“I wonder what all of that is about…?”

Alan noticed what Zoemi was looking at and voiced the question that was bothering the black-haired man too.

“Whatever they are dealing with, it’s the Raging Bull sect territory and they should be the ones to…”

“AAAAWWOOOOOOOO!”

Aaron scoffed with the expression of someone thinking they are superior, but his sentence was interrupted by a roar of a monster.

And not any monster either.

The creature that suddenly charged out of the nearby forest was a massive wolf-like monster whose entire body was covered by stone armor, making it look almost like an animal earth golem.

“WHAT IS THAT?!”

“Why is it covered in stones?!”

“…”

Alan’s shout of shock as well as Aaron’s confused gasp was good enough confirmation of Zoemi’s suspicion.

The black-haired man didn’t even need to see the blackish mist that the wolf monster was breathing out to know that it was using magic.

Luckily for it, it wasn’t the self-destructive spell like the fire breath the unfortunate great mole used, but what was a good thing for the monster, certainly wasn’t good for humans – especially the citizens of the Heavenly Star nation.

“Brace yourselves for a tiny detour.”

Zoemi declared, shifting to the side, beelining it to the magic-using monster.

“What?! But…!”

“I am not asking. I am informing.”

Aaron tried to protest, but the black-haired man had none of it.

*WHOOOSH*

Zoemi’s speed increased dramatically, causing his passengers to cling to him to keep their balance.

“AAAAAWOO…?! ZHOOOEEEEMIIIII…!”

The armored wolf monster was mid-howl when it spotted the rapidly approaching man and immediately attempted to say his name – which of course did not work out so well considering its mouth wasn’t meant for human speech.

“HEY! RUN AWAY! THERE’S SOMETHING WRONG WITH THAT THING!”

The monster wasn’t the only one to notice Zoem’s approach – the wounded marital artist did too, and called out at the top of his lungs to warn him.

“…”

Zoemi did not respond to the friendly call at all, instead using the law of Capricorn to get himself footholds in the thin air, gaining altitude over the monster.

“ZHHHHHOOOOO-EEEEEE-MMIIIII…!”

…the monster barked out, following his movement with its bloodshot eyes and making its stone armor turn spiky, undoubtedly for the increase in the raming power.

Still, despite immensely increased defense, the bulk and weight of the armor cost the creature its ability to jump and nimbly change directions, making its movement pattern predictable.

“GHAAA?!”

“HUUUH?!”𝒐𝓥𝓁xt.𝗇𝓔t

That said, all of a sudden Zoemi’s foot seemed to miss the next foothold and the black-haired man dropped down like a rock, causing Alan and Aaron to cry out in shock as their descent toward the danger began.

“ZHHHHOOO-ghyaw…!”

*CRUNCH*

The monster opened its jaws again, trying to call out the black-haired man’s name for the third time, but this time Zoemi’s foot met its armored head, tearing it off cleanly and turning it into a mushy mess of blood and mud within a heartbeat.

As if it was nothing special.

“IT WAS DISEASED! USE THE LAW OF AQUARIUS ON THE CORPSE BEFORE BURNING IT OR MORE CREATURES LIKE THIS MIGHT SHOW UP!”

Zoemi jumped over the headless body that run for a few more steps before tripping on its own paws and tumbling to a stop a dozen feet further…

“…wha…?”

…which caused the wounded marital artist to falter and gasp dumbfounded trying to comprehend what in the world he just witnessed.

“Yeah… so two out of two monsters using magic are calling out my name upon seeing me. I certainly don’t like this trend. I hate being right in situations like this.”

Zoemi scoffed in annoyance, striking a flawless landing and continuing his run as if nothing happened.

“How did you do that!? Did you use the law of Libra to get aces to the law of Taurus?!”

Despite not believing him earlier, Aaron let out a shocked voice, asking the black-haired man while staring at the monster corpse they left behind.

“Not at all. If anything I deactivated the law of Libra and just took it out with just the law of Aries.”

Zoemi shook his head and explained with a smirk.

“…this is insanity…!”

“You’ll get used to it.”

Aaron breathed out in shock to which Alan shrugged his shoulders and nodded his head with an awkward smile.

“Hey, it’s not my fault that none of you martial artists believes me when I say that my law of Aries is on a supernova level.”

Zoemi pointed out rushing through the grass to clean his shoe from the residue of the monster’s brain, blood, and fur.

“Law of Aries only has six stars…”

“Whatever you say.”

Alan sighed and repeated the same thing he would always say whenever the supernova level was mentioned by Zoemi, and the black-haired man simply nodded his head completely unbothered by the stubborn lack of trust.

Still, the rest of their travel went on without meeting another black-mist-infused monster using magic, and the trio entered the town just on the edge of the Raging Bull sect’s territory.

A single tall man that was not outlandishly buff but still was able to easily carry two people on his shoulders got a lot of attention.

And then even more after the dog collar and the attached leash were noticed…

“Well then. Where exactly the people talking about recruiting others into the dark sect were seen?”

Alan, not really used to attract that much attention, lowered his gaze bashfully and leaned closer towards Zoemi’s head to ask Aaron perched on the other shoulder.

“Local tavern, but the people n question showed up only after dark, because of Zoemi’s speed, we still have some time..”

Aaron took a deep breath and responded, looking around cautiously as if searching for something.

“Good evening, good sir…”

“UWAAAAH?!”

As that happened on an elevated level, Zoemi literally reached out his hand to the side and grabbed a random passerby, and lifted him up to his eye level as if the other man was merely a puppet, causing the poor man to cry out in shock.

“My master is tired after a long journey, perchance you would be so kind and point us in the direction of the nearest tavern?”

The black-haired man asked with a villainous smirk while Aaron, Alan, and the unfortunate townsperson were left speechless.

“Please?”

Zoemi added, moving the man in his hand’s reach and then winding up his other fist for a hit.

“OI! Leave him alone! Law of Taurus!”

Before the man could even utter a terrified sound, someone else shouted and inserted themselves into the conversation quite explosively, to say the least.

The new person turned out to be an overeager marital artist whose uniform bore striking resemblance to the one that Seth was wearing, making Zoemi assume that this one was the member of the Raging Bull sect in charge of the settlement.

*BOOOOM*

The marital artist rared the name of the law they used and launched themselves at Zoemi, who didn’t even look their way…

*WHAM* *crack*

The punch aimed at Zoemi’s side made a great impact and a sonorous sound…

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGHHHHH!”

…when the martial artist splendidly shattered every single bone in their arm on the black-haired man’s body and bounced off of him landing on his back under Zoemi’s feet, screaming his lungs off.

“Shut up, there’s a need for only one town’s guide.”

*CRUNCH*

***ASH*

Zoemi scoffed in annoyance, lifting one leg slightly before putting it down on the martial artist’s knee, breaking it so hard that the entire person was lifted up and slammed their face on the black-haired man’s previously prepared fist.

*thump*

As the martial artist’s face turned into a bloody mush with their nose crushed as a tomato and teeth smashed into pieces, the unfortunate fellow dropped back to the ground with a surprisingly soft sound, luckily losing consciousness before the sensation of the new wave of pain registered in their brain.

“Now, where were we?”

“THE TAVERN! YES! YES, OF COURSE, I-I WILL LEAD YOU THERE STRAIGHT AWAY!”

The townsperson in Zoemi’s grasp who had the VIP seat for the utter destruction of the marital artist in charge of their town regained his speech and became unbelievably helpful within a heartbeat as the black-haired man greeted him with a refreshing smile, as only a few drops of blood sprinkled onto his face…

“You heard that, master? Worry not, you will be able to have a proper rest. I imagine my shoulder isn’t very comfortable. Especially with all that shaking and whatnot~”

“G-good…”

Zoemi nodded at the man and glanced up at the ghastly pale Alan who managed to muster only a one-word response as he did not trust his own voice.

On their way to the town, Zoemi did say that he will act rather wild, but this…

Alan and Aaron both realized far too late that they should have inquired the black-haired man about his exact definition of the wild behavior.

Because if they knew what he had in store, they would definitely try to stop him.

“I-if you put me down I will…”

“No.”

The terrified man said nervously but was interrupted by the happiest refusal that he received in his life.

“Huh…? Wh… Then, h-how am I supposed …?”

“Point. I will carry you until we get there.”

The man gasped and fidgeted in confusion to which Zoemi responded in the most carefree way possible.

That was a bit too much for at least one of his passengers though…

“Z-Zoemi… B-behave…”

Alan ended up tugging on the leash attached to Zoemi’s collar and murmured timidly while blushing.

“As you wish.”

The black-haired man adjusted his behavior immediately and released the captured townsperson.

“With my master’s benevolence, you have the freedom of movement. Better use it to guide us, or else…”

“F-follow me…!”

Zoemi smiled at the trembling man, although by the end of the sentence his smile dimmed, which prompted the man to tense ups and hurriedly move in the opposite direction he was going before getting caught and bowing his head repeatedly.