The next morning arrived, carrying forward the awkward atmosphere from last night.

Both of us acted as if nothing had happened, while Lena was clueless about everything.

Or so it should be, but I had the suspicion that it was she who caused all this. Though I could not be sure as she was the one who erected the barrier.

Hence, I could only chalk it up to bad luck for having my mother wake up at such an unfortunate time and witnessing what she shouldn't have.

And while it was true that she caught me and Lena in that kind of situation, that was not as embarrassing as the fact that I too caught her in her own compromising state.

So, our awkward morning continued as we finished our breakfast.

Lena, who was usually quite perceptive of such things, acted as if nothing was wrong, even though both Mom and I were acting weirdly.

This only solidified my suspicions of her involvement in all that had happened. Now was not the moment to confront her, though.

"We're already halfway to our destination. We'll be at the capital once we pass the Red Emerald Forest." I said that without looking at any of them. "Let's get going already."

We began advancing at a rather rapid pace because our current location was still within the green plains situated between the Poisonthorn Marshland and the Red Emerald Forest.

Bert galloped through the grassland as if in its own element, saving us much of the time it would have taken to cross the distance by foot.

Around an hour passed before we began to feel some changes in our surroundings. The most obvious was the increase in temperature.

As we approached the forest, even Lena and I could feel the heat despite our strengthened bodies.

I looked down at my mother, who was sitting on my lap like usual.

Though it had been a bit awkward for us to act like we did regularly, our bond was not fragile enough to halt our interactions.

I could see sweat dripping down her head while her clothes were sticking close to her body due to the wetness.

Shaking my head, I wove some mana to form a thin layer around Mom.

"How many times have I told you to tell me if you're not feeling well?" I whispered lightly near her ear.

Mom was a bit stunned for a second before she turned to me with a smile.

"Your mother's not that weak. Besides, you have been taking care of everything before I could even ask for it."

"Oh."

I also smiled as I felt the awkward air between us clear up a bit.

The easiest part of our journey continued for about an hour more before we had to stop again.

"What happened?"

Lena asked as she saw me stop Bert from advancing. She looked around and confirmed that we had yet to arrive at the border of the forest, so she once again looked at me in askance.

"We've got company." Replying with these simple words, I hurriedly placed Mom down before jumping off my mount.

"Wait here and don't leave Mom alone!"

Before Lena could ask anything, I had already employed my mana to increase my speed and vanished from their sights.

Moving forward on the plains, I could already detect the increasing heat as I neared the forest. My attention was on the mana signatures I had detected in front, though.

Of course, my senses were still not advanced enough to detect mana signatures from far away, not to mention when the people in question could suppress their powers.

The reason I could detect it immediately was because of a familiar presence I detected among the group.

It was the same as the fake royal I encountered back in my town.

"So it's the [Demonic Cult] bastards, heh?"

...

"Hey, Boss. Are you sure that guy is going to follow this route?"

A middle-aged man with a burly body and a thug-like appearance spoke while scratching his head. "I'm getting bored of waiting here."

"Shut up!" Another man, dressed in leather armor with some metal parts protecting weak regions, showed an annoyed expression as he looked at his subordinate.

"Don't forget what we are here for!" Saying so, he directed his glance to the side. "You better remain aware of what you're saying; we're in the presence of our employer after all."

Following his gaze, the burly subordinate looked at the group of people who were standing there without making any noise.

All dressed in black garb, there were seven people in total. Six of them were standing in a neat row, and they looked almost identical since they all wore masks.

The seventh was a man seemingly in his thirties. Similarly dressed in black, he exuded a vibe that differed from the other six. His face carried a calm expression, but his eyes contained an evil intent as he gazed at the plain field ahead.

"Boss, maybe we shouldn't have taken this job." A man with a thin frame, having an appearance diametrically opposite to that of the burly man, spoke with some apprehension in his tone. "I don't know why, but I'm having a weirdly bad feeling about this."

"Knock it off!" The middle-aged man who was their leader seemed a bit irritated by his follower's words, but in reality, he too was a bit nervous.

"Yeah, I also don't think that this is a good idea."

"I told you to stop it, didn't—" The leader seemed to have had enough of his men's nonsensical talk as he turned around with an angry expression.

But his face froze the next instant as he found an additional person standing in their midst. The person was wearing a black mask and standing with his hand leisurely placed across the thin man's shoulders.

"Hi, how're you doing?" I greeted the stunned guy before turning to look at the leader of the men in black, who also turned his gaze towards me with a shocked expression. But the next moment, he had already hardened his face, shouting, "You fools! What are you waiting for? Attack him! He's the target!"

His words seemed to rouse the trio from their stupor. Their faces changed, and their cautious gazes turned hostile. Taking out their weapons, they advanced forward.

Thud!

I only had to exert some force as the thin man slumped down, unconscious.

A sword swung toward me, filled with the mana of a master-level expert. It was the sword of the guy who seemed to be leading the trio. Just as I dodged the attack, another, heavier blow came toward my back.

CLANK!

Blocking the blow with a sudden turn, I could feel the brute strength behind the attack. The burly man's face looked a bit red as he tried to exert more force to advance his battle hammer, only to be unsuccessful due to the presence of my unwavering mana.

Backing up a step, I made the guy stumble before striking forward with a kick.

With a loud sound, another guy went down. But by this moment, the two strongest opponents had already prepared themselves for the assault.

The leader of the trio saw me beating down both of his subordinates with ease, but besides frowning a bit, he didn't do anything to save them as he was preparing to unleash a big attack—a technique or something, if I had to guess.

Giving him a look, I then glanced at the black-robed man, who, despite seeing his hired goons getting badly beaten up, didn't seem to be moved. Appearing calm, he advanced forward slowly, giving me a measured glance as if everything were still under his control.

Moving my sight around, I was intrigued as I saw the six masked men, whom the black-robed man was leading, scattering themselves around me.

Most people would probably laugh at having six apprentice-level experts trying to gang up on a peak master-level expert, even a swordsman at that. But having seen many peculiar things, I knew better than anyone else that even the most inconspicuous-looking things could have unimaginable effects. What's more, this group of black-clothed people belonged to a group of outlaws who seemed to specialize in causing trouble at a controlled pace.

As the six masked men finished their encirclement, the trio's leader also moved.

His speed was faster than before, and the long sword of his moved with a keenness that assaulted the spirit.

As I took a leisurely look at the sword technique the guy was executing, my peripheral vision noticed a subtle movement at my side.

Covered by the black clothes of the man from the Demonic Cult as a background. A few throwing knives, as black as night, flew toward me. The technique he employed seemed rather unique, as it caused minimal disturbance. Indeed, only someone at the Grandmaster stage or higher would likely detect it, unless they were paying specific attention, as I was.

With a sidestep, I turned my body to evade the knives in front, taking another step to the other side to avoid the remaining ones. However, just as I completed my evasive maneuvers, the leader of the trio's long-awaited strike arrived, aimed at the middle of my torso.

My companion weapon, the black sword, moved to parry the attack. Though the attack appeared intimidating, it lacked substance, and I easily exploited its flaws before delivering a counterstrike.

With a clanking noise, the trio leader's sword flew from his hand. Without giving him further opportunities, I capitalized on my advantage and struck once again.

A scream escaped his mouth as he fell, clutching his bleeding leg.

"Stop whining; it's only a shallow cut," I remarked. Raising my leg, I gave his head a kick, silencing him as he fainted.

Swish!

I dodged a knife aimed at me while entangled with the trio's leader. Turning to look, I saw the black-robed cultist lowering his hand, still appearing unperturbed by my actions.

"It was a nice show," he said. "But it's time to bring it to a close."

As his words concluded, he raised his hands high and shouted, "Now!"

Sou! Sou! Sou! Sou! Sou! Sou!

Following his command, rays of light shot out from the bodies of the six masked men who had encircled me for a while.

Their speed was so great that even a grandmaster-level expert would have struggled to avoid them.

As the rays appeared just before me, I finally detected that they were mana condensed into the form of rays. However, with no intention to evade them, I allowed the rays to strike my body.

But rather than attempting to harm me, the rays began to curl around my body, enveloping any movable joint before connecting to form a whole.

"Oh?" I looked down, casting an interested gaze at the mana chains that seemed to aim to restrict my movements. I had to admit that they were doing a commendable job. Any other Master-level expert would have found it challenging to escape them.

As I analyzed the chains, the black-robed cultist was already on his way toward me, a short blade appearing in his hand, held in a backhand grip.

His gaze revealed the ferocity he had been suppressing since the beginning as he wore an eerie smile.

"I was wondering what all the fuss was about," he said with a smirk. "After all that, a Sword Saint's disciple amounts to only this."

With those words, he was already before me, his blade-held hand bent backward, aimed at my neck.