*Crack* *Rumble*

Thunder and lighting were heard across the sky as Daliyah tried to stand her ground against the stranger in front of her.

*Swoosh*

*Clank! Clank!*

He charged forward and brought down his sword on her. Daliyah held out both of her daggers and was forced to slightly bend her knees because of the blow.

“Ugh”

She grunted as she held the man back with all her strength.

“He’s…strong…”

Daliyah took a quick step back, making the man move with her. In that second, she quickly used all her force to push his sword to the side. As the sword lost contact with her daggers, Daliyah swiftly turned, ready to back-kick the menace before her. The man swiftly moved away and saw a glimpse of a small blade coming out of the back of Daliyah’s shoe. He gave her a small smirk as he touched his cheek which would have at least received a scar had he not avoided the attack.

“Not bad, but will that be enough?”

The man got ready to attack once again.

“The difference in our strength is obvious. I can’t let him have a direct blow or else I will be finished.”

“We are wasting time here. A monster could appear at any moment.”

The man was growing more impatient.

“We? You are the one who attacked us and is refusing to let us go. How about you move aside and play fetch somewhere else?”

Daliyah pointed her dagger at the man. She was now feeling annoyed because he was right, they were wasting time.

“I could care less if you want to go to hell itself if you were taking some random person with you. The one you are running away with is the vessel though, so I can’t just let you by. There is no way you are not smart enough to know this.”

The man raised his voice by the minute. He seemed irritated by the fact he had to explain himself.

“Just why would I trust what you are saying? You say you are working for the crown but why would I believe you?”

“Am I seriously being questioned by the woman who used the monster attack as a diversion to sneak away with the vessel?”

The man glanced over at Agatha who was still sitting on the ground.

“Although seeing that she didn’t even put up a fight to come along, it could mean that this was planned out by you both.”

Daliyah frowned at the man.

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“She has nothing to do with this.”

The man raised his eyebrow.

“Oh really? Young Lady!”

The man called out to Agatha who slowly raised her head. She looked at him as if he was part of the background. In her eyes, he wasn’t even there. Neither of them were.

“Tch, what’s with the look?”

He lowered his sword as he gave the young girl a disappointed look.

“I was wondering if you had planned this with your servant but your eyes and the state you are in tells me something else. You look like nothing more than a broken puppet to me.”

“How dare you?!”

Daliyah shouted at the man as she felt her anger starting to boil from within.

“Am I wrong? Look at her. Those are the eyes of someone who does not know the meaning of being alive.”

The rain started to subside a bit. Gentle raindrops fell around them. Agatha stared at the man silently. She then opened her mouth and spoke just loud enough for him to hear her.

“You’re angry…Why?”

“What?”

“Why are you angry at me? Why does it matter whether I’m a puppet or not? Am I supposed to be anything else?”

The man said nothing at this. He hadn’t expected Agatha to say anything. The young girl placed her hand against a tree trunk and used it as support to stand. She felt her legs tremble as she slowly stood. She felt some pain in her knees. She might have hurt herself when she fell. She didn’t want to bother with that at the moment though.

“Tell me, sir, you’re part of the Sapphire Warriors aren’t you?”

The man’s eyes twitched a bit. He was taken aback by the young girl’s remark.

“The Sapphire Warriors?”

Daliyah was also surprised at Agatha’s words. More importantly, she was surprised that Agatha had brought herself back together so quickly. It usually took way longer for her to speak clearly after entering a “phase.”

“What makes you say that?”

The man raised his sword, but this time, he pointed at Agatha.

“Your sword seems to be made of special material. You can control just how much spiritual energy comes out of it. Since you were fighting Daliyah, you did your best to hold back as much spiritual energy as possible to not hurt her too badly.”

“This jerk was holding back? It’s good to know but a bit offensive.”

Daliyah gave the man a side-eye which he felt but ignored.

“Are you able to see spiritual energy?”

The man sounded more intrigued than shocked now. Agatha seemed more knowledgeable than he expected.

“Yes, although I am just a vessel, I possess some of the abilities the White Lotus Priestess possessed. One of them, of course, is being able to see spiritual energy.”

“Hmp. I see.”

“I also thought about it for a bit, but seeing how strong you are, you could have brought me back to the carriage if you had wanted to. Despite you saying time was being wasted, your real goal was not to bring me back but to buy time. You were wasting time for Daliyah but buying it for yourself.”

The man stood there in silence.

“Based on the fact you are not responding, I will take that as a ‘Yes, you are right.’”

Agatha looked at Daliyah for a few moments and then looked back at the man.

“May I make another guess sir?”

“Which is?”

“We are waiting for someone, aren’t we? The real person who will take me to the capital. This was all a setup was it not?”

“A setup?”

Daliyah thought about it for a moment. Looking back at it, Agatha’s words made sense. The fact that the trip was being done 3 months prior, the monsters attacking, and now a Sapphire Warrior in front of them…

Suddenly, Daliyah moved closer to Agatha and herself between the young girl and the tree she was using as support. She held her daggers in front of her as she saw two more figures approaching. One of them clapping

*Clap, clap, clap*

“Well, well, well. It seems like you guys were having a party without us.”

Myer approached them with a big smile on his bloody and muddy face.

“Nerian, you seem to be out of breath. Did you encounter a difficulty?”

Myer chuckled as he looked at Daliyah who kept her guard up.

“Stop playing around Myer.”

The strange man who answered to the name “Nerian” snapped back at Myer.

“No one told me the servant girl would be able to put up a fight.”

Nerian glared at Daliyah who gave him the same look back.

“Hey, although I want to think I know everything I truly don’t. It was quite the shock for all of us for the sudden disappearance of the vessel and her servant.”

Myer approached Daliyah and Agatha. He stood a few feet away from them and smiled.

“So, mind explaining to me why you were running away with the vessel…servant girl?”

Though Myer was smiling, his eyes and tone of voice turned cold. He wanted an explanation and a good one at that, which Daliyah knew she didn’t have. At least not for them. Not for the Sapphire Warriors…the strongest and most loyal warriors who served the crown.

Daliyah gulped as she tried to figure out what to do.

“There is no need to be so tense ladies. You have nothing to worry about. I don’t bite. I can only say that about myself though, not the one behind you.”

Daliyah and Agatha both turned to see a tall dark figure standing right behind the tree trunk. Agatha saw as strong, hazel eyes looked down at her through the holes in his mask.

“The masked soldier…”