A/N: Thank you thank you thank you for your continued support, Adventurers! Special hugs, as always, to the people who gave extra support by sending gifts, tickets, votes, comments, and reviews! HUGS!
And shout out to Feb 2026 Top Golden gifters Dacedaren, Terence_5096, and Caleb_Cass_5321! Thanks guys!!
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Frago arrived at the inn while Finn and most of the toughened and fortified-level folk were cleaning up the extension. Soon, more and more people went through and headed back to the inn, giving priority to those who had been injured.
"HEY! Help us out here!" They yelled, calling people to carry the injured towards the clinic. Unexpectedly, there was no response.
"Huh?"
Zenno was confused and stood up, though he was carrying someone with him. He headed out and went to the clinic, which was near the Delivery Room, and he noticed most of the people were congregating in an area.
He hurriedly deposited the people he was with and headed to the commotion, though he wasn't too worried since they were inside the barrier (and most of them had seen how troublemakers were dealt with). He was more curious than anything.
He found his apprentice among the people, and then looked at his expression which turned turned from angry, annoyed, and then satisfied.
???
"Hey, Kid, what's happening?" he asked, patting the young man's shoulder and making him flinch.
"Boss!" the young man exclaimed. "Come watch with me!"
…
Soon, more and more people from the other side arrived, realizing that there was an anomaly happening within the barrier, including Finn. They headed to where the crowd was heading.
Even Zenno was there, watching the show.
At this time, Pang was slapping enemies. There were ten enemies, all of whom were superior to most of those who were left behind. Finn's stomach tumbled, but then he saw how quickly Pang jumped from one enemy to another.
He had always been worried about scenarios like this. Because the panda was the one who executed the punishments, what if many transgressions were happening at the same time? It's not like the panda could clone himself.
The enemies seemed to have noticed this limitation, and several of them separated, dispersed, and even took someone with them as a hostage.
The unlucky bloke taken hostage was a random mercenary.
This hostage was actually at the toughened-level. Unfortunately for him, the person who took him was a fortified-level bastard.
Not to mention he had just returned from a long fight in the extension, and had literally just arrived to 'drink the tea', so when he was grabbed by a much stronger bastard, he couldn't do anything but get dragged.
"AHHH!"
Frago also grabbed a random person as well. Unlike the other guy, he managed to get a hostage who made everyone pale.
"LILY!"
The kidnapped person happened to be the naught pink-haired girl who snuck into the crowd against all odds. It so happened that people got too busy and distracted with Pang vs the enemies, so no one noticed here and there until it was too late.
Finn's heart stopped. His eyes were fixed at his sister before it reluctantly parted to study the enemy. Although their levels weren't that large, there was something about Frago that felt…heavy.
What is it?
Anyway, he had to control the situation, and an ongoing fight could really hurt his sister. "Everyone, stop! We can talk this out!"
Everyone froze, but with varying degrees of hostility toward others. People were relieved to see that the others were finally here.
"Innkeeper! Victor! Gideon! You're here!
"What's going on?"
"The gall of some people! They just wanted to attack us, Innkeeper!"
They looked at the little girl next carried by him. "Bwatha! Bwatha! Syl!"
She was adorable, but also uncomfortable with being carried as if she were a sack. Finn's heart broke at her discomfort, and he gave the frog face a bad look.
"Let her go, and maybe we can let you go."
"Innkeeper?" Frago narrowed his eyes, meeting his. But then his eyebrows furrowed when he saw Leiah and the others right behind him. "You're alive, eh?"
In retrospect, it seemed like he heard some movements of investigations around him and his family. Now he knew where the guilds got the lead from.
"Well, no matter," he said. "Since you annoyed me so much, you're all going to die."
Frago was very prideful. For some reason, his current state had become much, much more arrogant. The events in this place were humiliating to him, and he also disliked Finn's tone, so he was determined to destroy everyone's eyes and cut their tongues!
A heavy atmosphere surrounded them, and even the fortified-level powerhouses felt a certain pressure that kept them from moving.
Their pupils contracted. Since upgrading to this level, they never felt this kind of pressure!
The only exception was when dealing with an angry apex-level fighter, which not many could connect with, or…facing an apex-level monster.
No, somehow, this level was even more terrifying.
Those who knew the pressure of an apex level could tell that this was the energy quality of an even more powerful entity!
They looked at Frago in fear, and the man enjoyed this very much. He cackled proudly. "HAHAHAHAHA! Now you know how to fear! HAHAHAHA!"
Sure, he'd get in trouble when he got home for consuming part of the energy, but they were in genuine danger. His grandfather wouldn't blame him. At worst, they'd just redo the mission!
Who cared what would happen to the environment anyway? Even if they triggered an Aphelion Phase, with this power, they would be unharmed!
.
.
Frago did not expect that this high was so short-lived.
Unexpectedly, there was a flash that came out of the little girl. It happened very quickly and in the form of invisible magic, so the high-level elf mage nearby, Syl, was the only one who noticed.
Syl's eyebrows furrowed, a bit confused, but she did not have the time to ponder because suddenly, the heavy atmosphere deflated like a balloon.
"What—" he gasped, feeling like his access to the energy was cut off. Frago was annoyed. He then threw down the child who had, at some point, lost consciousness.
This was the chance Finn and the others were waiting for and they immediately went to attack Frago. Finn grabbed his sister, while the fortified-level powerhouses still active (many were in the rooms and in the clinic) rushed after Frago.
Frago's guards went to cover for him while Frago reactivated the ring. He could tell it wasn't impossible, but it was suddenly more difficult to do so!
He cursed, pale and sweaty, feeling the sudden onset of panic in his gut.
"This is annoying," Pang said, suddenly appearing at the side. Frago gasped when he felt a sharp pain, and then he realized his finger was cut off!!
"WHAT!"
The ring slid down the thin finger and then rolled near Finn, who rushed over to grab it.
Frago didn't panic. That ring contained so much energy that not everyone could handle it. Even him, who was the carrier to his grandfather, had to be fully equipped and trained to handle it. This guy dared to take it bare-handed? HEH! Might as well say goodbye to his whole arm, if not his life!
Unexpectedly—
Finn was not hurt at all. He even wore it to keep it safe and suddenly immense energy was released from the ring and…
He upgraded straight to Fortified level.
[You have now reached the peak of Fortified Level]
"..."