“I see…”

Rhodes nodded with a concerned expression although in the small cave where only the unknown light flickering through the gaps between the exit and the boulder blocking it was easing up the darkness.

“If that’s true then it explains quite a bit… huh…? Urgh…!”

The man breathed out – but then he suddenly choked and started coughing, protecting his face and nose with his arm.

“Wha the hell?! What is this disgusting smoke?!”

He growled waving his hand around, trying to chase it away from his still unconscious son.

“Ugh…! I have no idea…! M-maybe something from the outside? If that’s a monster using fire magic, maybe the smoke it produces is poisonous too?”

Alan coughed and hid half of his face in his clothes.

“That’s it, my son barely got away from the Heavenly Archer sect, I am not letting him die in a place like this!”

Rhodes gritted his teeth as the cave began filling with jet-black mist so dark that it was distinguishable from the darkness of their shelter.

“Law of Taurus, Law of Sagittarius!”

The dark sect member used two star powers to complement each other and grabbed onto the boulder blocking the exit without hesitation.

*tssssss*

“GHHHH…!”

He already realized as he approached it, but the surface of the massive rock was already extremely hot – and touching it turned out to be just as bad an idea as one could expect.

Still, it was either this or suffer from smoke poisoning, and for Rhodes the choice was obvious.

“H-hold on…! Zoemi said to wait until he says it’s…!”

“HMPH!”

With Aaron’s father acting up, Alan gasped and tried to stop him – without actually being too pushy because the smoke was bothering him greatly too – but in the first place, Rhodes wasn’t going to listen to him.

*WHOOSH*

“Ghh…!”

“Urgh…! W-wha…?!”

The Blood Star sect member picked up the boulder with both hands and hurled it to the side, and as he did, the inside of the Zoemi-made cave was hit with a ridiculous amount of heat that forced the two conscious men to back off in pain.

As their eyes got used to the brightness and extreme temperature of the outside, they managed to see what was going on outside.

There, amongst the blazing inferno stood a single man holding up a twitching muddy six-legged bear by its massive head.

The bear in his hand was the only monster still alive in the area.

The surrounding trees were crumbling down, burnt to a crisp, and the protective layer of mud covering the last remaining beast was drying up as if it was a speed-up video.

“Oh? Didn’t I say to not get out until I say so?”

Zoemi noticed the movement by the cave and spoke to the people standing at the exit while raising his brow…

*CRUNCH*

…and casually crushed the monster’s head as if it was made out of wet paper…

*WHOOOO*

As he did, the flames engulfed the monster’s corpse, erasing any evidence of the skirmish from the face of the earth.

“ZOEMI?!”

Alan gasped in disbelief and tried to run up to the black-haired man, but was unable to, as moving forward even a single step was equal to stepping closer to the blazing hearthstone.

“Don’t worry, Alan. If that guy will try something, I will burn him to a crisp.”

Zoemi smiled reassuringly and nodded at the worried young man before looking towards the dark sect member.

“The only option that doesn’t involve you dying miserably is cooperation, so don’t try anything stupid, Rhodes~”

The black-haired man hummed mischievously and shoved the older man with a devilish smirk.

“I… wha…? Wait… Huh…? You… aren’t you…?”

Rhodes was about to respond but hesitated as his train of thought was interrupted by a flashback…

~~~~~~

“The only option that doesn’t involve you dying miserably is surrendering, so don’t try anything stupid, you thugs.”

A honey-blond boy with striking blue eyes smirked devilishly at the pair of marital artists leading a group of tied-up crying children through the wilderness.

“Tsk! And here I thought it was something serious. Catch him.”

“Yes, leader! Law of Taurus! Law of Aries! Law of Capricorn! Law of Sagittarius!”

𝑜𝑣𝓵xt.𝗇𝓔t

The taller marital artist clicked his tongue and motioned at the other one, who bowed his head submissively and immediately activated four different star powers revealing himself to not be just any random thug at all.

“Your choice, law of Aries~!”

As the martial artist was about to charge him, the honey-blond-haired boy’s smirk turned into a sinister grin and in response, he activated just a single star power.

“I will teach you to not put your nose into our sect’s business, brat.”

*BOOOOOM*

The martial artist scoffed and launched himself at the boy without giving him a chance to respond.

*WHAM* *CRUSH*

But despite being much, much faster, the moment that the man’s fist reached the boy’s stomach, it was the attacking martial artist’s flesh and bones that lost in terms of durability and burst apart in bloody fireworks…

“GHRAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH…!”

Causing the man to stumble back, holding onto the stump that was his right arm mere moments earlier.

“Should have used the law of Sagittarius to enhance your hearing, mister thug~”

The boy shook off the blood that sprinkled onto his face and grinned, clenching his fists and taking a step forward while throwing a punch.

*SLAM*

“…ghh…”

The hit thrown by a young unassuming boy ended up being so powerful that it sent a shockwave through the vegetation.

For a few seconds, the wounded martial artist that received the hit was standing still, biting his lips in pain.

“Roger…?!”

The more important martial artist gasped, taking a step towards his colleague.

“…s-sect leader… I’m… sor…”

The wounded man turned around looking at the other marital artist with tears in his eyes and…

*BURST* *SPLASH*

As he could no longer control the violent spiritual energy within his body, the man got blown up in half raining down his blood and shredded guts everywhere around.

“I did tell you that giving up is your only choice.”

“!!!”

The honey-blond boy went back to a devilish smile and turned towards the remaining marital artist.

“Now then, mister thug sect leader. What’s your choice?”

“LAW OF TAURUS! LAW OF ARIES!”

*BOOOOOOOM*

The boy asked nonchalantly, making the much older man roar in fury, kicking off the ground and flying straight at the young opponent.

*WHAM*

“Urgh…!”

The older marital artist hit connected, and his hand didn’t get blown off – but only because the boy had caught it and grinned at the older man, before forcing him down and grabbing his neck with one hand.

“WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?!”

The downed and captured man growled, frothing from the corners of his mouth.

“Me? I’m only a void star level law of Aries user… ah, wait, old man Ramis told me to not say that anymore…”

“…?!”

The honey-blond-haired boy boasted before furrowing his brows and scolding himself while looking to the side while the older marital artist had his bloodshot eyes almost bulging out of their eyesockets…

“I am the Great Ram sect beloved child of Aries! My name is…!”

~~~~~~

“Nathan…?!”

Rhodes gasped, staring at Zoemi’s smirk in utter disbelief while standing in front of the cave completely defenseless.