I JUST WANT A PEACEFUL LIFE

After Anna leaves Yawan and the Seven Faces, Yawan slowly moves from the cracked wall. *Cough* *Cough* He coughed blood and looked at his crushed hand, which was still holding his shield artifact.

"Urgh… What a monster!! Even after using [Invincible] and [Remnant Fortification], I still receive this much damage." groaned Yawan.

Yawan knows how strong these two shield Artifact's abilities are when combined. [Invincible] converts his physical strength to cover himself with strong barriers. As long as his physical strength is strong enough, he could become invincible.

[Remnant Fortification] can convert any impact damage into physical strength. In other words, he could defend against any attack using his shield. However, he didn't expect Anna's momentum and potent miasma to be this powerful.

The little monster broke his [Invincible] barrier and his arm before he could convert the impact force.

While slowly coming out from the cave wall, Yawan looks at the other Seven Faces leader. He finds most of them are knocked out with severe injuries. As Yawan wants to finish them before they can wake up, he finds the Seven Faces leader's body slowly morphing.

"T-This… A woman?? The four of them are women." exclaimed Yawan.

"*Cough* *Cough* Haha… Are you surprised that the one beating you is actually a woman." mocked the woman who previously wore a happy mask.

"Wait... I know you. You are one of the women working as a guide in the Thousand Hurdle Monument." said Yawan.

"I see… So, this is what you mean by your fate was already sealed long ago." added Yawan as he got the gist of the problem.

The Seven Faces consist of female Altras that tried to change their fate by overthrowing the elders. As one of the important elders, Yawan knows their rules and law has a huge prejudice against female Altras.

Moreover, if they find any strong or talented female Altras, they will force her to make a great sacrifice during the Maroon Eternity festival. This is also one of the main reasons Nabe hates their own kind and escapes to the outside during her younger days.

Now, Yawan feels conflicted. With his seventh-grade mind, he could understand what these women experienced all these years. He also knows they are strong and talented from their fight.

If they get proper training or resources, these women may reach pseudo-sixth grade or even seventh grade if they get lucky enough. However, he also couldn't spare them either. Their relationship has already reached the point of no return.

Just as he wants to finish the woman not far from him, Yawan feels someone approaching from the hole left by Anna.

"The cave wall heals properly at a slow rate. Based on this rate, it will take around one or two hours before returning to normal. Hmm… the miasma in the dungeon slowly rising? I am sure I haven't used such a function before. Is it because of these damages?" mumbled Nabe.

Seeing it is Nabe, "Nabe, why are you here?" asked Yawan in warry.

However, the Red Queen ignores the injured Yawan. She keeps observing the hole and the surrounding dungeon while writing something in her notebook.

"Tch.. Forget about it. I should finish them first." said Yawan as he walked closer to the happy masked women.

"Do that and you will lose the rest of your limbs." said Nabe coldly.

"What do you mean?" asked Yawan while raising his weapon and shield.

"Yawan… Yawan… It truly makes me wonder how you could reach this level with that kind of mind. I guess you are not blind for no reason, huh?" mocked Nabe.

"Are you going to stop me, Nabe?" asked Yawan as he prepared to fight her.

Seventh-grade people may have strong natural regeneration, but it is not enough to completely recover Yawan's current condition. Still, he will fight for his life, even if it is against Nabe.

"Hmm… Seriously?!! Did you really think about fighting me?! Oh damn… No wonder the old man worries about the kingdom's future. I need to extort him more the next time we meet." said Nabe carelessly.

"Enough!! Nabe, if you don't want to fight, you should go away now." said Yawan sternly.

"*Sigh* Yawan, have you ever fought another seventh-grade outside?" asked Nabe.

"Hmph!! Did you doubt my fighting experience? I already fought plenty of seventh-grade at our entrance." replied Yawan.

"W-What…. Unbelievable?!! How could… *Sigh* Fine. Let's make this quick." said Nabe while storing her notebook.

"What are you waiting for? Come at me, already." said Nabe while gesturing to attack her.

"Tch… Don't underestimate me." said Yawan as he charged at her while holding a mace.

"First lesson, when fighting a seventh-grade magician, never attack them frontally. *Snap* [2nd Circle - Earth Spike]." said Nabe while snapping her finger.

Suddenly, countless sharp earth spikes attack him. Yawan didn't care about the low circle spell attack and kept charging at Nabe while covering his body with mana.

"Second lesson, never underestimate a seventh-grade magician's spell. No matter how low the circle is [4th Circle - Rock Spear]." said Nabe as she snapped her finger again.

Suddenly, Yawan senses danger from his bottom side and reacts fast to shield the incoming Rock Spear among the Earth Spike. *Bam* Yawan gets attacked from the side and thrown away. In a split moment, he uses his shield to parry the Rock Spear.

Unlike the other Earth Spike, he finds this one is more dangerous and powerful than the others.

"Hoo… You notice it. I guess not having a vision makes your sense sharper. Well, let's end this lesson. When fighting a seventh-grade magician, never ever gives them time to breathe [5th Circle Spell - Ruby Champion]." said Nabe as she cast a bright magic circle in front of her.

A knight made of red crystal appeared in front of Nabe in a moment. Yawan immediately feels dread from the red knight. Then, the knight disappeared and appeared in front of Yawan. He directly moves to the side and avoids the incoming ruby spear attack.

Unfortunately, his reaction is too slow because of his injuries and the spear scratches his chest and arm.

Suddenly, he feels unbearable pain from the small wound as it crystallizes in red ruby. The pain slowly spread out like poison to his surrounding.

"Argghh!!" screamed Yawan while writhing on the ground.

He feels more pain than when his arm gets ruptured by Darren. Not letting go of this chance, the red knight stabs all of Yawan's limbs with his spear, making his limb completely disabled. Be it from the tremendous pain or from the wound itself.

On the other hand, Nabe looks at Yawan's painful reaction with a frown.

"Yup. This should be the normal reaction when someone gets hit by [Ruby Curse]. Then, how come he didn't even wince when get hit all over his body. Did the spell miss? No, he said that it stings. So, it should hit him." mumbled Nabe.

"Wait, Hmph!! Why did I suddenly think of that stupid womanizer lizard? I will ask for compensation from him later!!" grumbled Nabe, ignoring the screaming Yawan.

Seeing Yawan defeated easily, "S-Strong!!" mumbled Tylie, the woman with the happy mask.

"Ohh.. I almost forgot about you. Hm… It's good none of you have died yet. It will be troublesome if you die. A death genius is nothing but a corpse." said Nabe as she approached Tylie.

"W-What do you want?" asked Tylie while trying to move her injured body.

"Help you, of course. If you stay like that, you will die from losing too much blood." replied Nabe, as it is common sense.

Before Tylie could reply, Nabe was already in front of her and healed some of her wounds.

"W-Why?? Didn't you know what we have done?" asked Tylie.

"Criminal, mad man, female, male. I don't care any of that as long as you are talented and an Altras." said Nabe.

"Talented? Why did you care about that?" asked Tylie.

"I made a patch with the old man to protect Nirvas and its future. A talented generation like you is also the future of Nirvas. As for what you will become in the future, it's not my business." revealed Nabe.

"T-Then, why did you kill Tucker? Isn't he your disciple?" asked Tylie.

"Nope. Tucker is never my disciple. I only teach him a few things. In fact, he is kind of my experiment. I want to know if this thing called late bloomers is real or not, in which people suddenly get talented at a later period." said Nabe.

"Y-You… Do you not have a feeling?!!" yelled Tylie.

"Feeling?? Hmm… I.. No.. Most of the seventh grade already lose it when they reach my level. It's not like we are emotionless or like a golem."

"We are just unable to care much about this worldly stuff. Anyway, it's too early for you to know that." said Nabe as she moved and healed the others.

After Nabe finishes giving first aid to everyone, "Hmm… I think it's better if you five go outside. I don't want you all to become dumbass like Yawan. It will create too much trouble in the future." said Nabe.

"So, what did you think about it, Crimson Flash?" asked Nabe to one of the cave paths.