Under the dark sky and the beautiful moon, the mountain seemed to glow with a pale blue light. It was as if the whole mountain was a bright stone. The uneasy feeling could be felt as one got closer to the mountain.
A dark shadow sprint across the trees, it's movements were fluid and fast. The creature had sharp claws and lethal jaws, tough skin and small ears.
It was a summoned creature whom Cynthia had made using her power, to track down Nightingale. Kite sat on the back of yet another summoned creature.
It had bird-like talons and huge wings, beside him sat Cynthia, wearing a black cloak and hood which helped cover her features.
Kite had worn a white cloak with ancient design, his sword hung from his waist while he carried a pistol holster with a long-barreled pistol hanging from his arm.
His blue eyes glowed in the darkness as he scanned the area for Nightingale. In case he met her, and if ask his purpose, he could simply say that he was tracking a demon horde that had been traveling near the border.
Azik had already rescued the other witches and was on his way to the castle where Roland would take care of all the arrangements and now all that was left to do was to rescue Nightingale and her friend.
Roland had already divined just how important this person was to Nightingale, thus to gain her unwavering loyalty, he decided to use the current circumstances to his own benefit.
"I can sense her Master, she is near and she is not alone..."
"Tell the shadow demon to attack her group, we need to make it look convincing for our plan to work."
"As you wish Master...~"
Cynthia manipulated her summoned shadow and ordered it to attack Nightingale's group. Using the night as a cover to hide its features, she didn't have to worry about Nightingale's finding of the fact that it was she who attacked them.
Kite unsheathed his sword and lightly jumped off the bird-like creature before jumping over a branch. He suddenly disappeared from the view leaving Cynthia behind to act a the mastermind.
[Elsewhere]
"Can you tell us where we are going?"
"To a place where you all will be safe for the time being....."
"Thank you for saving our lives...."
"It's okay, we noticed a horde of demons near the border so we decided to track them down and take care of them before they become a danger for us."
"Though I never thought that they would discover people living inside a cave."
Hearing Azik's words, an uncomfortable expression surfaced over their faces. Azik noticed their uneasy expression didn't press on for answer this he already knew why these witches were gathered inside that cave.
They were searching for a holy Land, probably a non-existent place which gives them hope. Well, he had already done his part now after returning to the castle, he will prepare to promote to the next level.
The bodies of so many witches had allowed Azik to completely digest his [Corpse collector] potion, he didn't need to dissect their bodies to find out how they functioned, though he would surely take a look to better understand the body working.
He was still wearing his strange armor but he hadn't equipped his helmet and spear.
They have stopped moving, for the time being, the witches have used a lot of their powers and were running low on stamina thus they had no choice but to rest for a while.
Leaf was sitting near a tree. Green leaves wrapped around her ankle with some herbs stuffed inside the natural bandage. She had applied so medicine over her ankle but she still couldn't move for the time being.
She frowned at the thought of being carried by a stranger, surely he helped them and even carried her to safety when the easiest way to escape was to leave her there but she still couldn't help but feel timid when facing him.
He had a stranger aura to him which made him an unapproachable but she was also very fascinated by him. He wasn't like others, they all looked at them with lust, hate, anger, disdain, fear, etc but he outright ignored them.
It was as if they didn't pique his interest at all. Leaf pulled her legs closer as she watched Azik coming towards her. He sat down beside her and asked in a neutral tone.
"How's your injury....?"
"It will take some time to heal but I would be able to walk after some time. I apologize for burdening you"
"What will your group do after we make it out of this mountain range? "
" We will go to [Border town] and request the Prince to provide us with shelter. "
" How do you know that the Prince will agree to provide you with shelter and no outright execute you? "
" One of our sisters guarantees that the Prince is willing to help our kind and protect us from the [Church]."
" Hmm...your sister is indeed right about the Prince, but he is not only willing to protect you from the Church rather he wants to create a world where you all can live freely, like normal people. "
" Is what you are saying the truth?"
" It is the truth, I will take you all to the [Border town] so that you can see for yourself. "
" I don't know how to thank you, not only for saving our lives but also giving us hope. "
" Just help the Prince in making his dream come true and that would be thankful indeed. "
[Elsewhere]
" Nightingale run....!!!!"
Lightning shouted towards Nightingale as heard the sounds of a gunshot. Nightingale quickly emptied the barrel inside the beast's head as black blood flowed out from the small wound over his head.
She along with Lightning and a poised Wendy were trying to recover their strength when suddenly a dark demon pounced towards them and started attacking them.
Nightingale quickly dodged the incoming attacks and retaliated, pointing her pistol which Roland gave her before she left the town, she pulled the trigger.
Yet the demons husk was to tough to be penetrated by the bullets. The demon once again attacked Nightingale who was protecting the unconscious Wendy behind her.
She gritted her teeth as she prepared to engage the demon. Lightning screamed towards Nightingale "Run Nightingale....!!!"
The demon pounced at her but before it could reach her, a bright glow tore through the darkness as a sword suddenly pierced the demons head and burned the body into ashes.
"What—...."