"Mother?!" Aria yelped with a truly dark expression. Instantly, the sight of the poor woman gave her flashbacks to how her own severely mistreated mother looked after Kaiden saved her from becoming a brothel worker.

She'd been on drugs for a long time, forced by her ex-boyfriend, who became her captor. Julia Levander was severely mistreated. She was frail and in horribly poor health, so much so that when Kaiden first laid his eyes on her, he instinctively understood that he was looking at a dying woman.

The Moon Valkyrie found her and Naira's situation far too similar, at least from a first glance. She didn't know the nuances, but she didn't need to. The gist of the situation was far too easy to grasp.

Naira bolted forward before anyone could stop her.

Her knees hit the floor, and her arms wrapped around the frail body of the woman who could barely breathe. The girl's hands trembled as she hugged her mother with her whole body, attempting to hide the older woman's entire body from the sight of the assailant.

The man, however, didn't seem to mind the development. He only clicked his tongue in a sign of mild irritation. But beyond that, his face showed no emotion. It was as if he were annoyed by having to beat two women now instead of only one.

His hand rose, and the whip hissed through the air and came down on Naira's back instead of the woman's.

The sound tore through the whole building.

"Arghh!" Naira screamed in pain but didn't move away. Her weak frame shielded her mother completely, and her voice shook with both anger and fear. "Stop it! Beating her won't make her work better! She needs food and rest, not such cruel whipping!"

The man sneered. "Food, you say? I'm sure you brought home a lot of food with you then, if you're speaking so boldly."

Naira's mouth opened, but no sound came out. Her face twisted with dejection, her lips trembling as she looked down at the ground. "I'm sorry, Mom…"

Tears flowed from her eyes.

The woman, barely conscious, weakly muttered, "Don't do this, Naira… Run…"

The guard spat on the ground. "So you were hoping to take from the pantry of the leader?! You worthless nobody!"

He raised his arm again. The whip whistled through the air…

And stopped.

Kaiden stood next to the mother-daughter pair with one arm extended.

The leather strip was caught in his hand, wrapped around his wrist. The muscles in his forearm stood rigid with visible veins pushing against his skin.

The guard's eyes widened. His state of mind was pure disbelief.

He wasn't alone in harboring such thoughts.

Behind Kaiden, Thomas cursed under his breath. "Are you insane? We can't intervene here! These lands are sovereign! They have their own laws! We don't get to play judges!"

Kaiden didn't even turn around. His voice came quiet and sharp.

"I don't care."

He pulled the whip forward. The man lost his balance and fell forward, right into Kaiden's grip, who caught him by the throat. The movement was smooth and fast. The guard's eyes bulged as Kaiden lifted him off his feet with one arm, letting his boots wiggle uselessly in the air.

Around them, the atmosphere turned electric. His four girls moved instantly to back their lover up, not caring one bit about the trouble they might be causing. They were all in complete agreement with their man; so much so that if he did nothing, then they themselves would've protected Naira.

He just overcame the shock of seeing the kind and tender native girl getting beaten the fastest.

The hunters nearby shouted in panic. "He's attacking the guards!" one of them barked as bows came up, arrows drawn.

"Damn it!" Thomas spat, pulling his giant shield free while moving beside Kaiden.

Diaz joined him without a word, the duo moving to back the Sinners up.

On the ground, Naira clung to her mother. Her breath came unevenly, her vision blurred from tears. She dared a glance upward and froze.

Kaiden stood like a wall of iron, holding the guard by the neck. His expression was hostile, eyes cold, teeth gritted. The man's legs kicked weakly as he tried to free himself while his fingers were desperately clawing at Kaiden's wrist.

Until now, Naira had been terrified of him. His size, his aura, the way he carried himself… it was too much like the tyrant who ruled over her tribe. She'd thought he was cut from the same cloth. He even had a harem of beautiful women just like that man…

But that thought was forcibly dispelled as she saw his hand tremble. Not from rage, but from restraint. He wasn't killing the guard, only holding him there, as if to stop the man from ever touching her again. He could have crushed his throat easily. Yet he didn't.

The realization struck her harder than the whip ever had. He had risked himself for her. Someone outside their tribe. Someone who didn't owe her anything. Or rather, for someone who owed him a great deal.

Then a heavy rhythm of footsteps broke the girl's thoughts.

Naira's eyes widened. Her stomach turned cold.

She didn't need to look. The air itself seemed to tighten around her.

"The leader is here…" she whispered with a shaky voice.

Kaiden felt it before he saw it: the change in the air. It wasn't magic, not at first, but presence. The kind that pressed down on instincts and demanded attention. He turned his head toward the source just as the crowd began to part.

A man emerged.

He was tall, broad-shouldered, and covered in scars that looked more earned than survived. Every inch of his skin told a story. Some were written in ink, others in old wounds. Dark tattoos wound across his chest and arms in aggressive patterns, marking him as someone above the rest.

Behind him came his entourage. Men and women armed with bows, axes, and blades.

The leader stopped a few paces away, studying the scene. His expression didn't shift when he saw the guard dangling helplessly from Kaiden's grip. If anything, he seemed mildly amused.

Then he lifted one hand and snapped his fingers.

A pulse of red mana spread from his body, webbing across the ground. It snaked toward the man in Kaiden's grasp, crawling up his legs and sinking beneath his skin. The veins on the guard's neck bulged, and muscles swelled grotesquely. His eyes rolled back and began glowing red as if something inside him had been lit.

Kaiden's brow furrowed. He felt the shift, the unnatural surge of vitality forcing its way into the guard's body.

The man's hopeless protests stopped. His hands clenched around Kaiden's wrist with unnatural strength.

Then he kicked.

The blow landed squarely in Kaiden's stomach, harder than any normal man could manage. It forced him to step back half a pace as the air rushed from his lungs.

An Awakened.

A strong one at that, with powers that weren't straightforward at first glance.

Kaiden's jaw set. His eyes narrowed as a low growl rumbled from his throat, refusing to release the man from his hands.

Trouble was upon them.

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