Just as the Warrior was about to grab Eric’s throat, Bella Noll appeared like a ghost in front of Eric and gripped the Warrior’s wrist, stopping him in his tracks.

  The moment Bella Noll grabbed the Warrior’s wrist, she realized the strength he had been about to use to crush Eric’s throat. If she hadn’t appeared in time, that would have been Eric’s end—and even if he had survived, he would have died soon after, since Ringwood Town lacks proper medical treatment, potions, or any means to treat such a grave injury.

  Understanding this, Bella Noll’s anger flared. Without hesitation, she clenched his wrist tighter and pulverized the bones inside.

  "AHHHHH"

  A painful howl reverberated across the entire area. People far away who heard the agonized cry trembled and wondered which pig was being butchered to squeal so terribly.

  Bella Noll’s eyes remained cold. But she released the Warrior’s wrist.

  Cooper clutched his mangled wrist, staggered back, and howled at Bella Noll with rage and pain: “You old witch, how dare you!”

  His wrist was gone!

  Permanently!

  To heal this kind of injury, the cost of the required potion was astronomical. A simple Tier 1 potion couldn’t possibly mend it as his bones were pulverized. There weren’t even healers in Batley City capable of treating such damage, let alone the five-month journey to reach it. By then, the wound would fester beyond even a Tier 3 potion’s repair. The Eldridge family lacked the wealth for a Tier 2, much less a Tier 3. Worse, such high-tier potions were lethally incompatible with his current rank; he’d die before the healing began.

  In other words, his right wrist and fist below were completely destroyed! How could Cooper take this easily? He was a Warrior! His body was what he used to fight. One arm lost meant the same as half his strength—not to mention the difficulty of day-to-day living with such a disability.

  Bella Noll’s eyes narrowed.

  Before Cooper could react, he was flung backward, spewing blood and teeth across the ground.

  Eric, Lyria, and Livy were completely stupefied by this level of combat that they couldn’t see anything at all.

  How Bella Noll even appeared was a mystery; none of them noticed. In fact, even the warrior Cooper Eldridge didn’t see or notice her arrival.

  For Lyria and Livy, who grew up watching Mana Wielders everywhere, this was their first time witnessing a battle between them. As mortals, they understood it was far beyond their current capability.

  For Eric, both Bella Noll and Cooper were too scary. That middle-aged Warrior almost didn’t seem human. His capabilities far outstripped Eric’s wildest imagination of what a Mana Wielder even meant. He had only thought they could use some beautiful sword or weapon moves or some slow-casting, fancy spells.

  Eric could only sigh inwardly. It seemed he had far underestimated this world's difficulty. Mana Wielders weren't mere entertainers with flashy fireworks, as he'd imagined until now.

  Even Riya sighed with the same unbelievable emotion as Eric and gave her guess after watching the small battle:

  "I think Mana Wielders are no longer human or rather, they can't be understood the same way as normal humans or 'mortals.' They've completely evolved into a superior species, with their strength and speed far outstripping any normal human."

  Eric took a deep breath to calm his pounding heart. He was still alarmed by what had just occurred. He had been dangerously close to embracing the naughty girl- Death, once again!

  Eric had guessed this would happen the moment he broke Jack's teeth with his slap. Although Bella Noll was his supporter, that didn’t change the fact he was still just an ordinary orphanage child. People would simply dismiss that the House Mother of the Orphanage would go all out over a dead child from the orphanage—one who also had no blood relation to her. They even had a valid reason to retaliate, as he’d severely injured Jack.

  Who was right and who was wrong was merely a playground for the powerful and wealthy. A weak person didn’t even have the right to speak against any powerhouse.

  Knowing this, Eric realized the Eldridge family’s Mana Wielder might kill him first before sitting back to discuss compensation for the orphanage—and that was only out of respect for Bella Noll. Without her strength, there would be no compensation; instead, she’d be forced to apologize for Eric’s actions.

  The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

  Eric had traveled across the advanced 21st-century Earth and knew the consequences of messing with powerful and wealthy people, even the police wouldn't help much, let alone the courts, and Ringwood Town had none.

  So he didn't hesitate. He rushed back to the orphanage first. Then they could all sit back and have some tea while discussing who was right and who was wrong.

  Cooper Eldridge came back to his senses after receiving a solid slap across his face. He stood back up and glared at Bella Noll with anger, but in truth, he was extremely horrified in his heart.

  They were not on the same page! Cooper couldn’t even see Bella Noll’s slap—much less react to it!

  Bella Noll was indifferent to Cooper’s glare and demanded, "Speak! If you don’t provide good enough reasons for attacking my orphanage’s people, you can leave your corpse behind."

  Cooper trembled. He could sense that Bella Noll was not joking. She truly planned to kill him over a mere child.

  After coughing up blood, Cooper spoke with a voice filled with grievance. "That maggot—" He paused under Bella Noll’s death stare and hastily adjusted his tone. "My name is Cooper, from the Eldridge Noble Family of Ringwood Town. My nephew, Jack Eldridge, was visiting the town’s school today when that boy beat him severely for no reason, shattering nearly all his teeth..." Mentioning teeth made Cooper flush with humiliation; he’d lost some here too, along with his right wrist.

  Bella Noll turned toward Hannah for clarification, while showing her open back to Cooper so he could take the time to sneak-attack her.

  But Cooper had completely lost all spirit to try anything against Bella Noll. He, along with the other Mana Wielders of the town, had long guessed that Bella Noll was probably Rank 2 or above. Yet since she had always remained inside the orphanage and never interfered with the town’s affairs, they—including him, had forgotten a living monster resided there.

  Cooper doubted that even if his brother, Stuart Eldridge—head of the Eldridge family were present now, and they both joined forces against Bella Noll, they wouldn’t be able to injure her, let alone kill her.

  Cooper, at this moment, realized without any doubt that the rumors about Bella Noll being unmatched, even if all the Mana Wielders of Ringwood Town joined together against her, were indeed true.

  To make matters worse, his brother Stuart wasn’t even in town at this moment, leaving him entirely alone.

  It was a dire situation for Cooper. The only person he could depend on now was Town Mayor Jarvis. But by the time Jarvis received the news and rushed over, Cooper’s body might already be in pieces.

  So, all Cooper could do now was use the past on what had happened with Jack, and stand on the higher ground of morality to show just how much injustice his family had faced. This would also buy him more time.

  Cooper had no idea that even if Eric had really bullied Jack for no reason, Bella Noll would still kill Cooper first and then his entire Eldridge family.

  In the tussle of life and death, there was no justice or injustice. All that mattered was who killed whom.

  If Eric declared now that he just found Jack an eyesore and that was why he broke Jack’s teeth, it would be the Eldridge family’s end, not because Bella Noll was spoiling Eric, but because the trumpet of war had already been blown. It would no longer be a matter of who was right or wrong, just as Cooper hadn’t even hesitated to attack a mere eight-year-old kid with such a heavy blow.

  Bella Noll could easily see that Cooper didn’t even know the full story but acted that way because his nephew was hurt, that was all.

  Justice? Moral values? Those were created by people with power to control commoners, and it had always been so. It only worked for those who held power, not otherwise. Although Bella Noll had remained an adventurer for only a few decades, she had seen enough of the world to clearly understand what was going on.

  Bella wished to kill Cooper and end his Eldridge family immediately to rid of any future troubles, but she still had some consideration left and needed time to verify it. So, for now, she was just playing along by listening to what had occurred at school.

  Hannah was not sure what had happened as she was not around. Lyria knew that, so she stepped forward and started explaining.

  From how she and Livy were just waiting for Eric and Hannah to return after their examination, and then students surrounded them, which was still fine as they were just exchanging small greetings, but soon Jack and his henchmen surrounded them. Jack was very persistent about adopting them even after they had refused him multiple times. When Eric appeared, Jack attacked him first, but Eric didn’t fight back and just wanted to leave by ending the matter. Jack didn’t let them and attacked Eric once again. At that point, Eric retaliated and broke Jack’s teeth.

  Hannah, Bella Noll, and Cooper quietly listened. After Lyria finished explaining, Cooper started sweating in panic.

  When Cooper heard something had happened to his nephew, he quickly arrived at school and saw Jack’s bloodied face. Another kid told him that Eric from the Orphanage had attacked Jack. That kid didn’t inform him of the details, and neither did Cooper care, so he immediately charged straight toward the Orphanage.

  Cooper believed he was right, after all, a mere orphanage child dared to attack a noble scion so severely! Who cared about the intricacies? He was right!

  But now, Cooper’s original plan of standing on the higher ground was pushed down to lower ground. He didn’t know if that was how it had happened, but there could indeed be such a possibility. There were also many children present back then, so the amber-eyed girl wouldn’t lie about it.

  Bella Noll turned back toward Cooper, her eyes blazing with anger. "You Eldridge family dares to forcefully adopt my orphanage children?" Though her voice was low, everyone sensed her fury.

  Cooper took two steps back, his body drenched in sweat. He knew if he couldn’t provide a proper explanation, both he and his Eldridge family were in grave danger. Immediately, he bowed a full 90 degrees and stammered, "I-I think there must be some misunderstanding here. Please forgive us. We will compensate for your loss."

  Bella Noll's eyes blazed even more upon hearing Copper's words. Before this, her anger had been mostly feigned, and so was her killing intent as she simply hadn’t cared about what had truly happened. But now that Copper called it a 'misunderstanding,' her true killing intent overflowed.

  With a voice like a raging tide, she bellowed, "You dare attack the children of my orphanage with such a heavy strike over your 'misunderstanding'?"

  Suddenly, a terrifying pressure descended upon Copper. He collapsed to the ground as if an invisible mountain had dropped onto him.