“Wh-who are you…?”

The gray-eyed martial artist wanted to pick up the monster’s fang but their hand stopped mid-air and they looked up to ask staring in fear at the black-haired man.

“A guardian of the guardian, I suppose.”

Zoemi shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly and smirked mockingly at the shock in the martial artist’s eyes.

“GRAOOORRGH!”

*SLASH* x5

Before any of them could say another word, the frenzied golden brown bear-like monster growled horribly and stood on its hind legs to unleash a flurry of attacks with its odd-numbered arms.

*THUNK* x5

“!!!”

The thing was, unlike how it was with the grey-eyed marital artist, the combo ended with only one hit each, as even without taking a defensive stance, the black-haired man’s body turned out too sturdy for the beast’s claw to leave a mark.

Far from it – Zoemi didn’t even budge, causing the monster to be the one getting damaged from the failed attack.

“GHRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUGH…!”

*thump* x2

Two massive claws from the upper left and middle right paw that got almost torn out and hung on thin strings of skin and fur broke off and fell on the ground and the beast yelped in confusion mixed with immense pain.

“What can’t recognize me? Have you damaged your eyes during the fight?”

Zoemi scoffed in annoyance, turning his head slightly to catch a glimpse of the monster’s movement.

“I… I have never seen you in my life… I am quite sure…”

The gray-eyed martial artist trembled, gulping down their saliva, and backing themselves against the tree trunk to stay somewhat upright.

“…?”

“…?!”

Zoemi raised his brow and glared at them with borderline disgust causing the martial artist to flinch and realize that the black-haired man might have not been talking to them…

“GRAAAOUGH!”

The bear monster roared again, reminding the tense marital artist about its presence – this time the beast did not attack immediately as it continued to do thorough the entire encounter with them.

It looked just as if the creature feared the black-haired man…𝒪𝒱𝓵xt.𝗇𝓔t

The man turned his back to the marital artist and faced the beast.

“GRRRR…! Rrrr… GRAUGH! Ggraourgh…”

The golden brown seven-limbed bear began acting even weirder – it was breaking from the bursts of pure anger and loud growls into softer whimpers the moment it encountered the cold glare of the cold obsidian eyes of Zoemi.

“I thought you were a smart boy. What is going on? Have those trashy people hurt your mate? Where did this rampage come from?”

The black-haired man began asking, approaching the unpredictable beast as if it was the friendliest of dogs.

“Ghraugh, graugh, grauuugh, grrr… graugh! GROAR! G-graugh…”

The most bewildering part of the scene playing out in front of the weakened marital artist – who was completely sure that they started hallucinating – was that the golden brown seven-limbed bear began letting out short pained growls as if it was complaining…

At one point the martial artist was even sure that the monster leaned to the side only to point at them with its snout while the anger took over and the beast roared before looking back at the black-haired man and yelping.

“I wish I could understand what exactly did you say, but what I get from your tone is that this martial artist did something to you that made you really angry…. right?”

“Graugh!”

Zoemi furrowed his brows and said with a concerned expression pointing his thumb at the defeated youth by the tree, and the monster growled shortly in response – very clearly confirming the guess…!

“…what in the world is happening…?”

The gray-eyed marital artist gasped to themselves in disbelief.

“Now, now. Everything will be okay. I will make sure that those low lives get what they deserve. Alright? If you return to your favorite resting spot, I will bring you some nice food and medicine to take care of the wounds. Alright? Oh, and I took care of everyone in the immediate vicinity, but be careful on your way, as there might be more. People like that are like cockroaches, extremely bothersome to get rid of completely.”

Zoemi stood a mere foot away from the beast, way within its range, and instead of being cautious, he merely reached out his hand to pat the monster’s head.

“Graugh…”

The beast did not back off, but as the human hand began brushing against its golden brown fur, the seven-limbed bear released a bothered growl, looking up at the calm black-haired man.

“Don’t look at me like that – I really don’t know what you are saying. But just in case, those guys are not a part of the sect that protects the human settlement on your territory. Those are some really awful people who want to pick a fight with them. You know, use you to mess with the ones who respect you.”

“…graugh…”

Zoemi breathed out and answered with a soft smile on his face, visibly putting the large monster at ease.

“Hey! Stranger! You got the guts to dare to badmouth my sect right in front of me! Who do you think…?!”

As everything seemed to be going smoothly, the gray-eyed martial artist regained enough strength to be bothered about the words spoken by the black-haired man – and express their annoyance at the words spoken by the black-haired man.

“GRAOOOOOOOORGH!”

“…”

As if the shout was a lynchpin, all the work that Zoemi put into repressing the monster’s rage fell apart and the golden brown bear roar filled the still air of the forest’s depth, making Zoemi grit his teeth and frown in annoyance.

“AH…!”

The marital artist realized their mistake but it was too late, the creature’s claws and fangs were already well on their way to tearing Zoemi to shreds.

*CRUSH* *crack* *SLAM* *WHAM*

But with just minimal movement, the black-haired man passed under the hits and delivered a devastating kick onto the monster’s rear right leg, breaking its knee and throwing the beast off balance – ramming his elbow into its nose on the way down, adding to the impact with which the monster hit the ground.

“GHRO-ouugh…”

The seven-limbed bear let out a growl that turned into a yelp and curled up into a trembling ball, holding its hurting black wet nose with the top front paws.

“…”

“…!”

The gray-eyed martial artist bit their lips, cowering under the furious glare that the black-haired man send them as he turned away from the defeated but very much alive monster.

“I… M-my sect is not one to be badmouthed by the… likes of… you…”

The marital artist tried to act tough but the moment that Zoemi began walking their way, all courage left the beaten up youth and their voice trembled and got timider and timider.

“…you… you will regret… speaking ill of… IT?!”

The youth tried to back off even more but the three supporting them were in the way – so when the black-haired man’s hand grabbed the front of their beaten-up uniform and picked them up effortlessly so high that their feet lost contact with the ground, the gray-eyed martial artist could only yelp in a high-pitched voice.

“What did you do to our guardian monster? That furball would ever attack other so viciously!”

“H-huh…?!”

Zoemi pressed the martial artist against the tree and asked in annoyance, causing them to flinch and ask in confusion.

“Don’t huh me, you and your low-level goons showed up on the territory of the Raging Bull sect and tried to kill the guardian monster of the area. What did you do to our furball, and how many others are they beside you and the twenty guys that are already taken down?”

Zoemi asked in an ice-cold voice, shaking the youth and making them grab onto his arm in an attempt to escape or just lessen the strain on their body.

“No…! No, that’s not what…!”

*thunk*

“…?”

The black-haired man could clearly see panic growing in the marital artist’s eyes as he filled them in when the struggle of the youth caused a certain item in their pocket to fall out and roll under Zoemi’s feet, causing him to stop in place forgetting even to breathe.

“I… We would never…!”

*THUMP*

The gray-eyed martial artist was about to try and reveal something, but Zoemi was not in the mood – so he simply pulled them closer before slamming the youth against the tree trunk, knocking the already weaken person out like a light.

“…”

Zoemi put down the unconscious martial artist and instead picked up the item that fell out of their pocket.

A small crystal bottle of a recognizable shape, with the tiniest amount of blue liquid, was still left inside.

The black-haired man unsealed it and sniffed out whatever smell still remained.

“What the hell?! Why a star power user would have the use for a mana potion?! How did a dark sect get its paws on it?! And why?!”

Zoemi called out in shock when the smell that he knew all too well tickled his nose.

“Wait…”

The black-haired man flinched and gulped down his saliva before turning back to the incapacitated seven-limbed bear and then glanced at the tiny crystal bottle again.

“Oh, I will definitely have to question you all before sending you off to the Ragin Bull sect for judgment.”

He declared, clenching his hand on the empty bottle and putting it safely into his pocket.

Moments later he was already dashing towards the closest workspot for the lumberjacks and found a suitably long piece of rope.

Zoemi borrowed it and tied up every single martial artist he knocked out and pulled on it…

“Hurrrgh…! I bet that with the law of Taurus, it would be way easier…!”

He groaned to himself, as the combined weight of the twenty-one people almost broke his back as the rope dug into his shoulder.

“Hey, furball, don’t get yourself killed by another creature while I’m gone.”

“…graugh…”

Zoemi called out to the guardian monster still curled up and trembling and got a weak growl in response which was enough to reassure him before he went on his way dragging the defeated enemies after him.