Draven looked at the laughing men in front of him, his face expressionless.
"Our young patriarch guessed you would surely send your sister back to the academy. It was just a guess, but I didn't expect he would be spot on," one of the policemen said.
"This time, we are ordered to kill you and bring Miss Jessy back to the Stonewill family. After all, we gave you a chance already. Since you didn't appreciate it, we can only do this the hard way."
Draven signaled for Jessy to go back to her room and drew two cleavers from the scabbard at his waist.
Although Jessy was also at the 8th stage of the Mortal Realm, she knew she would only be a burden to Draven if she stayed, so she swiftly bolted back to her room and locked the door from the inside.
The six men didn't stop her. In their eyes, if the mother tiger was killed, capturing its cub would not be a difficult task.
Elemental energy wrapped around their bodies as their auras intensified tenfold, pressuring down on Draven like an invisible mountain. Four of them took out swords from their storage rings, while the remaining two pulled out silver guns loaded with elemental bullets.
Bang… Bang…
Several gunshots rang out, and bullets emitting cold essence energy rushed towards Draven like phantoms.
Clang… Clang…
Draven easily deflected the bullets with his cleavers. With his vital chi at the very peak of the Mortal Realm in every aspect, he was nothing short of a magic beast. Even if the bullets had struck him, it was unsure if they could have caused much harm.
Seeing the bullets deflected so easily, the six men's expressions turned serious. The four policemen holding swords channeled their essence energy into their weapons, and blazing fire erupted from the blades.
But before they could swing their swords, Draven appeared before them like a ghost. The temperature around them shifted instantly as a bone-chilling killing intent pressed down on them like the waves of a raging sea.
The six men even smelled the iron-like scent of fresh blood from Draven's aura alone, stunning them on the spot like six pigs in front of a butcher with no way to resist.
Thud… Thud… Thud…
Within seconds, the six men at the top of the Mortal Realm fell to the ground, twitching, their heads separated from their bodies.
Draven sheathed his cleavers back into the scabbard and picked up the two silver pistols from the ground.
"Brother…" A small head peeked out from her room just then, calling out to Draven in a low voice.
The killing intent around Draven vanished in an instant, replaced by a harmless smile for his little sister. He tossed the two guns to her. "They are elemental guns with no attribute restriction. Keep them."
Jessy caught them in a hurry and looked at Draven anxiously. "Brother, won't killing these people alert the local police?"
"Indeed, it will. And that is exactly what the Stonewills want. Once I am captured by the police, you will be a defenseless lamb they can slaughter whenever they want. It shows they are still taking me as a serious threat. Otherwise, their patriarch would have come instead of these weaklings." Draven narrowed his eyes.
"Jessy, pack all your necessary things and keep them in this storage ring." Draven took a ring from his finger and tossed it to Jessy. "All the cultivation techniques and resources left behind by father are also inside. Use them as you see fit."
Jessy nodded hurriedly and rushed back to her room to pack her things. They had to leave the house before the real police arrived at the scene.
Soon, Jessy changed back into her school uniform, and both of them left the house for the parking shed, where Draven's Tier-1 Black Phantom superbike was parked.
Black Phantom was a popular aircraft company that also produced custom superbikes and cars. Draven's Tier-1 super bike was customized so that its acceleration could reach the speed of a 1st-stage Ascendant Realm Swift Eagle.
If not for Draven's body reaching the very peak of the Mortal Realm, there was no way he could control this bike, as its speed was too quick for any normal person to even react to.
"Hey, William," Draven took out his smartphone and called Jessy's homeroom teacher.
"What's up, buddy?" a young man's voice came from the other side.
"Take the metro and come to the station at the 36th stronghold. Something happened. I'm leaving Jessy in your care." Draven didn't wait for a reply as he hung up and left for the metro on his superbike with Jessy.
Jessy's homeroom teacher was from the 36th stronghold and was Draven's childhood friend, so Draven knew him well enough to trust Jessy's safety in his hands.
Vroom…
With a silent burst of the engine starting, the Black Phantom rushed forward like a bullet. Even though there were several vehicles on the road, Draven managed to expertly weave through the traffic without slowing down.
Behind him, Jessy hugged him tightly. Every time she traveled on this thing, it felt as though she would fly off the bike if she loosened her hold even a little. If not for the urgent situation, even if Draven begged her, she would not have dared to sit on this crazy machine.
Draven didn't care, though. For him, with his senses at the very peak of the Mortal Realm, it felt like he was riding an ordinary super bike instead of a Tier-1 Black Phantom.
With the insane speed of the superbike, they reached the metro station in less than an hour.
William, a young man with golden glasses, and his lover, Lilly, were waiting outside the station for them.
"Sister Lilly."
"Brother William."
Draven greeted both of them with a smile and explained the whole situation.
William sighed after hearing the full story. "Buddy, are you sure you can handle the situation here on your own?"
"I may be a cripple, but I am still one of the top hunters in the 36th stronghold. If I really want to escape, the Stonewills won't be able to stop me." Draven brushed the question off with a smile and pushed the teary-eyed Jessy towards Lilly. "Sister Lilly, I am entrusting her to you. Please look after her for me."
"Brother, why don't you come back with us? In the 35th stronghold, with the influence of the Phoenix Academy, no one will dare to touch you," Jessy pleaded in a soft voice.
Draven ignored her question and said to William with a smile, "The local police will soon find the dead bodies in my house. I have to enter the forest before that. So, until we see each other next time, bye."
After waving goodbye, he left on his Black Phantom, heading towards the main gate of the 36th stronghold.
Jessy pursed her lips as she watched Draven ride away, her eyes already red from crying.
William patted her head with a light smile. "Your brother is a cockroach. Even if the entire Stonewill family goes after him, the one smiling at the end will surely be him. As his best friend, I at least have that much confidence in him."