A large city grew on the horizon the next morning, forcing their party to take a detour and avoid being seen. Luckily for them, the town stood at the edge of the forest. A wide river split the town apart. Some galleys drifted into the town.
“We need to make a stop and get some money.” Galen perked up as soon as they hid in the forest. “We are running low on supplies. Maybe you two don’t need it, but me and Adira are struggling.”
“I can capture you some food.” The arachne ushered him forward. Salgos looked at the man with an expectant gaze.
“We will confirm the location of the island while we are there. Odesol is a large city, it has people dedicated to tracking its location.” The man met the eyes of the Demigod of Darkness. He had nothing to hide.
“You shall not stall. The Gods feel my approach and they will rush this island away from us. The more time we lose, the further is our goal.”
“It will be a day or so.” Galen estimated in his mind. There is usually a bunch of work in these cities for hunters coming from Verdania. The free cities did not have hunters to monitor the monster activity, but the citizens themselves were bringing requests for monster elimination to the guards. The city guard was happy to sell the request to other adventurous souls and not risk their own skin.
“I will keep watch on you.” Skreetha morphed into a human again. The archer did not mind her addition to their team. With all the details settled, they went towards Odesol. This was the last big town before the desert. The trade came down the river from kingdoms far away to the East. This city was their last opportunity to learn about the Island's location and buy supplies. Galen led them towards the public guard house without wasting time shopping.
“Oh, we are in need of high-level hunters!” The guardkeeper met them with joy. A young man is probably still in training. He brought several papers with recent requests. Hunters traveling from Verdania were fairly common. They had all the necessary information at the ready in a far more structured way than Verdanians themselves.
“Here!” He took out a paper. “Infestation. About five Theseras were seen in the village to the West. Local guards forced them away down to their nest, but they were not strong enough to actually clear it. If you are looking for quick money, this one was paid in advance, so the payment is upon completion.”
“Alright,” Galen read through the paper, checking the location and the reward. Then he asked for another paper and scrambled his request there. “Can you acquire these supplies for us? Mostly food and potions.”
“That’s a long trip you're planning.” The keeper read through the list. “Not exactly our profile, but if you are paying well, I can have my sister get everything ready before tomorrow morning. Mind telling me where you plan to go?”
“Most likely across the Ashen plains.” Galen answered and got the guardkeeper to look at him doubtfully for a moment. Then the man shrugged and nodded.
“Alright then, I wish you luck on your quest. Everything is going to be ready by tomorrow.”
“You go on your hunt.” As soon as Galen and Adira walked outside Skreetha spoke. The arachne was not there to watch them. She liked her lips, watching the sun approach the horizon. “I will go on mine.”
The monster in human disguise quickly disappeared in the narrow streets. The man led the young huntress outside of the city without trying to stop the arachne. They left as fast as they entered, not even spending an hour within walls.
“Do you think we can just leave?” Not having any watchman, a sudden idea came up to Adira. She looked at the tree line in the distance where the Demigod of Darkness waited. Nothing stopped them from going away now.
“You can if you want. Although, your skills would be crucial to fighting this Demigod. Your class title should be worth something.” Galen answered in a simple teaching tone he used when he guided the girl. The man checked the directions for their quest and picked the road. “I will stay. We should stop him from rebuilding his Dark Forces. Now that we have help from the arachne, we might be able to accomplish something.”
“Why didn’t you notify the guards? We could have surrounded him and killed him with the others?” Adira kept thinking about other ways of dealing with Salgos. Galen only laughed it off.
“Others? Mind telling me whom do you mean? There are not many people as strong as me here. Local guards would simply die. Fighting Demigods is a suicidal affair. We would have to wait months for strong hunters to arrive. You know we don’t have that much time.”
“We still should let them know.” They had a rare opportunity to get help. Adira could not understand why Galen was so eager to leave things as they were.
“You must understand, a high-level exile like me traveling with a Demigod of Darkness is not a good image. On both of us. Not to mention we also have a level 100 arachne with us. Guess who would be killed first?” The archer explained. “Instead, we make you stronger and fight him when his guard is down.”
Adira’s shoulders sank down. She understood all the reasons why the old hero would not search for help. Still, she could not shrug away the feeling that it was the wrong choice.
They reached a hill section they needed to clean. It was still bright enough for a fight, and the monsters were not particularly strong. Theseras were massive and deceitful, having slim long bodies and several scythe-like arms. Their skeletal structure allowed them to bend in unpredictable directions and attack from all sides. They were dangerous to deal with in close combat, so Galen allowed Adira to go all out on them.
She charged with her “Sky Crusher” and “Odium Steps” combo, slicing two of the monsters before they realized they were under attack. Stopping on the other side of their nest the girl quickly drank three mana potions. The largest one jumped at her, and her glaive durability was tested in under the hurricane of attacks. She slashed through the chitin where the head connected to the long body of the fourth Thesera that tried to sneakily bite at her. It reeled on the ground in pain.
Adira was not a stupid girl from before. She learned to fight on openings and use the monster’s reach against them. The girl felt how each level contributed to her precision and reaction. What seemed impossible before now was easy to do. Still, the Theseras were 15 levels above her and if gathered they would kill her in a matter of seconds. That’s why she saved mana to use her abilities if she felt danger, and not wasted it for nothing.
Another Thesera joined the attack on the huntress. She began to struggle under the chaotic attacks.
The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
“Alright, get out of there.” The girl heard the shout from the hunter who hid somewhere in the tree line ready to aid her. The call was given much later than usual. Adira knew it was not because she performed poorly. Galen was ready to assist her and wanted her to pull back and free his hands.
It was the first time they both fought as a team. The huntress used some mana to run to the other side of the nest, away from the valley of arrows that rained on her position. The pits of shadows trapped each monster individually. Even firing the rain of arrows, the archer managed to leave every creature alive for Adira to finish. The girl strolled through the weakened Theseras, sowing death.
Godslayer level 40 leveled up to Godslayer level 41.
“I see someone powerful already dealt with the threat.” A man appeared from the tree line just when the girl finished the last creature. The Verdanian royal hunter's armor stretched across his bulky body, making the long sword strapped to his belt look insignificant. He eyed the insignias on the girl’s armor, recognizing she was one of them.
“And beat us to it.” Another man walked out of the obscurity of the surrounding forest. He moved nimbly, seemingly flowing through the air like a leaf on the wind. They exchanged glances but kept their weapons in the sheath. The first man shrugged in disappointment.
“Here I thought if we act quickly, we can get to the monsters before anyone else.”
“Hey. I don’t want any trouble. Me and my partner just needed some quick cash.” The girl anxiously explained.
The duo appeared to be friendly, but Adira felt the air around them was dangerous. The two hunters were on guard even if they did not show it. Even if their weapons stayed in sheathes, they could be mages ready to cast their magic. The young huntress was on alert preparing to activate “Odium Steps” at the first signs of danger. The second guy seemed to catch her worries. He raised his hands and smiled.
“No trouble at all. We needed to check something. Not to steal your glory. I am Johan.”
“Yeah, you did a great job here! I am Dim. We came from Verdania on the king's orders. You seem Verdanian. Have you noticed a powerful monster that had been coming this way from the Kingdom?” The bulky man who introduced himself as Dim eyed Adira with suspicion. It was clear she had no reason to be here as a royal hunter.
The girl felt a nervous sweat crippled across her back. A powerful monster that came from the Kingdom this way. There can be only one. Such a coincidence that she was here as well without any orders given to her. That’s why the two hunters eyed her with suspicion. They did not believe in coincidences.
“No, I haven’t.” Adira felt the tension grow when she spoke.
“A shame. It was supposed to pass Odesol but we didn’t find anything. You seemed like you just came to the town yourself. Did you notice anything during your travels?”
“It is supposed to be a humanoid monster with an oppressive aura around him. We had not confirmed anything beyond that.” The man named Johan joined the conversation with a gentle smile as if to help the girl remember. Adira realized she had little reason to hide the information from the hunters. She needed to pass the warning to the Kingdom.
“Actually, I know what-”
“Never imagined running into royal hunters here.” The girl was interrupted by Galen getting out of his archery spot. He ducked under a branch moving into view. His eyes locked on the two royal hunters. They both stiffened. Recognition ran on their faces as they reached for their swords. Dim raised his arm as if trying to stop the archer.
“Galen, let’s not do anything crazy and be on our w-” An arrow shot through his head, cutting his sentence off. The already lifeless body flung back. The old hunter pulled another arrow. Adira shouted in shock.
“What are you doing?” Her words did not reach Galen.
Johan swore and ducked to the side with his unnatural dexterity. Despite his murky image and distorted movements, an arrow hit him on the breastplate. The metal bent noticeably. The impact threw the man on his back. Johan flowed around as if he was as comfortable on his arms as on his legs. He rolled to the side, avoiding the next shot, and straightened up. All before Adira finished realizing he was of the rogue class from his movements. His agility did not save him from the shadow pillar appearing from beneath and dropping him on the ground. The shadow archer used that small window and shot the arrow at Johan’s head.
Before reaching the ground, the royal hunter threw his hand up. A massive wooden trunk shot from the ground. It was a large wooden spear, and it was aimed at Galen. The magic was so massive that the arrow got swallowed by it not reaching its target. The pillar of wood streamed forward, and its spearhead hammered into the archer sending him into the sky. He flew up and disappeared among the tree crowns.
Johan gathered himself up. The battle was swift but as intense as if he ran a marathon in a few seconds. The royal hunter hesitantly looked in the direction where Galen disappeared. His spell threw him away from sight and promised no soft landing.
Something shined in the sun among the tree crowns. Before the man realized an arrow crushed into his chest, cracking his breastplate in three pieces, and nailing him to the ground. Adira watched as he grunted in pain squirming on the floor and struggled clutching at the arrow in feeble attempts to get up.
He struggled in vain. The shadow archer soon returned. He stepped slowly and confidently, knowing that his opponent would not have any means of escaping. A shallow string of blood ran from his fore lobe to his cheek, but otherwise, he looked unbothered. The old hunter looked at the girl calmly.
“Finish him, Adira. He is a pretty high level.” The young huntress stumbled back at this cold-blooded order. She never killed other people and never wanted to.
“No! Are you insane?!” Adira looked at him in shock.
“They killed my family. They are worse than monsters. Kill him.” The man stared at the girl with the cold rage boiling on his face. His gaze showed no room for the girl to disagree.
“No. I won't.” Adira shook her head in horrified defiance. Seeing Galen was distracted by the girl, Johan pushed himself off the ground. He pulled his body through the arrow, relying on his vitality stat to live with such a wound. He charged toward the hunter in a desperate attempt to fight for his life. His foot stumbled onto a small shadow stump, and he rolled his face forward. Before the man even fell to the ground he was shot down.
“These two killed your family?” The girl watched how Galen coldly dealt with two royal hunters. At his twisted sadistic expression and the fire of satisfaction in his eyes. At that moment he was not the man Adira knew. She doubted any amount of pain would justify his actions. At least his revenge was served, the young huntress could respect that.
“Maybe not exactly these two, but yes, I believe they were involved.” For a moment she did not believe his words were real. He acted on a sole belief and denied these people a chance to talk. Her body felt slumber, as if in a dream. She stood with a shocked expression and could not focus her eyes on the archer. Her mind tried to ask some questions, to make sure she heard him right, but her mouth just twitched in the air. Everything was clear. The man was a brutal killer. Such actions were inexcusable, and Adira failed to connect them to the person in front of her.
“Let’s go back.” Galen finished collecting his arrows. The sour expression on the girl’s face disappointed him. It pained the archer to see Adira did not understand his motives, but he could not do anything about it. A rift struck between the two, but at least she was not opposing him.
They went back to the town. The girl was silent the whole way after the merciless display. When they returned to the city it was long past the sundown. Adira did not go to the inn, instead she wandered the streets until she felt her mind cleared. Only then did she return for some sleep. In the morning she let Galen deal with the requests and stayed in her room.
They walked together towards the gates, where the arachne met them. The man explained that they were going through the Ashen Plains next, as he expected, and showed the note with coordinates of the island provided by the scholars of the town. Skreetha grinned pleasantly letting everyone know her hunt for people was successful. Adira suddenly realized the old hero of Verdania did not care what the monster was doing. They dealt with the monsters outside, but he let another horror slip inside.
The man did not care about others' lives. She was traveling with two cold-blooded murderers. Their leader was the Lord of Darkness himself. This realization made the girl feel she was responsible for stopping the two. Why did she let them do everything they pleased? Adira was alone with her guilt. She wanted to cry for help, but nobody would hear her. Instead, she crept after the company of monsters she was part of.