The man was speaking Latin, the broken kind a tourist would learn while visiting the country to impress friends back home, yet: was still clear enough to a native like Malrik.

Is this monster the man those girls were talking about? He kept his eyes fixed on him, shock widening them until they stung.

He felt certain now that Isolde and Veyla were not simply Velari but belonged to the same race as Adyr. The way this newcomer seemed to know the girls confirmed it, hinting that he was also like Adyr, someone with Elder Race blood running in his veins.

The only difference was that the girls were not Practitioners, while this man clearly was. The thought made Malrik swallow hard. He wanted to ask his name, yet the sticky, burning pain in his throat left him coughing instead of speaking.

Fortunately, he did not need to ask, because the other 2 Umbraens asked in his place.

"Who are you? With what courage do you interfere in the Umbraens' business and kill one of us?"

The 2 Umbraens stood shaken and furious at the sight of their kin reduced to gore. Even so, they did not attack. They could see, even feel, that the giant before them was not someone they could challenge, so they held position and tried to press with the weight of their race's name, hoping its black reputation would make him back away.

Malrik almost laughed when he heard them. Trying to impress someone who might belong to an Elder Race with a title from the Outer Region was comical. The sting in his throat stopped the laugh, so he stayed silent.

"Me?" The man did not look impressed. He turned his head slowly and looked at the two Umbraens as he spoke. "I'm Eren." He paused, as if considering something, then added, "Eren Jager."

The two Umbraens were taken aback not by the name but by his bearing. Even with all their arrogance and their air of supremacy, they understood he was not someone they could handle with force.

They decided to try politeness instead of starting another fight that might enrage the monster. One of them began to speak. "Sir Eren Jager..." But another voice cut in before he could finish.

"T-They are the ones who came to kill those two girls. Malrik forced the words out with everything he had and shouted.

At that moment, Eren's thick brows drew together. His tone shifted from gentle to one that promised blood. "So they are enemies."

"Wait-" Feeling the sudden change in the monster's movements and expression, the two tried to reason with him. But it was too late.

Eren stepped toward them. His already massive body swelled another degree, muscle rising under the skin as if pumped from within. His heel cracked the soil, the simple step revealing the weight he was gathering.

By the next step, he was something else entirely. He now stood at 6 meters, and then he leaped toward the two figures without another warning.

"Run!" One of them screamed and tried to turn and bolt, but a huge hand closed around his head. There was a single squeeze, and the skull burst like a tomato, brain matter splattering everywhere.

Eren did not even watch the headless body topple and lie still with a dull thud. He had already turned to the other one, who was still trying to flee.

A single leap lifted him meters into the air. He clasped his hands together into a massive hammer of a fist and brought it down on the smaller figure. The impact thundered through sky and soil and left only a wet stain and scattered parts on the dry earth.

Watching him kill the two so easily, as if swatting flies, made Malrik's thoughts reel.

The monster before him even looked stronger than Adyr, who had shown his power in the Arena during the Legacy Domain selections not long ago. That realization also confirmed what Malrik had suspected. He is a Rank 3 Practitioner.

Adyr had been holding himself back from ranking up to 3 because of the Legacy Domain. Eren had no such limitation. He had advanced as soon as he registered enough talents and found a suitable Spark.

After his last evolution, with [Physique] and [Resilience] as his main stats, he had become a real monster.

Eren shook his hands to fling off the blood and the clinging body parts, wiped himself clean, then turned to ask Malrik. "Are there any more of them?"

Malrik nodded on reflex, then a sharper thought cut through him. He turned toward the carriage where the dark blue horses lay lifeless, the ground around them crowded with dozens of knight corpses.

Even his Frost Wyvern was there, motionless and covered in wounds. The only sign it was still alive was the faint rise and fall of its chest.

Other than that, there was no one left from the Umbraens. They had already disappeared with the 3 women.

"No, they have already taken them." He forced himself onto his feet and

dragged his body toward the carriage.

He could hear and see Velari civilians and more knights rushing in after the uproar, but he ignored them and began to search the area.

Sensing the urgency, Eren walked after him while his body began to shrink, dropping from nearly 6 meters back to his normal size. "Do you know where

they went? Can you track them?"

Eren had skills for attack and defense only. He had no investigative abilities, which left him helpless in a mission that required tracking and recovery.

But Malrik was there to cover that gap. "Yes, but..." Before he could explain that his body was too broken to move fast for a trail, Eren had already taken him by the shoulders and hoisted his small body onto his head like a child.

"Is that good?" Eren asked, almost casually.

Malrik's face twitched for a moment. He sighed, adjusted himself to find a

steadier perch, and nodded. "Yes. Wait a second."

He opened his palm. A small figure gathered there, condensing into a worm-shaped creature with no eyes. The only difference from an ordinary worm was the 2 fleshy wings on its back.

It was not a summoned Spark but a Spark skill that allowed him to create this

little thing.

The worm wriggled and flexed its wings. It flapped them and took to the air. Malrik created a few more. When the count reached 10, he stopped.

"They can smell blood. Judging by how many knights were killed, it will be easy to find them." He sent the command to the flying worms, and they all arrowed

off in one direction.

"Go. Follow them."

Eren, wasting no time, broke into a run at once, a giant body under Malrik's

small form perched on his head, both of them moving after the darting shapes.

The Velari who arrived moments later could only stare, faces wearing the same bewildered look as the two figures vanished into the darkness of a night that

had fully fallen.

They couldn't tell whether that giant was kidnapping their precious Practitioner or teaming up to rescue the kidnapped girls.