Confrontation

Raymond circled back to Fireflies Inn and checked on Lyla and Jasmine once again before heading towards the west gate of Capital City to meet with Sasha.

A chilly breeze filtered through the busy streets of the Capital as the evening sun was slowly swallowed by the horizon. Craning her neck, Sasha looked in the direction of the prison as she waited for Ray to arrive.

She didn't have to wait for long; very soon his figure became apparent in the throng of locals and he appeared before her within seconds.

"Miss Sasha, Let's go!"

"Yeah."

With that, the duo made their way towards the west gate with purpose. Sasha was determined to see this through to the end and punish those who stood against her family's authority. Raymond just wanted to finish this as quickly as possible and go back to his girls.

"Woahhh!"

Sasha, who was just about to form her wings and fly off, was lifted off her feet by Raymond who held her in a princess carry.

"It's faster this way!"

-Boom!

Raymond said and he took off towards the western forest with Sasha in his arms. Her heartbeat quickened as the wind brushed past her face, thrilled at the speed they were going.

A single moment passed before they were in front of the familiar entrance of the forest where they had fought against the demonic wyvern. Sasha's face twisted with disgust as she felt the presence of dark miasma lingering in the air. It would take a few years before this forest returned to normalcy.

But the warmth emanating from the man close to her gave her the comfort she needed. There was a sense of safety she felt in his arms that she had never felt before. The usually headstrong and independent Sasha didn't know why but she liked the feeling of being protected by this powerful man.

"Looks like there is no one around here."

Sasha was shaken awake from her reverie by Raymond's voice. He looked around from where he was standing and ran straight inside the forest. The closer they got to the inner region the more disgust filled Sasha. Many animals were either dead or on the verge of dying as they were slowly being corroded by the demonic remnants of the wyvern.

Raymond ran through the entirety of the inner forest in search of a human presence. Soon, he reached the other side of the forest after finding nothing inside.

This side of the forest was somewhat different from the forest front. Heart-shaped yellow leaves were matting the forest ground, creating a contrast between the rest of the forest.

"There is something weird in these woods! I can feel it!"

Sasha whispered tightly. Her Phoenix senses were going haywire just as they entered this side of the forest.

"Don't worry, we can run back if there is something dangerous."

Raymond assured her and swiftly moved through the foliage. Contrary to Sasha, he didn't feel any threat or danger, as such he moved without worry.

-Wizz!

A gigantic spear made of black thunder whistled through the air, shredding the trees to pieces. It locked in on Raymond's position and headed straight for his head.

-Boom!

Raymond tensed his calves as he jumped high into the air and easily avoided getting hit by the spear. He narrowed his eyes and found an inconspicuous wooden shack in between the trees.

"There!"

He shouted and kicked the air, propelling him towards the shack.

-Crash!

He crashed through the roof and landed inside the shack with Sasha in his arms. Quickly letting go of her, he scanned through the small space inside. There was nothing except for what appeared to be a body wrapped in a white cloth. Just as he was about to check the body, Sasha shouted:

"Ray! Look here, there is blood everywhere!"

Sasha was kneeling on the floor where a runic formation was formed which was still glowing with blood smeared on it.

"The magic is still lingering in the air. Whoever it was, he was here just a moment ago!"

Sasha spoke hurriedly. If they moved quickly they could find the culprit responsible for this.

"Let's go! He may be near!"

Raymond said as he exited the shack and jumped up into the air once again. He saw a shadow fluttering through the woods from the corner of his eyes.

"Miss Sasha! There are some movements in the south, come quickly!"

He yelled after landing and ran towards the shadowy figure. Within seconds he was running beside the figure which was carrying a human on its shoulders.

"What the fuck are you?"

Raymond asked as he punched through its head. Instead of answering or defending against his attack, the shadow dispersed and appeared a few metres ahead and kept running.

-Thud!

The human on its shoulder fell near Raymond's feet, abandoned by the shadow as it fled through the woods.

Raymond checked the human's pulse before taking a look at his face.

"Phew~ he is alive. Huh? Isn't he?"

A strange almost comical expression appeared on his face as he recognised the third prince he had met in the Denver manor.

He looked worse than ever, with severe cuts on his wrist and dark circles around his eyes. He was on the verge of death, it was only a matter of seconds before he kissed his life goodbye.

"Where is he—Noo!"

Sasha's shrill cry echoed out in the forest as her eyes landed on her brother.

"No! Don't tell me he is dead!"

Sasha appeared before Raymond and knelt by his side.

"Miss Sasha, he needs urgent medication, or else we are going to lose him!"

"Really?" Sasha spoke with newfound hope.

"Yeah, you take care of him. I have a bigger fish to catch!"

With that, he handed Egon to Sasha and bolted towards the shadow's direction.

"Ahh! Wai—"

-Swish!

A gust of wind interrupted Sasha as Raymond's figure disappeared from the spot.

Sasha couldn't afford to waste any time and quickly took out a red coloured pill from her spatial ring.

'Blood Replenishing Pill.'

This was a very precious pill and scarcely available. But Sasha didn't even think for a second and shoved it into her brother's mouth, with her mana wrapped around the pill. She willed her fiery mana to slowly melt the pill and guided it into his oesophagus.

She had to be very careful so as not to burn his throat, it would only worsen his condition. Her efforts paid out in the end as some colour returned to Egon's pale countenance.

"W-where am I?"

He opened his eyes with effort and croaked in confusion. Everything around him was in a blur. A vague figure of a redhead appeared in his view.

"Sc-Scarlett? Is that you?"

"No! I am Sasha. We are in the forest outside of the Capital."

Sasha spoke calmly seeing as he was slowly recovering. Now that her brother was safe, a murderous intent took over her body.

"Can you walk?"

She asked, suppressing her fury. She wanted to catch up with Ray as soon as possible.

*******

"Stand the fuck down! Why are you running away? You coward!"

Raymond tried to rile up this strange human-shaped entity that was flying through the forest.

'Eh? Is it braindead?'

"Hey! If you want to escape at least try to fly into the sky!" Raymond suggested as he tried to kick it in the butt.

'Who is this annoying brat?'

Tim cursed as he disappeared from the place and appeared in the sky. He had almost forgotten to fly away because of his panic.

"What th—"

-Bam!

A fist slammed into the side of his face as soon as he appeared in the sky.

-Crash!

Crashing through the trees, Tim tried to get up and calm down his raging nerves.

"Heh! Just as I thought! You can't do that voodoo thing of disappearing continuously!"

Raymond landed in front of him with a smug smile on his face.

"Who are you?" Tim asked with his already swollen face darkening.

"So you can talk?" Raymond raised his eyebrows. "As for who I am, that doesn't matter!"

-Bam!

Raymond tried to land an axe kick on its head but the figure managed to disappear just in time. A deep crack appeared on the ground where Raymond's feet landed.

Tim scowled looking at the after-effects of that kick. A cold sweat trickled down his back, no matter how strong his magic was his mortal body wouldn't be able to brush off that attack.

"You! What the fuck are you?"

It was now Tim's turn to ask the same question. He couldn't believe his eyes, he was getting beaten down by a Martial Minor. This guy was more freakish than him.

"I asked that question first. You need to answer me before asking a question!"

"Cut the crap! There is no point in arguing with you!"

Tim bellowed as he let out his aura.

-King's Domain-

Deathly silence enveloped the surrounding woods as a thick miasmic domain appeared with Tim as the centre.

Inky black smoke completely filled the space, obstructing Tim from Raymond's view.

"Now prepare to die!"

Tim spat as he outstretched his hands.

-Accursed Arrows-

Millions of arrows sizzling with black lightning blotted out the sky as they shot towards Raymond, intending to turn him into a pin cushion.