"Silence!"
"Silence!!!"
Lauren, his face solemn and imposing, had already drawn his sword, intimidating the clamoring refugees. Unfortunately, his intimidation held no sway over them.
"Give us food."
"Hurry and give us the food you promised, or don't blame us for being rude."
"Food!"
The news of the food shortage instantly plunged the refugees into uncontrollable chaos.
Lauren, sword drawn, looked at the beast-like, bloodshot eyes of the refugees and was unsure how to respond. He glanced at Clay, only to find Clay's pupils flickering.
This scene was something he hadn't anticipated.
When he arrived, he had considered that the food shortage might displease some refugees, but he still believed that the majority would remember the City Lord's Mansion's past kindness to them.
He thought they would assist the City Lord's Mansion and suppress the displeased refugees. kAnshu伍.ξà
Who would have thought—
He saw no refugees speaking up for the City Lord's Mansion. It was possible that some refugees still held goodwill towards the City Lord's Mansion, but their group was too small to have any dominant influence.
"Give us the food!!!"
The refugees at the forefront had already begun to press towards Clay and the others. The vigilant cavalry saw this and simultaneously drew their weapons. Clad in heavy armor, they attempted to intimidate the approaching refugees, but this only intensified the refugees' resistance.
As the refugees were about to break through the perimeter, a searing heat instantly enveloped the city.
"So hot!"
"What's happening? Why did it suddenly get so hot?"
The men with moles on their faces standing on the rooftop all felt the scorching heat. At that moment, a crimson light entered their vision. The fox-person was the first to look up.
"Holy cow!"
"You guys, look up at the sky."
Everyone looked up at the void. Above the city, a meteor burning with flames hung suspended in the sky.
Yabo, seeing this, also felt his pupils contract violently.
This sense of pressure was a forbidden spell.
A forbidden spell of the fire element!
Almost instinctively, he stood up and looked towards the crowd of refugees, his gaze eventually settling on Chen Yu, whose robes billowed and whose arm was imbued with fire elements.
"It's him."
Yabo couldn't help but swallow.
Although the words of the jackal half-beasts had given them a general understanding of Chen Yu's strength, and Yabo believed the jackal half-beasts' judgment, believing and seeing it with his own eyes were vastly different.
He hadn't felt this soul-shattering pressure in a long time.
For some reason, he recalled Chen Yu's words to him before leaving: "You are not my match." At this moment, he completely believed that Chen Yu had not spoken falsely.
He was by no means Chen Yu's opponent.
Even though he was at the Nine-Colored realm, even though he was only one step away from becoming a Demigod, in front of a Magic Saint who could cast forbidden spells, he could only prostrate himself like an ant.
What was more terrifying was that he had barely felt any elemental condensation.
After all, he was a master of the Nine-Colored realm. Even if he wasn't a mage specializing in elemental magic, at his level, he was very sensitive to changes in his surroundings. Chen Yu's ability to cast a forbidden spell without him perceiving it indicated that his casting time was extremely short.
To be able to finish casting and release a forbidden spell in such a short time.
He might have only just stepped onto the threshold of becoming a Magic Saint.
So young, yet having reached the Magic Saint realm. Was there truly such talent in the entire underground world?
Little did he know, if Yabo knew the truth, he would be even more shocked. What Chen Yu was casting was not a forbidden spell at all, but the most basic fireball.
It was just that his elemental affinity was so explosive that the fireball had turned into a meteor.
"Everyone be quiet."
It was only then that Chen Yu's angry roar echoed through the square of clamoring refugees.
With his arm imbued with fire elements, Chen Yu walked step by step through the refugees until he reached Clay's side in front of the square's statue.
"Brother Chen Yu!!!"
Nuo Yi's small face was filled with surprise and admiration. Looking at the meteor suspended overhead, her eyes were filled with infinite yearning.
A forbidden spell!
This was what mages pursued their entire lives.
Although Chen Yu had dealt with many monsters along the way, he had never displayed the power of a forbidden spell. Now, she finally saw it with her own eyes.
"City... City Lord..."
Lauren also moved his lips, looking at the meteor overhead with shock.
A Magic Saint?!
The City Lord he was going to serve in the future was a Saint-tier expert, surpassing the old City Lord.
Clay also looked at this scene with horror. While he knew Chen Yu's strength was definitely extraordinary, he hadn't expected him to conjure a forbidden spell so casually.
"Stand down."
A whisper in his ear made Clay immediately give way. Chen Yu, holding his fire-element-infused arm, looked at the refugees with a smile.
"If you don't want to die, then retreat to your proper positions."
"If you want to die, I can also give you a quick end, turning you all to ash. I'll give you three breaths of time."
Instantly, many of the chaotic refugees retreated.
The refugees who had been shouting for the City Lord's Mansion to provide food looked up at the meteor overhead, then at the refugees who had retreated, and could only return to their original positions.
"You refugees truly disappoint me."
"In my heart, refugees are those who have fallen into desperate circumstances. They should all possess pure and kind dispositions, and should be grateful for external help. Refugees should not be ungrateful wretches."
"Unfortunately, you now make me feel as if I've raised a bunch of ungrateful wolves."
"Who... who are you? We want to speak with City Lord Clay." Still, a few brave individuals among the refugees shouted. Chen Yu squinted and smiled slightly. Clay then stepped forward and said, "Here, I also formally announce that this person before you is the true City Lord of our Fengqi City. I was merely acting as the interim City Lord before."
Upon learning that Chen Yu was the City Lord, those few brave individuals were stunned.
Chen Yu looked at them with a smile. Feeling Chen Yu's gaze, they quickly lowered their heads.
"No need to lower your heads. I have remembered all your faces. I can also tell you clearly that you can leave this city immediately. This city is no longer your place to shelter." Chen Yu's eyes held a smile. Hearing this, those few instantly turned ashen. Others, unwilling to give up, glared defiantly and shouted, "By what right do you treat us like this?"
"What you say, by what right? Because I am the City Lord."
Chen Yu shrugged with a smile and said, "This city belongs to me. You ask me by what right? How could you ask such an unrefined question?"
"But... the City Lord's Mansion promised us beforehand that they would solve our survival problems."
"Yes, that is indeed true. And I instructed Clay to do so. But hasn't he executed it well during my absence? You have indeed received relief food from the City Lord's Mansion, haven't you?"
"Since that is the case, by what right do you say you will not give it anymore!"
"Simply because... I don't want to give it anymore."
Chen Yu's eyes still held a smile as he calmly looked at the middle-aged man who was shouting.
"If you want food, give me a reason why I must give you food. Use your preferred phrasing: By what right? You tell me, by what right should I give you food."