Chapter 28: Parting

"So what now?"

I asked, unsure of what our next steps should be. Amy looked on as if she was deep in thought while the kid was only listening without saying anything.

"We have to go home." Amy suggested.

"Yeah that's obvious, but how exactly?"

Amy looked back at me with a steeled expression and replied.

"I dont know."

Okay then. I gave a weary nod as she went back to her training. I didn't know what to do honestly. There were a few options we could try but all of them seemed disastrous no matter how I looked at it.

One of those options is teleporting back to the forest with the kid in tow, and making our way out there. It was the simplest and most straightforward plan but there's a slight problem. Aki was there.

By my guess, he was still scouring the forest looking for us, being vigil and alert as I felt that he wouldn't be playing around the next time we met. That option is out the window.

The second option I can think of is surveying the current place we were in and going from there. Problem is, I don't know where it is. So let's ask the kid.

"By the way, where are we anyways?"

The kid looked back at me but didn't reply. He stared at me for a few seconds before submerging himself in darkness. Can anyone please help me?

I shook it off and thought of the third option, and it was the option I did not want to take. All our problems would be solved in one fell swoop and we would be back just in time for breakfast. But the problem with this one is the most troublesome of all.

"Mr Lucius, can you please help us?'' I cried out silently under my breath, making sure that Amy didn't hear me.

There was only silence as a reply.

"Please? Just this one can you please oh please help us? We are going to die, you know…"

Still there was only silence yet it only lasted for a few seconds when I heard a sigh. On my right shoulder, the mini Mr Lucius sat there in his formal attire. He had a deadpan expression on his face as he gazed at me with indifference.

"Please?"

"No."

"But why!" Crying out loudly. Amy seems to have heard me and glanced at my direction. I waved at her signaling that it was nothing and she went back to swinging her sword.

Muttering under my breath, I questioned, "Why? You snap your fingers and we would be home eating breakfast by now."

Mr Lucius still had an indifferent expression on his face. He opened his mouth and said,

"You need to clean up your own mess."

After saying that, he gave me a deep look and disappeared. The look he gave me was well weird. Made me feel like it struck a chord with me. Welp, if Mr Lucius said it then it must be true.

I steeled my resolve and continued thinking of ways out of this situation, not noticing that the kid was back and was beside me. I was still in deep thought when I finally realized he was back. I was about to ask him where he went when he tugged at my robe and pointed somewhere.

Confused, I asked him what he meant but he didn't reply and just gave me an anxious look. Fine, then I'll follow. I glanced at Amy and shouted that we were going somewhere.

Soon we were walking together as we followed the kid. I suspected that he was leading us somewhere but we didn't know where. Amy looked at me with a quizzical expression, seemingly asking who the hell was the kid and why were we following him.

I only gave her a weary smile in return. Amy looked at me with thoughtful eyes and pulled away. Hey, I'm just as confused as you are. After that little interlude, we continued following the kid when we saw something in the distance.

It was a padding sort. Curious to see what it was, we sped up our pace and started running. Soon enough we made it to the platform and saw what it was.

The platform was circular in shape, made in marble and was carved with symbols so complicated that it made me a little dizzy. Its time of creation was unknown, with nature already taking its place on it. Grass started growing out of it as vines were in all sorts of places.

The appearance of it was in ruin, as if it was made in this place and was forgotten with the passage of time. I start to wonder who even made this and why did they leave this here of all places. Then another, more important question surfaced.

What is it anyway?

I looked towards Amy yet she also looked on with a confused gaze. The kid approached it and crouched at the ground, wanting to touch it.

What I did not expect was that the moment his fingers made contact, the mysterious symbols started glowing and were giving out a wicked amount of energy.

Its ruinous appearance was gone and was replaced with a blinding light of energy, as if it was waiting for the moment it was about to be used once more. I was in full shock as to what was happening, and was about to pull the kid out of the way fearing that something bad might happen, when he gazed back at me as if he knew what he was doing.

Calming myself down, I looked on with a level head and continued gazing at the wondrous sight in front of me. Every symbol was gradually glowing one by one, seemingly turning on in order.

When everything was said and done, the kid stared at both of us and signaled for us to come. Amy and I looked at each other as I gave her a nod. I had a feeling that I could trust the kid. Amy seemed reluctant yet she went forward anyways as I also followed along.

Soon we were standing in the center of it but for some reason the kid didn't join us. I looked at him with an urgent expression yet he gazed back at me with a smile on his face. I was about to reach out to him and pull him in when a beacon of light consumed us as we vanished from the circle.

Damn it. He scammed us.

In a huff, I ignored where we were teleported and stomped my feet. I told him we were leaving together and there he played a little trick, him not coming. I thought we were friends…

"Cosmo…"

I should've forcefully pounded his hands like what Morrisson did to me before leaving. Yeah that would definitely work.

"Hey Cosmo."

But when I thought deeply about it, there was something wrong with the situation. Why did he let us leave without him? If i didn't see wrong, i saw the shine in his eyes when i mentioned leaving with him. So what changed? Maybe the teleportation pad was only for two people?

I doubt it. It was big enough for a whole platoon to use. So I can cross that one out of my list. Suddenly I felt my body lurched forward with a jolting pain I felt in my head. The pain was like I was hit with a blunt instrument or something. I covered my head in distraught and stared at Amy.

I was about to open my mouth and complain when I saw the immense seriousness in her face. Quizzically I questioned.

"Um what?"

She did not reply and instead pointed in another direction, I followed her finger and glanced at the direction she was pointing to. Goosebumps spread throughout my body when I realized that somebody was standing in the distance, observing us.

Looking back at Amy, I nodded once and she nodded in turn. Without a moment's notice, Amy's eyes turned scarlet red and my feet electrified as we dashed into the forest.

We didn't look back and kept running, we kept our pace random, zigzagging and sometimes separating into different directions, making sure that there was no pattern to use.

There was never a moment where we stopped running since we instinctively knew what would happen if we didn't. That man. He had a similar feel to Aki. But while Aki was like a kid out of school wanting to play, the man was like a strict father out to punish the child.

He didn't feel right. I felt it. Amy felt it. There was no need for words as to what to do in that situation. It was to run. We somehow knew that his way of catching us wasn't going to be like Aki. Aki may have played with his food but I felt the man was the opposite. There was no chance of escape once he found us. Almost none.

Luckily I already knew where we were teleported. This place was where I never wanted to go back to. A forest where I would like to never visit ever again. I closed my eyes and it made me remember the sound of thunder crackling from above, the heavy downpour of the night sky, as well as the Assassins chasing me from behind which were practicing to kill me.

It made me shiver as I didn't want to experience it ever again but knowing Mr Samuel, it's already scheduled for this week when I come back. Well, if i come back is a better way to put it.

I already knew this forest like the back of my hand, I mean I had to get good at knowing how to hide, and knowing every inch of this place really helped.

As long as I make one more turn, Zorvaile City's gate won't be that far. I also believed that Amy planned to do the same. Getting stuck together makes it easier for us to get caught, it was best to separate and find our own way out.

Making the last turn, a rising hope came within me as I felt that I was close to the finish line. I don't know how long I ran but I believe that Amy was already in front of me and safe home. That's good.

Without warning, my instincts were telling me to run the other way. Commanding me to not go any further and I was about to process it a bit more when I saw the exit out of the forest.

A man blocked the exit and stood still as a statue. Beside him lay a woman, bloodied and broken as she was laying in a puddle of her own blood. I halted and glared at the man in front of me.

He seemed to have noticed me as he directly gazed at my direction. Yet he didn't move, he stood there and was seemingly waiting for me. Like he already knew that I was going to him without him doing anything… And he was right.

Without thinking, I used {Lightning Movement} and closed the distance within a second, took Amy and moved her away from the man. I inspected Amy's body, feeling my mind go blank as a ringing sound started echoing in my ears.

Her bones were broken in several places, various bruises were apparent in her body, I injected my mana into her body and realized that her internal injuries were even worse. The injuries she incurred were far worse than our fight with Aki.

But to my relief, her heart was still beating. Despite her bearing severe injuries enough to kill any man, she was half alive and there was still hope for her to live.

Yet that small amount of relief wasn't enough to calm the boiling rage within me. I summoned my scythe and stood in front of Amy, blocking her from the man in black.

I didn't notice it then but any hint of Humanity was slowly leaving my body, I felt myself devoid of any feeling or emotions. Only hatred, hatred towards that man. Like a demonic weapon only made to destroy and reap lives. And if that meant ending the man in front of me, then so be it.

With an unfamiliar emotionless voice, I said.

"You will regret this."