33 Escape (2)

"Huh..?!" Acedia's eyes widened as her feet suddenly touched something, taking her forward.

She landed on the head of the snake guardian.

Although she had no time to get lost in her thoughts, she managed to glance at Zenith, questioning him about what he had just done.

While she experienced short-distance teleportation multiple times, due to the spell 'blink', it never felt like this and she was sure of it.

Even though both of them had similar effects, 'Void step' or so he called it, was faster and more efficient.

Blink was a spell that lets the caster teleport a short distance, by creating a small rift between the destined point and the user. essentially acting like a portal.

That, in turn, meant that there was a slight delay, as the caster had to enter and leave through the rift.

However, 'void step' didn't have that problem. It just seemed like...the space between the destined point and them just vanished, as if it listened to Zenith's wishes and recreated a shortcut.

"No time for an explanation." Zenith cut off the conversation. His voice sounded even more exhausted than it did before, almost like he was barely conscious. "We have to leave."

"I only have to proceed running forward, yeah?"

Zenith only responded with a weak sound. "Hm."

Acedia took that as a confirmation and proceeded to sprint forward.

Using blink, she crossed a large distance, before the snake was even able to react.

However, as it finally realized that they both managed to dodge its fangs, irritation built up.

"I will not let you escapezzzz, Overworldlerzzz..." The snake twisted its head, looking at them with contempt.

Acedia, who was now at the end of its tail, ignored his monologue and just kept running on its tail.

As the snake didn't have the ability to fly, it soon became a victim of gravity and fell to the ground with a large.

BAM

Small buildings were crushed underneath its body as it fell down to the kingdom.

Before the snake fell to the ground, Acedia managed to blink onto the ledge of the hole the guardian created.

Acedia turned around, taking a last look at the guardian, sticking her tongue out. "Take this, ugly reptile."

She didn't expect the guardian to actually react, though.

Using its massive body size, it stood up, its body towering over the gigantic castle.

Although the castle itself was gigantic and was located on a small mountain, the snake still managed to tower over it, casting a shadow on everything beneath its gigantic body.

"What the.." Acedia's smile froze.

"Ugly reptile...you say?" Its sibilant voice sounded mocking. The guardian's imposing body looked down on her.

Instead of baring its fangs, this time, it revealed a mocking grin on its face.

Admittedly, she found that expression to be scarier than when it tried to kill them.

"I was joking."

The snake didn't react to her and just bore its fangs, rushing at them.

Acedia dodged the strike and started casting a spell.

She looked over to the black gate which, although quite pretty, didn't really stand out inside this grey castle.

The head of the snake blocked their path to the gate.

Its yellow reptile eyes followed every movement of hers, watching her with a predatory gaze.

She was grateful to Nadir that he told them where the exit was, although she still couldn't understand his reason for doing so.

If he didn't, they would've probably collapsed into nothingness together with the ruin.

Granted, he was also the reason why they were there in the first place, so he didn't deserve that much credit.

Finishing casting her spell, Acedia raised both her arms.

"Chaos water: Primordial blades!"

Two purple water blades materialized in the air and pierced into the head of the guardian.

Due to the curse effect of chaos water, the blades completely ignored the durability of the guardian's skin and just pierced through it, impaling the snake.

Smoke started coming out of the wound, as a purple mark started spreading around its body.

"W..What is this?!" The snake's eyes widened in shock as a unimaginable pain spread through its body, worse than every known torture technique.

The snake curled into a fetal position and whimpered in pain, as tears started flowing out of its eyes.

"Pathetic." Acedia grimaced as she watched the previously imposing snake, curling together and crying like a little kid.

"You're a sadist." Zenith joked in a hoarse voice.

"Not really." Summoning chaotic water blades once again, she quickly cut off the head of the whimpering guardian. "I actually think my preferences lie more on the other side of the spectrum."

"I didn't want to know that."

"You do now."

Giggling, Acedia approached the gate, opening it with a jerk.

"That's it then."

"Finally."

And with those last words, she stepped through the gate.

She could hear the sounds of the ruin breaking down, before every sound vanished in the distance and her view turned black.

***

***

When Acedia opened her eyes, the first thing that greeted her was the familiar night sky of the Overworld.

She let out a relieved sigh as she turned her head around, looking at her beloved mercenary.

Fortunately, it didn't take her long to find him.

Right next to her, the familiar man was sleeping peacefully on a pile of trash.

Suppressing her giggle, she looked around, trying to identify their current location.

Realizing that they came out at the same place they entered the alley, she let out a sigh of relief.

She turned her head back to the sleeping mercenary after she made sure that they were safe.

"You look cute while sleeping." Acedia whispered into the ear of the sleeping Zenith.

'This time, the roles are reversed.' Acedia formed a soft smile at the nostalgic memory of their first meeting.

Carefully, as to not wake him up, she approached the sleeping Zenith, caressing through his long hair.

For a while, she just kept staring at him, appreciating his otherworldly beauty.

"I should probably wake him up..." Slowly, she bowed her head down, her face only being a few inches apart from Zenith's face. "But first.."

Closing her eyes, she gave him a kiss on his cheeks before suddenly freezing up.

"Wait." Her eyes widened in worry as she clasped her hand together, resting them in front of her lips. "Isn't this sexual assault?"

"Well..." Crossing her arms, she closed her eyes thoughtfully. "...he belongs to me anyway... and I deserve at least a little reward for waiting so long, right?"

She opened her eyes again, shrugging with her shoulders. "Well, who cares?"

Forming a sweet smile, she caressed the spot where she kissed him on.

"You know...I am really glad that I got to meet you again."