The one persisting before the gate

Vincent glared at the other approaching soldiers with their swords held tightly, prepared to swing at a moment's notice. As Vincent witnessed such actions, his anger gradually increased from this horrible treatment. He couldn't stay quiet anymore.

"Soldiers seize them!" The vice captain ordered. He could feel Vincent's anger and decided to capture the four of them. 'The more imprisoned, the more recognition.' He thought with a hidden sly smirk.

Vincent casually raised one hand and, and with the other, he began removing the bandage wrapped around his fingers one by one. Horribly scarred skin from the melting acid made the soldiers slow down upon noticing an ugly sight. This act caught their attention, and they stopped to receive further instructions.

"Vice captain Koss gave up his life to fight against swarms of ants. In his final moments, he killed a Royal Guard Ant, but the damn ant exploded, taking his life with it. The girls managed to find cover in time, but as for me..."

Vincent revealed his scarred hand and forearm. Then he started unwrapping the bandage from his neck. If words don't work, then a disturbing visual should. This is Vincent's plan, and he hopes it works.

The approaching soldiers stopped. Their body hair rose as their weak stomach acted. To continue looking at Vincent became difficult, but orders were orders. They had to approach.

On the other hand, the black-caped vice captain looked flustered at Vincent's injuries. His face had a conflicted expression similar to a person not used to battle or death. He appeared to be inexperienced, unlike his position.

"I was going to die like the other new recruits that followed Koss, but fortunately, a man appeared and saved us. I was later healed enough to survive with this damaged body. We suffered so much, and this is how you treat us?" Vincent glared at the vice captain and the soldiers while using Inspection on all the eleven soldiers.

[Are you planning to fight or run away? Only the vice captain has a Warrior class, but many archers are pointing their arrows at us.]

"Let us in! We want to rest!" Exclaimed Lupa.

"Shut up, filthy beastman!" A soldier retorted. Then he stood next to the vice captain and proceeded by glaring at Vincent, "Vice captain, what are your orders? Shall we lock and interrogate them..."

*Slap!*

Vincent slapped the bad-mouthing soldier's face so hard that the soldier slammed on the ground. After he coughed, a tooth fell. The slap possessed all the current built anger from their mistreatment.

Ester, Lupa, Kazumi, and Tula became surprised by this action. The soldiers took it as an act of hostility and clenched their swords to prepare for resistance.

"Don't diss my woman. That was your fault. We won't stand still if we are taken advantage of. " Vincent glared with a cold murderous glare at the soldiers approaching to detain them.

"Vincent, we should leave. " Ester noticed the situation was becoming worse by the second. She never thought Vincent would slap a soldier in front of many archers, pointing their arrows at them. She secretly felt happy about his affection for them, yet it was a dangerous action.

The vice captain glared back at Vincent and said his final warning, "Hand over the deserter and show us your identification. This is my last warning while I'm reasonable."

"Let us in. Isn't my body enough to show the pain we suffered? How can a soldier suffering from amnesia become a deserter if she had to stay with us while I rested? You are unreasonably suspicious of us. Furthermore, we have no identifications other than these two." Vincent took out and raised Koss's and Feng Mengli's identifications while saying this. Both sides expressed their final proposal.

"That's it! Detain these suspicious people and the deserter!" The vice captain raised his sword and waved it in the air. He was making a signal for the archers and others that were watching to understand his decision.

[Are you going to fight?]

-I have no choice. The identifications didn't work. No, this bastard doesn't want to take a look at them.-

"We will go away. Right, Vincent? The forest is better than a cell." Ester grabbed Lupa's and Tula's hands. She tugged to pull the two until...

*Whoosh*

An arrow landed in front of Ester, and it almost pierced her foot. What exactly happened was unknown. If it was a mistake or intentional, or being shot by an experienced or inexperienced archer didn't matter. What mattered was that it almost hurt Ester.

"Overheat." Vincent snapped. His anger couldn't be contained any longer.

.

[Overheat activated.]

[Mutation starting to alter the host...]

[Mutation process finished.]

[Race altered to mutated human for its duration.]

.

Vincent then summoned the damaged wooden cart in front of the three girls. He flipped the cart while the pair of gauntlets formed, and his strength gradually increased.

.

[1x Wood wheel cart (Damaged) (Common Quality) summoned. x0 remaining.]

.

A few more archers shot a warning arrow each after the first one landed; a few hit the cart while others the ground. The situation turned grim since they couldn't escape.

Lupa was about to shapeshift her arms, but Ester told her to stop. She didn't want Lupa to be hasty and get herself killed.

Ester knew about the archers problems, so she decided to keep Lupa and Tula beside her under the cover of the damaged cart. The archers wouldn't shoot arrows if their colleges were in their line of sight. One fighter would be best in this situation than two, she believed.

At the same time, Ester wanted to leave Vincent in Kazumi's safe hands. She knew the duo could fight against many, and if Vincent needed help, he would simply ask. Vincent learned enough to depend on others when needed.

*Clang*

Vincent raised his guard and blocked three swords at once. Then he pushed the three soldiers and sidestepped to his left as if he had more than one pair of eyes.

Two soldiers swung their swords, but none of them connected. Vincent was quicker than their assault.

One after another, ten soldiers attacked Vincent, but it was similar to a theatrical play. Vincent knew every path their attacks were going to land. As if he was omniscient, none landed a scratch on his skin.

The vice captain understood that Vincent wasn't an everyday man. He also wanted to know from where the wooden cart emerged and why the three women decided to hide instead of fighting.

The vice captain wasn't in this position for a long time. He was promoted a few months ago. He was a training instructor similar to Koss but of a lower rank and popularity.

The promotion was only possible after secretly bribing his way for a better future. After he was stuck at the same rank for a long time, this risky decision arose. Later, he met with a few specific people working under a particular noble family that secretly deals in illegal things.

The vice captain wasn't used to blood, and this kind of situation never happened before. The man wanted to flaunt his authority, capture Tula, and try to get that noble family's attention as people can get rich with them.

The vice captain's greed took hold of him. He desired to get noticed for the chance to get sponsored by any noble family. However, life doesn't go as planned.

The Broodmother Queen Ant happened, and the workload increased. It was hard to keep up with the injured, and to inspect every entrant entering the city was tedious and exhausting. Too many documents had to be written, and too many people reported dead or missing.

Then, one day out of nowhere, a bandaged man with strange powers appeared, followed by three women. Furthermore, the man decided to fight against his authority using Shapeshifter-like powers he never heard about.

"Attention! Soldiers, stop fighting and form a defensive line. Leave this criminal to me." The vice captain ordered. He understood the ten soldiers were no match for Vincent and his dominant awareness.

"I'm a criminal now? First, you don't allow our entry, then bad-mouthing us, then repeatedly don't listen to us, and finally don't accept the two identifications I showed. One of them is from the Heavenly God Mantis sect of the Northern Continent."

"Why are you guarding a door you don't want to open? Why are you wasting your time guarding a door that is as unpassable as an unbreakable wall?" Vincent said with his threatening hoarse voice. He was cursing his luck for not keeping a few Soul Power for heals.

"Stop talking, criminal! You have around D Rank strength, but I'm stronger and more experienced than you since I was an instructor. Lower on your knees, and I won't kill you." The vice captain prepared to fight Vincent one on one.

Vincent raised his hand and flipped the man in charge the finger. He couldn't take this ridiculous situation any longer. From a simple entry to the city, it became a fight against the door guards.

"You son of a b..." *Smack!*

"Don't talk shit!" Vincent added after quickly approaching and interrupting with a hard slap to the unsuspecting vice captain's face.

*Clang, clang, clang*

Shortly, the vice captain started fighting against Vincent. He had assessed Vincent in the previous fight against the ten soldiers and placed his power at around the top of a D Ranker.

The ten soldiers were actually new recruits. They were trying out for the position of a city defense soldier.

Usually, new recruits would need to be stronger to take the trial for a possible promotion. This is why the ten weak soldiers tried to satisfy the vice captain.

Many soldiers died because of the ant incident. Because of this, the requirements temporarily loosened. Many took the opportunity for promotion this way. Boot kissers increased in Lusterfall City by the dozens.

The vice captain thought he was strong enough to beat Vincent with ease. But something was strange. The assessment of people he was proud of failed.

Vincent's movements felt weird, as if he had more than one pair of eyes. Furthermore, Vincent was extruding a potent intimidation aura that even he started to find hard fighting against.

"What the hell are you?" The vice captain was in a pinch. Not only that, but until now, Vincent never attempted to hit the bodies of the soldiers. He just attacked their swords, shields, limbs and sometimes pushed them onto each other.

It felt like Vincent was going easy on them or downright toying with them. However, Vincent was trying his best to fare with his still recuperating body and Kazumi's constant attack warnings. His attention was under great stress.

The thought of mistakenly killing a human was weighing on his conscience. He would become a criminal if he killed a soldier as their strength was comparable to the three new recruits, Tame, Culo, and Hara.