Chapter 363: Chapter 363

“Can we talk now?” Erin asked as they moved into a building and barred the doors behind them.

“What’s there to talk about?” said Franklin, the paladin of Ruva who was also the Saintess’ guard. Though he had ceased pointing his sword at Erin, his hostility and wariness never did. He was still full of distrust towards her. As to why his doubts lingered, he had refused to divulge to Erin even though she had asked politely.

The Saintess sighed. “We’re out of danger for now,” she said and took a seat on an overturned crate. The building appeared to be an abandoned tavern. Much of the furnishings were still in place but it had been rotting due to the absence of care. “We can have a few words but we would have to move once we catch our breath. The Oroks aren’t dogs but they do have quite a sense of smell.”

“Oroks? Is that what those things are?”

“Have you not seen an Orok before?” the Saintess returned the question with a frown.

“Impossible,” Franklin scoffed. “How could an adventurer not have heard of an Orok before?”

“I don’t know what else you want me to say. I have not seen an Orok before, nor have I heard of it.”

“Well, an Orok is an Orc but evolved. They are stronger, faster, and smarter. However, they are few. There shouldn’t be so many of them. Only one in every thousand Orcs can evolve into an Orok. There’s a small army of them hunting me.”

“Why would they be hunting you?”

“I’m a Saintess. I’m the perfect catalyst for rituals, especially the dark ones that require a sacrifice or sacrifices.”

“Do you know who’s sending these Oroks after you?”

The Saintess smiled wryly. “Just about every practitioner of the Dark Arts. The list is long.”

“The identity of the true mastermind isn’t important,” said Franklin. “Getting the Saintess out of here is. I don’t know what you’re doing here, Fox-kin, but if you try to stop us or harm the Saintess, I will not hesitate to lay down my life for her.”

Erin sighed. “Are you being obtuse on purpose? Do you have something against Fae or adventurers? Are you trying to raise my ire?”

“Are you mocking me?”

“Am I? To a paranoid dullard like you, perhaps every gesture made by another person could be seen as mockery.”

Franklin growled. His hands were on his sword, preparing to draw.

“Franklin, enough,” the Saintess bellowed but not too loud as to let herself be heard from a few buildings away. “For the last time, she’s not an enemy.”

“How can you say that, Lady Saintess? How many times have the assassins approached you while posing as an ally or a harmless passerby? How can we know for certain that she isn’t just another assassin in disguise?”

“And what do you propose? Should I be treating everyone as if they are an enemy prematurely for the rest of my life? Is that it?”

“Lady Saintess, that’s not what I—”

“Then, be silent. There’s a small army of Oroks out there and you are not even a match of one. Do you want to push away our only chance of getting out of Limbo?”

“Then, you better start treating Erynthea here like a fellow ally. Would that be fine with you, Erynthea?”

“I have no problems with that. I, too, wish to get out of here as soon as I can. Which begs the question, how do we do that?”

“By now, the church should be aware of my disappearance and how I disappeared. They will track down the caster and force them to expel me from Limbo. Until then, we just need to survive. With you as an ally, it will be simple, won’t you say?”

“As long as Oroks are the only things we need to worry about.”

“The Oroks are not that much faster than Orcs. As long as we keep moving, they will never catch us,” said Franklin.

At that moment, Erin frowned before breaking into a wry smile. “Well, that’s false.”

“You take me for a liar?”

“Not by intention. We have been found.”

“We have?” the Saintess asked.

Erin nodded. “I smelled them. There are about five of them, two buildings away. They’re coming here. We have to move.”

“I understand. We can get out through the back and sneak through the alley. Franklin.”

The paladin nodded and took point, leading the way to the back door.

They quickened their steps as soon as they moved into the alley. Erin remained at the back of the formation, leaving the Saintess in the middle. After exiting the alley, they stuck to the shadows of the eaves. As they reached a junction, they ran across the street and into another alley, where they proceeded down a flight of steps into the borders of the slums. All the while, the sounds of heavy steps trailed behind them in the near distance. The Oroks appeared to be on their trail.

“Where are we going?” Erin asked.

Franklin didn’t answer. He only kept on marching with his eyes trained on what was in front of him.

“The sanctum in the slums.”

“A contingency sanctuary and shelter known only to Ruvans who have proven their faith. It is scattered across the continent. The capital alone has seven of them.”

Franklin stopped suddenly and turned around. “Saintess!” he yelled. “How can you spill a sacred secret so carelessly to a suspicious person?”

“She’s not suspicious, Franklin. What did I say just a few moments ago? And do you honestly wish to have this argument right here and now?”

The sound of the Oroks' steps was getting louder and louder the longer they stopped.

Suppressing his discontentment, Franklin turned around and resumed leading the way forward.

Not a few buildings ahead, there was a row of wooden fences in their path at the end of the street. On the other side of the fence were the slums. Erin could already see the numerous dilapidated buildings peeking out from the other side of the fence. The only discrepancy was the lack of a foul smell. Now that she thought about it, there was no smell of the streets or the air. The only scent was the scent of Saintess, the Paladin, the Oroks, and her own.

“How do we get across?” Erin questioned. “I know those fences are only wood but we don’t want to make it obvious that we went through here, do we?”

“We don’t,” answered the Saintess. “And we won’t be leaving any trace.”

Once they were in front of the fence, Franklin simply reached out and pushed on two planks, which then turned upwards to reveal a path.

“Oh, clever. Has anyone else discovered this?”

“We don’t need to worry about that. People who use secret paths wouldn’t go around telling everyone about it. If anything, they helped in concealing it because they, too, want to use this path to stay secret.”

“Oh, that’s—” Erin cut herself off mid-sentence. She was the last one through the fence and in the instance that she did, she leapt forward and tackled the two to the ground, just as something flew overhead.

“Tsk,” someone tutted. “I was sure that I had erased my presence.”

Franklin followed, helping the Saintess to her feet.

“Seems like it would be messy after all,” said the assailant as he walked out from the shadows that concealed him. There was nothing noteworthy about his appearance. He looked just like any simple commoner. However, he was anything but simple and common.

“You two, stay close to me,” Erin said, manifesting her sword.

“We should run while the Fae distracts the attacker,” Franklin suggested without a shred of hesitation.

“No,” Erin quickly rejected the idea. “There’s nowhere for you to run. We are surrounded.”

The assailant guffawed. “Impressive. You noticed, albeit a little too late. But still, you noticed. Impressive.” There were no weapons in his hand and yet, he held immense intimidation and a tremendous sense of threat. “So predictable, you Ruvans are.”

“How did you know?” Franklin snarled.

“How?” The assassin scoffed. “How do you think? How else?”

“Don’t think too hard about it. It’s best that you spend your last moments thinking of… joyful thoughts instead of lamenting over your untimely end.”

Whenever the assailant took a step forward, Erin took a step backwards.

The assailant snickered, seeing Erin’s retreat. “You must be the famous Erynthea. The saviour of Sephrodia Valley. It is an honour to be your acquaintance. I am Devon.”

“I don’t care what your name is and I’m certainly not your acquaintance.”

“Look here. I just want the little lass. So, just get out of my way and I shall spare you.”

Franklin scowled. “Fae, don’t you dare—”

“Another word of contempt from you, then I might just accept it,” Follow current novels on N0velFire.ɴet

Franklin immediately fell silent.

“Ah… So, I have been rejected. Well, it’s truly a shame. You could have continued to live, basking in your fame and glory, but gave it all away for honour.”

Erin remained vigilant and calm as she brandished another sword.

“Erynthea, can you triumph over this person?” the Saintess asked.

“I can but my chances of victory are not the concern here. Your survival is. I’m not adept at protecting someone while I fight.”

“You don’t need to. I have Franklin here. He might not look like it but he’s good at what he does, protecting me.”

“If you say so, then I shall count on that,” Erin said and lunged straight at Devon.

The assassin smirked. “Are you sure you want to do that?”

The air began to ripple in front of Erin. She raised her swords as the ripple charged at her. It struck her hard as if a huge load of steel had rammed into her. However, Erin sliced through the ripple after getting her grip.

Devon was gone, no longer where he had been standing.

Erin tutted and spun around with her swords swinging. Her swords caught the blow of compressed air behind her but that was all there was. No sign of Devon.

“The instincts of a Beast-kin are truly astounding,” said Devon. His voice seemed to be coming from every direction.

“I’m a Fae,” Erin corrected.

“You’re prey, that’s what you are right now.”

Just then, an arrow flew out from a window on the top floor of a nearby dilapidated building. The arrow was heading straight for the Saintess.

Franklin, true to his convictions, moved into the arrow's path and cut it down with ease. Then, another arrow was shot but it came from the other side. Franklin tugged the Saintess back and lunged at the arrow. As he did so, a ball of whirlwind was flying towards the Saintess from seemingly nowhere.

“Damn it,” Erin grunted and quickly dashed for the whirlwind ball.

Devon appeared in front of her at that moment. “Don’t run. Play with me.”

“Fine,” Erin said and unleashed a violet mist that permeated the vicinity at an incredible pace.

Devon froze on the spot and his gaze went blank.

Erin rushed past him and thrust her swords into the whirlwind ball, destroying it. The destruction of the spell unleashed the air contained within and it exploded. The shockwave struck Erin, which flung her a considerable distance away. She immediately recovered her balance as soon as she stopped and flipped to her feet. “Devon, do me a kind favour. Kill your arbalist friends.”

“Y-yes, my love! Anything for my love!” Devon obliged heartily with a huge smile. He aimed his palms at the two windows on the top floor of the two opposing buildings. Air gathered in his palms before shooting off in the form of spheres. The whirlwind spheres struck the windows. Dying throes followed, preceded by shouts and explosions.

Erin approached Devon. Without a word to the evidently love-struck Devon, Erin sliced his head off with a freezing stare. Afterwards, she dispelled the mist and slumped to the ground. “...Shit,” she muttered.