He quickly closed the distance between himself and Emil, reaching for his collar. But before his hand could make contact, Atlas stepped in and leveled his enormous axe at the man’s throat.
The man glanced sideways at Atlas. The summon didn’t utter a single word, yet the cold look in his eyes spoke volumes. A bead of cold sweat slowly rolled down the man’s temple as his hand froze midair.
A visible smirk curled up on Emil’s lips; he crossed his arms. "What were you saying?" His voice was cheesy.
A vein popped through the man’s temple, and his face turned red with rage. His fingers clenched over the shaft of his staff. He directed it forward, and yellow mana started encircling its top.
Soon after, fire ignited where the mana was, and the fire grew even larger and turned into a fireball. "You fucking lowlife summoner, you dare try to humiliate me?" The man snorted.
The fireball burst from the tip of the staff and hurtled straight toward Emil. The commotion immediately drew the attention of everyone inside the trade hub. Customers and NPCs- everyone present there turned their heads toward the unfolding scene; their conversations stopped right away.
Emil glanced at Atlas from the side of his eyes. That single look was enough for Atlas to know what he wanted him to do.
He swung his enormous axe with terrifying speed, the violent gust generated by the swing suppressing the blazing flames before they could spread. Without pausing, he followed through with another strike, cleaving straight through the incoming fireball and dispersing it into countless embers that vanished into the air.
The man’s jaw dropped, and his eyes widened as he clenched his staff tightly before shouting. "All of you, attack him together."
He positioned his staff once again, and his peer who came alongside him did so. Mana started circling their staffs, but even before they could fire them, a man appeared in front of them.
He was wearing a white scarf, his fists wore metal gauntlets, and pauldrons remained intact at his shoulders. A huge longsword was tucked at his back, sitting in its sheath. By his dressing, he looked like a knight.
Only his black hair was visible to Emil, which made him wonder who had just appeared. ’Who’s that man? Wait, that’s not something important... Is he on their side too?!’ He questioned inwardly.
But the man did something Emil never expected. He suddenly raised his voice, making sure everyone in the tavern could hear him. "This is a trade hub! You can’t just attack people here!" he shouted, pointing an accusing finger at Emil.
"Setting that aside, you’re actually ganging up on a single player? How pathetic! That’s nothing but disgraceful behaviour. You’re no better than those player killers roaming outside the city!"
The man’s words were enough to let Emil take a breath of relief because he had almost thought that he was here to help them. A smile appeared on his face as he stepped forward, turning towards the exit.
"And why were you fighting in the city? Don’t you know that the city is a safe place where you can only do PvPs. You would’ve died if I didn’t come here a minute ago." The man said loudly, his gaze fixed on the group of men coming towards them.
Emil followed his gaze and noticed that the men who were coming weren’t normal. They were all clad in heavy metallic armour, swords rested beside their waists, marching in a disciplined manner. A person was leading them; he had an elephant imprinted on his chest.
Their march came to a halt a few meters away from Emil and the others. The man standing at the front said loudly. "I am Eric Donovan, captain of the Knights serving under Count Victor, commander of the third unit."
His sharp gaze swept across the tavern before settling on the crowd. "I received a report that violence had broken out within the trade hub, causing panic among both the locals and visiting travelers." His voice was calm yet authoritative. "Tell me, did the violence truly take place?"
The mage quickly closed the distance between them; he grabbed Eric’s arm. He pointed his finger at Emil and said out loud. "This man and his gigantic summon threatened me and my friends; he declared that he would make his summon cut our heads if we didn’t pay him a hefty amount of money and equipment."
Emil simply stood there and watched the man manipulate Eric; he didn’t try to step in or confront him for this because he knew that knights aren’t someone who gets manipulated easily. They only work on proof and sheer evidence.
Eric looked down at the mage. "Insolent!! How dare you touch the esteemed armour of a knight?"
Before he could continue, the other soldiers took his unspoken command and circled the mage and his peer. They left no space for even a single one of them to escape.
Some of them directed their spears at the group, and the others pointed their sharp swords. The mage and his group panicked; they didn’t know what else to do. Sweat drenched all over their bodies as the mage got on his knees and joined both his hands. "Please, don’t do this to us... We really didn’t do anything." He started pleading.
But Eric didn’t budge; he grabbed the hilt of his sword and pulled it out of its sheath. He pointed the sword at the mage and continued. "You dare talk back to me? The way you act clearly proves that you’re someone who committed violence here."
"The man over there doesn’t seem like he would exploit money from anyone, although he shouldn’t keep his summons outside."
The unknown man stepped forward; he extended his arms and said. "Eric, it’s been a long time."
The moment Eric’s gaze fell upon him, his stoic expression melted into a smile. Without any kind of hesitation, he stepped forward and pulled the man into an embrace.
"Aren!" he exclaimed with a hearty laugh. "What are you doing back here? I thought that you had already departed for the City of Ironhaven."
Aren broke out from the hug, hands sliding down to his waist as he continued. "I surely did, but then I remembered that I had to buy some goods, so I made my way back."