Reincarnated in the Astral World

Chapter 12: Crime and Punishment

Any sensible person with the slightest perception would have noticed how Arthur's voice sounded full of determination and carrying incredible power.

But that trio of thugs are neither sensible nor have any perception ability, and there is the fact that they are as drunk as skunks.

"Hahahahah..." Two members of the trio start laughing at Arthur.

"Look at this stupid boy thinking he's so superior, hahahaha..."

"He's such a powerful and dangerous man; ohh, I'm scared!" One of them speaks sarcastically. "Hahahaha... what a joke!"

While his partners are mocking Arthur, the third member of the group continues to hold Margaret's arm, who feels very nervous and humiliated.

She tries desperately to free herself from the clutches of that man, but he is very strong.

"Look, your boyfriend wants to save you like a knight saves a princess," the man says in a mocking tone.

Arthur still doesn't make any move because he fears for Margaret's safety, and he needs to stay calm to act as quickly as possible without killing those men, which could cause problems for his family and the whole village.

"How complicated..." Arthur realizes that he can no longer act like Liam; he can't just advance towards the enemies without caring about anything other than killing everyone.

But just as his mind is working as fast as possible on a plan, Nyx's mind is, too.

"You have to act now while they're confident," she says in his mind. "They're drunk, so if you're quick, you can save the girl from any harm..."

Arthur feels that Nyx wants to say something more, and she does, "But if you focus on saving her from the first guy, the other two will grab their weapons."

Liam always strived for efficiency in all his actions, not caring about the consequences, especially when they affected other people.

But Arthur is doing this primarily to save Margaret, so he has no doubts about how to proceed.

Out of respect for his father and their family, Arthur tries a last friendly act before using force.

"Let her go; this doesn't need to end badly," he says in a firm tone.

The trio looks at him with the same expression of ridicule. "Hahahahahaha!!!"

Margaret doesn't just want to be a burden to Arthur, a weak girl who just waits for him to save her.

So, she tries to use that moment to free herself from the clutches of her captor again.

But the man gets furious and raises his other hand to hit her in the face. "Shut up, you bit-"

When Arthur notices that man raising his hand against Margaret, he has an adrenaline rush and is able to focus his powerful senses beyond the limits, seeing the whole scene in slow motion.

He doesn't think anymore; he just acts.

Forcing his right foot against the floor with so much force that he damages it and propels himself forward with great speed.

*Whooosh*

His body becomes a blur during the dash, and he crosses the short distance to the trio before that guy can touch Margaret.

"UHH!?!?" The man feels something touch his arm, and even before the wind generated by Arthur's dash reaches there, his arm loses all its strength completely.

Arthur uses his superior strength to grip the man's wrist so hard that he destroys his veins and crushes his bones in an instant.

Margaret is released, but Arthur doesn't stop. Using his other hand, he grabs the man by the neck and pushes him against the wall.

*Bam!*

The impact is so strong that it makes the entire wall of the tavern shake while the poor thug feels waves of pain running through his body.

He really wants to scream, but Arthur's grip on his neck prevents him from letting out more than some pathetic choking sounds. "G-g-ghasp…"

The scene happens so quickly that the spectators take a few seconds to understand it.

But Draven stands up immediately. "Arthur?!"

He fears that his son will overdo it, but Arthur quickly calms down and then spins the man's body in the air, slamming him against a table nearby.

*Bam* *Smash!*

The table breaks, and Arthur slams the man's body against the floor with enough force to make him feel a lot of pain, but not a fatal blow.

Margaret quickly runs to her father while the other two thugs try to shake off the shock and fear that has fallen on their bodies.

"..." They look at Arthur and then at each other.

Their minds can't think well due to the alcohol, but their bodies act on instinct.

They look at the table, at their weapons on it, and quickly grab two short swords before attacking Arthur with them madly.

Arthur is now dealing with the consequences of his adrenaline rush. He had never done something like that and ended up using almost all of his internal energy in that move.

He still has a lot of strength to fight, of course, but he feels his whole body numb, his speed and senses clearly less efficient.

He can't focus and see the attack of the thugs in slow motion, so his body reacts automatically, as he did dozens of times during training with Draven.

But unlike his father, who always used a wooden sword and restrained his strength to the maximum, those men use real blades and all the strength they have.

Arthur raises his arm to block the attack, a bad decision but the only one he manages to make in such a short time.

*Bam* *Slash*"

The dirty and rusty blades cut the sleeve of Arthur's shirt and his skin, making drops of his blood flow.

He is surprised by the strength of those men, who, despite not having a fraction of Draven's strength, are certainly stronger than the farmers of the village.

But thanks to Arthur's body's natural resistance, the thugs can't make more than two small cuts on his arms.

Yet, Nyx becomes concerned and exclaims in his mind. "Baka! What are you doing???"

Nyx's voice awakens Arthur from his numb moment, and his senses become clearer again.

*Whoosh*

In a quick movement, he punches one of the guys in the face before the man makes another attack with the sword.

*Bam*

Now that he is not under the adrenaline rush, Arthur is surprised at how hard that guy's body is.

Arthur has never been in such a serious fight in this world, so he has no idea how strong other people can be.

But even being strong, that man can't do anything against Arthur's powerful punch. He ignores the pain in his hand and sends the guy to the ground.

Arthur doesn't hold back his strength, and the man's blood splashes along with some of his teeth.

But the third thug doesn't stand still watching and quickly attacks Arthur from behind.

*Whoosh*

Arthur hears the rusty blade cutting the air, so he leans forward quickly, just enough for the blade to cut the back of his shirt but not touch his skin.

"You piece of shit!" Arthur gets furious because of the attempted sneak attack.

Liam doesn't needed any reason to kill someone, but there is Arthur, holding back even when his enemies are clearly trying to kill him.

Arthur quickly looks at his father, seeking permission to be more lethal. However, he sees Draven looking at him with a proud expression and eyes shining with admiration.

"Damn!" Part of Arthur really wants to kill those guys, yet he can't help but enjoy being respected by the father he also respects so much.

While he strengthens his determination to be a good guy, the second thug gets up and spits out another mouthful of blood before casting a hostile look at Arthur.

"I'm going to kill you, boy!" He grits his teeth while holding his sword firmly.

Arthur finds himself surrounded by the two angry adversaries, but he doesn't want to draw his sword because it would be difficult not to kill those guys with such a sharp blade.

"Use a stick," Nyx's voice sounds in his mind, "A piece of the broken table!"

Arthur is again very grateful for Nyx acting as a second conscience in his mind.

*Whoosh*

The two guys attack at the same time, again in sync, but Arthur rolls under their blades, avoiding both.

He rolls towards the broken table and passes over the first thug, who is still moaning on the floor, before getting up already with a leg of the table in his hands.

Now that he has a non-lethal weapon, not so much at least, he throws a confident smile at his adversaries.

"You can thank me for this later," He says confidently.

The two thugs are confused by Arthur's words and actions. As criminals, they are used to killing, so such honorable morals as Draven's don't make sense.

Rational people would also notice that they can barely handle Arthur, so his big and strong father could easily kill them by joining the fight alongside his son.

But those guys are drunk and angry, a combination that drives away any rational thought.

So they blindly attack Arthur, with their blades even more blunt.

Arthur can't see the scene as when in his adrenaline rush, but he focuses again and can see his adversaries' movements clearly.

*Whoosh* *Whoosh*

He avoids both attacks and counterattacks, hitting those guys' hands with the table leg.

*Bam* *Bam*

"FUCK!!!"

"ARGH!!!"

The two thugs scream in pain, their hands crushed against the hilt of their swords that fall to the ground when they can no longer hold them.

They cast hostile but terrified looks at Arthur as if they had encountered some kind of cruel villain who enjoys torturing them.

Arthur really enjoys those looks of fear; that's not the kind of thing he likes to see on the faces of cute girls like Margaret, but on men who like to hurt girls like her, it certainly is a beautiful sight.

The atmosphere fills with tension as the thugs can't react due to fear.

But Arthur breaks the silence with a sinister laugh. "What are you waiting for?? Use your left hand, fucking scumbags!"

The growing fear even outweighs the influence of alcohol on those men, and they quickly try to pick up their swords with their left hand, even though they have no proficiency that way.

They hope that Arthur's arrogance will at least allow them to hurt him.

But to their despair, Arthur acts quickly and crushes their left hand with the table leg, even more brutally.

*Bam* *Bam*

"ARGHHHHH!!!"

"SHIIIIIIT!!!"

The screams of those men echo within the small tavern, music to Arthur's ears.

"You think you can come here and intimidate these people…" He speaks with an increasingly darker tone. "Such a mistake!"

Those guys are already very afraid of Arthur, but then he starts to hit them even more with the table leg.

*Bam* *Bam* *Bam* *Bam* *Bam* *Bam*

Each blow is very painful, despite not being lethal, and always followed by a scream of pain.

The Carpenters are very happy to be saved, but they don't have the stomach to watch that bloody scene and hide behind the counter.

Draven, on the other hand, watches the show while enjoying his beer. He has already asked Arthur not to kill the trio, so he will not interfere anymore and let his son decide how heavy the punishment will be.

Arthur does not hold back and beats those two men to the content of his heart. He only spares their vital organs and their legs so that they can run far away from there and never come back.

But they will not be able to cast lascivious smiles at pure girls or anyone else ever again because Arthur did not leave a whole tooth in their mouths.

"I think that's enough," Arthur comments as he throws those two out of the tavern, their bodies soaked in their blood and urine.

The two thugs try to get up and run away, but Arthur makes a request in a fake friendly tone. "Wait just a second,"

Then he goes back into the tavern and heads to the last member of the trio; that poor man is still down from when Arthur hit his body on the floor with such force.

That man, the scoundrel who hurt sweet Margaret, is the one Arthur most wanted to punish, but he overdid it on his first move, and the guy got very close to death.

"How are you?" Arthur approaches the guy and grabs him by the collar, taking a good look at his haggard face. "You're going to survive, right?"

The man, who is not so stupid, tries to pretend to be worse than he really is. "Ahhh... I'm dying..."

"Such a magnificent performance," Arthur laughs sarcastically and then starts punching the guy's face with his fists.

"I'm going to help you," He speaks in that sinister friendly tone while punching the man, making him swallow his blood and teeth.

"No, no, no, please... stop!!" The man tries to plead for mercy.

In the end, Arthur has to stop before the man really dies. Then he drags him outside and lifts him up one more time.

"I'm only going to say this once," Arthur speaks in a serious tone and puts his thumb on the guy's eye. "If you look at her again, I'm going to rip it out and stick it in a place you won't like at all..."

"What kind of threat is that???" That man is really terrified by such an idea.

He nods, using all the strength he has left to make it clear that he understands the message.

"Good," Arthur smiles and throws the guy toward the other thugs. "Take your friend, and don't come back here ever!"

The two pick up the third member of the trio and run as fast as they can without looking back.

Arthur sighs, his expression returning to its usual calm form.

From inside his Nexus, Nyx speaks to him mentally. "You overdid it."

"I did," He agrees.

"But they deserve even worse..." Nyx comments.

"They do," Arthur is happy that she shares the same opinion as him.