"What happened!? Did that come from the Lord's Manor!?"

"You're kidding me, an attack!?"

"Is the Countess and her family okay!? Dear Goddesses, please protect them."

Everyone grew warry of the situation. The people of the city did not run away; they rushed to the manor, carrying buckets of water, trying to see if they could help in any way.

"Mama, what's happening?" A shaking voice came from terrified Filla. Her imagination was getting the best of her.

However, at that moment, Mina was also shaking. Unpleasant memories rushed, 'It's just like that time, I-I…'

She was trembling from fear.

"Mama…?"

But then, she saw her daughters' faces. The fear she held disappeared. She remembered Maya, her mother, and how she was facing things she was most fearful of.

'A mother must be strong so that her children can feel secure.' Mina clenched her fist and touched her belly, "Don't worry, everything's all right. Mama's here." Mina's voice was no longer shaking.

She was praying for the best and was ready to escape. However, from the corner of her eyes, she saw a white shadow passed by.

"Mary! Watch out!"

Mary, who was stunned at the sight of the Edgeworth Manor being attacked, failed to hear Mina's cries.

Mary lost the ability to move and only regrouped herself when someone took her by the hair and hammered her head on the ground.

"GAH!" Mary couldn't do anything, and the white-haired man who had been silent took out Mary without missing a beat.

Mary didn't lose consciousness, but no longer had the strength to move or even raise her head.

The white-haired man shook his head and turned to the carriage.

He entered the carriage only to be greeted by a fist of a Healer-Mage square to the face.

BAM!

"Get the hell away from my family!" A powerful voice sounded out from inside the carriage.

It was a powerful impact that drew blood from the enemy. And yet, the white-haired man didn't even move a single step backward.

He merely laughed, saying, "Commendable, but your fist is shaking."

The white-haired man grabbed Mina's wrist, pulled her towards him, and then headbutted her, knocking out the cowering Mina.

"Okay, you're coming with me. Now, I need one of the brats."

While speaking, light exploded from behind Mina. A yellow light that was laced with red light coated Hylda's body.

A spear pierced the air.

It was unexpected that even Hylda, the one who executed the attack, didn't know that she was already making a move.

It may have been because there was no pressure or the shock of seeing Mina getting attacked, but Hylda moved to protect her mother.

She was weak, unbelievably weak.

She knew of this, but for Hylda, it didn't matter. 

Mina was one someone who accepted someone like her as a daughter. She cared for them wholeheartedly. She was the one who gave her the feeling of having a mother, and most importantly, she's her mother.

"Get away from my mother!" Hylda desperately wanted to protect this newfound family.

She fearlessly jumped forward with the weapon she brought to make a demonstration in the Orphanage. The tip of her spear didn't have a specific trajectory. It was pointed at the man, and that was all that mattered.

However, that spear was caught by two fingers. The white-haired man grabbed the spear's shaft and swung it with its handler to the carriage walls, bashing Hylda's body on the wall.

Hylda coughed up blood. Her organs had been damaged.

The white-haired man looked over at Hylda, "Poor lass." he said with a sadistic smile.

On one side of the carriage was Filla, who was frantically trying to form a spell. Under the pressure of seeing Hylda and Mina get hurt, Filla's mind became erratic.

Failing to conjure even a Magic Circle, Filla couldn't cast a single spell.

Tears were flowing down her face. She was afraid and trembled, yet she tried facing the white-haired man, "G-get away from them! I-I've been trained by Grampapy, y-you don't scare me."

She wanted to do something. But in the end, she amounted to nothing.

"You'll do, I supposed."

The white-haired man approached Filla and hit her in the solar plexus. The blow was enough to make the lass lapse into unconsciousness!

Carrying Filla and Mina, the white-haired man, looked back at Hylda and thought, "It's best if I send out a stronger message."

His grin became even wider as he raised his leg. He wanted to smash Hylda's head to make a stronger impression; however, a dense killing intent swept past him.

Mina's hands moved and grabbed his neck. A pair of bloodshot eyes opened wide, and her fingers became akin to steel, "DON'T TOUCH HER!"

However, a few seconds later, Mina's fingers lost its strength. Blood continuously flowed out of the cut on her head. She had lost too much blood.

The man felt his neck break free of her grasps. He couldn't say anything for a good three seconds, and only the massive pressure coming from the Edgeworth Manor broke him out of that trance.

'Tch, the Monster of the Manor had broken out of shock. I can't stay here any longer. Besides, this woman…is someone I really like.' His grin could not get any bigger.

With Mina and Filla in his hand, the man stepped out of the carriage. He didn't even notice that he wrote off killing Hylda.

Mary, who was trying her best to stand up, caught the man's attention and had her legs broken as it was stepped on.

"If you want them to leave, then give us the heads of Shickly and Liron in 32 hours. If you fail to comply, then we will send you the head of these two instead."

The man in white left with a pleasant smile. Mary was there, writhing in pain, and Hylda was hanging by a tread.

The man in white quickly moved away. Escaping amidst the sea of troubled people, it was reasonably easy to make an escape.

He went over the walls, and when he turned his attention to Edgeworth Manor for a second, a terrifying amount of aura and bloodlust escaped the premises.

'The Mages should be dead by now…we got what we came for. This should be enough.'

And as he left, a hurrying white carriage entered the city.

Colt had arrived, the exact moment Mina was taken.