CHAPTER 29: CAPTURED

The three men simultaneously cleaned their faces with their arms.

The greedy smiles were already wiped off their faces instead, they now put on gloomy and angry expressions.

They focused their attention on Arlo and they studied him intently.

After a few moments, Leo, the yellow-haired man voiced out:

"He is not a mage."

"Seems so," Dio, the dark-haired man agreed.

Joe suddenly loosened his grip on Arlo and looked at him with eyes as wide as saucers and filled with horror.

"You....you...you..." he pointed his trembling finger at Arlo as he mentioned the word 'you' three times, his mind seemingly not finding the right words to express his inner turmoil.

After a few moments.

He turned around and looked at the three men with an aghast look.

"It seems you bet on the wrong person, brat," Rio, the brown-haired man said mockingly.

Joe's complexion paled further upon hearing such words, his teeth chattering from the fear he felt.

"Huh?" A look of realization suddenly dawned on him.

The three men were curious about the sudden change, when...

Joe flashed them an innocent smile that would make the devil look like an angel as he spoke:

"We were interrupted by this little brat, how about we continue from where we stopped?"

He didn't wait for their reply though, as he turned around and...

*Whoosh.* he ran.

However...

*Whoosh.* Dio flashed before him and gripped his hand before pinning him down on the ground.

"Did you seriously think we would fall for that again?"

"AH! BIG SISTER, SAVE ME!"

The other two moved closer to Arlo as Leo voiced out:

"Don't make things difficult for yourself, boy. You would only get hurt."

"Don't worry, I surrender."

Surprisingly Arlo raised both hands expressing his intention to surrender.

"Huh?" Both men were taken aback at first, but soon they laughed out gleefully.

"HAHAHAHA!"

"Nice choice."

"We caught a human and he is a very handsome one at that. I have never seen someone with such an otherworldly appearance."

"Even I was almost bewitched on the spot," Rio supported.

"HAHAHA! All the more reason why I am so happy. Even the royal vampires might be interested in him."

"We have nailed it big this time. The boss will be very happy with us."

"He will definitely reward us handsomely."

Arlo's hands were bound with chains and he was dragged along behind the three men.

'Three late-stage beginner mages.'

'I can't fight three of them at once.'

Turning his eyes beside him, he gazed at Joe with eyes filled with pure hatred.

'This little bastard is also a late-stage beginner mage. Even if he couldn't fight the three, he should at least be capable of escaping.'

Joe with shoulder-length black hair and contrasting white pupils stretched like that of a reptile was like a glaring eyesore underneath the crimson sky.

Joe, as if sensing his gaze, turned his head to the side causing the both of them to lock eyes.

The silent tears that had been streaming down his face all this while openly came to Arlo's view.

When Joe saw Arlo's anger-filled eyes, he harrumphed in displeasure, "Junior brother, didn't your mother teach you any manners? How can you look at your elder in such a manner?"

'This bastard. From hero to savior, and now to junior brother. He sure knows how to change attitudes like a flipping coin and he even does it with a straight face...'

"When I saw you, I didn't even bother to check your aura. After all, with golden hair and silvered eyes, and a face so fair that it almost seemed unreal, you look just like a legendary immortal. But who would have guessed the immortal would turn out to be trash....ah," he let out a tired sigh.

Arlo clenched his teeth while Joe continued with a lost look on his face almost as if he was recollecting something.

"Mother always told me to beware of beautiful girls as they are the bitter pitfall of men, however, to think that I would be done in by a beautiful boy..."

"Mother, this child has failed you." The tears streaming down his face increased in intensity, like water from a broken dam.

*Snap!*

Arlo felt something snap within him. For a moment he lost sight of his goal, his parent, and even his currently threatened life. The only thing that filled his vision was the tearful Joe.

'I have to kill him.'

'He must die by my hands.'

Unfortunately...

"SILENCE!" Dio turned around and shouted at them, snapping Arlo out of his suicidal reverie.

"One more word from you and I will break a limb." After giving a threat, he turned around.

"Just kill me already. I am already tired of life," Joe suddenly said with his head hung down.

"I won't repeat myself. Shut your mouth," Dio threatened once more, his face filled with displeasure.

Joe abruptly raised his head and looked at Dio with a strange gaze.

"Are you stupid? You just repeated yourself."

"That is it. I am breaking your arms." Dio walked toward Joe with a menacing aura around his body and unconcealed killing intent in his eyes.

"Calm down." Leo's hand landed on Dio's shoulder.

"Even though we now have the human, the royal boy is still valuable to us. We can't afford to damage him."

.....

After walking for about thirty minutes, the group was just about an hour's walk from the main camp.

However, Leo who was leading the group suddenly stopped.

"Can you guys smell that?" Leo asked as he put on a vigilant expression, his body already positioned in a stance ready for a battle.

"Shit! Seems we have entered someone else's territory."

"No need to be scared. There are three of us, we should be able to ward off any opponent. Even if..." Rio's words were cut short as Leo screamed.

"SHIT! LOOK UP!"

Dio and Rio reflexively looked up to see a shadow quickly approaching their position as it leaped from one tree branch to another.

"Shit! It is a Torkun."

The Torkun which looked just like a 3m giant ape with sharp bones protruding down its back appeared above them and swung on the branch of the large tree in front of them. It didn't finish its swing though as when its body was perpendicularly aligned with the branch, it pulled with a great force and the recoiling force immediately propelled it down like a bomb dropped from the sky.

*ROAR!* It gave a guttural roar, its hands laid out as if it wanted to smash Leo into a meat paste.

Seeing the Torkun directly plunge at him and estimating that he didn't have much time to completely transform, Leo quickly transformed his arms as they grew wider with furs covering them and his hands turned into beast claws.

With that, he braced himself for the impact.

*Boom!*

A huge shockwave suddenly spread out from the point of contact, shoving all leaves and branches sprawled on the ground far into the distance.

"AH!" Joe screamed as he clutched tightly onto a tree.

The huge trees swayed slightly but after a while, they regained their stillness.

Arlo on the other hand was pushed back a great distance from the shockwave.

However nobody cared about him, as Leo's feet sunk deep into the ground, the Torkun still held in the air with both their hands locked together.

"Leo!" Dio suddenly screamed out before transforming into a two-meter beast that somewhat resembled a fierce tiger. His mane was black, and his fangs were far longer and sharper than any tiger's.

*ROAR!*

He released a roar before he hurled his huge body at the Torkun.

*Bang!* The Torkun was sent flying.

It wasn't given a rest though as Rio who at some point had similarly transformed into a two meters huge tiger (with two long hair-like structures protruding out the back of its neck) traced the path of the Torkun while it was still in mid-air, ready to attack once it lands on the ground.

'This is it.' Rio thought as he opened his mouth wide and jumped at his prey ready to rip it to pieces.

However, when the Torkun landed on the ground and was about to roll back from the impact, it immediately shifted its body sideways and swung its hand while it continued its rolling movement.

*Whimper!* The Torkun's fist connected with Rio's Jaw, sending Rio up into the sky with low whimpers escaping his mouth.

The Torkun on the other hand rolled back for a while before it stabilized itself on the ground.

"Rio!" Leo and Dio screamed out.

After a few moments in the air, Rio surprisingly landed back on all four, however, his mouth was covered in blood.

Seeing this sight, Leo said angrily:

"Let's kill this bastard!" He immediately transformed into a huge tiger-like beast, however, unlike the others he was two and a half meters tall.

*ROOAAAR!* A deep roar escaped his mouth.

The Torkun on the other hand walked towards a huge tree with his front limbs supporting him just like an ape.

It plunged its hand into a tree before it yanked out a huge chunk of timber.

Using his other hand like a knife, it flattened the sides of the timber turning it into a somewhat crude staff.

The three brothers approached it, their gaze very menacing.

"A mere peak-stage spiritual beast dares to hurt us?" Leo spat out angrily as they surrounded the Torkun from three directions.

While all this was happening, the four completely forgot that two other people were present.

Joe was still clutching tightly onto a tree, his expression one of fear with two lines of tears streaming down his face.

"Save me, mother...big sister."

Arlo however was staring at the ongoing fight with a serious gaze. Only one thought crossed his mind:

'I need to act now.'