The situation didn't look too good for the otherworlders as far as Mikella can discern.

A group of jackasses who thought of themselves as heroes decided to go and murder a bunch of scared and unarmed masses who can't even get a handle of their weapons, let alone their levels and skills.

Worse yet, they didn't seem keen on diplomacy, considering that they had already deemed them bad enough to be slaughtered on first sight.

However, Mikella didn't lose her temper. Normally, she would go apeshit and try to kill the first enemy she spotted, particularly that flashy assassin that seemed to send stalker vibes to Janet. A fellow assassin, apparently, and someone who had just learned about her identity as an otherworlder.

However, her experiences with dealing with otherworlders taught her better. The last thing she wanted was to lose the otherworlders like she did with Amber, and the first thing she needed to know was how to safeguard the innocent behind her.

However, they didn't even give them time to plan before the attacks started and headed straight for them.

Or rather, at Zeke.

Her eyes widened to find that not only the flashy assassin, but nearly every one of the attackers aimed straight for Zeke. His own eyes widened at the realization, each skill and spell created and formed to go after him.

A chunk of flames, debris of stones, and spears of ice flew right at him. Even that sickly yellow flame was aiming straight for him, obviously belonging to the assassin. It was as though the otherworlders were no longer their main concern.

They were aiming for Zeke this entire time. And who else knew how valuable Zeke was to the party other than the fake traitor that stood near them?

She glowered at the fake Hamil who watched the entire thing with indifference, his arms crossed with those eyes that seemed to care not a whiff of human life being lost.

Zeke reacted quickly, knowing well that dodging out of the way would only let the attacks land on the otherworlders behind him.

His hands became a blur of motion. His arms were coated in that white metallic sheen, showing he was using Mythril Skin. But he was also using that same bluish energy generated by the gauntlets, covering his hands entirely and creating a film-like substance that seemed to turn sharp to her eyes.

His tattoos glowed as he struck at each attack, his fists dispersing some of the physical spells like earth and ice while deflecting the immaterial spells like fire and air slices. Normally using just your fists alone, even with a defensive skill active, would be difficult. But the energy generated by the gauntlets seem to affect the spells in a way that disrupts their structure, destroying them in the process. That was new, considering that he hadn't tried that with Mikella, but now she just knew that Zeke totally planned on using this method for her lightning.

Mikella also didn't just stand still. Lightning covered her body as she launched them at the spells, destroying them entirely as only her attunement can do. Her type of lightning was the type that overruns everything if given enough juice, and with the aid of her Mythic Skill Tempest Dance Mastery, her lightning was just too powerful to fight against.

She wasn't the only one–Saang and Kote each threw their own ranged attacks, one an orb of blood that easily forced some of their attacks to be dispersed while sharp bones flew straight at the attackers.

Some managed to defend themselves with either their shields or their own types of barrier skills, but others were struck hard and easily started to pale around their faces. Whatever Kote threw at them, it must have had something to do with that new skill he gained from their last tower venture.

An all-out brawl assumed. Lyle stayed behind with Janet who was still recovering from overusing her attunement, but he made a nod at the group to protect the otherworlders while the four Journeymen moved ahead.

Saang and Kote took on the group near the fake Hamil, who strangely seemed to be moving further away as though trying to avoid fighting altogether.

Zeke went ahead to face the group of random adventurers and the knights belonging to the House Corran. Out of the two, Zeke had the largest number of attackers aiming right at them.

Mikella, however, went to face the only one stronger than anyone else–the flashy assassin. Even after identifying him, it didn't deter her one bit.

Assassin, Level 92.

An advanced Journeyman, just a few levels away from 100, the level required to reach Master stage. Even then, Mikella's sword spun around her as she aimed right at his head.

The assassin, apparently named Tack according to Janet, moved aside his head, dodging the powerful strike that sent out a wave of pressured air that caused a dent to form on the nearest skyscraper-like tree behind him. Tack continued forward with a fist wreathed in yellow flames, trying to aim at her neck.

She twisted around such an easy-to-follow attack, but found herself getting kicked by the knee and being forced to kneel for a short moment.

His other hand came after her face, completely wreathed in his yellow flames. She ducked far lower than a normal body can bend, proving her Dexterity being her main stat. She twisted and spun herself backwards, somersaulting away from the assassin before he howled after her, an excited and disturbing grin on his face.

"Come on!" Tack screamed. "Let me hear you squeal!"

The crazed assassin clawed at her, his face distorting to reveal that twisted giant grin that shouldn't belong to any human. Mikella zoned out, focusing entirely on the enemy in front of her. Rather than a human, it felt like fighting a longed-limbed creature, both its hands and feet riddled with flames that were dangerous to the touch.

Not that it would burn her, but something worse. She didn't see the effects herself, blowing away the flames before reaching the otherworlders. But Zeke showed that he had difficulty getting rid of the flames from his mithril arms.

That meant that they had a coiling effect that would stick to you, and considering Mikella's middling defenses compared to Zeke, one hit would put her out of bounds. That was not in the plans if she wants to save the otherworlders from this tower.

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She noticed at the corner of her eye that Lyle and Janet were taking it easy, most of the attackers aiming straight for Zeke instead. It looked like both Saang and Kote chased after the fleeing imposter, leaving the battlefield entirely. And even when some of the attackers, either a guard or a hired adventurer would ignore Zeke and head straight to the otherworlders, Zeke would be there to take them out quickly as they were distracted.

That left Mikella enough time and room to face this highly leveled psychopath. She began her dance of death with him, letting the flow of her moves push him at bay.

Mikella's sword flew past Jack's head in a sharp arc before he reacted with a claw attack that painted a row of yellow flames that spewed out like a waterfall. She dodged it easily out of the way, her body boosted by her enhancement skills. Jack put his hands together, and suddenly out came a twisting barrage of flames that looked similar to sharpened knives tied with a single string flying towards her.

She flared Elemental Maw, and an ethereal lightning-like dragon's mouth formed around her head, opening its maw and chomping down the entire spell in one go. That definitely got Tack surprised, leaving Mikella to pull out a spear from her pack and send it flying onto the ground, right where Jack's leg was formerly at before he dashed away with the help of his yellow flames.

She had to fight off the urge to vomit from yellow flames she took into her body. While the spell completely disappeared, she could practically feel its stench hitting her channels where she stole the mana from. She decided in her head to call it Fart Flames from now on. It was perfect for a man like him whose head was so far up his ass from his howls and taunts throughout the entire fight.

He looked like the type of fighter that relies on intimidation and feint tactics, as befitting of an assassin. But the way he fought was carefully styled to bring out more fear and panic of his targets rather than making them make a mistake. He derived pleasure from this, no matter if it was part of his mission or not.

So she decided to do the same. She pulled out two more swords out into the air from her pack and threw them at the man. Surprised, he dodged them rather easily, his body slithering away in an unnatural grace.

The man still managed to show that sick smile on his face, noticing the swords stuck to the ground.

"Aww, look at you throwing away such perfectly good weapons," Jack shook his head, putting on a faux look of disappointment. "Women like you are the reason why good men like us always have to pay more for your pleasure. Hah, I can't imagine how that partner of yours can handle–"

Tack clammed up and twisted his body, almost missing the two swords aiming for his head. One of them at least managed to graze his cheek, leaving a cauterized cut. The sword then flew back to Mikella's side, electricity coiling around the metal just like its twin as it floated behind her. She smiled upon seeing Tack's eyes widened at the sight.

"You were saying?"

…..

It worried Zeke to see Mikella fighting that psycho assassin at level 92, but he had other priorities sitting in front of him.

Such as an entire squad trying to kill him. He can only figure out that the imposter told them valuable information outside of their identity as otherworlders, such as their builds and fighting style. They merely decided to take out the support of the group first before doing anything else.

It was too bad that they didn't expect him to have a backbone. Even now, they were taken aback by how many times Zeke fought off even against the warrior types that should've easily been the support's bane. Even more so considering that with Zeke's Mana Manipulation, Kinetic Manipulation, Restoration, and even Battle Runecraft active, he could see their weapons were coated with some type of powerful enchantment and runes that were useless against his combat style.

He can't really tell what type it was, but he could hazard a guess that it was meant to disrupt or eradicate any kind of magical barrier. But not once had Zeke used any kind of magic so far except to boost his body with his magic.

Normally, even against other Journeymen, Zeke should be having a hard time. But his gauntlets completely got rid of the barrier between combat and crafter classes. He really needed to thank Cru for such an incredible weapon that could circumvent any inconvenience a battle runist like Zeke would have.

Some even tried to sneak in a spell or two to hit him in the back of his head, but he either dodged them or was 'conveniently' blocked by Zeke pulling in a fighter's head to take the blow. He was particularly proud of that.

There was also another thing. These journeymen had no teamwork whatsoever. The knights seemed focused on tackling him together, but the adventurers were off doing their own thing, either attacking Kote and Saang or at the otherworlders which Lyle picked off with a surprise paralyzing dagger thrown at them.

But soon his eyes spotted the captain that loudly declared their intentions as if he was the protagonist of some story. He didn't even realize that he was just one of the few Zeke managed to sucker punch throughout the brawl, showing an intensely bluish purple mark on his eye and right cheek. He looked more than angry, his face scowling and sneering at the single man overtaking the group by a mile.

Then he pulled something out from behind his back, possibly his pack. A small glistening white crystal showed in his palms, shaped into a hedonoxical shape with inscriptions glowing like neon lights. His gut tied into a knot at the sight of some unknown item.

"Zeke!" Lyle shouted. "That guy's got a Null Void!"

"The hell's a Null Void?!"

Zeke questioned, but it was too late. There were too many bodies that stood in Zeke's way before the captain managed to throw the Null Void to the ground and caused it to shatter into pieces.

A veil of faint white flowed from the crystal, covering the entire battlefield, the camp, and even beyong the treeline.

There, all the mana surrounding him vanished. His Mana Manipulation turned mute, and his body went through a rapid decrease in power as his buffs suddenly disappeared. His gauntlets felt heavy, and his body weakened severely.

He panted, his body disconnected with his own mana thanks to the veil around them, causing his channels to get stifled after using them unpeeded for so long. It was as though his body could no longer connect with the mana around him, leaving his own mana channels to dry up quickly.

An item that creates a field that stops people from using magic? Surely in a place like Arcelot, this sort of thing was illegal to use.

The captain pointed his sword at Zeke, a righteous look of defiance on his grin.

"Now you shall be punished for your crimes, invader! No longer shall you contaminate our world's air with your vile magic!"

"You do know it's the same thing as yours, right?" Zeke called out without even thinking. His words just rubbed him the wrong way. "We don't even have magic in our world."

"Enough nonsense!" The captain said quickly before making a gesture at his men. "Slaughter him!"

The others in the attacker's group went ahead, making Zeke realize that it wasn't just him that was affected. None of them used their spells, and their own mana was snuffed out even from their armor and weapons. It looked like this Null Void item affects everyone, not just their enemies.

Zeke breathed slowly, his other skills still working fine. With Iron Parallel Thought, he thought about his current options now that magic was out. Sensing his body, he could feel that his own mana was still active, but just wasn't able to regenerate as easily now that the connection to the outside world was snuffed out. In a sense, he could still activate his buffs.

But he put that thought to the side for now. With no magic available, he really only had his body to work with. His stats returned to normal, making him weaker than your average fighter.

But his skills didn't disappear. He could still use Unarmed Mastery and Kinetic Manipulation. His resistance skills were still working, and even Saang and Kote seemed ready to fight even if they were weakened.

He recalled hearing Mikella's words about feeling the flow, how one can control their body as long as they have the willpower to pull through.

So without any hesitation, Zeke leaped towards the incoming group with fervor. His eyes showed nothing but determination to prove the captain's words wrong.

If he can't use Mana to get rid of a problem, then he can just use his fists.

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