Atlos looked on evermore gravely. He tightened his fists and declared with his back towards his children.

“You must run. You must survive. Your mother would never forgive me if you don’t.”

Raphael and Jacquelin stood still and bit their lips before nodding reluctantly. This was far too different from when they faced the Dark Elf. In this case, the situation was utterly hopeless with the presence of the incomprehensible blonde youth. They turned towards their siblings who already knew what they had to do and resolved themselves with trembling eyes. They all held out their hands and Raphael began to feel mana surge within him. His finger sparked with green electricity and he began drawing a spell circle around the children on the ground. After he was done, he nodded his head towards his Father before he spoke only one thing.

“Fast.”

And then they disappeared. It was not a teleportation circle, but one that increased their speed tremendously such that an enemy, no matter who, could not catch them for a specific time. It was an unbelievable spell only engineered and usable by Raphael, but it came at the unbelievable cost of all the children’s mana and their inability to use it for a month, which was devastating considering how much of their strength was based on it.

Atlos sighed in relief when he heard the spell go off. He was satisfied with himself. The only thing he could do now was hold back the enemy for as long as possible. When the number of conscious and able fighters whittled down to the tens, Atlos imbued his whole body with mana. His thick muscles bulged and he crouched before shooting straight forwards like a cannonball towards Charles who had just thrown away the limp body of a minotaur.

Charles raised his brows slightly after feeling a wild energy quickly honing in on his position. The person with this energy was much faster than those he fought so far. After fighting such a boring battle, he was somewhat hopeful that someone could actually entertain him.

So he stood there without moving an inch, intending to take the attack head on. Atlos appeared quickly right in front of Charles and madly swung his fist. A gigantic shockwave blew away the clusters of bodies that had collected around Charles. Those who were still conscious but unable to fight looked on at the scene, awestruck. They only knew one person with that kind of strength, and it was the one who was called a genius in close combat and mana manipulation: Atlos Aquarios, rumored to be only below the overall strength of the Dark Elves’ Elders and the ancient powers of Solvenheim.

But they were further stunned by the subsequent scene. Atlos’s arm and fist was trembling and was locked in place against the face of his opponent. Charles didn’t even flinch! However, instead of the usually cold expression, this time, Charles wore a little smile and stared straight at Atlos whose eyes held unyielding mettle and fighting spirit.

“Now this guy...he seems like he might be worth training,” Charles said before casually removing the fist on his face and gripped it firmly. “Though I’m restraining my aura and strength to an extreme degree right now, it was still somewhat decent.”

Atlos didn’t listen. With his remaining mana and willpower, he had quickly swung his free fist towards Charles’s face. However, the fist stopped just before it made contact. Atlos’s arm dropped down and he instantly blacked out. His body collapsed on a fist that was buried deep in his stomach.

“But that blow was still as light as a bloody feather to me,” Charles laughed and let Atlos’s body fall to the ground.

Charles quickly took care of the remaining stragglers and the general vicinity quickly became silent. That is, with the exception of crunching and drinking noises. A distance away from the fight, a black figure and a figure with a beige cloak were relaxing on two striped long chairs. There was a table of snacks between them. Charles gave an annoyed look to the duo before disappearing in search of the ones who had managed to escape from before.

“Hmm, it seems we've been forgotten. That was a somewhat lackluster exchange, as well. Mr. Em, couldn’t we have just tied them up and then inform them of their current circumstances?”

“Eh, that’s too boring.”

“I see. Also, what are these edible substances called? Good thing I created taste buds for myself, or I wouldn’t have been able to partake in such delicacies!”

“Soda and popcorn.”

“Amazing!”

Charles appeared in front of the two a while later with Atlos’s unconscious children slung over his shoulders.

“Oi, Tim you bloody bastard. I only have self-regeneration,” he explained before roughly shoving them to the floor. “Heal these brats. They’ve overexerted themselves but I don’t know how.”

“Oh yeah, the concept of ‘mana’ doesn’t exist in your realm, doesn’t it!” Em recalled while munching on popcorn. “Tim, heal the others too while you’re at it and gather them up in one place. You’ve got some work to do too, you know.”

“Yes, Mr. Em,” complied Tim before getting off his seat and floating towards the battered and bloodied bodies.

Charles promptly took his place in Tim’s seat and grabbed a handful of popcorn before throwing them into his mouth. Em titled his head and stared. Charles turned away.

“That bastard seemed to like it. So...Don’t judge meーOh! this is bloody good!”

Em smirked under his mask and asked, “How’d you and Tim come to peace anyway?”

“We didn’t. We came to a temporary ceasefire after I killed him for the 1,247th time. Although I’d never admit it to the bastard, but it was partly my fault for overreacting. After all, I’m the one that loves battle but he just wanted to defend his home,” he explained. “By the way, what was the point of beating up those weaklings? I didn’t get as much of a kick out of it as I expected, besides that one human.”

“To prevent them from acting up later on,” Em explained sagely and added with a chuckle, “but mostly for my own enjoyment.”

Em got up from his seat and stretched with a satisfied sigh.

“It was nice seeing you guys, but I’m going back for a bit. Tell Tim to do the talking. And,” he said before dusting off his cloak, “be prepared for more ‘inhabitants’ in the future.”

Em disappeared, leaving the nonchalant Charles who continued ravaging the snacks. The bodies already returned to their previous states, courtesy of Tim, with the exception of damaged clothes and armor. However, the bodies were all piled up messily and Tim continued to throw on more ruthlessly, treating them like sacks of potatoes.

“Is that all of them!” Tim shouted to Charles.

“How the bloody hell should I know!” Charles yelled back.

You were the one to beat them black and blue…

Tim thought and looked towards the mountain of unconscious creatures and peoples of various races.

“Also, the masked douche said to talk to them when they wake up!” Charles called out before gulping down some soda.

For those who were forcefully taken from their world on the whim of one masked madman, it was soon going to be the start of training under a hellish hero and a docile demon.