Rank-S Fugitive

Rafe casually stepped out of the inn and walked towards the marketplace where he saw dwarves and half-humans. His eyes kept looking around in amazement at the cityscape, which was different from what he had seen in the Acedia era.

The atmosphere there seemed even more crowded than when Rafe and Hayato had arrived earlier, with adventurers also walking back and forth in the market, some looking for food, some for weapons, armor, some for ordinary clothes, and other such things.

"Where are the elves? All I saw earlier were dwarves and half-humans," Rafe said as he walked around the market looking at the people.

Suddenly, an adult man darted out of the crowd in front of Rafe. The adult man appeared to be wearing all black clothing and a black cloak that covered his neck to his feet. The hood of the cloak also covered the adult man's head.

"That guy," Rafe muttered as their eyes met, the adult man darting to his right.

"Don't run into the market!" shouted the person the man in black jumped over. But the man was already too far away.

"Is he in a hurry to relieve himself?" muttered Rafe, furrowing his brow.

"Hurry up and keep those people away!" a man's voice suddenly shouted in the distance.

Rafe, about to take a step, was startled when two soldiers in front of him drew their swords. Rafe nimbly ducked his body down so that their sword strokes only hit the wind.

"Die!" yelled a girl who jumped on top of Rafe.

"Fire lance!" said the girl directly above Rafe, swinging the spear in her hand to strike Rafe in the neck.

"Huh?" muttered Rafe in surprise as he was suddenly attacked in rapid succession.

Rafe twisted his body to the side so that the spear of the girl attacking him only pierced the ground. The look of surprise on the face of the girl who attacked him. Rafe stomped his feet to jump back and stood on the ground again.

Dozens of fire arrow magic shot out from a distance, targeting Rafe's newly standing body. But Rafe enveloped both of his hands in Lightning Element. Small bangs were heard as Rafe deflected the dozens of fire arrow magic aimed at him.

The two soldiers who had failed to decapitate Rafe immediately swung their swords again. One from the left, the other from the right. Rafe slammed his left foot into the blade of the soldier's sword on the left side, while Rafe hit the blade of the soldier's sword on the right side with his right elbow.

Both of the soldier's attacks returned to the wind only because they were deflected by Rafe's attack. But this time a sword came from the front, aimed directly at his neck. Rafe lowered his head so that the sword cut only through the wind.

"Chains?" thought Rafe as he saw a chain tied to the hilt of the sword coming at him.

"Wind slash!" said the two soldiers at Rafe's side at the same time as they swung their swords again, aiming at Rafe's body.

Meanwhile, the sword with the chain suddenly moved downward as well, following Rafe's movement. At first glance, Rafe seemed to have no hope of dodging. But the lightning bolts in his hands grew larger until they struck in different directions.

Dozens of lightning arrows shot out from the bolts that enveloped Rafe's hands. The holes in the chain connected to the sword were also hit by the lightning arrow magic Rafe used. As a result, the sword that was about to slash Rafe also changed direction as it was carried away by the lightning arrow magic.

The two warrior swords swinging at his body also rotated slightly due to the lightning arrow magic Rafe used. This made it easier for Rafe to dodge the two slashes by simply tilting his body. The two soldiers attacking him looked surprised.

"No way," muttered one soldier.

"I can't use my magic," another soldier said with a shocked look on his face.

But the attack didn't stop there. Suddenly, dozens of fire arrow magic and dozens of wind arrow magic shot out. Rafe just smiled as he slammed his lightning-covered foot into the ground.

At that moment, a loud cracking sound was heard, and the cracked surface of the ground began to scatter into the air, forming small chunks. The two soldiers near Rafe were knocked off their feet by the impact of the magical energy.

Rafe smashed the scattered chunks of earth in different directions. The sound of small explosions could be heard as the fire and wind-arrow magic struck the chunks of earth that Rafe had hit. Now the dust from the shattered earth began to billow around his body.

"Fire punch!" came a cry from behind the cloud of dust.

A large, tall man darted in front of Rafe with his right fist, already covered in red hot flames. To Rafe's left, a girl with a spear was already pointing it at Rafe's body. Meanwhile, another chain sword shot out from the right side.

This time, Rafe just grinned and stomped his feet on the ground until his body jumped up. Both of his lightning-covered hands were instantly stretched out to block the attacks from both sides. Meanwhile, his legs were stomped forward to block the fist of the tall man in front of him.

For a moment, the man attacking Rafe was surprised as the fire magic surrounding his hands disappeared. The sound of a powerful impact was heard, causing the ground around the battle to scatter. The dust that had been swirling around disappeared instantly, blown away by the wind from the impact of Rafe's kick with the fist of the man in front of him.

The girl's spear attack couldn't hit Rafe because Rafe deflected it with his hands. It was the same with the chain sword, which was blocked by Rafe's other hand. Rafe's own body was bounced so much that it rolled on the market street.

"Hehehe... this situation is very similar to the incident in Rhymus City," Rafe muttered, ready to get up again.

But the air around him suddenly felt so hot, accompanied by an approaching red light. It turned out that there was already a fire dragon magic figure right above Rafe's head, ready to plunge down. Rafe just smiled and grabbed two pebbles with his right hand and threw them in two different directions.

A louder explosion sounded. This time, the ground in the marketplace shook from the force. Fourteen merchants' shops near the street were instantly destroyed because they were close to the explosion site.

Chunks of earth began to scatter before finally crumbling into dust. A rumbling wind began to blow from the explosion site, along with the hot air generated by the fire dragon's magic. Had the merchants and shoppers in the marketplace not been kept away, there would have been many casualties.

"He should have died by now. Or at least he's helpless, I put half my mana into that attack," said the girl holding the wand near the man with the crossbow.

"Even though he's an A-rank fighter, your attack was so devastating, he didn't even have time to use his magic, he's most likely dead," said the man with the chain sword.

"But it's hard to believe. He used his magic without any recitation at all," said the young man with the crossbow.

"Not only that. But suddenly I can't use my magic anymore," said the girl with the spear, staring intently at the dust cloud at the explosion site. There seemed to be a large depression in the ground at the site of the explosion.

"Uhuk-uhuk. Piuh!" came the sound of people coughing and sneezing behind the billowing dust.

"Couldn't help but make dust during the battle," grumbled Rafe, whose figure became faintly visible as the dust began to thin.

Suddenly, he caught all the adventurers and soldiers there by surprise. Rafe's clothes didn't seem to bear the slightest scorch mark. Instead, he smiled as he covered his nose with a finger to keep from inhaling the scattered dust.

"Impossible, that attack should have been so devastating since he didn't have time to use his magic," the tall man who had used a fire strike muttered. The uniform he was wearing seemed to have begun to wrinkle from the attack on Rafe.

"His body wasn't even hurt in the slightest, while even an A-rank guardian could have been seriously injured if he hadn't used magic to resist the attack," the two soldiers said as if they couldn't believe what they were seeing.

"Ah. Your attack was great, but it was too easy for me to handle," Rafe replied in a nasal voice as he covered his nose.

"S-rank fugitives are indeed very different, no wonder you're being hunted as an S-rank fugitive even though you're only an A-rank fighter," the tall man said as he grinned and regained his stance.

"Fighter?" said Rafe with a confused look on his face.

"Hey who do you mean by a fighter class? Are you guys chasing a serial killer here too, huh?" asked Rafe in an unclear voice.

Continued...