This One's Mine

Yin, who was now carrying Suna also wanted to take a shot at the Red King.

The latter was still in immense pain.

She groaned while trying to ease her battered and bruised arms.

They both stopped somewhere close where they still could be able to see the action at a much safer distance than before.

Dark clouds hovering over them which they did not notice earlier started to creep up on them.

Loud, eerie lightning started to crack down from up above.

Until finally, rain.

Droplets started to ease their way down into the land.

Drenching the entirety of the humble village of Rizako.

Yin carried Suna somewhere where there was a roof which shielded them from the downpour while still keeping his eyes locked and fixated on the Red King.

Meanwhile, Gavin held the man from behind the back.

"Remove your brass knuckles."

A silence.

The Red King did not even bother to respond.

"I am not going to exert any sort of effort into asking again, you cur. Remove them."

Seemingly out of nowhere, the Red King just cackled maniacally.

"You lot don't have power over me! You pampered Slayers and citizens alike have nothing to threaten me with! I am the Red King!"

Even with one eye still bleeding from the broken pieces of glass earlier from his shattered monocle, the man stayed non-compliant.

He screamed each word intensely straight from his throat until it became hoarse.

The citizens of Rizako, still hiding in the safety of their own homes started to open their windows and peek out.

"H-Hey, who's that!?"

"They say that's the Red King!"

"Quiet! He might hear you!"

Little by little, everyone in the town now fixated their gaze on the scene unfolding.

Even with the rain still pouring down on them.

"Threaten me with anything, do what ya wish, punish as ya please, snake-eyed brat!"

"Do not say I did not warn you, old man."

After forcefully making him remove his weapons from his fingers, Gavin leaned in closer.

And with a swift crushing motion with both his hands, he broke the old man's wrist.

A scream echoed throughout Rizako that night, one of the many screams that were let loose, really.

"That's enough, Gavin."

"It would take more than a broken finger as payback for Suna's sake."

"I understand how you feel, really, I do. But you're the one who assumed to command this mission, right? Calm down and do not let your emotions cloud your judgment. That's what you told me earlier at Dinah's place."

The Serpent Summoner seemed to calm down.

His shaky demeanor brought upon by anger slowly subsided into a calm and collected one which Gavin was famously known for.

"What's the matter? Ya had enough?! That was some ineffective torture!"

The Red King still giggled much like a jester would.

"I'm sure the Enforcers are on their way now. As incompetent as they are, they could have probably heard all the commotion from miles away. Let us wait till then."

Gavin said.

Luken simply nodded in approval of his plan.

The Serpent Summoner sat down, not before ordering his python to sink its teeth deeper into the Red King's heels, making him squat on the floor as well.

Just like little tiny daggers from the sky, the rain still continued to drop.

"Why don't they just kill him on the spot?!"

"You idiot! They're not enforcers! They should not even be authorized to do these things inside the walls."

"Yeah, look at their cloaks and armor, those are Slayers. And not just ordinary, low-ranked Slayers, from the looks of their insignia, those are the Six Blades."

"S-Seriously?"

"Yeah, I doubt the Red King expected the Emperor to bust out the heavy artillery this early."

The villagers continued to chatter and commentate about the situation.

Rain had gotten heavier and heavier as time went by.

A child came out of his home's door and approached Yin and Suna.

The kid startled Yin as he crept up behind him.

"Agh! O-Oh, hey there."

"Hey."

"Listen, you really should go back inside, it's not safe here yet."

"I know, mister. I just wanted to give you this."

The little boy handed out an umbrella to Yin, the child probably noticed that the protection of the roof was still drenching them.

With a sprint, the child ran back inside.

"T-Thank you!"

The Red King's goons who were knocked out unconscious earlier still were not able to move.

Gavin, Luken, and the Red King were seemingly stopped in time.

Not one of them wanting to move a muscle.

Luken still had his finger pointed at the Red King's forehead.

"You know, old man, for someone who's pretty noisy and talked a lot about us having nothing to threaten you with, you sure are scared of death, aren't you?"

The Red King merely let out an aggressive grunt.

"When are these Enforcers going to come? I'm sure to catch a cold after tonight!"

Luken sighed.

"Aren't you a Water Slayer?"

Gavin retorted.

"Well, yeah, but still!"

Just as they were running their mouth, a silhouette was seen dashing at them.

Suna noticed it first.

She then tapped Yin who was still eyeing the Red King.

The silhouette was now closing in on the Red King's location.

It was only for a tenth of a second, but after Luken and Gavin noticed what the person masqueraded by the silhouette was trying to do, they tried to stop him.

If their reactions lagged behind even just for a second, there was no doubt, the Red King would have been killed by this person.

Luckily, Luken picked up the Red King's body in a swift motion and threw him to the side.

The injury the Red King sustained was a clean and direct hit on his leg.

A part of his lower leg down to his foot was cut clean.

His severed leg was sent flying, this caused the citizens to erupt in screams, sending everyone to a state of panic and paranoia.

The rain made visibility hard and they thought that one of the Slayers holding the Red King down was just killed.

The Red King was in pain, trying to hold the severed part with his hands to prevent blood loss.

Luken and Gavin were confused. How did they not notice this person coming from afar?

"That one's mine. Back off."

To everyone's surprise, it was an unnaturally deep voice of a man with a young boy's height and stature.