"I think… I heard enough."

"Si…"

The slight pause from the aide's words was only supposed to be a stutter. But as he saw Van slowly making his way towards the stage, he could not help but take in a huge gulp as he looked at Prince Aurelius, waiting to see if he would order a retreat.

But alas, the only thing that the fat prince was doing was choking in his own words as he tried to let out a mumble. It wasn't only them, of course. The crowd that was already quiet became even more silenced; the soldiers and guards were looking at each other, waiting to see if someone would make a move; Even the other prisoners, who were previously begging for their lives, were now completely sedated.

Why wouldn't they? The iron bar was supposed to have anti-magic properties; any who wore it would be unable to tap into the mana of the world. They were made solely for the purpose of stopping sorcerers from spreading evil throughout the land.

But now, it was ripped off like it was nothing but sand; crumbling on the long-haired prisoner's hands as he continued to make his way towards the platform. No one, not even in the long glorious history of their country, has there been a mage that was capable of setting himself free of the anti-magic collar once it has been attached.

No one has been able to use magic with it as well-- so it could only mean one thing. The long-haired prisoner that was menacingly walking without a care in their view was a--

"D… Devil! The devil has come to save its slavelings!"

"Kill the prisoners! If we kill all the prisoners, the devil should leave!"

"..." Hearing the words that the guards and soldiers were shouting, Van could not help but stop in his tracks and let out a short but deep sigh. A light pat in the air then whispered as he suddenly disappeared from his spot, only to appear behind one of the prisoners whose skull was about to be penetrated by a spear.

"...Eh?"-- was the only expression the prisoner could let out before he felt his neck being carelessly pulled to the side; He could not complain, though, because if Van did not pull him away, then his eyes would have definitely been the soldier's entry point.

"Try to survive."

"...Wha--" And before the prisoner could even finish his word, Van suddenly disappeared. He was confused at first as to what just happened, but as soon as he felt the weight around his neck literally crumble; his eyes, which had not seen light even as they stepped out from the darkness of their cells, suddenly became full of hope.

And with a deep breath, he did not even think twice and planted his hands on the ground. And as soon as he did so, the ground beneath the soldier that threatened to take his life started to tremble. The soldier tried to struggle as his legs were slowly being swallowed by the earth-- but alas, due to the armor he was wearing, he just did not have enough agility to move around. The only thing he could do was wave his spear, hoping it would hit the mage prisoner.

But perhaps, the soldier should take comfort in knowing that he was not alone in his situation-- Each of the prisoners was being freed by Van one by one.

It wasn't until the 5th prisoner did the crowd finally realize the situation they were in. But as soon as they did, their screams of panic shrieked in the air with almost reckless abandon-- and this was reflected by their feet, which almost stepped on their fellow men as they tried their best to escape from the plaza.

"Run! Run!"

"We're… we're all going to die!"

They all bellowed and roared, not even realizing that they almost squashed their own children to death. Or perhaps they knew, but could no longer care as the threat of dying by the hands of the devil was too great a terror.

This all happened in the span of seconds; seconds is all it took to bring this place into chaos. Perhaps Van was approaching this the wrong way and went too hard on this world's locals, but what he said earlier was indeed the truth-- He had heard enough.

He wanted to avoid suppressing the people of this world to build a better relationship with them if needed. But if all they are were oppressors, then he had no problem in replying to them in their own language.

"...Last one," Van then whispered as he freed the 13th prisoner. He then turned his attention towards the last remaining prisoner, Emrys, and rushed towards him. Not even caring that his own back was only an inch away from being hacked by one of the soldiers-- Of course, why would he care? When the soldiers were too weak to even scratch him.

"..." Van was halfway towards Emrys before he noticed something different. On Emrys's dark skin, was a slight glow. It was throbbing around his neck, slightly covered by the collar; increasing and fading at a rate that even someone of Van's speed recognized.

Van then decided to stop in his tracks, the dust floating around his feet once again moving at normal speeds as they were all blown to the side. And as soon as time returned to him, the sound of a high-pitched thunder almost pierced his ears.

The air around Emrys wobbled, with like a hundred of almost invisible ripples waved in front of him-- blowing everything on its path like a raging wave. The soldiers, the wooden structure, and even the ground around Emrys were ripped away as he roared.

"..." Van then lightly stepped to the side, avoiding one of the soldiers that was violently spinning through the ground towards him.

"You… can still use magic?" Van then curiously asked as he looked at the iron collar around Emrys's neck, which despite having dents, was still truly completely intact.

"I… I did not know I could," Emrys then stuttered as the shock slowly crawled through his bones, causing his legs to almost turn into jelly, "I… shouldn't be able to?"

"...Stay there," Van then said, the tone of his voice containing a hint of amusement, "I'll come and find you once everything has settled down."

"O… Of course, you saved my life. I shall follow your orders until I have repaid this debt."

"Well, you still need to survive," Van then said as he pointed towards the almost dozen soldiers that were carefully approaching them.

"Yes. With you by my side, I believe we can fend them--"

"No, I have other matters to attend to."

And before Emrys could even finish his words, Van suddenly disappeared from his spot, leaving him all alone.

"O… Oh," Emrys hummed, "So that's how it is going to be. You… should have at least removed the collar on my neck!"

The surrounding air around Emrys once again became distorted; the earth beneath him blowing away the ground like a ripple. This time, however, the soldiers were ready. They all pierced their weapons through the ground, while the ones in front of them expertly rested their backs on the affixed weapons while raising their shield to cover their comrades.

"..." Emrys squinted his eyes for a few seconds… before proceeding to run away towards another prisoner, "I think it would be best if we all work together!" He then screamed.

And as soon as his words reached the other prisoners, they all rushed towards his location and got into a circular formation-- facing the soldiers in all directions.

"I… I will not die here today!"

"We were given a chance to survive, I will not waste it!"

The mages then started talking to each other as their eyes scanned the battalion that threatened to eradicate them from this world.

"Who… who do you think the long-haired boy is?"

"Could he actually really be the devil!?"

"Why would a devil rescue people? That doesn't even make sense! He's an angel sent from the heavens, I am sure of it!"

"It doesn't matter!" Emrys then loudly breathed out as his hands started to glow, "It doesn't matter if he's a monster or an angel; what matters now is that he rescued all of us…

...The least we could do is fight for our lives!"

The mages all nodded at each other, before each waving their hands in a pattern unique to their own.

Water, earth, fire, air, vines, and whatever element it was that Emrys was summoning-- all of them worked together to form some sort of elemental barricade that shot down anyone who dared to get close to them.

The soldiers tried getting through by throwing their spears-- but alas, the only thing their projectiles met was a clump of earth. This pattern continued, with all the soldiers falling one by one as the elemental barricade that the mages made grew bigger and bigger in diameter… until finally, the only soldiers left standing were those who were completely frozen in place.

"It's… it's finally over," one of the mages quickly fell to the ground; his fettered breaths serving as some sort of catalyst for the others to also feel the same as they too, dropped to the ground one by one.

"We shouldn't be resting here!" Another mage, however, quickly urged the others to stand up and run away, "I am sure other soldiers are coming!"

And with those words, the only thing the mages could do was let out a collective sigh as they stood up and forced their feet to move.

"A… aren't you coming with us?"

There was one, however, who did not move from his spot-- Emrys.

"No, I was ordered to stay here," Emrys quickly replied.

"What? By who!?"

"By--" And before Emrys could finish his words, a squeamish but muffled scream whispered into all of their ears, "...By him."

Everyone then turned to look in the direction where Emrys was pointing to, only to see the individual that rescued them slowly making his way towards them.

"Oh, you guys are done here?" Van then muttered. His hand…

...completely covering someone's mouth as he carelessly dragged him through the ground.

"Is… isn't that the Prince!?"

"W… Wouldn't we be in even more trouble by doing this!? I… I'm sorry, but I don't want to be involved anymore!"

"T… thank you for saving us. But I share the same sentiment with the others!"

And just like that, all of the mages expressed their gratitude… while running away at the same time, leaving only Emrys standing in front of Van.

"You… abducted the King's brother?" Emrys then asked, his tone containing a hint of worry, "What… are you going to do with him?"

"I…" Van furrowed his eyebrows as he looked at Prince Aurelius straight in the eyes,

"....actually have no idea yet."

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