“M-my sincere apologies. My men ran away when I put them to work and it seems this one happened to bump into this young master. I’ll be sure to thoroughly punish him.” → Dragoon
The elf looked with poison at the Dragoon and with coldness at Shen. Even after having his aura released, Shen wasn’t able to scare off the elf.
Interesting fellow. I’ll want to talk with him some more. But first, let’s get rid of this. From what he said I can tell this elf is not a prisoner. And you don’t normally put your workers in chains… Good thing this guy is an idiot.
“Is that so? But I won’t let it slide like this. This worker comes with me. I’ll punish him thoroughly in my own way. I’ll be sure to return him later. No problem with that, right?” → Shen
Shen emanated a strong aura to intimidate the Dragoon in agreeing.
“Y-yes! As young master wishes, this guy is yours to punish!” → Dragoon
S***! What bad luck! To bump into a warrior at the power-rank of at least ‘Master’…the boss will kill me! → Dragoon
The weaker ones won’t be able to understand what rank of power the stronger ones have, the reason why he couldn’t pinpoint Shen’s rank.
“Very well.” → Shen
He then grabbed the elf by the chains and tried to pose as if he was dragging him in an isolated area. After entering a more deserted place, the elf collapsed. He gave him some food and water then waited for him to eat.
“Thank you for cooperating. Can you please answer some questions? ” → Shen
After the elf finished his dumpling, Shen started to question him.
“Is amazing how a human like yourself can use telepathy. From where did you learn such antique magic?” → Elf
When the Dragoon was still kneeling on the ground, Shen tried to contact the elf through telepathy. At first the elf was shocked but he tried to keep his composure.
“Antique? My friends know how to use such magic too. Is it rare nowadays to use telepathy?” → Shen
“Nowadays? How old are you?” → Elf
“…Is a little bit complicated. But please tell me why are they capturing you lot and more exactly who are you? I never saw elves in this world before.” → Shen
“In this world? Are you not from this world?!….you’re not that good at keeping secrets you know that?” → Elf
“…I had a hunch.” → Shen
Shen answered with a plain face, feeling like face-palming.
“Well, as thanks for helping me, I’ll tell you. We are elves born from the World Tree Yggdrasil.” → Elf
“…” → Shen
Shen froze when he heard that. He felt like something big will come after.
Yggdrasil…? From the Nordic mythology?!…oy oy oy….if there is Yggdrasil there must also be those beasts named-
“These bastards from your domain started kidnapping our people…because of that there are less and less elves who are able to keep the balance between the Hraesvelgr and Nidhoggur…If the balance collapses, I guarantee you that we won’t be the only ones to die!” → Elf
‘No no no, this can’t be real… I just walked into this world!’ → Shen
Shen then asked with a pale face.
“If by any chance, the balance will collapse…there won’t be any huge war between the spirits from the underworld and the celestial ones, fighting on Sario for supremacy…right?” → Shen
“H-How did you know?!” → Elf
The elf was bewildered by Shen’s guess.
“Oh s***.” → Shen
His face drained from any color.
If what he said is true…then the wave of demonic beasts should be the last thing to worry about… Sylvia’s dream is not complete! → Shen
“You, fast! Get up! Show me where your people are. We shall save them and bring you lot back to your tree!” → Shen
Shen said while helping the elf to get up.
God damn it! I bet all my money on there being a corrupted noble or even a king behind all of this… as if I have the time to worry about some punny nobles or kings! Because of idiots like these, the end of the world is coming faster than anticipated! → Shen
Shen’s rage resurrected while his eyes slowly turned brown. He tried with his everything to not explode and destroy the entire street he was on. Seeing him like this, the elf didn’t say anything anymore and focused on showing the way. Shen being too impatient took the elf and placed him on his shoulders, flying with him in two.
“Where to?!” → Shen
“A-at the docks-wah!” → Elf
Because Shen’s speed was too fast, the elf almost fell from his back. Strong whirlwinds formed behind him while his every step made deep footprints on the stone road.
Shen! Where are you? Why is your heart so agitated? → Sylvia
Sylvia felt his heart and asked in worry. She was surprised by his anxiety and even more so by his rage.
No time to explain! Tell everyone to pack-up and meet me at the docks! Sell some stuff from my disciples and buy the biggest and fastest ship you can find! If there is not enough money, then just steal it for all I care! → Shen
‘W-what are you saying?’ → Sylvia
‘Sylvia! I’m depending on you, please do what I said! I’ll explain everything after I finish on my part.’ → Shen
Being in too much hurry, Shen forgot that he was able to also send her some memories with the news he found out.
…All right Shen. Please tell me everything after all this commotion is over, okay? And please don’t get injured again. → Sylvia
Even though she knew nothing about what happened, she agreed after feeling Shen’s desperate heart.
…Thanks. → Shen
Shen answered back while trying to calm down.
“There!” → Elf
The elf then pointed at a huge depot where ships were being repaired.
“Are you sure?” → Shen
“Even though I can’t use telepathy, we elves are connected through the World Tree, we can sense how close or far we are from our kin.” → Elf
“Sounds good enough!” → Shen
Shen flew toward the depot and slammed right through the roof. Inside the depot, there were a lot of covered cages guarded by armed thugs. When he saw the cages Shen reddened in the face. Inside those cages were not only elves but also humans, dragoons, elemental fairies, beast-men and even demons like Theodore. And there were other races, different from the already known ones, like foxes, dogs, rats, pigs and also harpies. His face darkened at this view and roared thunderously.
“Wah…WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU BASTARDS DOING?!” → Shen
The roar was loud enough for half the village to hear him.
“I’m going to cripple you all!” → Shen
Shen’s eyes turned completely brown. He dropped the elf on top of a cage then he shot out like a projectile at the most crowded zone. His landing destroyed the ground and sent flying more than 20 thugs. While the flying guards were still in the air, Shen already appeared in front of another group of 15, punching their Dantian in quick succession, sending them flying backwards. Everyone, just like with the mercenaries and the players, were sent flying with one punch, their dantian shattered and their cultivation crippled.
“Wha-what are you doing?! Do you even know for whom we are working?!-Guh!”
Because of his uncontrollable rage, Shen simply punched that guard in the stomach without letting him finish the name of the respective person.
“You retard! Do you even know what Hell you’ll release if you continue like this?! I’ll be sure to destroy the idiot who brought the slaves here!” → Shen
The other thugs felt Shen’s aura emanate a think blood-lust, his eyes already looking insane.
‘W-what’s wrong with him?’
“ROAR!”
Shen roared and jumped toward a mage. His fist was already imbued with chi, ready to activate [Sura’s Wrath] when he suddenly regained control over his own body and deviated the fist, missing the mage’s head by a breath.
“M-m-monster…”
The mage then fell down and looked behind. A hole as big as three of him appeared on the wall, together with another ship that was slowly sinking on the other side. The ship had a huge opening through the hull of around 4m diameter, letting the water to enter with ease. Shen’s eyes turned slowly from brown back to green. He looked downward and visualized the connection of hearts he had with Sylvia. He saw dark energy slipping through the connection, then being absorbed by Sylvia and released outside through breathing.
…I’m again indebted to you. → Shen
“…” → Sylvia
Sylvia focused on absorbing the dark energy, so she wasn’t able to answer. But she still sent a mental image of a smile to him , letting Shen understand that everything was alright..
Everyone else froze in place after that one punch. Nobody dared to get any closer to Shen. With the exception of one man with an iron club.
“I got you now!” → Thug
The man slammed Shen right in the head, making him take a step to the side.
W-what the-?! → Thug
The thug was stunned to see his own club being bent in an unnatural way.
“Grrr~…” → Shen
Shen only growled from the dizziness but he didn’t strike back. Blood was flowing down his face while his mind became clearer and clearer. He then stood straight and looked at the one with the club.
“I should thank you for that. Now I can say I’ve cooled down a bit.” → Shen
He then looked at the other guards that had pale faces. His eyes cold while his voice firm. Even so, this time there was no more killing intent.
“It seems you lot don’t even know what you’re bringing to yourselves so let me tell you before you lot drop dead like idiots, without knowing anything. The beings from the Eihwaz are in charge of a seal that keeps the balance of this world intact. What you idiots are doing by kidnapping these people, is simply rushing the end of this world with your own hands. The balance will collapse and the world will turn into Hell the next second.” → Shen
Shen said every word loud and clear so it could be understood by everyone present there.
The guards looked stunned at Shen until one of them placed a step forward and said with some ridicule in his eyes.
“Do you have proof?”
He asked with some arrogance. Seeing him so straightforward, the others also took a step forward, looking at Shen with arrogance and ridicule.
“Hmph. You dumb sheeps. I don’t need to prove to you weaklings anything because the ones to survive will only be us, the strong, while the weaklings like you will PERISH!” → Shen
Shen said while turning around, walking toward the cages.
“Whenever you believe me or not, these people are coming with me to be brought back to their homes. If you have anything against it then come at me. I’ll be sure to make you unable to ever kidnap anyone again in this life.” → Shen
Shen emanated more pressure and made the thugs to create a path for him and the slaves to walk through. He opened all the cages and sent his energy inside the weaker ones to make them able to move. After that, he sent to every slave present a telepathic message.
If you wish to go back home then follow me. If you wish to be sold like slaves then remain here. If you wish for none then come and stay with me, I’m able to take responsibility for your lives as long as you strive to live. → Shen
After sending the message Shen turned around and left. The slaves looked at his back confused, shocked and even terrified, but the male elf from before walked right after him while rushing the others to follow. There were more than 200 freed slaves following Shen around the docks, attracting gazes and whispers. After leaving the depot behind, Shen contacted Sylvia.
I’m sorry for rushing you like this, have you bought the ship yet? → Shen
Yes, the ship is ready. There is enough food here for a year. You did not tell us how much food to buy so we ended up emptying 10 caravans of food. → Sylvia
Sylvia said with a somewhat tired voice. She must’ve rushed around the docks for a suitable ship and for enough food. Shen felt extremely guilty for rushing her like this and Sylvia was able to feel his guilt. She laughed then said.
You don’t have to do anything for me, Shen. I don’t need anything in exchange. I know you’re doing this for others and you’ll never ask for help if is not about an urgent matter. I know you all too well now. → Sylvia
Hearing her lovingly voice, Shen couldn’t say anything anymore. He accepted the fact that at the moment, he couldn’t do a thing to repay her. After a while, everyone got in front of the cruise ship where Sylvia was waving at them from atop the decks.
“Shen! Is it big enough?!” → Sylvia
Everyone, Shen included, looked with wide open eyes at the monstrously huge ship.
“You! How in the-! T-this ship! How many people can get inside?!” → Shen
It was so huge, one would wonder how was it floating on top of the water without sinking the next second.
There can get accustomed around 700 people if I’m not wrong. There are a lot of magic circles for floating, reducing weight, keeping the room at the wanted temperature, illumination, speed, reducing the swinging motion, etc. is a really nice ship, to be honest. → Sylvia
Sylvia was pleased with what she got. It was comparable to a 5-star cruise ship from Earth and she felt very amused by Shen’s reaction.
Was the armory enough for such a huge boat?! → Shen
This ridiculous question asked Sylvia felt dizzy. Shen never knew the value of what he was carrying around. His common sense comes from Gabriel and Old Shu who were exceptional characters of the Saint and Great Saint, people that called items of Legendary and epic rank as ‘scrap metal’. Because of such an entourage, Shen’s perception of the mundane was extremely small in this world.
What do you mean ‘enough’? If I sold everything you had then we could have bought even the next two kingdoms together with this one! Are you aware of what you’re carrying around? Shen! You must learn some common sense! → Sylvia
Ahaha~. → Shen
Shen laughed drily then he entered the ship together with the slaves. Even Shen looked dumbfounded at how luxurious the ship was from inside. The slaves couldn’t believe it themselves. The difference between those cages and this environment was like the difference between Heaven and Hell, a complete turn of 180 degrees. After everyone picked their rooms, Shen asked them to choose a leader for every race then come on deck together. Ryu’s and Shen’s groups were no exceptions.
“The leaders, take a step forward!” → Shen
Shen’s voice boomed atop the deck, filled with around 230 people of all races.
