Turning around to look, Lucas saw a bunch of people scrambling away while the horses attached to one of the wagons were acting up.
From what he could gather, it seemed like while unloading the wagons, someone had accidentally dropped a crate which hit one of the Cloud Treading Colts, startling it and causing it to kick and buck.
Once one of the Cloud Treading Colts began acting up, the others nearby also became restless, threatening to start a chain-reaction.
The soldiers, who until now had just been watching from the side, audibly clicked their tongues before stepping in to calm the horses while the townsfolk all backed away, worried about getting hit by the flailing beasts.
The whole situation was quickly brought under control, with the soldiers getting the horse to settle down and the townsfolk returning to resume working. Lucas didn't think much of the whole incident as it was obviously nothing more than an accident, but just as he was about to turn away, something outrageous happened.
One of the soldiers actually slapped a man who was trying to apologize, knocking him to the ground before kicking him repeatedly while loudly cursing. The civilians were completely caught off-guard by this sudden bout of violence and froze in place, not quite sure what to do.
At first, only one soldier lashed out violently, but soon after, a few of the others began cursing and swearing at the crowd, insulting them as 'lowly peasants' and complaining furiously about how they had to 'risk their lives for such trash'.
Another of the soldiers even walked up to the fallen man and joined in the beating, drawing pained grunts from the latter.
"Hey! Stop!" Lucas cried out almost instinctually, unable to just stand by and watch this blatant harassment. The young boy's voice also seemed to snap the surrounding crowd out of its daze and they also began clamouring for the soldiers to stop, some of them even trying to move forward and physically intervene.
However, as soon as the crowd began moving, the other soldiers, who had been content to just lob insults so far, actually blocked their way, with some of them drawing their weapons in an extremely aggressive manner.
There were certainly more townsfolk than soldiers, with many of them even being armed due to the ongoing crisis, but facing menacing members of the kingdom's army, the ordinary civilians of Redwood Town instinctually shrank back, not wanting to draw trouble to themselves.
All of a sudden, one of the two soldiers in the Core Formation Realm, the one who had started this whole mess in the first place when he struck the apologizing man, pointed his sword at Drake and Lucas, "You! You're that crippled bastard responsible for all this! If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have had to come to this shithole in the middle of nowhere, and now your filthy peasant son dares tell me, a true-blood noble, what to do!? I'll kill you!"
In the next instant, the enraged soldier charged out and swung his blade.
With no time to think, Drake stepped forward to protect Lucas from the blow, knowing full well that the sword which was rapidly swinging towards him would cleanly cut him in two.
Had his right leg been working properly, perhaps he would have tried to grab Lucas and dodge, or even counter-attack, but lacking the necessary mobility, and with his opponent being faster and stronger to begin with, Drake could only put his life on the line to shield his son.
Having already survived a few near-death experiences over the past year or so, Lucas knew better than to panic and close his eyes in this kind of situation, but with neither time nor strength on his side, the young boy could only watch helplessly as his father moved between him and the attacker.
*Clang…*
At the last possible moment, what looked like a small meat cleaver flew across Lucas' vision, smacking into the attacking soldier's sword and sending it flying.
"Gah!" The Core Formation solider shouted in surprise before turning and shouting, "Who did that!?"
Immediately, a gruff female voice answered from the side, "I did."
Limping over using a wooden crutch, Farah soon appeared next to Drake and Lucas.
Having dealt with the attacker, Farah turned and asked, "Are you two alright?"
The father and son duo were still in a bit of a daze and could only nod unconsciously.
"Good," Farah nodded, "Step back."
With little other choice, Drake quickly brought Lucas away and joined the rest of the crowd of townsfolk and villagers who were all now focused on the fight which had just taken place.
The Core Formation Realm solider was initially a bit intimidated when his sword was knocked from his grip, as such a feat would require quite a bit of precision and strength; however, upon seeing the heavily bandaged Farah, who wore no armour and seemed to be struggling to hold herself upright, his confidence quickly returned.
Putting on an insufferably arrogant expression, the man harshly questioned, "Woman! Who are you? State your name!"
"Who I am doesn't matter," Farah replied bluntly as she stood there, unafraid.
Farah's injuries from the first night of the crisis hadn't healed yet, and thanks to her damaged meridians, she had barely recovered any of her Spirit Qi despite cultivating almost non-stop for the past 2 days.
She was aching, in pain, and had severely diminished combat capabilities right now, but even in this condition, dealing with a mere Core Formation soldier was no more of a problem for her than disciplining a cranky child.
Her opponent, however, didn't seem to understand the disparity between himself and the burly town butcher, so he continued to posture menacingly, "A mere peasant woman dares get in this Lord's way? The insolence! I'll have you executed for this offence!"
"You?" Farah simply glanced over the man in front of her and declared unequivocally, "Impossible."
Farah wasn't even trying to be insulting; she was simply stating a fact.
Under no circumstances, in any feasible scenario, would a Core Formation garrison soldier be able to get a Mid-Rank Spirit Initiate and former Royal Legion Army Commander executed, even if she were to twist off his head right here and now.
The man thought very differently, though.
An ugly countryside woman was making a mockery of him, which was absolutely intolerable for him. Being disrespected by someone he considered inferior, the man became further enraged and was about to reach for his backup weapon when a new voice suddenly cut through the air, "What's going on here?"
Although this voice was neither loud nor forceful, it was infused with a potent Soul Qi that caused it to resounded like thunder in the ears of all who heard it.
Such a display of strength and control was enough to wake up all the newly arrived soldiers, who immediately lowered their weapons; however, there was one among them who was too worked up to think straight and actually turned around to yell, "Another bitch dares get in this Lord's way?!"
The moment those words sounded, the Core Formation Realm man's subordinates felt their blood freeze in their veins. They all knew that only a powerful True Cultivator could infuse Soul Qi into their voice.
In the Rockwell Kingdom, anyone in the Grand Spirit Realm was someone who could not be offended easily, so they all hurriedly tried to control their commanding officer, but unfortunately for them, milk spilt on the dirt couldn't be poured back into a bottle.
Before any of them could even take a step or utter a word, an overwhelming pressure descended, forcing all of them to their knees.
In an instant, it felt as if their bodies had tripled in weight, but they were the lucky ones as they weren't the direct target of this newcomer's wrath, that honour was reserved for their foolish Captain.
As for the arrogant man who had been cursing and threatening to kill everyone around him just now, he was planted face down in the mud, shaking uncontrollably as the sound of his bones cracking could faintly be heard.
Appearing before the Core Formation Realm soldier, Celestina Balfour stared down at the sprawled-out man and asked in a completely indifferent tone, "Name and rank?"
The now not-so-arrogant man could barely even move his lips as he haltingly mouthed, "C-C-Cap… t-tain R-Riley B-B-Bak… B-Bake… B-Baker…"
Without even a change in her expression, Celestina pulled her spear from her back and declared, "For the crimes of attempted murder of an innocent, insulting a superior officer, and dereliction of duty in a time of war, I, General Celestina Balfour, strip Riley Baker of his military rank and sentence him to death."
Having delivered her judgement, before the man could even attempt to object or defend himself, Celestina swung her spear.