The two continued along the overgrown dirt road for another quarter of an hour. The surrounding trees grew denser, their branches and leaves intertwining to blot out the sun, allowing only a few glimmers of light to pierce through. As the wind blew, the leaves rustled with a sinister chill.
Suddenly, Aris came to a dead stop. His shoulders jerked up and down as a bizarre laugh squeezed out of his throat, "Jie jie jie... jie jie..." The sound was high-pitched and raspy, enough to make one's skin crawl.
Riyao's brow furrowed at the sound. Without a second thought, he raised his hand and smacked the back of Aris's head. The crisp "thwack" wasn't particularly forceful, but it was loaded with disdain: "Stop that 'jie-ing' crap! Would it kill you to speak normally? You sound like an old hen being strangled; it's making me physically uncomfortable."
The blow sent Aris stumbling forward. He clutched the back of his head and staggered a few steps, grimacing in pain. The original sinister atmosphere shattered instantly. He turned around in a rage, his face flushed and neck veins bulging as he roared, "Riyao! You damn well dared to hit me?! Let me tell you, you're surrounded! There's no escape!"
As soon as he finished speaking, a rustling sound erupted from the dense forest, and over a dozen Mages emerged one after another. There were quite a few of them, but their appearance... Riyao's eyes widened. Some had multi-colored Punk hairstyles—reds, greens, and purples like a spilled paint palette, with enough hairspray to make them reflective. Some wore ripped denim jackets with one pant leg longer than the other and iron chains hanging from their waists that jingled as they walked. Others wore dark, heavy smokey eye makeup that looked like they'd been punched twice, with deep purple lipstick. No matter how you looked at them, they looked like Non-mainstream weirdos who had just crawled out of a grave.
Aris seemed very satisfied with his crew's look. He spat into his palm, rubbed his hands together, and then slicked back his greasy hair, forcing a side-fringe that swept all the way to his ear. His lip curled into what he thought was a handsome, wicked smile: "Riyao, be sensible and hand over the treasures and the magic book! I might consider sparing your life and letting you join us. You'll live the high life!"
The surrounding members of the Zangai Family immediately chimed in. Some beat their chests and laughed arrogantly, their chains clanking; others stood on their tiptoes to peer into Riyao's arms, their eyes gleaming.
Looking at this bunch of freakish characters, Riyao couldn't help but burst into laughter, slapping his thigh as he did.
"Hehe, if this Healing Mage can be put to work for me, we'll definitely be able to hold our heads high in the Dark Guild!" A green-haired Punk rubbed his hands together, staring greedily at Riyao.
"Treasures... want treasures..." A short, fat lackey was drooling, his eyes fixed on the spot where Riyao had previously stashed his gold coins, muttering those two words over and over.
"Hehehe, this young man has such smooth skin, slurp..." A pink-haired lackey wearing heavy makeup licked his lips, his gaze stuck to Riyao's face with a tone so greasy it felt like it could be pulled into threads. "I'll take real good care of you..."
Just as he spoke, a purple-haired lackey with smokey eyes nearby suddenly stomped his foot and shouted in a pinched voice, "You bastard! Are you really going to dump me for him? Have you forgotten our vows of eternal love?!"
Riyao's laughter stopped abruptly. The smile on his face froze, his lip twitched, and his eyes were filled with pure revulsion. Lusting after his treasure was one thing; lusting after his magic book was also tolerable. But lusting after his beauty? Lusting after his beauty was one thing, but it was a man?! This is unforgivable!
Aris didn't notice Riyao's internal monologue. Still maintaining his crooked smile, he added triumphantly, "Riyao, don't be ungrateful! As long as you join our Zangai Family, we can even create a custom, eye-catching look for you. A rainbow afro paired with black eyeliner, plus eight ear piercings filled with skull studs—I guarantee you'll be the center of attention wherever you go!"
The surrounding Love Burial members immediately cheered. The green-haired lackey raised his chains and shouted, "Join Love Burial, rule the looks!"
The pink-haired lackey swayed his hips and chimed in, "Give up resistance, embrace true love!"
The purple-haired lackey was still wiping away tears: "Unless he agrees to share with me, I will never accept this!"
Riyao took a deep breath and slowly raised his hand. A faint green light glowed at his fingertips, but the previous mirth was gone from his face, replaced by a look of utter disgust as if he'd been traumatized by the cringe. "You and your trashy family... and this trashy style..."
The moment he finished, the golden Fairy Tail guild emblem on his chest suddenly erupted with a dazzling light! Golden patterns spread from the emblem, crawling up his neck and across his limbs and face. The Hundred Battles Technique activated instantly. Magic power mixed with life force surged through his body like a tide, even causing the surrounding air to ripple with gold. The originally faint green and gold magical energies suddenly exploded, and his aura skyrocketed!
He clenched his fists, his knuckles cracking. The corner of his mouth involuntarily curled upward, nearly replicating Aris's crooked smile.
"Holy crap!"
Riyao reacted instantly, reaching up to firmly pinch the corner of his mouth back down.
Damn it! He was actually being corrupted by the style of these Non-mainstream weirdos! He absolutely could not be assimilated!
When he let go, his face had been replaced by an arrogant and playful grin: "Jie jie jie, you ignorant runts, you've got it backwards! You aren't surrounding me; I'm the one surrounding you!"
Boom!
With a deafening roar, the ground beneath Riyao's feet instantly shattered. Spiderweb-like cracks spread in all directions as debris flew. His figure vanished from the spot as if teleporting, leaving only a golden afterimage. The wind pressure kicked up the surrounding fallen leaves and dust, forming a small whirlwind.
In the next instant, Riyao appeared in the densest part of the crowd, like a wolf among sheep! The green-haired lackey screamed as he was sent flying. His stiff afro was mostly flattened by the magical energy, and his hair, slick with hairspray, now clung limply to his scalp, instantly turning him from a "ruler of looks" into a "background extra."
"Great Compassion Gatling Punch! Muda Muda Muda Muda..."
"Treasures... my treasures..." Lackey Number 3, the short fat one, didn't even have time to react before Riyao's backhand punch slammed into his stomach. The impact of the golden magic sent him rolling away like a ball, scattering several copper coins he had secretly hidden in his clothes.
Riyao's movements were as fast as lightning as he wove through the crowd. With every swing of his fists, green healing magic and golden offensive magic exploded alternately. The pink-haired lackey tried to move in to "take care" of him, only to be met with Riyao's knee to the gut. His greasy, heavy makeup was shaken into a messy blur as he flew back wailing for his parents. The purple-haired lackey was still wiping tears when Riyao gave him a casual slap, sending him crashing into a tree like a broken kite, his smokey eye makeup smeared all over his face until he looked like a panda.
Aris was scared out of his wits, his previous arrogance completely gone. He turned to run: "Impossible! How can a Healing Mage be this good at fighting?!"
"Huh? Your intel gathering is pathetic. You actually came looking for trouble without even properly understanding who I am."
"Ah—my hair!" Aris let out a piercing scream as he was smashed into the ground. His head was embedded directly into the dirt, his carefully applied hairspray failing completely. His hair was a mess of dust, and his crooked smile had turned into a face of mourning.
The surrounding members of the Zangai Family were terrified and fled in total disarray. No longer arrogant, they either ran for their lives or fell to their knees begging for mercy. In the originally sinister forest, only the sounds of screams and pleas remained, along with the echoes of Riyao's "jie jie jie" laugh.
As it turned out, his own "jie jie jie" laugh was much more satisfying.