I walked through the trees, keeping a watchful eye around me. Valentine and Luna were going to flank the enemy from the left, while we were going for the right.
DING!
The Message screen popped up.
Valentine: We don’t see anyone here on our side yet.
Levi: Keep going. They’re traveling fast, but we should catch up to them soon.
Hopefully those two don’t have any trouble, I thought. I slashed my short sword at a creeper ahead and walked through the green curtain. Stan was at my side, with his blanket tied around his neck. Tied, I noticed, and smiled.
Footsteps came from the left. My heart thumped. Is that them? I moved further right and kept walking forward.
“Stay silent.” I whispered to the vampire, and stepped through the trees. I peered into the gaps between the greenery, and there—about fifty yards away—I saw a force of Knights walking through. I could only see parts of their forms, but this was definitely the Knight force I was going after.
“Are you sure we can do this?” Stan asked.
I nodded. I tossed my short sword to him and the vampire juggled it in his hands before gripping onto the handle. “A-Are you really sure?”
“Well, ninety percent.”
The vampire frowned. “That isn’t comforting.”
“It wasn’t meant to be.” I looked ahead at the Knights. We were travelling almost parallel to their path right now. Perfect. I looked around at the trees and spotted a few low-hanging branches, and many thick bushes beneath them.
I grinned. Even better.
“Get ready.” I jumped up and caught the far end of the closest branch. I tugged on it with my body weight, and the whole branch snapped. It popped off the tree and fell to the forest floor with another crack. I pushed Stan into the closest bush and followed in behind him.
A voice came from ahead. A single woman walked toward us. She was dressed in silver armor, but also had a few pouches at her side. An herbalist? I wondered.
She walked toward us, and I gripped my daggers tighter. I focused on her body and activated my Analyze skill.
DING!
Race
Human
Level
46
She was about as strong as I’d expected her to be. Thankfully she isn’t higher, I thought. She stepped in front of the bush, and knelt beside the tree branch. Her finger traced down the wood and she looked up at the tree. I picked up a large rock next to me and hurled it—not at her, but at the tree, away from us.
The stone struck the wood and a crack echoed into the air. The woman turned around, showing her back to me, and I seized my chance. I leapt out of the bush. The woman’s head turned again, faster than I’d expected, but I was still at an advantage.
I swung one dagger at her neck, but she threw her forearms up and blocked my attack. My left hand pushed forward, not from the side like before, but straight into the gap in her defense—through the front. The dagger slammed into her throat, and she gasped. Her health went down, but not fast enough.
She kicked me in the chest and I went flying back, into the tree. I gasped as my back thudded against the wood and slumped to the ground. Damn it. My health had gone down to 10% from just that one move.
The woman pulled out the dagger, but her limp hands dropped it to the floor. She gargled blood and clasped her bleeding throat, while her body swayed from side to side.
How is she even alive?
And just as I thought that, her health went down to zero, and she collapsed.
DING!
Congratulations! Your party has defeated:
Zevlon Knight (Lv. 46)!
She had no idea what was coming at her. You almost died, though, so be careful. If you’re gone, then who’s going to slit throats in this world? Reward: 17000 XP. Reward: Reputation decreased by -100 points.
Pretty sure throat-slitting will go on just fine without me. I dismissed the screen.
DING!
Congratulations! Your level has increased!
Level 22!
You’re basically an Assassin now, let’s admit it. The Knights used to treat you like trash, and now you’re doing the same thing to them. It’s like a game of tit for tat, only there are also a lot of dead people involved somehow. You gain 4 stat points to spend on your skills. You also gain a 25% advancement to the skill of your choice.
I stepped out of the bush and looked at the woman. She doesn’t have any weapons on her. I turned away, and picked out the Knight force still standing between the trees, more than a hundred yards from us. They were glancing at the forest around them, and some of them looked this way.
They spoke to each other, and a smaller group of four Knights now moved toward me.
No way am I taking that many on. I turned to Stan. “We’re moving.”
The vampire nodded. I first pulled the woman’s body into a few bushes, hiding her, and then pulled out a health potion and consumed it. When my health was back at 100%, we tiptoed through the greenery once more. I kept my eye on the Knights that had remained on the path, and an interesting sight struck me. Joseph stood with just a single Knight by his side now.
By my calculations, there should have been another four left, but they were all missing.
He must have sent some the other way, too, I thought. Valentine and Luna must be playing their part right.
I opened my Messaging Menu, and sent her a message.
Levi: Joseph’s alone. Head towards him. Now. First target is the guy next to him.
Valentine: We see him. We’re moving in.
“Perfect,” I whispered. I ducked under a bush for a few seconds, and stood back up when the four Knights heading this way had passed by me.
Idiots. I pushed forward, towards Joseph and the other Knight. They stood facing each other, talking.
“When is the next payment coming along?”
Joseph shook his head. “I’ll ask Sage Auron about it, but I doubt it’s soon.”
“Seriously, Joseph,” the Knight chuckled. “I can’t believe this is actually happening. To think a man like that would bribe all the Knights. That’s brilliant.”
I frowned. What?
“Don’t be too loud,” Joseph said. “Elya is still close by.”
The Knight nodded.
Stan leaned close to me. “What are they talking about?” he whispered.
“I don’t know,” I said. “It doesn’t sound good, though.”
I stepped forward and gripped my daggers tight. Twenty yards left.
DING!
My messaging menu came up.
Valentine: We’re in position. Luna is ready to attack. She doesn’t know if she can take him down, though. Joseph is Level 45, and the Knight is Level 39.
Levi: I’m attacking the Knight first. Move in after my first strike. Cast an agility boost on Luna. Ask her to aim for the Knight’s chest.
I closed in on them, and hid myself behind the nearest tree. I glanced back, but didn’t see the Knights who had come this way. They’ve probably just noticed that woman’s body.
I looked at the two men before us. They were both facing my way, which was not good. I opened my messages, and sent one to Valentine.
Levi: Make some noise. Now.
A second later, a loud crack sounded, probably of stone hitting wood. Joseph and the Knight turned and I rushed out from behind the tree. I shot to the weaker one with such silence that he didn’t turn, even when I was only a foot away.
Joseph did, but he was too late.
My daggers slammed into the weaker man’s neck, from either side, and he collapsed to the forest floor, dead before he even hit the ground. Luna shot out from the bushes on the other side.
“Get the live one!” I yelled.
Joseph panicked and jerked around. Luna’s spinning blade slashed through his armor, and then his chest. He yelled out in pain, and his knees shook.
Just missed the heart. My fists clenched.
Luna kicked down Joseph’s
shins, and he collapsed to his knees before he could even process what was going on. The elf leapt behind him. She pulled his hands behind his back and pinned him down to the ground. I knelt before his head, and held both my blades right next to his throat. He struggled, but Luna’s hold on his hands was too tight for him to break.
He glared at me. “What do you want, Ryder?”
“Why are you headed this way?” I asked. “The rest of the Knights are going through the plateau, and yet you’re all here. Why?”
“I don’t know.” His tone was flat.
“Oh, really?” My blade pressed into his neck, drops of red streaked his skin.
His face changed. “I swear!” he yelped. “I don’t know anything. It was all Auron’s idea!”
“And you have nothing to do with it?”
Something hit the back of my head and I collapsed to the ground. I jerked myself around in a daze. Two men stood before me. Elya had his sword pointed at Luna’s neck, forcing her to let go of Joseph, while Auron simply stood there, smiling at me.
“A pleasure to meet you again, Levi.”
***
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
They were almost there.
Auron’s chest thumped with every step he took. He unfolded the piece of white paper he kept in his pocket and read through its contents again.
“At the foothills of the Kelras Mountains,” he whispered. He looked up. The canopy was scarcer than before, and he could see the mountain peaks in the distance. They weren’t more than another four hours away, for sure.
Aegil was closer than ever before. His hands shook with the excitement. He’d finally get this relic, after all that meticulous planning he’d done to get this adventure going in the first place. The princess’s disappearance and this mysterious Albion’s letter had come at such a convenient time.
It was almost like fate itself was telling him that Aegil should belong to him.
He stepped forward. Another four hours to the foothills. Another four hours to the relic.
Of course, it would have taken much less time if they still had their horses, but unfortunately, the dense parts of this forest didn’t facilitate the movement of such large creatures. Even now, Joseph and his group were clearing out the greenery piece by piece before letting him and Elya walk through.
It would have been faster for Auron to move through by himself, but he knew the dangers this forest possessed. That was why he stood next to Elya now, even though he and the Knight hadn’t been on good terms of late.
Auron suspected Elya understood everything about what was going on. But he was still a loyal Knight. He wasn’t going to disobey orders outright, as long as they didn’t go against his code of conduct. The Sage knew this well, which was why he had gotten close to Joseph instead. That man was easy to play, easier than the simplest instruments. And through him, he now had control of the entire Knight force that they had brought along.
King Iko wouldn’t know the first thing about what was going on. He probably still thought these men were hunting after his daughter. Or maybe he didn’t even bother thinking about it.
Auron looked ahead. Joseph was taking quite a while clearing the path ahead.
The Sage stepped forward as a voice sounded from deeper inside the forest. He turned to Elya. “I think our forces may be in trouble.”
The Knight tensed, and together, the two of them strode through the greenery. Not even thirty seconds had passed when Auron noticed a group of four people twenty yards ahead of him. A boy with black hair and raging violet eyes glared down at Joseph’s fallen form.
Auron chuckled. “This can’t get any better.”
***
This can’t get any worse.
“Move, prisoner.” A Knight pushed his fist into my back and I stumbled forward.
“Alright, alright.” I moved. “There’s no reason to get fussy here.”
“Levi Ryder.” Sage Auron walked beside me, but his eyes didn’t meet mine; instead, he looked ahead, deep into the forest.
I quickly scanned my surroundings. Luna had been bound up as well, with her wrists behind her back, and walked ten yards behind me. I looked further, but saw only Knights.
Stan and Valentine didn’t get caught, then, I thought. And that made sense, since they hadn’t revealed themselves like the two of us had.
The Sage stepped closer to me, and his loose robes brushed against my skin. “How has the princess been doing?”
What? My chest thumped, but I froze the expression on my face. I looked at him “What are you talking about?”
He smiled. “Who do you think gave her that white-hooded cloak she’s been wearing all around?”
Don’t wear things the enemy gave you, you idiot, I thought, and gave my most supreme effort to keep my mouth shut on that.
The Sage raised an eyebrow, and then turned away. “Are you still unwilling to talk about Aegil?”
“I thought you already had everything you needed.”
“One can never have too much knowledge.”
“That is a very different statement than what you said to be the last time we met.”
He glanced at me, and then turned to face the front once more. “The last time we met, the circumstances were very different.”
“What do you want with Aegil?” I asked.
“Interested in my desires, are you?”
“A man from the light is seeking an object that was made in the darkness. Seems suspicious, if you ask me.”
“A man from the light always wishes to vanquish the darkness. Would that not be why he pursues it?”
My eyes widened. “You’re trying to destroy Aegil?”
He grinned. “I can dream, can’t I?”
“You wouldn’t.” I gritted my teeth. “You couldn’t. The relic doesn’t break just like that.”
“You leave that part to me, Ryder,” he said. “There isn’t much that escapes me.”
“Ironic that you say that when the princess is missing.”
“The princess….” He chuckled. “That girl is quite the spectacle.”
“You clearly love her, given how much you’ve aided in the search.”
“I found you,” he said. “And she was with you, was she not? Seems to me I have found an apt way of locating her as well.”
I frowned. “Why do you keep assuming I’m traveling with her? Do you even know what kind of a background I come from? Of course a poor kid from the outskirts would journey with the princess.”
He sighed. “It is unfortunate that she had to interact with someone like you.”
“What is that supposed to mean?” I raised an eyebrow. “Is this how you justify locking her away inside that tower?”
“A political pawn cannot be dirtied." He chuckled. "A girl like her will never survive in these kinds of places. That is why I told her father to never let her go outside on her own."
So, he was the one. I clenched my fists.
“Sage Auron.” Joseph fell back to the man, and the two of them moved a little further away from the group. I stared at their lips, but I couldn’t make out any of the words they spoke. Their faces shifted expressions vividly and at a fast pace. At the end, however, Sage Auron smiled, and Joseph walked back to the group leading the front.
There were seven Knights around us now, excluding Elya, and then there was the Sage as well. There’s no way I’m breaking out of this. I glanced back at Luna. She was staring at the forest floor and didn’t even glance at me.
We trod through the forest in silence, and I counted the seconds as they passed. A while later, the trees grew further apart, and the forest turned scarcer. The soil went from damp to dry, and more shrubs and plants emerged over the ground.
I didn’t trust my counting, but according to it, we’d been walking for an hour and a half now. We had quite a ways left, though. I looked up through the gaps in the canopy, and the grey peaks of the Kelras Mountains showed through.
I smiled. How odd. I’d been searching for
that place for so long, and I was now being taken to it as some sort of information token. And, in the end, I’d probably leave without getting what it was I’d strived toward for all these years.
Or I might get killed, I added. I’ll probably get killed.
I couldn’t even fight back if I wanted to. If tying my hands behind my back wasn’t bad enough, these people had taken away my daggers and my short sword. Maybe I could swipe one of their weapons, I thought.
But they all carried swords, and I wasn’t that big of a sword-guy. I had thought I was, and spent an initial part of my childhood thinking that, but daggers and short weapons were definitely my thing. Basically anything I could throw at an enemy from fifty yards away, and preferably something that was sharp enough to pierce their head. Or throat.
I shook my head. What the heck are you doing? I scolded myself. I was in a pretty tight situation, and here I was joking around.
DING!
A screen popped up before me.
Stan: Hold your breath.
A thud sounded from a yard ahead, and three black spheres rolled up to my right.
No way. I sucked in a big breath of air and held it.
A deflated blast sounded, different from the sounds I’d heard these spheres make before. A wave of thick, magenta smoke shot out of the objects and filled the surrounding regions.
Why is the smoke colored this time? I frowned. Yells and screams sounded, and then drowsy yawns echoed through.
A hand tapped my shoulder, and a silhouette emerged into view.
Ascend: A World of Ga'em LitRPG (The Chaos Emperor Book 1) Page 25
