They were just about to check out when the door chimed, marking the entrance of more shoppers, and Karl felt a sudden surge of killing intent.

"I knew it was true, he really did get the money." A man's voice declared.

Karl turned and found that four men were standing near the door, while one stood near Rae with a blade at her throat.

"Don't do anything stupid, and nobody gets hurt. Just transfer over the credits, and we won't kill your little goth girlfriend." The apparent ringleader of the group, a human man in the later Spirit Immortal Stage, if Karl's guess was right, insisted.

His aura was stronger than the others, but Karl could still feel that there was something missing, the Immortal Spirit only partially formed.

Karl gave the cashier an apologetic look. "I'm sorry for what's about to happen."

The girl looked confused, and the leader of the group made a signal to his crony, whose blade sunk through Rae's suddenly incorporeal body.

Mana surged through Karl's body as he dumped every single bit of his mana reserve into [Purgatory Flames]. For an instant, horror dawned on the Immortal's face, then a ball of Ghostfire hotter than the sun and a thousand times stronger than a standard [Fireball] exploded at his location, engulfing all four men standing near the door.

The explosion that came after blasted the windows out of the shop, and knocked all the clothing racks over.

There were no more enemies standing in front of them, but the one next to Rae had survived. For a moment.

The blast had made him stumble, and Rae was now in spider form, pinning him face down with two spiked legs while her forelegs repeatedly stabbed holes in his body.

Not using any skill, Karl noted.

She was just punching holes in him for fun, and watching them heal before she stabbed him some more.

A pair of Elders appeared in the room, swords raised.

"Everyone, drop your weapons. What is going on here? There is no violence allowed in the Clan village."

"This man and his allies attacked me and my companion while we were shopping. The dagger is still in his hand. You can confirm that with the staff."

The Elders frowned as Rae shifted back into her humanoid form and absorbed all the blood that had sprayed around where she was fighting. Nobody in the room was carrying a weapon but the man who had been mauled on the ground.

"What allies?" The other Elder demanded.

"Uh, they were standing right there. I hit them with a fire skill when they attacked."

The clerk nodded rapidly, her eyes terrified as she watched Karl.

"Speak."

"It's like he said. They wanted his Clan Credits, and attacked the spider lady. Then boom and fire, and they were gone, and my boss is going to kill me. Oh god, I've got to put all that back on the shelf.

Who will fix the windows? Oh, I don't know. Elder, help."

"Deep breath. Where. Did. They. Go."

"I, uh. I think he killed them."

Karl shrugged, while Jin tried to make himself inconspicuous.

"Jin. Explain."

"They didn't even give him a chance to settle things with a challenge. They just attacked. I don't know what happened with the fireball. It vaporized a whole chunk of the shop. It shouldn't do that. I swear it shouldn't."

The shop was slowly repairing itself, the Illusionary Domain spell intact, despite the damage. But the physical structure underneath was damaged by the blast, and Karl realized that at Immortal Rank, the [Purgatory Flames] spell was overkill.

His mana would be recovered in two or three minutes, but Immortal Energy was far more potent than he had expected.

"Alright, you're all coming with us. The Interrogators will get answers. You, the one named Karl. Your spell damaged the building, you fix it. You have two minutes to make arrangements."

Karl closed his eyes and focused on the building itself. It was all stone, other than the windows. [Earth Manipulation] returned it to its original state in a few seconds, and then he turned to the clerk.

"How much do I owe you for the shopping, the damaged stock, and the cleanup fee?"

The clerk turned a notepad to him with shaking hands. "That's five hundred for the shopping and the damaged clothing."

Karl put six hundred coins on the counter. "That should cover your wages and inconvenience for restocking. I'm really sorry about this."

The Elder looked impressed at Karl's decisive actions, but at that moment, Dana and Nyan rushed in.

"The new fox? Do you know this man?"

"That's my husband, Karl. We joined the Clan together, as we advanced the same day."

"Oh, I see. You can come with us, and bring your pet cat. The Karl and the spider have been detained for destruction of property."

{What did you do?} Dana mouthed.

[Some idiots attacked Rae, trying to rob us. I guess I should have been a bit more discreet about having money.]

Dana sighed. [I got the shopping done at the other store. I will come bail you out of jail.]

Karl hoped that was how it worked here. The mention of Interrogators didn't promise a quick and painless bail process.

The Elder glared at Rae. "Remain corporeal until informed otherwise. Attempts to flee will be seen as a sign of betrayal of Clan Rules. Follow us to the judgment hall."

The man Rae had been stabbing crawled to his knees, then collapsed. She had stolen too much of his life force, and he was barely able to stand, though his regeneration was working properly.

The second Elder grabbed him by the shirt and dragged him out the door, then flew off.

Karl followed silently, painfully aware that he had gone way overboard, and was definitely in trouble this time.

Without a reliable backer to get him out of it.

But the other Elder didn't move right away. He held a glowing golden orb in his hands, and cast a spell that felt like holy magic. The four vaporized Immortals slowly faded back into existence, shattering the peace of the shopping district with their screams.

"You are under arrest for assault and attempted robbery. Follow me. The Clan will deduct your resurrection fees from your available credits."

[Damn, not even being dead gets you out of jail time here. But do you feel the aura of these Elders? Ascended Immortals are no joke, their power is crazy.] Rae insisted.

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