Chapter 304: Merchant with connections.

Seraphine moved forward, closing the distance between herself and the shopkeeper in smooth, deliberate steps.

The man looked a bit confused as the beautiful woman suddenly approached him directly. Why is she coming closer? Does she want to negotiate privately? Hehe!

However, what happened next occurred far too fast for his mind to process.

Seraphine’s entire body suddenly blazed with crackling purple lightning. Before the shopkeeper could even reach for something to defend himself—before his hand could move even an inch—she punched him hard in the stomach.

The impact was devastating. Lightning surged through his body on contact, every nerve ending screaming as electricity coursed through him like liquid fire.

The man stumbled backward, his face contorting with confusion, shock, and overwhelming pain. A scream tore from his throat—involuntary, primal—as his muscles spasmed from being suddenly electrocuted out of nowhere.

But he wasn’t down. Despite the agony, he managed to stay on his feet, catching himself against a display case. His expression twisted into one of pure fury as realization dawned on him.

These women were just making fun of me earlier!

"You bitch!" he shouted, spittle flying from his mouth. "You think you’ll get away with laying hands on me?!"

His voice rose to a near shriek. "You messed with the wrong person! I will make sure to make your life a living hell! All three of you will regret this!"

He wasn’t fighting back physically—that much was clear. He knew he was outnumbered. He wasn’t an adventurer, just a merchant who happened to be an awakener. Not strong enough to take on three people alone, especially not when one of them had just demonstrated that level of combat capability.

But in the end, it doesn’t matter.

He would let them go right now, let them think they’d won. But he had connections—powerful connections that would make them regret ever setting foot in his establishment.

"Get out of my shop!" he screamed, pointing a trembling finger toward the door. "Get out right now!"

In his mind, the plan was already forming. The moment they left, he would contact the High Magistrate of Conan City—a man he’d cultivated a relationship with through generous "donations" over the years. The High Magistrate held the highest judicial authority in the city, presiding over the court system with near-absolute power.

Nobody can save them. I’ll make sure they get the harshest sentence possible. I don’t mind fabricating evidence, creating false testimony, whatever it takes.

He could already imagine them begging him for mercy, offering anything to make the charges disappear.

But there was one thing he’d never accounted for—the sheer carelessness of these unknown adventurers he’d encountered. Their complete disregard for consequences or authority.

Seraphine activated her Mana Body Enhancement at full Grandmaster level. Lightning covered her entire body like a second skin, crackling and sparking with barely contained power. With her movement skill engaged, she arrived in front of him in an instant—faster than his eyes could track.

The threats he’d given them, the way he’d behaved earlier, his disgusting propositions—she would make sure he swallowed every single one of those words.

She punched him in the exact same spot again, driving her fist deep into his stomach while simultaneously electrocuting him. The combined impact and electrical surge made him scream in absolute horror.

ARRRGGGHH!

This time, he crashed backward into the table behind him, the wooden furniture splintering and breaking apart as his body collapsed to the ground among the debris.

The man stood up again despite the pain, one hand clutching his stomach, the other bracing against the wall for support. His face was pale, sweat dripping down his forehead.

"You’re insane!" he yelled at the top of his lungs, his voice cracking. "All of you are completely insane!"

He didn’t want to fight them—every instinct screamed at him to run, to escape—but he had no choice now. The case against them will be so much stronger with physical evidence of assault. I should be happy about this.

Deep down, beneath the bravado, genuine fear was beginning to take root. These people clearly didn’t give a fuck about his threats or connections.

Mana surged through his body as he activated his awakened abilities. Bullets made of compressed water materialized in the air around him and shot toward Seraphine in rapid succession.

She activated Raijin’s Descent, her body moving with supernatural grace as she dodged every single projectile. The water bullets whistled past her, missing by mere inches.

Leon, standing behind her, made subtle gestures with his hands. Each water bullet that got past Seraphine was dispersed with precision—using wind to redirect them harmlessly so they wouldn’t damage the shop itself or alert people outside to what was happening.

The shopkeeper’s attacks continued, driven more by desperation than strategy. He felt only a slight bit of fear—he still hadn’t fully realized that the people in front of him didn’t care at all about his connections.

"I know the High Magistrate of the city personally!" he shouted, trying one final time to intimidate them into backing down. "I’m giving you one last chance to get out of here without escalating this further!"

He was lying through his teeth. The seething desire for revenge consumed his thoughts. Once they leave, I’ll do everything in my power to give them hell. I’ll ruin their lives completely.

He was confident they would either fuck off now or at least start showing fear. He’d mentioned the High Magistrate—the second most powerful person in Conan City after the Governor himself. Nobody could afford to make an enemy of someone with that kind of backing.

No one can mess with someone under his protection.

However, instead of showing any reaction whatsoever, Seraphine’s expression remained completely neutral. Cold. Almost bored.

She did feel that this man probably had some legitimate connections—his confidence wasn’t entirely baseless. But that didn’t mean anything to her in the grand scheme of things.

In this world, strength matters most. I don’t think anyone in the Middle Domain is as strong as my Leon.

And even if that wasn’t the case, even if there were people stronger than Leon somewhere in this domain, she would never let this man disrespect her and Leon in such an obvious way. They could go into hiding if necessary, flee to another city or domain entirely.

But this man was going to regret his choices. Right here. Right now.

She didn’t answer his threats. Instead, she drew her katana with a smooth motion, gripping it from the blunt side so the blade faced outward. Her level two Lightning Aura blazed along its length, the purple electricity making the weapon glow with dangerous beauty.

She wasn’t worried about potentially killing him. She had two professional healers standing behind her—both Leon with his life element and Loriel with her saintess abilities with same element could bring him back from the brink if necessary.

Loriel stood watching from the side, her expression complicated. She’d recognized the man’s malicious intent and blatant disrespect toward them. However, she wasn’t entirely sure if Seraphine needed to go this far.

But I won’t voice those thoughts. This is too out of place for me to interfere.

Her master, Aurelia, was a bit crazy sometimes, too, so Loriel had grown somewhat used to people with extreme personalities. In her mind, she just waved it off as this idiot man’s terrible luck for messing with these crazy people.

Even Master Aurelia seems sane compared to them sometimes.

But they were fundamentally good people, so she was fine with it in the end.

The shopkeeper completely freaked out now. He’d finally realized he might have encountered genuine psychopaths—people who operated outside the normal rules of society.