The people have spoken and I have listened.Or something. Yeah, the previous chapter (92) was a bust. There were multiple issues with it, ranging from structural to characterization-wise. I messed up a fair bit there. Sorry about that. Thankfully, one of the benefits of writing an ongoing serialized work is that I can always go back and edit/rewrite a chapter.
Thank you all for the feedback. Having advanced readers on Patreon is kinda like having a small army of beta readers. I appreciate you all, having critique in situations like these helps a lot. Hopefully, this new version of the chapter reads better. Hope you enjoy the chapter!______The full moon was already out by the time they arrived at the city of Durlistle. They entered without much incident. The guards at the entrance gates were so awed by Anastasia’s presence that they barely even glanced at Levi and Selene. A good thing; while Levi had forged some papers for Selene, he didn’t know how well they’d hold up under close inspection. Qorbin had taught him the basics back during their journey to Lancaster, but Levi wasn’t the best at it yet, and besides, there was always the off chance that Qorbin had deliberately taught him incorrectly just to mess with him.
As they strode through the city, Levi cast a glance around. Durlistle was well-developed, with proper cobbled roads and magical lamps illuminating the streets. The buildings were made of stone, and some were even constructed of sleek metal. People streamed around them in the streets as merchants peddled their wares and street carts sold aromatic foods.
However, despite the active nightlife, there was a sense of weariness permeating the city. The people looked tired. Worn down. Clearly, a decade of living in a trade city with no trade had taken its toll. Once, Durlistle must’ve enjoyed immense economic prosperity, but after Yukihasa had closed its borders, the city had plunged into recession.
Anastasia led them to the central church. She seemed to have an uncanny knack for sensing where the holy institutions were in a city without once needing to ask for directions. Kind of like Qorbin’s ability to sniff out dirty, rundown bars. Impressive, really.
Outside the church, Anastasia and Selene had a brief barbed exchange – Anastasia asserted that Selene was forbidden from entering and Selene insisted that she refused to enter such a sickening place in the first place. Then, with Selene waiting outside, Levi and Anastasia went into the church.
Not for the first time, Levi wished that Liliya was with them. Perhaps having another member would smooth over tensions. At the very least, it’d make things less awkward for him.
Unfortunately, Liliya was currently preoccupied. She refused to tell him what was going on, but it had to be both time-sensitive and important for her to refuse his invitation to join the quest. Levi suspected it was related to what her brother, Ivan Volkov, had told her during their private conversation back during the Guild Trial. He would’ve offered to help, but he needed to take care of this first. Figuring out the issue with the System took priority.
Despite the late hour, the Head Priest greeted them warmly, having recognized Anastasia on sight. He seemed confused as to why Anastasia had come to the city with an unknown adventurer in tow. The confusion morphed into trepidation when Anastasia inquired about the odds of Yukihasa accepting a diplomatic Church envoy into their lands.
“A Church envoy? None. There’s no way,” the Head Priest said. “The borders are shut to everyone regardless of rank or status – and you know that Yukihasa isn’t overly fond of the Goddess to begin with. They’ve slaughtered countless of our missionaries in the past, and while the proportion of their population who believes in the Goddess has risen over the years, the vast majority of them still regard their imperial emperor as God-King.”
Oh? That was interesting. In Luminarche, most citizens believed in and worshipped the Goddess. Some, like Qorbin, weren’t the most devout, of course, but generally, the Goddess was well-accepted as the ultimate holy being and ingrained in the citizens’ everyday lives. It appeared that things were different in Yukihasa.
Anastasia nodded, looking as though she’d expected the answer. “I see. What about our people placed within Yukihasa? Have we managed to establish a line of communication with them?”
The Head Priest shook his head. “Yukihasa employs numerous tactics to maintain a total information blackout. We had more contact with the churches in Yukihasa in the beginning, but as time went on, it became more and more risky to communicate. Messenger birds are shot down, seasoned smugglers are caught and tortured to death, magical communication devices get intercepted and blocked… They’ve even developed a whole barrier that envelops the entire country. I don’t know exactly what the barrier does, but rumor has it that it detects whenever someone enters or leaves the borders. Huntsmen are immediately dispatched to the area to investigate and kill all intruders – or escapees – on sight.”
He sighed. “It’s a tragedy, but these days, we know very little about what goes on within the country. Last I heard, most of Western Yukihasa is still under the control of the imperial government and under absolute martial law, but the rebel forces had managed to conquer and hold vast swathes of the eastern islands. The specifics are lost to me, unfortunately. I apologize, I wish there was more I could tell you.”
“There’s no need to apologize,” Anastasia said, looking pensive. “Thank you for the information. May the Goddess smile upon you.”
Anastasia and Levi left, rejoining Selene outside. The entire time, Selene had been glowering at the church as its very construction offended her. To be fair, it probably did. Holy and consecrated places tended to affect demons on a metaphysical level. Selene looked glad when they finally left.
“A diplomatic Church envoy was our only potential legal option for entry into Yukihasa,” Anastasia said. “Unfortunately, it seems that’s cut off from us.”
“Which leaves only the illegal options,” Levi said. He grinned. “Time to go border hopping.”
Anastasia sighed.
As they approached the border, the bustling markets and residential buildings around them gave way to grand streets and imposing architecture. The border wall came into view. It was ten meters tall and three meters thick, made of stone and reinforced with numerous enchantments, running along the entire sixty kilometers or so of the Luminarche-Yukihasa border.
The main gate was manned by a dozen soldiers. In the past, this gate would’ve undoubtedly been used to welcome massive caravans of traders, merchants, and tourists. Now, it remained shut tight.
“So how are we doing this?” Anastasia asked. “Can you teleport us directly into Yukihasa?”
Levi hesitated. “Theoretically, yes. However, I don’t want to risk setting off the detection barrier; I don’t know if it can sense teleportation. It’d be best if we held off on alerting Yukihasa to our presence for as long as possible.” He didn’t want to have an entire country on high alert searching for them. It would get tedious having to constantly deal with the soldiers and Huntsmen sent after them. “Ideally, we’ll be in and out of the country without them knowing we were ever there?”
Anastasia looked skeptical. “With your luck, are you sure we can manage that?”
Levi deflated. “Not really. But we can try. Our best bet is probably to fly over – this way, once we reach the barrier, I can examine it close-up and determine a way to either bypass or hack it.”
Anastasia nodded. “Sounds like a plan.”
Ethereal wings of golden light sprouted from her back, but before they could take flight, alarm bells suddenly began ringing in the distance. They tensed up, glancing over at the wall. The soldiers at the gate, who had been lazing about chatting and playing cards, were now in a frenzy of motion.
“An attack?” Levi asked.
“I don’t know,” Anastasia said. “Let’s see what’s going on.”
They rushed over to the gate. Upon seeing them, the soldiers tried to stop them at first before realizing that Anastasia was a High Priestess. The news quickly spread, and in a few seconds the commander of the soldiers was talking to them.
“Evening, High Priestess,” the commander greeted, his voice tense. “What brings you to the border wall?”
“I was in town and happened to hear the alarm bells,” Anastasia said. “My companions and I came over to see if everything was alright. Is it an enemy attack?”
The commander held her gaze for a long moment. Judging her to be sincere, he sagged slightly, but caught himself a moment later and stood up straight.
“Not an attack,” he said quietly. His face was grave. “Worse.” Then, as if forgetting them entirely, he whirled back around to bark orders to his soldiers. “Open the gates!” he thundered. “Open the gates! Turn on the lights! Send up the flares!”
Open the gates? Levi frowned. What?
What could be worse than an enemy attack?
Slowly, the gates to the border wall opened with a mighty groan to reveal a wide field of rocky earth that extended into a mountainous forest beyond. The soldiers wheeled out two large spotlights hoisted on carts, which turned on with a flicker of magic. At the same time, other soldiers released flares into the air above. Instantly, the rocky field was bathed in unbelievably bright light. Levi could feel the heat from ten feet away.
He squinted, and – there! Off in the distance, he spied a single wooden cart pulled by a horse rumbling over the rocky ground. But… That was it. There was nothing else: no reinforcements, no cavalry, nothing.
What in the…
Ah.
Fuck.
“Oh,” Anastasia whispered. Her face looked pained. Tormented. She seemed to have arrived at the same conclusion Levi did. “Oh no…”
“What is it?” Selene asked, confused. She peered into the darkness as well, her nocturnal vision allowing her to see everything perfectly. “There are… people in the cart?”
Levi didn’t answer. He could feel his heart beginning to race.
The wooden cart was the sort of cart that normally carried grain or hay. Here, though, it carried people. Levi made out a dozen or so people sitting inside. He recalled what he knew about Yukihasa.
Refugees. Civilians, adventurers, perhaps even soldier deserters trying to escape the war.
“Come on,” the commander muttered under his breath. He had stepped up to the opened gate. There was a bright red line painted on the rocky earth just a few feet beyond the gates, encircling a rectangular zone twenty feet wide and five feet long. Behind him, soldiers scrambled to get into position, along with a medic team. “Come on, come on, come on!”
“What are you just standing here for?” Levi asked. “Aren’t you going to go out and help?”
“We can’t!” the commander snapped. He gestured at the red line. “That line denotes the separation between Luminarche and Yukihasa territory. If anyone on our side crosses the line, then it’ll mean war. None of us can interfere. We can help all we want once they step over the line and enter Luminarche territory, but…”
Then, they appeared.
The Huntsmen of Yukihasa.
The detection barrier must’ve alerted them about the refugees. Perhaps the lights and flares had also drawn their attention, but Levi doubted it would’ve made much of a difference. From what he knew about the Huntsmen – the elite assassination unit tasked with population suppression and hunting down dissidents, outsiders, rebels, and escapees – they would’ve been able to easily track down the refugees, one way or another.
Three shadowy blurs streaked across the rocky field, faster than falcons. Cries of panic sounded from the wooden cart as the people within realized. A second later, they all abandoned ship, leaping off the cart and hitting the ground sprinting as fast as they could. There were fourteen of them in total, all of different ages. The oldest was in his sixties and the youngest only seven or eight.
Levi made to step forward, his magic thrumming beneath his skin, but Anastasia grabbed his arm.
“We can’t,” she hissed. “It will be war if you do anything. Do you understand? Yukihasa does not take foreign interference lightly. It is a very proud, battle-forged nation. Especially since you’re a noble and I’m a High Priestess. They will declare war on Luminarche if we step in here. Thousands of more lives will be lost if we do anything.”
“So we’re supposed to sit back and do nothing?” Levi snapped. The Huntsmen were getting closer and closer.
“Yes!” Anastasia screamed back, and the sheer raw hopelessness in her voice took Levi aback. She was tearing up. The thought of not doing anything here probably affected her even more than it did him. But she stayed in place, not moving a single inch, even as her entire form trembled. “There’s nothing we can do here, Levi! This is beyond us. The ramifications, the sheer consequences that’d follow if we interfere…”
Suddenly, Levi realized that the commander and the soldiers were all watching him warily. They weren’t just there to prevent external invasions, he realized. They were also there to prevent anyone from crossing the border line and causing a war. If Levi attempted to interfere, he had no doubt the soldiers would attack not the Huntsmen but him instead.
He hesitated. He didn’t know the full story of the geopolitical situation in this world. Was stepping over the line truly that serious? There was no way, right? But… If Anastasia was telling the truth, then could he really risk causing an entire war just to save fourteen people?
Should he?________Chapter 93
The refugees were now close enough that Levi could see their faces. They looked terrified. Desperate. Several of the men in the back had turned around to fire arrows at the Huntsmen – perhaps they were adventurers? – but it did nothing. The Huntsmen were too fast, and in that instant, Levi knew that they wouldn’t make it.
“Almost there!” The commander screamed. Behind him, his men angled the floodlight cannons so that it’d shine directly into the Huntsmen’s eyes, hoping to blind them and slow them down a little. “Come on, just cross the line. You’re almost there, hold strong, keep running damn it!”
The refugees were now only twenty feet away. Fifteen. Ten. They might make it–
A geyser exploded from the earth before them. They yelled in shock, trying to adjust directions to avoid it, but the water suddenly shot outward in both directions to encircle them completely. In less than a second, they were trapped by a gushing stream. One of the men jabbed at it with a sword, and the water lashed out like an angry viper, crushing the sword to bits.
They were completely trapped. Pincered by a raging stream and the Huntsmen behind them. The commander cursed, and the soldiers around them looked resigned and devastated. They knew that it was over.
The refugees cried out in terror, turning around and trying to plead with the Huntsmen.
“Please! Spare us!”
“We’ll do anything!”
“Just let our children go! T-The line’s right there!”
The Huntsmen advanced on them leisurely. Now that they were certain the refugees wouldn’t be able to escape, they seemed to be taking their time with it. They were young, in their early thirties. They wore black masks that covered their lower faces, revealing only cold, emotionless eyes devoid of pity. In that instant, Levi knew that they were consummate professionals. Assassins that wouldn’t be swayed by anything, not emotions or money or favors.
The two children, one of them eight, the other fourteen, were openly crying now. Sobbing into the dirt as they awaited their deaths. The older looked away from the Huntsmen in fear, and coincidentally her stare landed on Levi. Their eyes met, brown locking onto grey.
“Help,” she whimpered. Her voice was weak, so low that Levi only heard it due to the magic enhancing his hearing.
She was only a year or two younger than Ayla.
If Levi acted here, then thousands more might die in the ensuing war. Thousands of people just like the girl in front of him.
He had been in this position before, hadn’t he? Sacrifice the lives of the few for the sake of the many.
But…
The Huntsmen finally reached them. The water circle collapsed, drenching the ground below. The Huntsmen had no need for it anymore. The refugees were all within their range. Now, even if they tried to escape, they’d be instantly cut down. The refugees sensed it too, sagging as they lost their will to fight.
The Huntsmen drew their knives and selected their first targets. They approached them languidly, as though they were on a pleasant evening stroll, not about to execute civilians. One of them stepped over the girl, his shadow falling over her form. She flinched, her eyes dilating in fear, but she had nowhere to escape. Even as she curled tighter into a ball, she didn’t look at the Huntsman behind her. Instead, her gaze was focused solely on Levi.
In just a barely audible whisper, she spoke.
“Please.”
Levi let out a breath.
Ah, fuck it.
Thousands might die as a result of his actions, but…
He already had the blood of a million on his hands. What was a few thousand more?
Levi just knew that the last time he’d made a choice like this, his decision had left him sleepless and suffering for three whole years. He didn’t want to go through that again – especially since this time around, he could actually do something.
So he did.
“Sorry, Anastasia,” he murmured.
Anastasia’s eyes widened. “What are you–”
All her life, Hana only knew pain.
It drenched every aspect of her existence, like toxic sludge that seeped into the pores of a sponge. No matter how many times she tried to squeeze it out, it would always return, dirtier and uglier than before.
Her parents were executed when she was only five years old. She couldn’t remember anything from before that. The old man that acted as a healer in their village told her that it could either be psychological or due to the head injury she suffered from the soldier that struck in her head when she tried to rush to her parents.
Hana had hated that soldier for the longest time. Now, though, she felt only gratitude. She owed that soldier her life. Anyone who interfered with a public execution was to be put to death as well.
Over the following years, she did her best to survive in the slums. Due to her speed and agile stats, she gained a job as a messenger. She tried her best, but it was never enough. Sickness, poverty, violence, starvation… She experienced it all.
So when the opportunity came to escape, she didn’t even hesitate to accept. She didn’t care about how her odds of success were so low, they might as well be zero. She didn’t care that the Huntsmen would show her no mercy if, when, they caught her. She didn’t care that the escape offer came from a shadowy cloaked figure that appeared one day in their village, refusing to show their identity.
Call her foolish. She didn’t care.
She just wanted to be able to wake up without fearing for her life every day. She wanted to smell fresh air, air untainted by the constant stench of refuse and waste and death. She wanted to not fall ill every winter because the water supply would get contaminated. She wanted to not be hungry all the time.
The rest of the escapees agreed with her. They listened to the unknown figure’s instructions, taking the exact route that they outlined and finding the wooden cart and horse they’d left for them.
She didn’t know who they were. A member of the Resistance, some traitor inside the Yukihasan military, a concerned third party… It didn’t matter.
To her, they were her potential savior.
And that was enough.
The escape was long and difficult. The figure had given them a map upon which was marked countless traps and obstacles. Minefields, tripwires, hidden wardschemes… They had navigated the route with meticulous care, terrified that the map would be wrong and they’d end up getting blown up.
Fortunately, they made it through.
Only for the Huntsmen to catch up to them, a scant dozen or so feet away from the border line.
How cruel life was.
Hana thought she’d been prepared to die. Thought that she’d accepted it.
But…
When it came down to it, she didn’t want to die.
She locked eyes with the young man in front of her. Some Luminarchan adventurer. A noble, judging by his appearance.
Hana doubted he’d care about her. Nobles never did, regardless of where they were from. They’d never stand up for slum rats like her.
But even still…
“Help,” she whispered.
As she expected, he didn’t do anything. Behind her, the Huntsman’s shadow fell over her. The cold sensation of death washed over her.
“Please.”
The young man’s fingers twitched.
And the nature around them came alive.
Earthen spikes burst from the ground below the Huntsmen, threatening to skewer them. They reacted immediately, flipping into the air to avoid the attack – only for the very wind around them to come alive in a vortex of blades. Their clothing tore and their masks ripped as they were forced further back to evade the deadly wind.
The refugees glanced around in disbelief, eyes wide at how nature itself seemed to have inexplicably taken their side. Then, they yelped as the wind turned around and struck them – but instead of attacking them, it pushed them forward.
One of the Huntsmen yelled and lashed out with a water whip faster than the speed of sound, aiming to cut all of the refugees in half. Before the refugees even had time to cry out in fear, though, a wall of flames blasted down above and evaporated the water whip entirely.
And then the refugees were sent tumbling over the red line.
Into Luminarche territory.
Immediately, the gate soldiers and medic team swarmed them, standing before them in protection and administering aid. The refugees were all in shock, unable to comprehend what had just happened.
Only the girl seemed to have seen Levi’s fingers twitching as he cast the remote elemental spells. She stared at him for a moment in pure disbelief, her eyes wide.
Then, she smiled, tears welling up.
“Thank you.”
Levi smiled.
Then, he turned back to the Huntsmen. They had neutralized the elemental spells that delayed them and were now approaching the red line, fury in their faces.
“You!” the lead Huntsman shouted. His voice had a heavy, unfamiliar accent. He stopped right before the red line and glared into Levi’s face. “How dare you interfere?”
Levi blinked innocently, looking around before pointing at himself. “Who, me?”
“Yes, you!” Spittle flew from the Huntsman’s face, red with rage. “Don’t try to deny it, we all know you cast those spells!” His two men nodded as they leveled homicidal stares at Levi, their knives glinting menacingly. “Yukihasa will have your head for this!”
“I’m sorry,” Levi smiled placidly. “I’m afraid I have no idea what you’re talking about. I didn’t cast any spells – I was just watching along with the rest of the soldiers here.”
He gestured at the commander and the soldiers. They were all looking at him in horror. To the side, Anastasia had her face in her hands, a resigned air hanging over her, while Selene looked rather amused at the ongoings.
“Horseshit!” the Huntsman snapped. “It was you!”
“Yeah?” Levi grinned, channeling all of his inner Qorbin. “Prove it.”
There was a long moment of silence.
The Huntsman’s face turned from red to purple as he realized that other than his word, he had no actual way of proving Levi had been the one to cast the spells. Levi had used the art of remote casting; instead of shaping his magic within his body and releasing it via his hands, he’d sent his magic outward and shaped it externally. It was exponentially more difficult than normal casting, especially since the ambient mana interfered heavily with mana manipulation outside of the body, but it had the nice effect of making the magic technically untraceable.
Levi had even altered his magic’s wavelength to ensure that the spells couldn’t be matched to his magical signature. An incredibly difficult feat, but one he had taken care to learn years ago.
For reasons…
“You’re really going to play these inane games?” the Huntsman growled. “Do you think you’ll get away with this? Return the escapees, and I may turn a blind eye. If not, then…” A dangerous look entered his dark eyes. “You broke international law first, so I have precedent. I may just come over and take them myself–”
Magic exploded from Levi, suffused with killing intent so thick and oppressive that the very air became miasmic. The three Huntsmen choked as an unbearable pressure slammed down on them, driving them to their knees. Their faces paled as the potent magic practically suffocated them.
“Then do it!” Levi snarled, all pretenses falling away. His grey eyes seemed to glow with a wrathful light as his archmage’s cloak suddenly materialized around him, billowing in a wind that blasted through the clearing. “Come on, take them! What are you waiting for? Cross the line, I fucking dare you!”
The Huntsmen didn’t respond. They were too busy struggling to breathe.
Levi let out a disgusted scoff. “You sicken me.”
He turned around–
Anastasia’s eyes widened as blood splattered to the ground. A silver knife protruded from Levi’s chest, piercing right through his heart. Her hands flew to her mouth.
Selene raised an eyebrow, intrigued.
And Levi…
Levi turned his head around to look behind him. The lead Huntsman had a look of triumph on his face. However, that slowly morphed to terrified horror as instead of collapsing and dying, Levi merely gave him a grin filled with bloodstained teeth.
“Thanks for that.” _____Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Thanks for reading!