The dusk had fallen in Aizel's world, and people were seen walking down the streets, engrossed with their own businesses. The office workers were on their way home, exhausted from the day's work, while the teenagers were busy planning how to make the most of the night.
In the midst of the peaceful evening, chaos had taken over a local supermarket. The once-normal store was now being raided by a group of thugs.
"What do you mean by hero? This is not the time for a joke, Alora.
"There is no mana in this world; how can I fight against 12 guys who have guns with them?" Aizel replied in hushed tones, his gaze drawn to the thugs from the corner of his eyes.
They were both crouched behind the clothing department, hoping to remain undetected.
"They can't do anything to both of us because I am here with you, and besides, I don't care whether they kill everyone else or not.
"Their lives don't matter to me. But you can save them if you want."
"How? I don't wanna see anyone die, at least not here for now."
"Mana has already become compatible with your body. It has slowly started to enhance your strength, senses, eyesight, and defenses on some level.
"You still are not bulletproof, but you can still react to it at some level.
"You are way stronger than any normal human in this world now; it's just that you haven't realized it yet."
Once he heard her words, Aizel's eyes widened. It had never occurred to him before, but now adrenaline was coursing through his veins. He felt the desire to take them on, to face them one-on-twelve in this world.
"And remember, don't kill them. We are not in Xelgar."
Aizel nodded in response to Alora's words and took a deep breath. He reminded himself that he was now in his own world, and the rules were not the same as in Xelgar.
He took out a handkerchief from his back pocket and skillfully covered the lower half of his face.
As Aizel surveyed the supermarket, he noted that the twelve thugs had scattered around the store.
Three of them stood guard at the billing counter, one shouting at the workers and the other two standing guard. Customers were compelled to kneel in front of their attentive eyes.
He noted that the rest of the thugs were dispersed over other departments, but remained in close proximity to one another.
He concluded that any noise could warn them, allowing them to rapidly regroup.
"Man! This is going to be difficult. I don't even know if they will shoot the customers or not, because I can't save them if that happens."
"THIS IS A CAPTAIN FROM THE POLICE TASK FORCE SPEAKING."
The booming voice of a loudspeaker from outside disrupted the stillness within the supermarket.
"YOU HAVE FIVE MINUTES TO SURRENDER AND COME OUT.
DON'T TRY TO DO SOMETHING THAT CAN MAKE YOU REGRET IT FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE."
"Boss, what should we do now?" One of the thugs approached the man who was ranting at the workers and whispered urgently to him.
"Don't pay attention to them; they ain't going to do anything while we have guns aimed at the civilians. I know a backdoor way where we can escape. Let me first take care of the money."
"Okay, boss." The thug fled quickly, shushing the terrified customers in an attempt to silence them.
"Y... you won't get away with it. You still have a chance, just surrender." One of the women spoke while holding her child close to her.
The thug ignored her and walked away, while Aizel snuck into the stationery department, where two guards were stationed.
Despite the presence of civilians, he was confident that he could dispatch the thugs quickly and without causing any harm to innocent bystanders.
Once the two thugs had shifted their attention somewhere else, Aizel crept up behind one of them.
He stabbed the thug in the back with a rounder he had gotten from a geometry box and swiftly covered his mouth with his other hand to muffle any sound.
As Aizel quickly knocked down and disarmed the first thug, the second guy became aware of his presence.
"You...how did..." he started to ask before a geometry box flew out of nowhere and struck his nose, startling him.
Aizel rushed at the thug, grabbed the arm that was holding the gun, and tossed him to the ground with a powerful judo throw.
"Alora, take the guns with you," Aizel said.
The stunned civilians on the ground stared in shock as a little girl boldly strolled towards them, snatching the gun from the thug's grasp, and stood by Aizel's side.
Aizel easily removed the thugs' belts and used them to confine their hands, preventing them from causing further trouble.
"2 down, 10 more to go." Alora reminded while Aizle nodded.
Aizel and Alora moved silently toward the vegetable section, keeping it low and hidden behind the shelves.
As they turned to look around the corner of a stand, they could see that there were now three guards stationed in the area.
Aizel and Alora were watching the three guards from their hiding place when Aizel noticed one of them sneaking up behind a young girl and attempting to pull her skirt while recording it on his phone.
The guard's laughter only added to Aizel's disgust.
He slowly emerged from his hiding place, standing out alone with both hands raised high in the air.
"Y... you please stop. That is my sister." He said this while trying to act scared as he slowly closed the distance between them.
The three guards focused their attention on him right away. One of them, who was filming a video, gave a sly grin.
"Hey, you! Who told you to stand up and why are you covering your face." one of them shouted.
"Let me handle this, and don't shout idiot. If the boss came, then how will we be able to enjoy ourselves here." The guy who was recording said this while moving his gaze toward Aizel.
"You said this is your sister, right? You won't mind if I do this?" He started to bring his hands towards the girl's breast.
The girl's eyes welled up with tears as she closed them tightly, bracing herself for the worst.
