" Well, well, well this is a first, usually when the lion goes out on the hunt, the deers keep running " Sigfried said as he applauded Asiva's decision to stop running and face him.
" You should not press a cornered animal, because when left with no option, even a rat fights a tiger " Severus said as he retrieved a broom from his inventory and pointed it at Sigfried.
" Ha- hahaha, ha ha ha ha, is that supposed to be brave? Since when have tigers given a fuck about rats attacking them? " Sigfried said as he unleashed a sword slash.
It was the same attack he had launched twice before but this time it was from a close distance of just 20 metres and although Severus was able to block it with his broom, he was pushed back by its sheer power for about 5 metres.
Asiva threw four daggers towards Sigfried while Anna shot a sonic arrow.
Sigfried nimbly dodged the daggers and sliced Anna's arrow in half, however, since it was a sonic arrow it still detonated around him giving the tier 4 warrior an unpleasant ear-ache.
Sigfried was momentarily stunned and taking advantage of his situation Severus charged at him with his broom.
*Block*
Severus's attempt to bash the hard end of the broom over Sigfrieds head was blocked as the tier 4 warrior stopped the attack with his sword, proceeded to slice Severus's broom in two before kicking him square on the chest to send him flying.
*Crash*
Severus crashed against a tree and felt winded, as without his ability to circulate mana there was not much that he could do as a warrior.
Asiva clutched two daggers tightly and said " Cover me " to Anna as she charged straight towards Sigfried to try her luck in hand to hand combat.
Sigfried was far stronger and faster than Asiva and although her attack moves were not bad, she could not match his opponents speed with the fight tipping in his favour even though Anna was covering her from critical hits by forcing the enemy to dodge or block at key moments.
" Fiery, no wonder the young master likes you" Sigfried said as he dodged one of Asiva's swings before using her own momentum to bend her arms to put her own dagger to her neck as he grabbed her into a tight headlock.
It was from his comment that Asiva realised that he was probably an underling from that despicable bastard Marcus Aurelius.
With Asiva hostage, Anna could no longer shoot her arrows as there was a fair chance that she would hit Asiva if she tried.
" Pa pa pa, don't move a muscle " Sigfried said to Severus who was willing to try something sneaky, as he tightened his grip around her neck, threatening to kill her right this instance should Severus do something stupid.
" I will take this girl alive and since I'm in a good mood, I'll even let the two of you live.
So I'm going to back off slowly now, and if you want to save your lives and the life of your friend here, then don't follow me ". Sigfried said as Asiva hissed and struggled vehemently to get out of his grip, but she could simply not overpower the strongrr man.
Having stayed imprisoned for a long time, Asiva now clinged onto freedom more vehemently than ever before, however, it seemed like Marcus Aurelius was intent on making her a prisoner once again.
Severus contemplated if he should circulate his mana and try to save Asiva in this instance even though it would lead to him potentially dying, but as if seeing through his intentions Asiva glared straight into his eyes and shook her head as if trying to say " Don't do it ".
Severus felt his blood boiling at the thought of letting his god-daughter suffer imprisonment once again as while he was a pretty chill guy overall, he was reaching his breaking point.
He had never felt more useless as a man in his entire life as he did at this moment when he saw his god-daughter being dragged away in front of his own eyes.
But while he wanted to do a million things about the situation, in his current state there was not much that he could do.
**********
( Meanwhile Max )
" Wooo a million gold coins? That mofo was rich " Max said as he checked his increased gold balance and felt proud of himself.
Although an average tier4 individual's net worth was about 5-20 million gold coins, it was usually tied up in non liquid assets or bank accounts.
Hardly anyone ever kept more than a million dollars in hard cash with them, unless they were unbelievably rich.
" GRRRRRRRR ". Anna's dragon growled as it urged Max to hop onto its back now that the fight was over.
" Alright alright I'm coming " Max said as he ran towards Anna's yellow dragon who was waiting for him.
Apparently the dragon had begun becoming impatient as of the last 30 seconds, as if sensing that his master was in trouble.
Unlike Asiva's dragon which was only tier2 because of not having many chances to hunt and grow while she was in captivity, Anna's dragon was already tier3 and capable of flying one adult male.
Max who was unaware of the peril his friends were in thought that since he finished off the main threat here, other things should be fine as well, not realising that Asiva was about to be captured once again.
Nonetheless, feeling the dragon's impatience Max hopped onto its back in a hurry and let it guide him towards where his master was as Max mentally prepared himself to face whatever danger that was to come.
—-----------
/// A/N - Alright guys here is the first riddle:
If even one of you get it right, then consider 25% discount on privilege next month to be bagged for everyone
You have 30 hours to solve! All the best
The 116 105 116 108 101 Of -.-. .... .- .--. - . .-. / 31 36 35 ///