Author Romeru
patreon
Chapter 73: The Rescue, and The Rescued
🕑 Added 2024-12-05 16:45:31 +0000 UTC“...You dare lay hands on someone who has been touched by the gods!?”
The soldiers fell to their knees, trembling, their whispers of prayer filling the cold air. And yet despite their fear literally oozing from their noses, none of them begged for their lives.
They accepted their fate, some even crying with smiles on their faces. The bishop, however, glared at them with disdain on his face—and soon, he too, offered a prayer; placing his golden blade in front of him as he clasped his hands together.
"Artemis, Mother of Light and all that is Pure, cast thy judgment on the sinful. In the name of purity and justice, I return these souls to thee, unworthy though they may be."
And not even moments after his last words, the blade in his hand moved swiftly, almost a blur and a glint. Each strike was precise, cutting through the soldier’s flesh as if they were bubbles. The poor soldiers barely even had time to gasp before their bodies turned into pieces and their blood filled the stone floor.
Despite all this violence, however, the bishop’s blade seemed completely untouched by the carnage; not a single drop of blood stained its surface.
The bishop lowered his blade, letting the silence settle before speaking softly to the fallen.
“May Artemis accept you, for Artemia has not.”
Julian observed this slaughter even in his weak condition. His eyes, however, weren’t on the bodies at all, but on the blade of the bishop as it once again softened into a sash as soon as it touched the nape of his neck, settling naturally as if it had never been a weapon at all.
Julian could hear a faint hum resonating from the sash.
Was it enchanted? Magic, perhaps?
Or… was it perhaps forged from a material unknown to him?
Julian hasn’t had the time to even hold a hammer to craft anything for a few days now and he was starting to get a little… agitated; his fingers were starting to itch.
If only he had put something inside his [Shadow Vault], then he could probably be forging something right now under these people’s noses. But alas, the only thing he has in it right now is Searadyn’s Veil.
Perhaps he could pull out Searadyn’s Veil and fight?
[Health (HP): 42/240]
Okay, perhaps not.
And while Julian was at a loss as to what to do, the bishop approached him; placing a hand on his shoulder… quite firmly.
“Are you okay, my boy?” The bishop asked, his almost groaning voice laced with genuine concern. “I apologize, truly. My people, most of the time, are lost and don’t know what they are doing.”
The bishop began examining Julian for injuries, his eyes narrowing as he circled Julian, looking at him from head to toe before nodding in satisfaction.
“What is your name, my boy?” He then asked.
And Julian quickly replied with his name, “Julian.”
“A fine name!” The bishop laughed robustly. He then draped a cloth over Julian’s shoulders, gesturing to the men he was with to make way, “You must be cold. Come, come—we will get you into a warm bath in no time.”
And without waiting for a reply, the bishop wrapped an arm over Julian’s shoulders, almost locking him in place as he guided him outside the cell like he was some sort of lost puppy that was rescued.
But of course, this wasn’t exactly the rescue Julian was expecting—where were Ben and the others, exactly?
And why were these people walking around him as if he was some sort of VIP?
They surrounded Julian, flanking him on all sides as they walked through the already narrow, and dim corridor. There were other people in the cells, and all of them did not dare at all to look at the bishop.
And soon, the heavy doors of the prison creaked open, and Julian winced as the bright light harshly struck him in the face.
And even with his eyes closing by themselves, the salty tang of the sea that filled his nostrils immediately told him that he was still in the trade city of Calydion. The faint crash of the waves against the docks also whispered in his ears.
But perhaps the loudest noise was the whispers flowing in the air from all directions. Julian’s eyes slowly adjusted to the light, and what welcomed him were the curious and suspicious eyes of the large crowd before him.
All of them were making a path for the Order of Artemia, but it was clear that they were trying their best to check who was being escorted by the bishop of one of the most prominent religions of their land.
Throughout all this fiasco, however, Julian’s thoughts were focused elsewhere.
It was the right decision not to fight back in the cell, he thought. For one, his strength was barely enough to walk straight. And two, he had no idea what level the bishop was.
The only thing he could do was wait for something to happen, and that moment came right after he thought of it—as within the sea of unfamiliar faces that were looking at him, a familiar scent caught his nose.
He turned his head, and there in the crowd, was Juliet.
She stood still, her eyes reddening and barely holding back her tears. Beside her were Cyrus and Talia—and standing behind were his new temporary party members, Ben, Natasha, Vijya, and Jin.
Julian met gazes with the married couple, and the two quickly but subtly nodded their heads at him.
As for Juliet, well, she looked like she wanted to rush to Julian’s rescue. In fact, if it wasn’t for Cyrus and Talia holding her back, she would have probably lunged onto the Order of Artemia there and then.
Julian’s new party members, however, did not seem as patient as they locked eyes with Julian. They then raised three fingers—a signal that meant they were moving to Plan C.
Julian subtly shook his head before glancing toward the bishop, giving a silent warning that the bishop might be a threat. But Ben did not seem to care at all, and Natasha, Vijya, and Jin were already on the move, separating and weaving subtly through the crowd.
And then, out of nowhere, a voice erupted.
“Order of Artemia scum!”
“You are a disgrace to the Goddess!”
This was Plan C—to create panic and incite a small riot so that the team could slip past and rescue Julian. And it was working, as soon, those who hate the Order of Artemia from the crowd also started joining the taunts and sneers.
It didn’t seem, however, to be working as the bishop heeded them no mind at all—even gesturing to his men to stand down and focus on getting Julian away.
“The Church of Zeldan should wipe you out! They are the one and true religion!”
Those words, however, seemed to have an effect on the bishop as his steps instantly halted.
“Who dares!?” His voice boomed, and with a tug, he pulled his sash again, the golden blade snapping into place. Of course, his men followed suit, unsheathing their weapons and shoving their way into the panicking crowd.
This was the wrong decision, however, as the crowd completely descended into chaos. People screamed and shoved, scattering in every direction. And soon, the panic reached its peak.
Unfortunately for Julian and his party members, the bishop and his men seemed intent on completely shielding him from all and any chaos that was happening around them.
And that’s not good at all.
And so, Julian let out a long and very deep breath before whispering, “...[Shadow Festival].”
The moment he activated the skill, the air and light around him shifted unnaturally. Within a 10-meter radius, the space seemed to distort, bending and twisting as though the world itself had become unsteady. What was once near had become far, and what was once far had become near… but not really. It was… weird.
The people started to stumble, tripping over nothing as their senses were overwhelmed by the surreal space.
“This is the word of the Evil Spirits!” The bishop roared, shaking his head to try and focus through the distortion, “Protect the holder of the Mark of Searadyn!”
“B…bishop! He’s gone!”
“Gone!?” And as the bishop heard his men cry, his head snapped toward the spot where Julian had been standing, only to find only the cloth he had draped over him lying on the ground. The bishop’s eyes widened, his teeth grinding as the fury inside him grew instantly.
“The Evil Spirits…” He whispered, and soon, those whispers turned into a roar, “...The Evil Spirits have abducted him! Men, search the city!”
“But…” The bishop’s men hesitated as they found themselves staggering and stumbling, struggling against the distortion that was playing with their senses.
“Imbeciles! Just close your eyes!” The bishop barked, his voice echoing through the distortion as he grabbed his men one by one and threw them out of the range of [Shadow Festival].
“Now find him! Rescue the young man from the clutches of the Evil Spirits!”
Unbeknownst to the bishop, however, Julian was actually already almost at the edges of the city of Calydion. Although it was his first time using the [Shadow Festival] skill and only knew the basics of it since it was injected into his mind, it was enough.
He teleported beside Juliet, and she did not even ask or say anything before lifting him over the shoulder and carrying him away from the chaos. The group followed behind her closely, making sure they weren’t being followed as they navigated through the narrow alleys.
“Now, what was that all about, Sword Junkie?” Cyrus trailed beside Juliet with a wide smirk on his face, “Man… if only I could livestream this or record it, the Chat would have lost their mind. That was… one of your new skills, right?”
“Hm…” Julian did not really have any strength to say anything, only humming as Juliet made sure he didn’t fall off. And after what seemed like an incredibly tense several minutes, the group finally emerged outside the city of Calydion, but none of them slowed down.
Titus and Dyrroth were already waiting for them there… with a band of seikrobos with them. The group wasted no time at all to mount the reptilian birds, not even opening their mouths as they rode away.
Julian was riding with Titus, who was healing him and controlling the seikrobos at the same time. The group did not stop at all, even to drink some water.
And finally, after what seemed like nearly 6 hours, they finally stopped. They chose a secluded clearing next to a large rock, offering good visibility while hiding them at the same time.
Juliet dismounted her seikrobos first, rushing to Julian and quickly throwing her arms around him.
“Boss!” She cried out, her tears soaking into his shoulder as she held him tightly, “I… I thought you were dead! And then… and then these new people came with Cyrus and told me that… by the Gods, you really are alive.”
Ben and Natasha exchanged a glance, shrugging with a knowing look on their faces.
But of course, one of Julian’s party members was not as reserved to hide what they were feeling.
Vijya, of course.
“Don’t you have a girlfriend in the real world!?” His voice cut through the emotional moment, “So, you’re a backstabbing cheating whore, huh!?”
And as soon as Juliet heard that, her tears stopped abruptly as she turned to glare at him; her expression was one of pure annoyance. But she quickly calmed her breaths and shook her head.
“I know about Ellie.” She said, “I am just happy that my master’s alive. And who even are you? You’ve been talking bad about Julian ever since we met earlier.”
Vijya scoffed as he stepped closer to Juliet, but before he could say anything, Talia stepped forward.
“Knock it off.” She snapped, placing a finger on Vijya’s chest and standing firm despite her small size, “I don’t care if you have a unique class or whatever the fuck it is, but knock it off.”
“Or what, little girl?” Vijya sneered as he towered over her.
Talia didn’t flinch at all, her stance solid as she jabbed her finger even harder at his chest, “Or Cyrus here will make you regret opening your mouth, big boy. So, sit the fuck down.”
“The fuck?” Vijya glared at Talia for a few seconds more, but his eyes soon landed on Cyrus. While it is true that Vijya was stronger than those who had the same level as him because of his unique class—but Cyrus was one of the oldest players of Otherworld.
The last time he checked, Cyrus was at level 60 plus… and he was only at 34. And so, even though Cyrus was not even looking at him at all, Vijya clicked his tongue and backed down.
Julian, meanwhile, dropped onto the ground, still trying to recover his strength as the group began setting up camp. Even though Titus had already fully healed him, his body seemed to still be stiff after being immobile for more than 3 days.
Everyone gave him some space to catch his breath and move his body around—well, surprisingly, except for Jin, who had been quiet the entire time back on Ceres-9.
“Here.” Jin approached him, holding a small glass vial filled with a glowing orange liquid, something Julian hadn’t really seen before.
“Drink it. It would help your body recover.”
“Thank you.” Julian quickly thanked Jin and opened the vial… and Jin, for some reason, was staring at him with wide eyes.
“You know, I’ve been following your streams for a while now. Watching you forge all that stuff, and the Searadyn’s Veil. Where is it? Is it with you? It’s quite mind-blowing, honestly. And don’t even get me started when you were crafting it, you were massaging that clear metal? What did it even feel like? Like hot and cold at the same time? The way you…”
Jin had been quiet the entire time back on Ceres-9. In fact, Julian couldn’t even remember an instance when they actually talked. And yet right now, in Artemia, it felt like he had no plans on closing his mouth at all.
It came to a point when Julian couldn’t keep up at all with what he was saying as he had been talking for nearly an hour.
Jin was the only other unique class that focused on crafting. But it would seem his and Julian’s similarity did not stop there.
Was he… in the spectrum too? Julian thought.
Julian wasn’t actually the only one rescued at the moment. Back on Earth, Dr. Ling was just pulled out by Cindy’s exterminator team from the Daemon Plane. They sat inside a combat ship in silence, letting only their breaths speak for them.
Blood and soot streaked down Cindy’s armor, and their weapons scattered on the floor of the humming ship flying away from the danger.
Dr. Ling, however, was anything but silent.
“Why the hell would you do that!?” She screamed at Cindy, “Why did you pull me out!? We were so close to the tower! This close! You hear me!? This—”
And before Dr. Ling could finish her words, Cindy responded to her with a palm resounding and snapping right on her cheek. And since Cindy was still wearing her combat armor, the slap might have loosened a tooth or two.
“Are you done?” Cindy almost growled at her, “Don’t think that I’m one of your people, I’m not. You don’t shout at me, you got it?”
“That—”
“And you’re needed somewhere else—while we were inside rescuing you, your friends called.” Cindy closed her eyes and sighed,
“They said another portal popped up.”
“What!?”
“And I'm told this one’s next to a city.”
[LAST CHAPTER] <-----> [NEXT CHAPTER]
AUTHOR NOTES
Man, even though I am the one writing it, I'm actually getting excited more about when Julian actually starts fighting daemons on Earth. lol. Holler up if you notice any mistakes!
Comments
Manpapper
Thanks for the chapter
ReadingObsessed
*on the spectrum
