When it came to scum, no one understood them better than he did.
A hundred million years ago, he had stood on a street like any other. In the beginning he had been someone truly inspired by the idea of justice. But very soon he realized that the world which needed it so desperately was overflowing with scum, exactly like the ones he ran into every day. At that moment a man smoking a cigarette walked up to him and roughly grabbed him by the clothes, yanking him forward.
It flashed through his mind then: if he had lived a normal life, nothing terrible would have happened. But the environment he had grown up in did not allow that, and so he crushed them, one after another. The next second the man's arms snapped, breaking under his grip. He struck blow after blow without stopping. Even as an adult he went on doing the same, until one day someone told him that he had been born in the wrong world.
It was Kagura. He extended his hand, and everything changed.
In the present, Cedo grabbed a guard by the hair, threw him aside with a sharp movement and immediately advanced on the next one. One of the bandits, clutching a bat, screamed, "Don't come any closer. What does he want? How did he even get in here?"
Defeated guards lay all around. There were already many of them. Cedo yanked another opponent sharply forward, straight into the arms of his comrade. The man barely managed to catch his colleague. Cedo swung and struck with such force that the guard flew into the door, leaving deep cracks in the wood. The last of the bandits still conscious backed away, screaming, "Who the hell is he?" His eyes were full of terror.
At that moment a deafening scream echoed throughout the building. Poval pressed her hand to her chest and muttered in alarm, "Those screams—"
She turned sharply to Hakama. "Who is your friend, really?"
"He is a guardian god," Hakama answered firmly.
Poval let out a stunned breath. "A god?"
She nodded. "We have nothing to worry about with Cedo. Now just do what he told you. Get everyone out."
Poval rushed towards the exit with the other freed slaves. On the way she thought briefly: could we really get out of here? But this man — he's insanely strong. It isn't just sacred power, and it isn't just physical strength. Nothing will help against him.
At that time Valentine, trembling with tension, put his hand out in front of him and shouted, "Stop!"
He stared at Cedo, who was holding one of the guards by the head, and shouted, "What do you want? Money? Slaves?" Pointing sharply at the cage with the children, he yelled, "You can take as many as you want."
Cedo looked at him coldly and asked calmly, "Are you finished bargaining?"
With those words he casually tossed the guard aside. Valentine gritted his teeth, panicking. What's going on? Why aren't my spiritual arts working? What kind of power does this man even have?
Cedo stepped closer and said coldly, "You were unlucky enough to be such a talentless bandit. Real scum run away as soon as they sense danger. People like you, on the other hand, look down on everyone and think you're important. And as soon as real trouble starts, you try to bargain."
Valentine pursed his lips, thinking frantically. Damn. Is there still a chance? No.
With that thought he darted to the side, grabbed the lever and yanked it down with all his might. A huge door swung open with a bang, revealing a massive cage. Cedo froze for a moment, noting to himself: a distorted one.
"I had a special order," Valentine shouted hoarsely. "Someone special."
The cage clanged open, and the monster advanced heavily.
"If you don't want to bargain," Valentine shouted, "then I'll simply destroy you."
The monster roared deafeningly and raised its huge paw to strike, but Cedo lifted his hands and blocked the blow brutally.
Valentine froze, not believing his eyes. "How? How is this possible?"
"I have a superhuman body," Cedo said coldly. "I was told that my muscles have several times more fibres than an ordinary person's. And when it comes to the distorted ones, I don't have to restrain my sacred power."
With those words he threw his hand forward, releasing a wave of pure energy — powerful, blinding, incinerating. The monster crumbled to ash without even having time to howl.
Valentine, covered in cold sweat, thought in horror: can he really use that power?
Cedo took another step forward and, clenching his fist, asked calmly, "What are you going to do now?"
Valentine's face contorted with fear. He folded his trembling hands in front of himself. Maybe he could just be let go—
The next second Cedo delivered one short, crushing blow and answered coldly, "No."
After some time Cedo adjusted his cloak and said calmly, "That's it."
He noted to himself that he finally had his clothes back, and breathed a sigh of relief. His gaze slid to the hole in the wall. There, among the rubble, lay Valentine.
Then he turned to the cage with the children and said quietly, "Sorry. You'll have to wait a little longer. I'll get you all out of here."
The children looked at him with hope and joy.
Cedo went over to the table with the documents. "First I need to check something. It's very important to collect evidence of their crimes."
He opened the cabinet in the desk, noticed a stack of papers and muttered in surprise, "Oh."
Leaning on the table, he began to leaf through the documents. Aha, here it is. Then, taking a closer look at the strange symbols on the pages, he said, "I see." And then he added, to himself: I don't know how to read these signs. I don't understand a word of them. I'll have to ask Hakama to teach me.
After that he went over to the remains of the monster and, laying his hand on them, wondered what they had been planning to do with a distorted one. He needed to find out. Directing a stream of energy into the remains, he summoned a multitude of translucent screens in front of him.
The thought flashed through his mind: access to the cameras of the machines flying here. Recordings are stored for up to a week.
His eyes widened in surprise when a conversation appeared on one of the screens. Valentine was speaking to someone.
"But my lord, what do you plan to do with such a creature?"
And in reply came the calm voice of Chapion. "You don't need to know. Although I can tell you this — something very interesting will happen in this country quite soon. Something completely incredible."
Meanwhile, on the street, Poval stood looking away, and suddenly cried out.
"No—"
The boy, his eyes full of tears, rushed to her, shouting, "Sister!"
She burst into tears too, and they hugged each other tightly. Poval sobbed, "Thank God."
They looked up at Cedo, and Poval cried out through her tears, "Oh, God, thank you so much."
Cedo bowed his head slightly and replied calmly, "I'm not a god. And no thanks are necessary."
Then he turned his head slightly and asked, "By the way. Who usually arrests bandits here? The lord's soldiers?"