As the group headed off into the unknown, what they saw in the distance was nothing but grasslands. It was afternoon by now, the sun almost blinding. The wind seemed to almost caress the tall grass. The view was relieving to look at. It was almost as if the wind swaying the grass carried away the overbearing shadow of the oppression of Ratier… But the looming threat of The Church could not be removed even now. As if it had left a burn on those who experienced it.

They were now somewhere few people had gone in a long time.

Kazius did not believe they were the first to leave the Three Kingdoms, as unlikely as it seemed. The existence of the barrier confirmed something Kazius had been concerned about, erasing any remaining doubts on the subject.

The Orc Tribe had been allowed into Ratier on purpose. Not just by anyone, but someone high up enough in The Church to the point they even knew how to get past it… And then that person had told The Orcs about some sort of antique they were meant to find.

To work with Monsters like that… The hypocrisy and lies never ceased to amaze Kazius.

Still, this brought to question whether the Orcs were a special… Or if there were more Monsters that secretly worked with The Three Kingdoms.

There was no guarantee that anyone would be friendly… Monsters could still be hostile towards them… And if there were any that hated Humans, that would also pose an issue since Alice was one.

Above all, the biggest concern for Kazius was the realization that despite gaining a new freedom… Now that they brought down the barrier and left like this… Combined with the fact The Princess was travelling with them and the Church knew it… There was no doubt that Edicts would really come after them.

From what Kazius knew from his days as a Holy Knight… It was clear that if they ran into Edicts, they would be screwed.

His party was not a weak one, able to take on 20 Holy Knights… But that was nothing compared to what a Knight of Edict could do.

Edicts had a power that was the closest to that of the heroes in modern day. A difficult feat since Humans had gotten much weaker since those days. According to The Church… It was due to the lengthy time of peace…

Whatever the reason was did not matter though.

At the end of the day what mattered was the fact this meant Edicts had the strength to take on multiple Demons and massacre entire armies on their own.

So even if somehow Azanor helped them…

Kazius shook away such thoughts, they had to focus on walking enough to get out of the open. He had no time to worry about such things right now.

It was almost funny. Before, Kazius believed there were too few Edicts. Now? He believed there were too many.

“You sure are making quite the grim face for someone who just got his freedom.” Azanor would speak up, raising a brow in confusion.

The others had been silent until now. Alice had looked almost lost in thought while they walked, just staring at the grass… As for Eve… Well… She was looking at everything and anything, looking genuinely lost.

“I just have a feeling we will never truly be free… They will come after us… And I am sure who they will send will be truly awful. I’ve never met an Edict in person… But… The worse you are, the higher you climb in The Church… And someone so strong and so terrible… They cold toy with us and we would not be able to do anything.” Kazius admitted, grimacing. His red eyes looked almost tired as he made such an expression.

Alice sighed but nodded. At the mention of Edicts though, she grew pale… Almost flinching as well. She shook, clearly remembering something unpleasant.

“I understand how you feel… They always kept an eye on me… It was like I could not breathe without constantly being suffocated. They won’t let me or you go… There is no way they will. They… They are worse than anything you can imagine.” Alice admitted, fear slightly showing on her face as she did her best to not shake. Her violet eyes too looked tired.

Kazius felt like Alice understood him well. She likely knew the worse end of how The Church acted, which was a crazy thought considering sometimes Kazius still had nightmares about his days at The Orphanage. Due to the mark that experience left on them… Kazius wondered if they would ever even feel safe.

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They should be happy now… Yet nothing but dread filled them.

“They won’t win. We will be happy; I am sure of it. There is no need to fall into despair.” Suddenly Eve stated, sounding surprisingly serious, her gaze unwavering. It was shocking to hear her speak properly for once.

While she got so serious, it seemed to really catch Azanor’s attention… But just as quickly as it started, it ended. Her expression growing into a warm goofy smile, a hint of disappointment appearing in Azanor’s eyes.

Alice smiled a bit at Eve’s encouraging words, taking in a big breath.

“I think you’re right.” Alice admitted while in thought.

“I will be honest; it is against all odds… That we are even all somehow alive…” Alice added.

Kazius nodded in agreement. To be honest, he felt like he owed Alice his life. Perhaps he would have gotten away anyway… But when he felt at his lowest and most heartbroken… She had appeared and helped him hide like some miracle. Then soon after, he met Eve and then even Azanor… And now, the loneliness that had plagued him for his whole life evaporated.

Due to this, Kazius felt like despite everything that happened in Ratier, he could not bring himself to hate Humans. He felt too much gratitude towards Alice to do so.

“I think you’re right as well.” Kazius finally agreed, unable to help but smile a bit. Unlike all those times with Alex and in the past though, it was a genuine one. A smile that was not hiding anything.

“You all are just lucky I am a charitable Demon.” Azanor stated proudly.

“The way you speak and act all the time… I will be honest … You make Demons seem trustworthy in comparison to some of the people I’ve met.” Kazius admitted, remembering Azanor’s words on them needing to worry more about Mortals than him.

Surprisingly enough, Azanor frowned at his words. He let out one of his usual scoffs.

“Don’t trust Demons, that would be idiotic.” Azanor warned with a stern look.

“But you always talk about how you don’t lie.” Kazius questioned, feeling very confused.

“Yes, me. I don’t lie. Me, Azanor. Don’t believe a single word out of any other damned Demon’s mouth in the future. Unless I say otherwise.” Azanor stated firmly, pointing at himself repeatedly. He was surprisingly serious.

Then again, perhaps the reason he was making sure to say this was because he doesn’t lie.

Alice yet again said nothing, but her expression as this exchange occurred did show her internal struggle.

“It’s true, he is a good person. All of you are.” Eve admitted contently.

“Alright, alright. I will keep that in mind, I swear…” Kazius assured before growing curious. Honestly, he was curious about a lot of things, like how Alice was alive. Of course, he would not bring it up, there was just no way to ask that without sounding extremely rude. ‘Why are you alive?’ was not a good question to ask someone.

“If all Demons lie, why are you different?” Kazius decided to finally ask.

Azanor was quiet at the question, it really was odd seeing him so serious. He would look at Eve out of the corner of his eye, but quickly looked away.

“Maybe I will tell you one day. Not now though, not for free.” Azanor would answer, his words turning into a slight mumble towards the end.

“Anyway, enough about that!” Azanor exclaimed, grinning again. It seemed like a forced expression, but Kazius decided to not bring it up.

“You need to be careful up ahead… And if I were you, I would head South and figure things out from there… There might still be a settlement there still… My knowledge of everything is outdated… I’ve had limited ability to peak into the Mortal World while sealed away.” Azanor stated, a lot of irritation came out in his voice as he mentioned being sealed. He was grinning, but it was clearly a sore subject for him.

“South? Near the Thimdur border?” Kazius questioned pensively. There was a lot of mountains in Thimdur, even if Thimdur helped Ratier in the search for them… There likely would be no one looking for them near there. It was a good idea for sure.

“Alright, I’ll trust you.” Kazius finally admitted before looking at Alice for confirmation. After all, Eve seemed to never question Azanor… So, there was little reason to ask her.

Alice looked confused and tense, seeming to hurry up ahead to avoid talking about it.

“Let’s go.” She stated simply, turning her direction more towards South as her answer.

Kazius would watch her, confused, but would go after her. She would definitely need sometime. Yes, The Church were liars… But even he knew the story of her family and everything they stood for… To save ‘People’ from being turned into cattle for their souls… Yet she was now traveling with a Demon. She probably felt like she was disappointing every member of her family. It was not hard to guess that much.

What Kazius would not expect was what would happen before the group would catch up to him or before he could even catch up to Alice to talk to her.

Out in the distance, Kazius spotted a tree line that Alice was heading for. It was welcomed cover for them, to get out of plain sight… But before Alice could enter the tree line… Kazius could feel it… In the air… Something was wrong.

“Alice, hold on!” Kazius exclaimed.

It was like the air was heavier, denser, a new pressure. Kazius knew a limited amount of information on Mana, the fuel of magical abilities and spells. This included Holy Magic. He only recently started using his powers, but he had sensed a vague presence in the air since he started to do so… But it did not fully sink into his head that what he was sensing was Mana. Until now it was almost not there… But out here in The Wastelands… The unfamiliar place after this point was full to the brim with it.

The pressure change hit like suddenly heading out in the Summer and leaving the luxury of temperature-controlled rooms that The Church had. That is what it felt like for Kazius at least. In fact, Eve, Azanor, and him all seemed to react and perk up… But they were fine. Yes, the air was heavier thanks to the concentration of Mana, but that was it… It didn’t seem like that big of a deal to him… But to a Human? Such a big change in concentration of Mana… Was overwhelming.

Alice collapsed on her knees before she could even process Kazius’ warning.

“Alice!” Kazius exclaimed in shock, his eyes growing wide in horror.