Chapter 148: The Mysterious Blur

"You! You can't do this! This is daylight robbery!" This time, it was Robert who yelled out with a shaky voice. He was anxious, the goods he had was the hard work of all the villagers, his friends, that placed their trust in him that he would exchange it for goods they all desperately needed.

Mr. Fallow sneered listening to Robert's anxious yelling. He contentedly curled the tip of his bushy mustache, as he spoke with a haughty, theatrical manner.

"Robbery? What are you talking about?! We are just confiscating your obviously stolen goods and will be working with the city officials to apprehend you, criminals! Trying to steal from our fair city's good citizens! Shame on you!"

Then he looked at his henchmen and signaled with his hand towards the back of the cart.

"Men, take their stolen goods!"

The crowd just shook their head at the couple's misfortune. Everyone knew this was just a scene, a play. Most of them knew who Mr. Fallow was, he was a wealthy, influential businessman in the city. He even had some of the City Guards on his payroll! Obviously, he was not afraid of any repercussions and could do shameless actions like this if he so desired.

Hearing their master's order, the 6 armored guards sneered at Robert and Joyce and marched towards the end of the cart to 'lighten the load'. Seeing as the guards approached their crates, desperation started to set in both of their eyes. They weren't afraid of their own fate if they were really sent to jail on fake charges, they only felt sad for the villagers who had their hard-made products stolen just like that.

However, as the first guard approached the truck and reached out for the nearest crate, he was suddenly flung back like a broken kite. His trajectory went high above the crowd and crashed onto the rooftop of the nearest building. As he rolled down, the snapping sounds of bones breaking could be heard. With a loud thud, he crashed onto the dusty street and didn't move anymore. A puddle of blood started to ooze out from his crevices. Even if he was still alive, there wasn't much hope for him anymore.

Everyone, the crowd, the henchmen, Mr. Fallow, and even Robert and Joyce stared at the scene with shock and utter disbelief. What on earth has happened? 

The seemingly resident smug expression faded from Mr. Fallow's face. He looked at the simple-looking couple on the cart, and with an angered tone he yelled out.

"What is the meaning of this?! What are you doing? Are you resisting?!"

Robert shook his head as he kept staring at the back of his own cart. He also couldn't believe what had happened. After a few moments, he muttered in a shocked tone.

"I-I don't know either! I have no idea what happened…"

"Hmpf! It must have been a fluke! Don't just stand there you lot! I'm not paying you to just stand around and do nothing, start working!" Mr. Fallow yelled out towards his guards seeing as how they didn't make any movement. 

Although they were hesitating, they couldn't refute their master's orders. After a few seconds, two more guards stepped forward and with a careful, slower approach they reached for the nearest crates. Their eyes were darting from left to right, their legs planted into the ground, ready to jump back at the first sign of danger.

As their hands crept closer to the crates, suddenly both of them were once again flung into the air. Both of them spurted out blood as they crashed once again on the wall high above the citizens. Once again, when they crashed onto the ground, next to their already lying third companion. The thudding sound was muffled by the snapping sound of bones breaking. They lied on the ground unconsciously as two small puddles of blood started to form below them. The three small ponds merged together, forming one large, creepy dark red pool.

Once again, nobody has seen a thing, nobody could see what happened. There was no magical effect, so it definitely wasn't a magical artifact. The only thing that Robert seems to notice was a momentary darker shade that flashed just for an instant before both guards were suddenly thrown back. As the shade flashed, he could also feel a small gust of air. 

Looking around the crowd, his eyes stopped on a stranger that had a strangely familiar figure. He couldn't see his face as it was covered with a white faceless mask. Still, he felt some sort of familiarity with him, as if he had seen the man or boy. 

Noticing how his husband's expressions seemed to change as his eyes rested on a particular spot, she looked at the direction he was looking, also spotting the strange figure in the crowd. As she looked at it, she suddenly saw a flash of golden light coming from the small eye sockets of his mask. This made her jolt from her seat in shock. She knowingly nodded towards her husband, and as they looked at each other, a small, knowing smile formed on their faces for a single moment, before they hid it, and looked at the frowning Mr. Fallow.

Meanwhile, Mr. Fallow was in shock. In a span of a few seconds, half of his men were lying in a half-dead state from causes completely unknown. He watched them approach the cart intently, but still couldn't see anything, he had no idea what caused their men to be thrown back like some helpless dolls.

His eyes darted towards the crowd, scanning the faces, looking for some sign. However, no matter how he looked, did not bring any results. With a scary, maddened expression, he yelled towards the crowd. Behind the madness, there was an increasing undertone of agitation and fear as well.

In his own frustration due to the helplessness, he felt because of the situation, he turned towards his guards and yelled towards them.

"GO! ALL OF YOU! GET TO THAT FUCKING CART AND GET MY STUFF!!" He no longer cared for the theatrics, he wanted those crates. Ever since he started his business, even the highest noble families had to be respectful towards him, yet now some unknown person played him like a fool, humiliating him in front of a crowd. 

None of the guards made a move, despite their master's yelling. Despite their insubordination, the crowd could sympathize with them. If they had to choose between being kicked out of the city and gaining some bad reputation and dying without even knowing how everybody would choose the first. At the very least, that way they would still be alive. They could just migrate to somewhere far away and start up again. They would still have the chance. 

Their lives may have been pretty good here, but if faced with dying, most wouldn't risk their mortal gains. The remaining three guards looked at each other and nodded. They seemed to have come to a unanimous decision. They both took several steps back, getting closer to the crowd and far away from the now-terrifying cart.

"WHAT IS THIS?!" Mr. Fallow yelled out with a maddened expression. Taking a deep breath to calm himself down a volume, he continued with a calmer, but much colder, threatening tone. "You go against my orders?! You all know the consequences… I will give you one more chance. Go, and reach for the cart. NOW!"

However, regardless of how he yelled, how he would have threatened, they would all rather face his wrath, then this mysterious entity that killed them one by one. It didn't even take the three a second to drop their weapons on the crowd and immediately mix into the crowd and run away from this scene.

Mr. Fallow was shaking with anger. He started to regret his decision in setting up this ambush today, and that he even paid the guards to delay coming here. Now he had nobody to rely on. Three of his men have most likely died, or will soon, and the other three he came with have run away, despite threatening them. He was so confident that he could easily shut this small-time nobody couple down, and get their stuff, earning a good profit from it. Hell, maybe even take that wife as his own. She wasn't the prettiest, but the satisfaction that he could ruin a worthless life would have been worth it.

Now, however, he had no cards left. Yet, he couldn't back away, not after going this far. Shaking with anger, he clenched his fists as he walked towards the back of the truck. 

"Fine… I see how it is… It doesn't matter, what I want is mine, nobody can stand in my way. I will just take it myself!"

He walked towards the back of the cart with hastened steps. Although he was mad, boiling with rage, he didn't completely lose his mind, and as he stepped reached for the closest crates he was very careful, his eyes were darting from left to right, trying to spot the culprit amidst the sea of people.

As he reached toward the crate, he suddenly felt some pain around his throat. In the next moment, breathing became an issue. Only then did he notice that he was seemingly floating-, no, flying in the air. Desperation quickly set in, but before he could cry out, he felt a sudden jolt of pain from his back. 

He realized he had been flung back just like his men before. As the pain started to set in all over his body, his eyes remained wide open as he fell to the ground and quickly lost consciousness.

He couldn't accept this end. This was not fair.