly like a chicken pecking its food.

“Okay”, said Acma while taking out a vial of Life Potion from his inventory.

When he wanted to put the vial into his left hand, Acma hesitated when he suddenly remembered about what had happened to it last night.

“Will it be okay? What happened if I touched a living human with this hand?” Acma was struggling in his mind.

“Big brother? Are you okay?” asked Tan Meng. His sobbing almost stopped.

“It’s nothing. I’m just checking this medicine. What is your name?”

“It’s Tan Meng. This is my father. Those men beat ...”, before he could finished, he cried again.

“...”

Acma showed a painful expression and he didn’t how to cajole the little boy. So he only looked at him.

A few moments later, Acma touched the left wrist of Tan Jian with his left fingers, pretending that he was checking his pulse. His real intention was to see if there is any reaction when he use his left hand to touch a living. No reaction, but he didn’t feel relieved yet. He opened his status to check the amount of his dark mana. It’s still zero. Only then he felt relieved.

He hold the vial with his left while he raised Tan Jian’s head a little with his right palm. Then he slowly poured the Life Potion into his mouth.

A few moments later, the pale Tan Jian’s face regain its healthy colour and all the wounds on his body began to heal.

“A’Meng! A’Meng”, he called out for his son as soon as he regained his consciousness. When he realized that his son was safe next to him, he was happy beyond words. They hugged each other like nothing in the world could separate them.

Acma watched the father and son silently from the side. He smiled and slowly retreated to attend the other wounded survivors.