Thump-thump, thump-thump—
In less than three seconds, the seven or eight Wizards Slive had summoned were blasted off their feet by Weston's explosive punch, all sent flying, crashing, knocked out, and completely out of the fight.
"Didn't you say they were 'tough'? This is it?"
"Or do they still have some trump card?"
Behind him, Mavis slanted a glance sideways and stared speechlessly at Reiya.
Only to find Reiya utterly stunned by the strength Weston had just shown.
His eyes had turned into solid white bean-dots; beneath his inverted-pentagon nose, two trails of snot, one long and one short, dangled, and his jaw hung so wide it looked dislocated.
His whole body seemed struck by a crushing blow, skin turning stone-gray.
"H-how is this possible—"
"He took out those tricky guys in one hit—"
"Just who in the world is this kid?!"
"Don't tell me when he said he helped the Fiore Royal Family end the war, he wasn't just bragging?!"
Hearing his mutterings, Mavis lost it.
"So you thought we were bluffing?!!!"
Reiya answered honestly, "Judging by your ages, you really don't look capable of something that big! Any normal person would assume it's some green kid talking big without knowing the height of the heavens!"
"Uh... th-that's true—"
Mavis had no comeback.
After all, most people in this world are ordinary.
Geniuses are rare, and a genius among geniuses like Weston shows up once in a century.
As they spoke, the two looked back to the battlefield. Weston had decked those seven or eight Wizards with one punch and immediately turned his sights on Slive.
"Even if Human Subordination is scary, as long as I drop you before you use it, I've got nothing to fear!"
Letter Magic – Haste!
Two glowing "Haste" characters appeared on his legs.
In an instant his speed multiplied several-fold and he became a streak of white light, reappearing above the chieftain.
Right fist clenched, he hammered it down toward the man's skull!
Right then—
Boom-boom-boom—
With the sound of a magic portal opening, a huge crowd materialized between them.
The punch's path was blocked.
Weston was ready to smash through anyway, but the moment his eyes landed on those people he froze, then flashed back to Mavis and the others as a streak of light.
"You really are sick in the head!"
"Using ordinary folk as your meat shields?!"
Once Human Subordination enslaves people, they can be summoned anytime, anywhere, just like Celestial Spirits.
And what Slive had just called forth were the "subjects" of his kingdom: ordinary people lured here and then enslaved.
A Wizard would only need some rest after taking Weston's punch before bouncing around again.
Ordinary humans couldn't handle it.
Their bodies are too weak, so one blow could leave them bedridden for months or crippled for life.
That was something Weston could never accept.
"Heh-heh-heh—"
"So what?"
"I'm the king, and they're slaves, so using them as shields is only natural."
"They should feel honored to be my shield and protect me with their lives!"
"With this magic I can have as many slaves as I want."
Slive grinned at Weston, utterly cocky.
Facing such shameless malice, and seeing the terrified, tear-streaked innocents forced to stand in front of him, Mavis trembled with rage.
"How can someone like this exist—"
"A man like that has no right to call himself a king!!"
Reiya looked equally grim. "Every time I attacked, he'd pull this trick of using mind-controlled civilians as shields, tying my hands so I couldn't strike."
"That's why I've never been able to beat him."
"Unless we solve this, we're helpless!"
As they spoke, Slive launched his own assault.
With a sweep of his staff, hundreds more people appeared out of thin air.
Unarmed and ragged, they moved like automatons, advancing step by step under Slive's control.
Clawing and scratching, wailing and cursing.
The scene was grotesque, give these people a coat of zombie paint and it would be a living dead siege straight out of a movie.
Dodging the mob, Weston and Mavis hashed out a plan.
"This is bad, should we just take them out too?"
"No!"
"They're innocent and controlled, we can't do that!"
"But if we don't fight back, we let them hit us? Hesitation will only get us killed!"
Weston pointed at Reiya, who'd been swarmed and was now getting pummeled on the ground.
"Look at him."
"Those injuries of his? Probably from this exact situation."
"Wait, I've got an idea!"
After a few seconds' thought, Mavis's gaze sharpened.
She stopped, clapped her hands together, and channeled her magic.
"Binding Chains!!"
A deafening rumble followed.
Countless chains burst from the earth, whipping out to pin the civilians' limbs and lock them in place.
Arc of Embodiment!
Thanks to her move, Reiya finally broke free, half his clothes torn as he jogged over.
"Nice work, little lady!!"
"Now I can fight all-out!"
"Not yet!"
Mavis barked, and Weston, quicker still, grabbed Reiya by the collar and yanked him back.
"What's wrong?"
Weston explained, "Mavis only restrained this batch, the root problem's still there."
"If he could summon them once, he can summon a second wave."
"Rushing in now would just repeat the same mess!"
"O-oh, right—"
Reiya calmed. "So what do we do?"
"We need the right moment..."
Suddenly wind howled behind them.
"Watch out!!"
Weston shoved Mavis and Reiya to the ground.
Whoosh!!
A violent gust skimmed over their heads.
When they looked up, they saw the one who'd launched the sneak attack was Joey!