Alastor knew they couldn't beat the Saint. So, he'd been formulating a plan. Well, it wasn't too hard. He smiled darkly—he still had some leftover refined elicin. Sure, the explosion wouldn't harm the Saint directly, but…
He wasn't trying to use the explosives to damage her. He was trying to damage the battlefield—that cliff they were fighting on. It was already quite unstable due to the earlier combat. But with calculated explosions…
The cliff would topple over, momentarily distracting the Saint. 'I hope so, anyway.'Alastor knew hope usually got people killed, but they were going to die either way. So, why not hope?
He ran around like a madman, pouring trails of the coarse powder. He needed either Liras or Kios to ignite it. He was pretty sure hellfire contained some of the same properties as normal flame.
He also considered using the Present Box. That is, by evicting the few thousand soldiers currently inside to "help" fight the Saint.No, he considered using them as a distraction. Maybe by the time the Saint finished killing a few thousand men, they'd be far away.
Alastor had no quarrel with sacrificing lives to save his own. He'd even leave Kios and Liras to die if it meant he could survive. But as he saw it, to accomplish his goals, he needed them.
**
Kios was so downtrodden that even the bloodthirstiness imposed on him by the demon blood had vanished.He just wanted to go home. And by home, he meant anywhere with a warm bed.
The Saint—Jocasta—had cut off a piece of his ear.
A tragedy indeed. It wasn't too painful, but it was enough to sober him. Liras groaned, spitting blood onto the rocky floor.Ars, the young general, had surprisingly managed to "dance" with the Saint the longest. Although, it was mostly him running around frantically.
Just then, he heard Alastor's voice behind him. Both he and Liras turned to find the golden-eyed madman's right eye twitching erratically.
"Ha, I still had some leftover elicin. I set the explosives up so the cliff will fall onto itself," he whispered. He paused, then added in a darker tone,"We'll use the distraction to get into Brigald Town. You see, if we manage to blend in successfully—well, it's not like she can go around killing everyone."
Kios liked that idea. Liras seemed to like it too, igniting a small flame on his finger.
"Ars, get back here!" Kios shouted—the young general immediately disengaged from his 'fight' with the Saint and ran back to them.Jocasta, still smiling, yawned.
"See, I can kill you anytime. I just wanted to enjoy a little fighting. Too bad none of you are strong.I suppose it's time to die. I'd tell you that the afterlife will be great and beautiful, but sinners like you will suffer even more in Hell."
"Sinners like us already suffer in Hell. Where do you think we are right now?" Kios sneered.
That made Jocasta laugh. "Indeed, fighting me might put you under the assumption you're already in Hell."
She added, colder now, "Those demonic daggers you wield, and your tainted aura support that claim. And your friend here…"She glared at Alastor.
"He stinks of demon. Very repugnant. Don't tell me you're a little hybrid? Is your daddy a demon?" she smiled mockingly.
Alastor's eye twitched. "Mind your own business. Also—Saint Jocasta, was it? At least before you kill us, let us say some words…"
She shrugged. "Go ahead, Mammon. I'll hear them."
"You're a fucking bitch," he smirked and spat bitterly.
Jocasta's smile dimmed, but her eyes blazed with immense fury and bloodlust. If looks could kill, Alastor would've died on the spot.
His golden eyes darted to Liras, who quickly pushed his palm forward—Jocasta reacted, expecting Liras to shower her in flames, but instead, the King let forth a short burst in a different direction.
The flame made contact with the trail of elicin Alastor had placed. Normally, the winds—especially this high in the mountains—would've blown it off. But Alastor had stepped it down, bonding the powder to the floor.
Jocasta turned her head, slightly confused.
"Boom…" Alastor grinned darkly, his golden eyes shining with malevolence. Even though he knew the explosion would, at most, hinder her,he really, really hoped it would hurt.
At that moment, powerful explosions were set off all around the battlefield, situated atop the cliff. All of them—including Jocasta—stumbled,both from the shockwaves and the immediate collapse of the ground.
Fortunately for them, Alastor had warned them beforehand.As Jocasta fell, dazed, ash, dust, and flame created a dense smoke cloud—hiding them. They all leaped—their spirituality enhancing their physicality, allowing them to cross the great distances between cliffs.
The wind blew against them. Rocks tumbled. Heat pressed against the backs of their necks.Not too far away lay a large town, its orange lights illuminating the dark evening.
They didn't look down. Instead, they ran and jumped with all the strength they had.
Far behind them, a beam of light-blue spirituality shot from the clouds, beaming down onto Jocasta's position—clearing the debris, the smoke, and the ash.
She leapt high into the sky and activated her Spirit Vision.
"Run. Run and run. Don't look back…" she whispered solemnly.
She spotted four dark silhouettes closing in on Brigald Town. She scoffed and began giving chase—instead of leaping from cliff to cliff, she skipped two or three at a time. Her jumps were that strong.
Alastor looked back and grimaced. Oh, he was really starting to loathe this woman.
Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a yellow gemstone embedded in a circular pendant, connected to a golden chain.The charm radiated a warm yet volatile feeling.
He mustered every bit of strength in his arm and threw the charm toward Jocasta's general direction.Kios noticed and recognized it—a high-grade light charm.
'So he was the one who brought them…' he chuckled inwardly.
The charm, midair, caught Jocasta's attention. Before she could slice it, it burst and shone with great brilliance.
It illuminated the entire area. To the citizens of Brigald Town, it looked as if the sun was peeking out from the horizon.
They jumped down—the fall didn't hurt them. Approaching the outer gates of the town, a few guards eyed them with suspicion, reluctant to let them in.
Before they could speak, Kios pounced—killing the guards easily, his crimson daggers slicing through their flimsy steel like a knife through butter.
The rest did not object—even, surprisingly, Ars.
They ran through the town, discarding their clothes and grabbing items from stalls scattered across the streets.Kios, however, did not relinquish his cloak. Instead, he donned a straw hat and a white vest.
The Present Box appeared again—a ripple, and the familiar box greeted them.Already attracting too much attention, they hid in an alleyway and quietly broke into a desecrated flat.
Jocasta's head was spinning. She growled angrily—yet her smile did not waver.
They had evaded her by distracting her with the battlefield explosion and using a high-grade light charm.
One might think that a Saint of Light would be immune to a light charm—but this was not the case.Light charms had existed before the Church ever rose to power.
They claimed Light—and believed Light had claimed them, too. And it had, in a way.But apparently, resistance to their own domain was not granted to them.
She landed softly on a rooftop.
The town housed over 80,000 civilians. That meant many establishments.She couldn't search every nook and cranny. It also seemed they had a way to hide their presence, even from Spirit Vision.
Still, she wasn't worried. They would have to come out eventually. And the longer they stayed, the better it was for her side anyway.
Still… her radiant smile had dimmed.
She did not like her prey running from her. She expected a glorious fight—not cowardice.To her, it was disgraceful for both them and herself.
She inspected the corpses of the guards at the Northern Gate.Remnants of a demonic aura lingered. The trail only led so far—but it was a boon.
It meant her prey was somewhere in the northern part of the town.
"We can't stay here too long. She'll find us eventually—we must flee," Liras stated, nursing his wounds.Ars sat near him, rubbing ointment on his bruises—the healing paste Alastor had handed him.
"Are you sure you don't have any healing potions left?" Kios asked Alastor, cradling his arm.He suddenly jerked his head to the wall, as if hearing something—but quickly composed himself.
'Those infernal daggers… they have that nasty side-effect of making one go mad. Madder, in his case. Still, he seems rattled…'Alastor thought, shaking his head.
"No, I don't have any potions left. But I have this paste, if you'd like to apply it."
Kios didn't answer. Instead, he scowled and unsheathed his twin crimson daggers.
"I drink demon blood, and I haven't gone mad. How come just wielding these demonic daggers has me… seeing things?"
"What do you see?" Ars asked, curiosity piqued.
Kios glanced at him darkly, then sighed. "I suppose I should tell you the full story."He looked at Alastor, who only knew part of it.
"So here I was, travelling throughout the ancient kingdom of Farrenfall. Things were going smoothly.It was quite the enjoyable vacation—beautiful greenery, picturesque mountains, and of course, ancient ruins.It was nice—until I got ambushed by a Ghengz tribe."
"Ghengz?" Ars raised an eyebrow.
Liras spoke up. "Ghengz tribes. A nomadic people. Originally from Dicrya."
Kios nodded. "Normally, I'd have easily beaten those savages. But unfortunately—I was quite drunk.You really can't blame me. The rum there is incredible. Anyway, I was knocked out and awoke in the ruins of the ancient castle Moddaric.Seeing as you're all educated folk, you certainly know about it?"
Alastor coughed. Ars and Liras stared blankly. Kios sighed.
"It used to be a great fortress—so much so that the ancient King used it as his base in the war against the Fae.Anyway, I broke out of my cell… and that's when I knew something was wrong…"He paused dramatically, then laughed coldly.
"An abomination of black mass and a thousand voices and faces. I retrieved my belongings in a tower. In the same tower—I found this."
He pulled out a book from his cloak. The cover was musty green. It looked thick—yet when he opened it, every foxed page was blank.
To everyone's surprise, the book seemed completely ordinary.
Only when they activated Spirit Vision did they see a light-green aura wrapped around it.
"This…" Liras frowned. "A low-level curse?"
Kios smiled darkly. "I thought so too. But this book… there's something wrong with it.I got kicked out of a gathering because of it…"
Alastor suddenly spoke, his golden eyes flickering. "So what happened to this 'abomination of black mass and a thousand voices and faces'?And what was that you told me about a 'skeleton's brother' when we first met?"
Kios's eyes darkened. He chuckled coldly.
"Well, I used a light charm to destroy the darkness—only to find the abomination's true form: a skeleton in a red alb.I killed it, got the book, got the hell out of Farren, and went to Lamberg. Went to a gathering, got kicked out because of this book…And apparently, something's after it too. Supposedly."
Liras was silent. Then, in a guarded tone: "Why exactly are you telling us this?"
Kios's eyes softened. "Wielding these daggers… I see, from the corner of my eye, the same red that the skeleton priest wore."
He sighed. "It's almost as if everything is connected…"