The slaver raised his foot again to kick, when suddenly Suri placed her body over Luri's, shielding him. The man paused, frowning. He couldn't harm Suri at all, the request stated that specifically. He scoffed and bent forward, reaching towards Suri to throw her aside.
Suri closed her eyes and gripped her brother tight, refusing to let go.
John watched the events unfold and nodded his head in approval. He had wanted to see the true colors of the youths before he decided to help them, and Suri's selfless acts revealed her kind heart. These were the kinds of people he could trust for now, the kind of people who could help him navigate this mysterious world.
Bang!
The sound of metal shattering rang out loudly within the cage, starling all those within. The slaver's head snapped towards John, his eyes going wide as he noticed the chains binding his feet had been broken into pieces.
Luri and Suri stared with wide eyes as well, almost unable to believe what they were seeing.
John ignored the shocked expressions, and eyed the slaver before him calmly.
"I guess I'll start with you."
"What?" the man exclaimed, shocked. "How? Those chains can bind even a Half-Step World Expansion cultivator? Were the chains faulty? They must have been."
Upon saying this, the man's shocked expression faded away, an angered look replacing it instead.
"You fucking brat," he growled, walking towards John confidently. "You dared to break our merchandise? Your lucky, little brat," the man said, looking over his shoulder at Luri, "this boy has decided to take your punishment instead."
John smiled widely, his blood lust instantly ignited.
Before the man could react, he found his throat in the grasp of the youth before him, the feeling of impending death overwhelming him. His eyes went wide with fear.
…
Several miles ahead, the group of slaver cultivators surveyed the open area, making sure there was no one else around. They were doing something so illegal being caught was punishable by death, and so made sure to be extra cautious.
"The last stretch towards the beach is always the most dangerous," the scar-faced man said, "but thankfully it seems like no one is around."
He turned around and nodded at one of the other slavers, one of the females.
"Go help Pelero with the caravan. We'll wait here," the scar-faced man said.
The woman nodded, and then sped back towards the forest in the distance. The scar-faced man watched her go, then returned his gaze to the ocean that stretched out before them. A large smile appeared on his face.
"This haul is going to net us quite a profit. It was quite the risk, but it paid off in the end," he said, the others nodding and smiling as well.
…
Luri, Suri, and the other slaves within the cage stared at John with absolute shock, as if they had just seen the most impossible thing happen. They slowly turned their eyes down, studying the man lying on the floor, his body crumpled in a lifeless heap.
It had all happened so fast, none of them had yet to grasp what had happened.
The mysterious youth had broken his chains somehow, and then without the other man being able to react, he had grasped the slaver's neck and snapped it, killing him instantly. Their wide eyes returned to John, unable to grasp what had occurred.
The mysterious youth was only in the Early Dao Transformation Realm, and yet had instantly killed a Late Dao Transformation cultivator. Even if it had been a surprise attack, bridging such a gap was utterly impossible. The slaver should have been able to react in time, should have been able to easily resist John's power, and yet he hadn't.
He had died instantly, without putting up a single shred of resistance.
"Do….do you know what you have done?" one of the middle-aged slaves exclaimed, finally reclaiming their wits.
John turned his gaze towards the man, who trembled under his gaze.
"I've killed the slaver," John said calmly. "Shouldn't you be happy?"
"Happy?" the man said through trembling lips. "Now we're all dead! They're going to find out what you did, and kill us all!"
John raised an eyebrow, and then ignored the man. It wasn't even worth his time talking to a person who had lost all will to resist his captivity. His gaze shifted to Luri and Suri, who stared at him with wide eyes, eyes filled with awe, and also fear.
John smiled at the two of them, understanding their instinctual fear of him. His blood lust had exploded out for a moment as he killed the man, a blood lust thickened by constant slaughter. To innocent youths like those two, such a bloodlust would no doubt cause instinctual fear.
John's warm smile seemed to put the two at ease, at least a bit. The two scrambled to their feet, their eyes widening again as John's figure vanished.
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
The shattering of chains filled the cage, which returned to silence a moment later. The eyes of everyone within went wide with shock once more as they stared at their feet, the chains binding them completely shattered.
They looked up again, at John who now stood before Luri and Suri. In an instant, he had destroyed the chains binding all of them. Chains that could only be broken by Half-Step World Expansion cultivators, and even then, not easily.
"Who…who are you?" the man who had yelled at John just moments ago asked, eyes wide, lips trembling. John glanced at him calmly.
"No one," he said, "and I suggest you leave right now. This place is about to get quite rowdy soon."
The others instantly understood John's words. He intended to fight against the other slavers! Disbelief once again filled their minds, stunning them stiff.
"Go," John growled at them, stirring them from their shock. They each scrambled to their feet and sped out the cage, giving him one last glance before shooting into the distant forest. Despite the dangers of the forest, it would be a good place to hide from the slavers once they no doubt killed John and came looking for them.
John ignored them, instead looking at Luri and Suri standing before him. Both stared at him with wide eyes filled with wondrous awe. Luri was the first to snap out of his shock, and then grabbed his sister's hand.
"We should get out of here, before the others return!" he exclaimed, pulling on Suri's hand. Suri nodded, her stunned gaze still lingering on John's face. The two quickly left the cart and then called for John to follow.
"Come on! We need to leave before the other retu-"
His words cut off suddenly.
John calmly stepped out of the cage and landed on the ground, eyeing the woman cultivator who had appeared before them. She held Luri by the neck, her face red with confused fury.
"Where is Pelero?" she asked, shifting her gaze to John as he stepped out of the cart. "Why are you all out of the cart, unbound?"
John slowly raised his hand and pointed to the side of her, as if indicating where this 'Pelero' was. John shifted his finger to the woman's head, her eyes widening as a flash of bright lightning exploded out of John's finger, slamming into her head before she could react.
