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Before the three unlikely companions could even catch their breath, a volley of arrows flew at them. Lilian and Nivia saw the arrows coming but only Aedan was quick enough to react. Taking the two Fae by their wrists, he dove out of the arrows’ way, taking the two along before either of them could spell their objection. Before the next volley came, the three took cover behind a large fallen log on the ground.

“Oh my, that was rough of you, Aedan,” Lilian remarked nonchalantly in spite of their current circumstances.

Aedan smiled wryly. “It’s good that someone’s enjoying something out of a predicament.”

“Predicament with someone like you around? You jest,” Lilian replied coyly.

The next round of volley came. The arrows flew over their heads and landed just right in front of where they laid in cover.

“Now it’s not the time for that, Lilian,” Nivia rebuked the Dryad. “And these arrows aren’t crude. They’re well made.”

Aedan did not chime in on their exchange. He peeked out of the log and focused his gaze towards the direction where the arrows came from. “This is… troublesome,” he said.

“What is it?” Nivia asked.

“There’s a lot of them.”

“You can see them?” Nivia asked again, her eyes narrowing in mild disbelief. “How many are there?”

“More than a dozen, around fifty, I wager?” he answered. Then he turned his gaze to her. “Just what did the two of you do to garner this kind of response?”

Lilian looked away giving a finger-to-lip gesture as if she was innocent in the cause of these circumstances.

Nivia returned the gaze. “Before you begin to point fingers, I will have you know that we are just doing what needs to be done and what nobody else seems to be doing.”

“There are only so few underworld factions that could afford to send this many men just to hunt down two individuals,” Aedan said, his eyes did not stray from the arrow’s point of origin. “There are even spell casters among the lot.”

“Aren’t spell casters a rarity around these lands?” Lilian asked innocently but the coy smile exuded the contrary. “But our friends over there certainly aren’t giving those notions any credibility.”

“Which shows just how powerful whoever you provoked is.”

Nivia took a deep breath. “It’s Marduk,” she revealed.

Aedan stared. His mouth was open and words were about to come out but he sucked his breath back in before letting it out in a form of a sigh. He didn’t need to ask anymore after hearing that name. He still had his ears to the walls around him. He heard plenty of rumours and news. It wasn’t difficult to piece together all the information to form a solid conclusion. In all likelihood, he surmised the two had no idea who they were messing with until it was all too late.

“Your exasperated face is irking me for some reason,” Nivia said.

“I’m the one who's irked right now!” he wanted to shout but that would reveal his precise location to the enemy. He glanced at the back of his left palm. The symbol’s pulsating glow was growing weaker and weaker by the minute. The stronger the pulse and glow, the more at risk the seal would come undone. Even though the glow was weak now, it didn’t mean much as a single pulse would revert back to the seal’s dire state.

“Can you fend them off?” the Dryad asked.

“I doubt it,” Aedan answered. “I won’t lose if that’s your real question.”

“After just seeing what you did, I find it hard to believe that you doubt your chances.”

“Innate Skills are all I can use right now. And they aren’t exactly fit for combat.”

“You’re not skilled in Magic Arts?”

“It’s a long story. And just for clarification, I don’t doubt my chances at winning but I do doubt at keeping the two of you safe and winning at the same time.”

“Oh my. Truly gracious, you are.” Lilian tittered.

“How dare you,” Nivia huffed. “I’ll have you know that I can take care of myself. I’m not some burden that you think you need to carry.”

“You’re Erin’s friend. If she knew that I forsake you in your time of need, she’ll tear me apart.”

“I am not in my time of need,” Nivia denied.

Aedan groaned inwardly.

A giant orb of flame crashed into the trees just beside them. The flaming orb exploded and spread its blaze to its surroundings, forcing the three out of their cover.

“They’re over there!” shouted one of the pursuers. Unlike the bandits one would often meet on highways or mountains, these ones were dressed in fine armour and armed with sharp weapons. Some of the thugs quickly caught up to them by using Fleet Foot and enforcing themselves with Body Strengthening.

Nivia released an arrow into one of the thugs, piercing the poor man in between his eyes. Lilian summoned roots to ensnare the other thugs in place. Aedan took this opportunity to dispatch the thugs. He aimed for where their hearts were. A precise and firm jab to the left side of their chests. Blood spurted from their mouths and they fell to the ground dead.

“Arrows incoming,” Nivia shouted. She and Lilian took cover behind the trees but Aedan stood his ground and slanted his head, avoiding all the arrows that came at them.

“They’re resolute, I’ll give them that,” Aedan remarked. The thugs were unwavering in taking lives but all they lacked was proper training. They had the ferocity but next to no precision. “The two of you should run. I’ll hold them back.”

“Not in your lifetime,” Nivia retorted. “These people enslaved my kin. I will not leave any one of them alive.”

“I concur with Nivia,” Lilian said.

Aedan sighed. “Fine,” he said. He gave into their selfishness as he knew how stubborn a Fae could be. “But I won’t be responsible for anything that happened to you. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

“Worry about yourself, smith,” Nivia said and nocked an arrow to her bow.

“He’s a smith? Not only is he a fighter but also a smith?” Lilian’s eyes were gleaming. “That’s impressive.”

Nivia grumbled sullenly.

“Aye, I’m a smith but I’m nowhere as skilled as my brother and my father.”

“Cease your chattering. They’re coming,” Nivia said with a peevish glare.

“Oh dear, there’s really a lot of them,” Lilian remarked at the sight of about a dozen thugs charging at them with their swords drawn and raised.

“Don’t kill them! The boss wants them alive. Cut their limbs. We’ll drag them back half-alive,” the one who looked to be the leader barked his orders. Standing amidst his henchmen, he snickered proudly at the prospect of his victory. “And for the three of you idiots, surrender and we’ll make it as painless as possible.”

Aedan picked a stone that was no bigger than his palm and threw it at the leader. A thin filament of blue light appeared in front of the leader, blocking the stone as it shattered into fragments.

“Guhahahaha! You truly are an idiot. You think a puny stone can hurt someone like me?”

Aedan offered no retort and simply picked up another stone of a similar size. This time, he threw it with all his might.

“Guhahaha! What a fucking idiot. You just don’t learn, do y—” The leader was on the verge of finishing his sentence when the stone pierced through his barrier and right through his skull.

The thugs around him gasped in shock and took quick steps away from their leader who suddenly had his head blown into bits. Aedan himself received similar reactions from Nivia and Lilian. They knew he was strong but to use a plain stone to break through a magic barrier and turn a person’s head into splatter was just another realm of expectation.

There were thugs who realized the gap in their strength and quickly turned tails and ran, although most were still trapped in their own fantasy and denial. They pressed on, shouting their battle spirits to masque over their trembling will after such an expected sight.

Aedan moved in close to one of the thugs. He dodged a swing from the thug’s sword and struck swift at the thug’s throat. In less than five seconds, he had killed a thug with a single move. He then used the thug’s body to shield himself from the barrages of attack spells that were launched at him. The corpse he used as a shield turned into a pulp of flesh in mere seconds. He cast it aside and lunged at his next victim.

“Eeek~!” the thug shrieked. He lost his footing and fell on his posterior. His shivering hand loosened his grip. As a result, his sword fell from his hand. “Get away from me!” he screamed as he scrambled away from the approaching Aedan but it was impossible for him to be fast enough to run away from the Dragon-kin.

Aedan grabbed the sobbing thug by his leg, swung him around, and threw him into his peers. It would have been a comedic sight if it wasn’t for the fact that Aedan had used all of his strength. What came as a result was a picture of a gorefest.

“Damn it, this is a red banner!” one of the thugs shouted. From his pocket, he took a black shard that was filled with ominous energy.

“What in the name… The Spirits are fluttering about,” Nivia said. “Something caught their attention.”

“What is this dreadful feeling…?” Lilian mused grimly.

“Demons,” Aedan answered.

The thug jabbed the shard into his own heart. The other thugs took out the same manner of the black shard from their pockets and they too jabbed the shard into their hearts. Their bodies shook violently as their wounds swallowed the shards into their hearts. From their hearts, streams of tendrils crawled all over their body, slowly forming a cocoon around them.

“Demon summoning!?” Nivia gasped. “This is absurd. This is not possible!”

“Believe it, Elf. It’s happening right in front of your eyes,” Aedan said dryly. He turned to the two Fae. “I know we’re off to a rough start but I hope you can keep what happened today a secret.”

“What are you say—” Nivia’s sentence trailed off as she witnessed another unbelievable act.

Aedan stuck his hand into the rippling space beside him. After fumbling his arm in the space for a few seconds, he pulled out a spear that was a little longer than his height. The spear had a simple design but the materials it was forged out of was nothing short of simple. The tip of the spear was oddly shaped in a helix.

“Spatial Magic...” Lilian gasped. “And you used it with ease. Just what are you, Aedan?”

Aedan did not answer. His eyes did not stray from the thugs that were turning into Demons in front of them.

“You still don’t want to run?” Aedan asked.

“Not a chance,” Nivia said and released the arrow into one of the thug-turned-Demon. It pierced the Demon’s head but it was not enough to kill it.

“Imbued your arrows with Spirits, Nivia,” Lilian said. The Dryad put her hands together to form a praying gesture. The Spirits gathered around them, forming suits of armour that was just right for their figure.

“You’ll regret messing with us!” shouted one of the Demons. With a howl from a single Demon, the other all began to charge at the three.

“They can talk?” Nivia questioned. “They retain sanity...”

“They did not invoke any Demons. They fused the power of Demons with themselves.”

“Is that even possible?”

“The answer is right in front of you,” Aedan said and faced the first Demon that approached him. He dodged a swipe from its claws and spun with his spear, lopping its head off before the Demon could even see the spear coming.

Nivia fired an arrow imbued with Spirits at a Demon, instantly turning it into ashes. “The tip of your spear, it’s Fairy Steel, isn’t it?”

“Of course,” Aedan answered and proceeded to lop the head off of another Demon.

Nivia wanted to retort but with the onslaught of the Demons, she could afford to have her focus wane. Fortunately for them but mostly for Nivia and Lilian, these were not true Demons. They only had a portion of a Demon’s power within them. Compared to a real Demon, they couldn’t even hold a candle. Still, they were more than Nivia and Lilian could handle. Although Nivia refused to admit it in front of Aedan, she was in her time of need.

The thugs were all smiles and smug when they first turned into Demons but as the battle went on, they realized how wrong they were. They realized the magnitude of Aedan’s strength. One man alone was easily culling them like a gardener hacking through a field of weed. Furthermore, they were enhanced by the power of Demons and yet, they found themselves on the losing side.

As one of them began to turn its focus to the two Fae, all the others followed suit.

“Damn it, you two! Run!” Aedan shouted but it came out as a roar that trembled the leaves.

“I will not run,” Nivia said and continued to fire her arrows at the encircling Demons. Lilian was busy casting all sorts of supportive spells that she could on Nivia. She had also cast a few spells on Aedan but as she saw how easy he was faring, she decided to focus all her efforts on Nivia instead.

Aedan sighed and stopped swinging his spear. He tossed it back into the subspace and dashed over to Nivia and Lilian. Nivia was doing well at first but the Demons were starting to read her shots, resulting in her missing more and more of her targets.

A Demon managed to evade all of Nivia’s arrows and lunged at her but before it could lay its claws on her, it was sent flying by a kick from Aedan.

“Aedan!” Nivia shouted, releasing an arrow that almost took his ear. “Don’t just run into my aim. I could have shot you!”

Aedan clicked his tongue and scooped two Fae into his arms.

“A-Aedan!?” Nivia asked as she flailed in his arms. “What the hell are you doing?! Let me go!”

“Oh my, what is this?” Lilian was nonchalant with her tone.

Aedan did not offer an explanation and leapt to the branches far high up in the trees. He did not stop there. From atop the trees, he began to traverse from branches to branches and further away from the Demons that were still confused by the sudden development.

“Let me go, Aedan! Right now!” Nivia demanded.

But Aedan kept on traversing from branches to branches.

“So… where are we going?” Lilian asked with a smile adorning her face. Contrary to Nivia, she was enjoying this privilege.

“A safe place,” was all Aedan said as he kept on leaping. Of course, with the thug-turned-Demons right on their tail.