The panic scream echoed throughout the alley, and even both Eden and Ilya who were outside of it could still hear the desperate tone in it. Of course, they were not alone. Most of the people around here could also hear it. However, they decided to play stupid and ignore it, knowing that meddling in someone's business was the recipe for disaster. Moreover, this was not the first time something like this to happened, and since the city lord himself had never stopped it, all the people in this city knew that there must be someone in a higher position involved in this kind of kidnapping business.
Of course, the same could be said for Eden. He had been living and thriving as a street performer for a while, and the boy knew a lot of dirty things happened in this city. Right now, the best approach should be to bow down and pretend that something like this didn't happen at all. However, before he could say or even do anything else, Ilya, his ever-upright sister, rushed onto the crime scene already.
"Oh, shit! Stupid sister, you are too reckless!" Eden cursed.
Of course, Eden also did the same. There was no way he could let his sister do something dangerous alone. However, the boy was smarter here. He knew that he was not a fighter, and coming there together with Ilya would only make himself a burden. Instead of doing so, he took a longer detour to the other side of the alley, ready to catch whoever the enemy was off guard, and gave an opening for Ilya to strike back.
'Hopefully, whoever is behind this kidnapping accident is not a big shot.' The boy gritted his teeth.
Eden ran as quickly as possible, ignoring some of the people who greeted him on the way to his destination. His breath was ragged, showing clearly that his physical state was far from being acceptable. However, Eden didn't care about that for now. No, what he currently had in mind was a better solution to this messy situation.
'Okay, I am here…' Right after Eden arrived at the other side of the alley, he hid behind one of the building's walls, trying to calm down his nerves. He was panting heavily, sweeping the sweat on his face. From his hiding space, he could hear commotion happening so close to him.
"Hey, hey, Missy! Do you know that meddling in someone's business is not good?" One of the thugs said threateningly.
"Yeah! Do you really want to join her? I am sure we can get a good price for you. Hehehe…" The other thug laughed lecherously.
Curious, Eden peeked from his hiding spot. Here, he could see three thugs surrounding his sister and another girl around his age. The first thug was a tall man with a scar running down his left cheek, his eyes cold and cruel. The second thug was slightly shorter but stockier, with a twisted grin revealing crooked, yellowed teeth. As for the last one, his face was covered with a dark hoodie, but the sturdy wooden plank on his hand was enough to threaten the two young girls in front of him.
Then, Eden's eyes shifted a little toward the two young girls who were surrounded by those thugs. Honestly, he didn't think that Ilya would have a problem with this. After all, she was trained to be a knight, and he knew best about her gorilla power. There was no way three untrained thugs would be able to restrain or even hurt her.
What caught his attention, though, was the young girl who was crying next to Ilya. She was battered and dirt-smudged, having her baby blue dress torn and hanging loosely on her trembling frame. Tears had dried streaks across her dirt-streaked face, her wide eyes shimmering with fear and desperation. She clutched one hand close to her chest, trying to shield herself from the danger, while another one was on the corner of Ilya's shirt.
At first, Eden narrowed his eyes at her, feeling like he had seen her not long ago. When his eyes were on her tattered dress, his eyes suddenly widened in realization. "Shit! She is the City Lord's daughter! She came to my show earlier! Damn, this is going to be a mess!" After all, in his mind, everything related to the official was going to be troublesome.
Of course, Ilya didn't know about that. Even if she knew it, the girl would never back down against such a crime. Her sense of justice would never allow it.
"Huh, three lecherous adults trying to bully a weak, young girl? Don't you have any shame?" She sneered snidely.
"Ha?! You think that you are a superhero, girl?!" A thick vein popped on the first thug's forehead, furious at Ilya's taunt.
"Let's deal with her first, Brother. I want to see her expression when we finally catch her!" The second thug smiled lecherously, imagining a lot of dirty things already.
"Good idea." The third thug nodded, waving the wooden plank on his hand like a sword.
The City Lord's daughter whimpered when the three men were surrounding them. Ilya herself was still pretty calm, patting the girl's shoulder soothingly before smiling at her confidently. "Don't worry, just wait here for me."
Right after that, without giving anyone a chance to react, she charged forward, swinging the wooden sword with surprising agility. The first thug, caught off guard, stumbled backward as her wooden sword connected with his shin, causing him to yelp and reel. Without hesitation, she swung again, knocking the rusted club from his grip and sending him sprawling onto the wet cobblestones. The second thug, trying to flank her, lunged with a sneer, but she darted aside and brought her sword down on his arm, forcing him to retreat with a grunt of pain.
"ARGH!"
"Bastard, you will pay for this, little girl!"
"I will never let you go!"
Despite their injuries, the first two thugs were staggered but not defeated. The third thug, watching her with calculating eyes, saw an opportunity to strike the most vulnerable: the City Lord's daughter, trembling and cornered.
"HA! I GOT HER!"
"OH, NO!" Ilya widened her eyes in surprise, not expecting that the third thug would be cunning enough to target the City Lord's daughter.
The girl also didn't notice that she was dragged several meters away from the City Lord's daughter who she was supposed to protect, and now, even though she was rushing there, she would be two or three steps later than the thug, and if he managed to get the City Lord's daughter on his hand, it would be a hostage situation, and her position would be too passive to make a move. That was definitely not the situation where she wanted to be in.
However, right before the third thug was about to reach the City Lord's daughter, the dark alley that only had a small gap to allow the sun to shine through it suddenly turned completely dark, getting isolated from the outside world. At first, no one knew about what was going on. However, when all the people there turned around, they could see a dragon peeking from above, its breath ragged with hot temperature coming from its nose. It looked at the three thugs for a moment, then suddenly let out a shrill roar that was enough to pierce everyone's eardrums.
ROAR!