They all gaped at this, shocked by the turn of events. They all looked at Finn and the aura that was emanating from him. It was an explosive amount of aura, and definitely beyond the typical fortified level.
It was just that…Finn's body might not be able to handle such a leap!
Finn's knees gave way, and he almost fell down, but Victor and the rest managed to catch him. They were about to carry him to the clinic, but he refused to budge, the energy around him feeling so heavy that even Victor and Gideon, fortified-level fighters, found it difficult to stand upright.
Finn gritted his teeth and clenched his fists, feeling like he was about to explode. He felt his skin was cracking and even bleeding, his orifices dripping blood.
It was a morbid sight that made people's hearts freeze.
Frago's mind was garbled in shock, and he rushed towards Finn to demand the ring back—to demand the energy back, when he fell down, belatedly feeling the extreme pain that came after.
"AHHHHHH!!" He screamed like a slaughtered wocc. He looked at the heavyweight and saw it was that odd creature, who used its disproportionate strength to ruin his legs.
Similarly, his people, including the fortified level guards he had, were all neutralized. He didn't know when, but they were indisposed. Before he could call them useless, sharper pain attacked his senses, and he gasped when he saw bones peering out of his pants.
He rolled around in pain, but no one cared for him. Instead, everyone's attention was on Finn, who was also in pain and barely holding it in.
Fortunately, Syl was there, after hurriedly rummaging through her large space for an item. She grabbed his hand and slapped a rune over his chest, and he immediately felt calmer.
People had no idea what rune it was, but it was definitely a treasure.
What the couple failed to notice was that the magic had dismantled the disguise spell, revealing Syl's true appearance. Beautiful, but her unique features caught the eyes more.
They were shocked to find out that Finn's girlfriend was an elf! From the looks of it, a high-ranking one too!
The couple had no idea about the looks they were getting, however.
"Thank you…" He said, gasping, burying his drenched head on her shoulder. She was not disgusted, and she gently kneaded the back of his head with her soft fingers. "We should go to the clinic now…"
Finn shook his head. "Not yet," he said. He took a deep breath and inhaled of her scent before pushing himself to stand up straight.
He couldn't leave now. He looked at Frago, whose legs were broken by Pang at some point, apparently to keep him from going to him while he was on the verge of exploding.
Frago lost all blood on his face, and he glared at the weakened Finn, with eyes full of hate. "What…WHAT DID YOU DO!?"
"GIVE IT BACK!!"
"It's mine now," he said, knowing that it would trigger the bastard even more.
"HOW MUCH BARRIER ENERGY DID WE HAVE TO ABSORB FOR THAT!? How many people have we lost because those damned monsters escaped!?"
This made everyone frown, realizing the deeper meaning of his words.
The increased number of monsters lately— especially the one that closely resembled the onset of an Aphelion phase— was the work of this bastard and his family!
Looking over the past several months and the abnormal monster activity, everyone felt livid. They had lost a lot of people, even friends and family, from those unexpected mobs!
People's blood pressure was way up high, and they were already thinking of how to torture the blasted clan.
Frago did not realize his slip-up. He was in too much pain and in deep panic after he saw the ring disappear.
When he did realize it, he seemed to finally notice at the vindictive and vile looks directed at him, and he felt like his life was truly in danger.
"LET ME GO! OR I WILL HAVE THE ENTIRE CLAN HUNT YOU DOWN! DO YOU WANT THIS PLACE DESTROYED?! My grandfather is Baldov Bhissit, one of the most powerful Apex alive! That is his ring. You think you can survive him after you hurt me!?"
The threats did not sit well with any of them.
At the same time, the mention of the name made the adventurers and mercenaries unable to attack him outright, even if every cell in their bodies wanted to. They wondered how they would all get out of this safely.
This boy's great-grandfather was one of the few people who had achieved apex-level stats, and it seemed that he was already at the second tier (or maybe even higher), which was much stronger than the apex tiers before that.
Even the branch head Thussalem, was only in Tier 1 and had been stuck there for years.
Unfortunately for Frago, most of his threats didn't work against the actual creature that held his life.
Pang and his fat body crawled over his back and spine.
CRACK!
"AHHHH!"
Climbing over to his head, raised his chubby paw, slamming it down repeatedly, and with such force that a small crater was created on the soil with each hit.
BANG! BANG! BAM!
Squelch!
And Frago died, just like that.
….
The threat was neutralized, and the guards remaining were kept for interrogation.
Frago was dead, but he was only the beginning.
Everyone had to go back to handle the potential aftermath and report to their respective organizations. Some of them might even be at the corner of the people he had antagonized, but Finn and the others had no energy to investigate who was who.
Besides, it wasn't like he could make them quiet right? He did not want to do that either. He didn't want to destroy what he had because he was afraid of retaliation against people who deserved to suffer.
Finn's eyes looked out through the barrier, expression sombre.
No matter what comes at them, they would deal with it!