章 46: Chapter 45
The group of four ran away from the hospital ward as fast as they could, during which they had to grapple with the fact that they left their guide behind. The small town they were in, as well as the inside of the buildings, were constructed like elaborate labyrinths making them run into several dead ends and loops before finding their way towards the nearest forest.
They decided not to go near their rooms in case someone wanted to follow either one of their trails. Peter's still slimy hand made them incredibly easy to find until they found a way of cleaning it off which would prove to be quite difficult.
The other trail came from Sarah who seemed to have gotten her first destructive ability. The moment they left the building's corridors and the town's paved roads she started to leave footprints of withered grass behind her.
They spent more than an hour inside the forest during which they were almost found a couple of times. Fortunately, they managed to solve their tracking problems by the time they had to flee further inside the forest. Peter's hand was still sticky but it was no longer leaving a trail. They decided to take turns carrying Sarah which was painful but also necessary.
[Health: 99%]
After a while, the search for the thieves was coming to an end and the kids could carefully make their way back into the town. On the way they called up the adults to explain what happened and to ask for advice.
"That is unfortunate. I'd say we have couple of hours left until they start questioning us. Helen says her backup should arrive by then so there shouldn't be much of an issue. Until then, try not to draw attention to yourselves."
As soon as they hung up the phone, they saw the high priest turning a corner to face them. All of them tried to put on their best poker face. Peter got a shadow to cover his marked hand and tried to think of an excuse for why he was doing it. Even if this action didn't achieve its purpose of hiding his hand, it would at least cover the evidence of their break in, the physical assault they admittedly committed.
"Good day children! Might I ask what happened to your hand?"
The question was a clear indication that he was suspicious of them and had at least some idea of how to catch them but Peter already came up with, what was in his mind, the perfect excuse for the situation.
"I'm training to become a superhero!"
"Oh what a wonderful dream you have. Kids like you are what I want to see most in the order but I assume your father would have a few words about that."
With that, they parted ways. The reverend's acting was almost as good as Anthony's but it was still easy to see through. He was obviously suspicious of them and simply wanted a better opportunity to deal with them. The plan had to be changed as soon as the man was out of earshot.
"We can't wait. He didn't buy my excuse and already suspects us. Manda, Sarah, you go and find the others while we get inside the chamber."
The group split up once more to hopefully solve their situation before it became worse. The two boys quickly got to the chamber where they had to get on top of the blood fountain. Drake drank the mercury* which he hid in his shoe after they got to the forest, giving him barely enough strength to carry Peter with him.
[Shared message:]
[You have consumed 1 kg of mercury.]
[Result: AGI +0.25, END +0.05, MGC +0.05, EXP +50]
[Temporary result: AGI +1.25, END +0.25]
[Time left: 35:59:57]
[Level up!]
[Ability unlocked: Forged feathers]
On the top of the statue they used Peter's lamp to break the stone casing. What they found under it was a lot of bloody, presumably brown, fur. The tale about the bleeding bear was indeed true. The interesting part wasn't even that but how tight fitting the stone was, which implied that the spear shape sticking out of it was also filled out by something.
Peter was about to take the bear's star, and put it out of its misery in the process, when Rose rushed in, out of breath and barely standing.
"Please get down! That statue is sacred!"
"It's not! And once it's gone I can save everyone here."
Peter pressed his hand onto the opening in the stone to repeat what he did against Brann. Soon after, he was informed of his success by having his vision completely obscured.
[You have collected a Star of Eternity.]
[Reward: All physical attributes +0.4, MGC +0.2, DVN +0.1]
[Target's entity class has decreased from 15 to 10.]
[Divine weaponry has been upgraded]
[Asteri]
[Level: 2]
[Divinity required for next level: 0.50]
[Recommended strength: 5.00]
[Piercing: 3.00]
[Durability: 10.00]
[Ability: Night star LV1]
[Reconstruction time: 144 hours]
The blood flow in the fountain gradually slowed down then eventually stopped completely. Even from up high, the boys could see a tear appearing in Rose's eye. They understood why she was so distressed, the order became a core part of her life and they just destroyed what held it together.
They wanted to go down to explain things to her and help her calm down but they were interrupted by James who, unlike everyone else, came in through the wall involuntarily.
Through the hole in the wall they could see the high priest with his clothes torn and his polite demeanor nowhere to be found. There was also someone else beside him who the kids didn't recognize.
[Entity class 13]
[Abilities: Earth manipulation, Basic alchemy, Harden]
The two of them looked around the room with disdain. The priest's face became even more red than before when he finally realized that he was too late and the miracle bear was already dead.
"Great, a traitor was bad enough and now I have to deal with that as well."
At the mention of the word traitor, Rose's face lost what little color it had and she broke down crying.
"Your excellency, I didn't …"
She couldn't finish her sentence as Jake appeared in front of her and grabbed her throat.
"Shut up! If you had nerve to betray me, you should have the decency to die quietly."
A strange pattern of red lines appeared on his arm which then started moving towards Rose but when they reached her they simply disappeared.
"Weird. This usually works."
He didn't have much time to think about the cause of the strange phenomenon as he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his leg.
---
*(Do not drink mercury in real life!)
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