Before the woman could do anything to Ben, Zaen shot out, swinging the crowbar at her. Before the move could connect, the burly man jumped in between, blocking the crowbar with his forearm.

"Tsk," Zaen clicked his tongue.

Since the crowbar didn't hit any orifices, there were no exploding corpses this time, but Zaen didn't give up. He jumped up, aiming for the man's head. He was confident in his strength, but the man grabbed his ankle and casually tossed him back.

After protecting the lady, the man walked back to his original place, standing behind her like a trained dog.

"I admire your strength, but that doesn't mean you can do as you please," the woman said without even looking at Zaen. "I didn't intervene in your fight, I hope you'd extend the same courtesy to me."

"You should have thought about that before breaking the game," Zaen spat back. "Thanks to your little stunt, I have lost a lot of precious exp. You should be the ones taking responsibility for that, don't you think?"

To his surprise, the woman looked him up and down and began laughing.

"I should have known," she said, wiping away the tears. "I didn't notice that accursed ring before. If I had, you wouldn't be barking here."

After saying her piece, the woman nodded towards him, and the burly man charged at him again. But he wasn't running like usual people, at least that's not what Zaen saw with his perception.

To him, the man's image seemed to blur. The silhouette of his body warped and teleported all over the place. Just trying to follow him was nauseating to Zaen.

It wasn't until the man was standing right in front of him that the nausea ceased, only to be overthrown by the pain of getting hit square in the face. Zaen was flung away, and even a couple of teeth were knocked out of his mouth.

While flying, he stabbed the ground with the blade, skidding to a halt.

"Even the maw's attack didn't hit me as much as his punch did," Zaen mumbled, caressing his jaw.

He could feel the missing teeth along with the blood they had left behind, and it wasn't a good feeling.

But there was no respite for him. The burly man was already on the move. However, this time, Zaen had learned his lesson. Instead of depending on his perception, he let go of the walking stick.

The man's nauseating figure disappeared, plunging Zaen into darkness. But through the darkness, he saw several gold lines. He grabbed the Boning Sword's handle in reverse and swung it in a way that it cut through all seven lines, not willing to risk getting his again.

The burly man let out a groan as the tips of two of his fingers were cut off. If he hadn't sensed something was off and held back at the last second, his entire arm would have been chopped away.

As the man jumped back, Zaen clicked his tongue in disappointment. Still, it wasn't all bad. At least he figured out a way to counter him.

He can screw with my perception, but it can't fool [Tiresias's Blinfold].

The blindfold would make seven predictions every time someone attacked the wearer. As long as Zaen could hit all seven lines, he would be at an advantage.

Usually, he would favor the brightest line among the seven, but he wasn't willing to take any risks when it came to that brute.

I don't want to lose any more of my teeth.

"What a surprise," the woman mumbled, turning her gaze to Mimi. "You have picked out a fine one."

"Keep your eyes off him!" Mimi yelled, rushing to strike her down.

"I didn't expect that old fool to teach you manners, but I expected you would have inherited some grace from our mother."

Mimi didn't bother with her taunt and swung her blade at the woman. However, the sword didn't connect, as the woman moved in a similar manner to her brutish guard.

However, unlike her Zaen, Mimi wasn't fighting alone. The woman got away from Mimi, only to be grabbed by someone else.

"Don't you dare look at my man, bitch," Hina snarled, grabbing the woman from behind. "Having one rival is already getting on my nerves."

"Is it?" the woman laughed before swinging her head backwards.

Hina didn't expect it and couldn't dodge. The woman's skull slammed right into her nose, blood gushing out of it like a broken faucet.

Hina's grip weakened, but instead of letting go, the woman grabbed her arm and tossed her straight into Mimi.

Mimi froze mid charge and withdrew her blade at the last second, or else Hina's blood would be all over her hand. However, her actions had caused the opponent some irritation.

"You care for a stranger, but not your family?" she snarled, rushing over and grabbing a fistful of Mimi's hair. "Your family has some screwed up values, but don't worry, I'll screw your face even worse than those damned values!"

Just as she was about to slap some of that goo on her face, something warm hit her face. She touched her cheek. Blood was dripping down her cheeks, but it wasn't her blood.

Her gaze shifted to the ground. A severed hand was just resting there. She unintentionally followed the trail of blood and saw that her guard was on his knees… both of his arms had been severed.

As for the one who severed them…

Zaen was waving at her with the other arm, while the stick swayed sideways with it.

"Your man dropped something," he yelled, tossing the second arm at her as well.

A second later, he swung his blade, slicing away the man's head cleanly off his shoulder. The woman saw red, but smiled a moment later.

"You're exceptional," she mumbled, letting go of Mimi's hair. "I didn't believe that brat Nemesis when he said you were special."

She continued, "I mean, how could I believe him… given your condition. It seems I was mistaken. You are special. And… I'll give you an offer."

She kept talking while walking towards him without a shred of fear.

"Leave the force, and join me."

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