บท 32: Escape
Chapter 32: Escape
"You sure are a tough one to kill," Abium muttered as he withdrew the sword from Watson's body and hurriedly backed away.
At that moment, Helena also arrived next to Abium, stared at the wounds on Watson's body, and spoke.
"Let's kill him."
"You think it's that easy to kill him?" Abium snorted coldly and pointed his finger at Watson's body.
At that moment, the fire-elemental energy came out of Watson's body and surrounded him like a protective layer.
"This battle is a tie. He can't move for the next 30 seconds, while I don't have any skill or spell to break the protective layer and kill him within that time." He paused for a moment, glanced at the surrounding dark woods, and spoke.
"Let's get out of here. I will explain everything about your sister later." He grabbed her hand and sprinted into the dark woods.
They hurriedly entered the dense woods and soon disappeared into the darkness.
At the same time, Watson's body looked like a mess.
Abium's sword aura attack had delivered him a heavy blow.
He panted wearily and stood there still without moving for the next 30 seconds.
After that, he sensed that his body got under his complete control and heaved a deep sigh.
'Damn it! How did he survive my [Elemental Burst] attack?' Confusion appeared on Watson's face.
He quickly checked the deep wound on his abdomen and hissed.
'If I don't apply any ointment or herbal medicine, this wound will become a fatal one.' He quickly shifted his gaze towards the surroundings and muttered.
"I need to inform Bilet about the situation."
At that moment, a raging fire rose in his eyes.
Watson never felt this much humiliation in his entire life!
He thought that he had already killed the Half-Elf, but he couldn't figure out how that half-elf got escaped from his grasp.
He didn't know how that half-elf managed to escape from his sense, but he remembered that attack from that half-elf even made him lose his body control.
It was the first time he felt both scared and humiliated.
'I will pay you back a hundred times more than what you had done to my body, half-elf.'
Watson swore in his mind and moved towards the Apprentice Necromancer's hideout.
…
A few hours later, both Abium and Helena stood near a tall tree and glanced around the surroundings vigilantly.
The moonlight shone down, a diffuse glow, lighting the forest from pitch black to charcoal gray.
'That Apprentice Necromancer and Watson would follow our trails sooner. We need to move faster.' Muttering inwardly, Abium glanced around and noticed that tall trees were surrounding them from all directions.
He soon looked up at the small mountain range ahead of them and sighed heavily.
"Once we cross that mountain range and enter Margrave Eliot's territory, we don't need to be scared of Viscount's men."
Their next destination was Dust Gate Town.
It was a small town governed by Baron Auguinare.
'As long as we reach that town, we'll also get some manpower.' He thought of Claude and other soldiers and soon shook his head.
'I have to create mana imprint in my body and then increase my Spirit Power first. Then, I need to construct one or two more spell models in my mind.' He thought to himself.
Shaking his head, Abium looked up at the dark sky and noticed that the moon was in the 3 'o'clock direction.
"Let's rest for a while." He said while checking his body.
Abium had a few scratches on his hands and a slight wound on his shoulder. While Helena had a single scratch on her left hand, that's it. But when compared to the opposite party, both were very lucky to be still alive.
"That was an impressive battle. But how did you escape from Vice Captain's elemental skill attack?" Helena asked him curiously.
Meanwhile, Abium showed a mysterious smile on his face and chuckled.
"I wasn't even there when he released his [Elemental Burst] skill."
Helena nodded her head, then turned her face solemn and asked a question regarding her sister.
"How did you come in contact with my sister, Mr. Abium? Could you please tell me more about her situation?" In truth, she still felt something was off about his earlier answer.
On the other hand, a deep sigh leaked out of Abium as he heard those words.
He knew the question would come eventually.
Also, if not for saving her sister, she might have never helped him at that time at all.
'Well, I have one more person to save, huh.'
Abium turned his expression serious, made unique hand signs, and spoke.
"Currently, she is imprisoned in a most secured underground prison cell. There is also a Slave Merchant standing near the prison cell. Hmm, I can't see his face clearly for some odd reason." He suddenly paused for a moment and then widened his eyes.
"I see a strange symbol on the wall. It's a symbol of a red snake with three heads. One head appears dark, the middle head appears red, and the other head appears pure white."
He spoke like he saw what Camilla was going through using some unique method!
"W-What are you saying?" Helena showed a confused look on her face and then asked.
"How did you know all this?"
'Here it comes.' Abium maintained his composed look and spoke.
"I'm a seer. That's how I know about your sister. When I met you in the forest, I peeked at your future and learned more about you and your sister. Then, when I looked into your eyes earlier, I saw what your sister is going through."
Meanwhile, Helena's face turned deadly serious.
"Seer? That explains how you know my sister's name. So, can you tell me where she is imprisoned right now?"
"No. I'm still not powerful enough to see everything from the vision. For now, we should search for more information about the 'Red Snake Symbol.'"
In the past, Helena, Abium, and a Dwarf named Kuran formed a team and searched all over the place to find a clue about Helena's sister.
After searching for her in various places, they finally found a clue pointed at a slave trader. He was the one who captured Camilla and kept her in some well-hidden place.
Abium and others hadn't found any clue about that slave merchant's name or anything related to him.
But they did hear from adventurers that Camilla was auctioned at Orchid auction house in the Royal capital a few months later and was brought by Count Tibal bid at a high price.
When they found out her sister was in that Count's hand, they immediately went to the Count's territory in panic.
They knew about Count Tibal's evil character and stormed into Count Tibal's territory to save her. But when they reached the Count's mansion, what they found was not a young living fairy but a dead one.
Her body was in pieces.
Count Tibal killed her brutally and even drained all her blood from her body, leaving a tiny skeleton of a fairy behind.
When Helena saw that her sister's body was in such a state, she went on a rampage and killed more than a hundred soldiers.
In return, she also got injured and nearly got killed by the Count's guards.
If Abium and other dwarf hadn't rescued her at that time, she might have died there.
Shaking his head, Abium glanced at Helena and asked.
"Can you tell me today's date?"
Meanwhile, Helena thought for a moment and nodded.
"September 14th."
"Oh, that's good. Although I don't know about your sister's current location, I know that she will be auctioned at the Orchid auction house in six months. So, we need to gather a large sum of money before that and prepare to buy her officially. That would be the best option right now. As for going after the mysterious snake-symbol group, I don't think it's a good idea." Abium said calmly.
On the other hand, Helena also nodded in agreement and spoke while clenching her fist.
"I need to improve my strength."
"If you don't mind, I can help you with that." Abium extended his help.
On the other hand, a troubled expression appeared on Helena's face.
Although she didn't know anything about this Half-elf besides his name, she felt more secure with him than with Watson or Viscount.
It was as if he cared for her well-being.
After pondering for a long time, she looked at him and asked.
"Why are you helping me?"
There were indecisiveness and helplessness that appeared in her eyes.
"I have some reasons to help you, but it won't harm you."
She narrowed her eyes at Abium's vague reply.
Noticing her hesitation, Abium decided to make a deal with her instead of making himself more suspicious.
"Let's make a deal then. I'm planning on becoming a Lord of a certain territory. But I don't have any trusted ally to aid me in many things. So, if I help you save your sister, you have to work for me as my loyal assistant for the next two decades."
"Lord... Are you planning to become a noble of the Peral Kingdom? But isn't it almost an impossible achievement for a commoner?" She suddenly recalled the [Fire Orb] spell he cast at the skeleton knight and widened her eyes.
"You have the advantage of being an Apprentice Mage!" She nodded her head in understanding and finally agreed.
"I'm okay with this deal."
Helena searched about Camilla for a long time, but this was the first time she got a clue about her whereabouts.
'I should better send a letter to dad and see if I can get any help from him.' She muttered inwardly and sat on the nearby wooden trunk.
Meanwhile, Abium moved towards the opposite tree, climbed on it, and checked if anyone followed their trails.
After confirming no one was after them, he climbed down from the tree and took a few minutes of rest.
Then, both walked in the small mountain range's direction and soon disappeared into the deep woods.
…
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