Location: ???

It should have been an easy mission for those five men. Few in Hakvill knew it, but they were a group of well-trained thieves who had spent years studying the trails taken by carts full of goods in the woods. Their plan was always to ambush the carts, steal money, food, and other valuables, and then dispose of the bodies of those who transported the goods to the small town.

This time, like the others, was supposed to be straightforward for them. They knew these forests like the back of their hands. However, they never imagined what would happen next.

They had spotted a large carriage, an unusual sight in those parts, and the five thieves debated whether to attack it or not. The materials from which the carriage was made were of such high value that the opportunity was too tempting to pass up. They waited until the carriage entered the darkest, densest, and most unpaved part of the forest before initiating their plan.

When the moment arrived, they slowly surrounded the carriage, moving almost in sync with it as it slowed due to the narrow and uneven road. Everything was ready, but then something unforeseen and unusual happened: the ground beneath them turned cold and white, and in a fraction of a second, huge ice stalactites erupted from the ground, skewering the thieves and dismembering some of them. All but the leader died instantly.

The leader, though alive, couldn't escape without serious injuries. Both his legs were lost, and a stalactite had brutally pierced his chest. He wanted to scream, but his own blood was slowly suffocating him, and all that came out were disturbing grunts of pain and a few drops of blood.

It took him a few seconds to realize that everything that had just happened was the result of magic. Judging from what he had seen, he thought that the wizard who cast the spell was incredibly talented.

As death loomed near, there was nothing he could do with his badly damaged body. It was over for him, but despite everything, his survival instinct kept him alive. With adrenaline coursing through his veins, he began to crawl slowly, hoping that the monster inside the carriage would not sense his presence.

" I...need to live..."

made a few meters with extreme difficulty, but the more time passed, the more hope grew in his head that he could be saved. He believed that the one who had attacked him had not seen him, but all his hope was shattered the moment he heard the creaking of the wagon door.

"N-No...No..."

With a look full of terror, he slowly turned around, with the knowledge that behind him, only death awaited him; In front of him he saw a young man with a long silvery-white hair, with his skin was paler than normal; his eyes were blue, with a strange shade that made the color almost "off"; his face was thin but with well-marked features; he was wearing all black clothing, with iron protection on his shoulders, forearms, and shins.

The man, getting out of the carriage, looked around with disgust, then looked at the dying man and spat on him.

"I didn't think anyone could survive my attack… you must be lucky, you scum."

The leader of the group, now with his fate sealed, looked straight into his reaper's eyes; he, a reckless man in life, felt helpless in front of all that pressure crushing him.

He knew that the man in front of him, looking at him as if he were garbage, was now ready to snatch his life, and for that very reason that the dying man could not take his eyes off him. But as he looked at the man's face, he noticed strange features, features he was not used to seeing, especially in a small, dirty town like Hakvill. .

Therefore, in his last moments, a strange sense of confusion enveloped his mind.

" Huh?!…W-Why the hell a---URGH"

The man who got out of the carriage didn't want to hear anything else, and without wasting any further time, he released a long, cold and sharp ice spear from his palm, piercing the poor thief's skull without any hesitations and killing him istantly, with many drops of blood splashing here and there.

" Tsk! I was tired of hearing that bastard talk" said the mysterious man, wiping some blood stains off his body – "Urgh… disgusting!"

Meanwhile, a strange owl made entirely of water descended from the skies and landed on the man's shoulders;

"Oh, it took you a long time, my Owl" – the man said with a slight smile, while the owl began to become pure mana energy and join his master - "Show me what you saw in your reconnaissance…"

Suddenly, in his mind, a stream of memories belonging to that magic owl began to flow like a raging river: in those memories, he could see Hakvill from above, but he did not seem particularly interested in what he was seeing; he continued to observe in silence, until, however, he saw a scene, which immediately caught his attention: in fact, he saw the little quarrel that Erwin had against that mysterious girl; he was not so much interested in Erwin, whom he thought was "human scum," as in that well-covered person; he watched the figure for several moments, until, however, a glimpse of her face was finally visible. At the same time, a sinister smile slowly appeared on the man's face as he looked at the owl's memories.

"Elaine! I found you, finally!" Exclaimed the man, with the smile getting more and more bigger and disturbing, making him look almost more like a demon than a human being.

The man's happiness had a reason: for weeks, the man, under the command of his king, had been wandering without a destination, searching for the girl named Elaine; it was not an easy mission, since Elaine, despite her young age, had turned out to be much smarter than he had expected, always managing to slip out from under his nose, embarrassing him in front of his colleagues and in front of the king.

But finally, after the constant humiliation he had suffered over the past few weeks, the girl named Elaine had made a small but fatal mistake, and Rudolf, who was literally fixated on catching her, would not let a more unique than rare opportunity pass him by.

Initially, the exhilaration he felt was such that for a moment, he thought better of quickening his pace and catching Elaine instantly; but mindful of his failures, he knew that doing such a thing could only backfire. Therefore, after taking a series of deep breaths to calm himself, he decided to take it easy so that he would not fall into the same old mistakes.

"Heh...Heheh...I'm coming, you damn bitch!"

*****

Elaine's POV

It had now gotten dark in the town called Hakvill; fortunately, I had managed to find an old abandoned hut outside the village, away from prying eyes, away from any danger, and for the first time in months, I had a roof where I could sleep...

But in truth, I did not sleep that night; no, I couldn't afford to sleep, as I didn't know what might happen to me. I was tired, sure, but if that bastard came while I was sleeping… well, that was the end for me.

I crouched in the corner of that old hut, and covered my head with the hood of the dirty and filthy dress I wore, and stood silently watching the door with the anxiety that had now become a part of me.

It was the first time, after several weeks on the run, that I could enjoy some silence around me, and it was the first time that I could sit down and reflect on what had happened in these months of hell and how my life had been completely turned upside down: I used to living in immense castles and leading a very comfortable life, without any kind of worry and without having to think that something might go wrong one day.

Now, however, i was reduced to living in misery, and i was reduced to running away like a stupid thief. But that was not what hurt me; no, what hurt me more was the fact that I had lost literally everything, from my wealth down to my friends and parents. What hurt me was my weakness, which didn't allow me to rescue my parents, and this, I am sure, will haunt me for life.

The heartbreaking memory of my mother as she was brutally murdered by those vile traitors was still fresh within me; no matter how much she begged to stop, those bastards not only enjoyed it, but they also dared to rape the dead body of my mother with their dirty hands.

And my father… I began to think about my father, and at that moment, bitter tears began to roll down my face several times; my father was one of the responsible for the "end" of our family and the death of numerous people, and yet, i wasn't angry with him, because my father followed his ideals to the end, without the intention of hurting anyone... No, the only one i should blame were those vile traitors, and I would have done anything to get rid of those bastards with my own hands, even sell my soul to the devil, if needed.

But then, for some reason my thoughts went towards that boy I met that afternoon; after weeks of running away and alone, he had been the first person to sincerely want to help me, yet I attacked him for no reason... well, in fact, his behavior had been strange, since for a moment I thought he was ready to attack me.

However, it was best not to involve other people in my problems, since even being near me was potentially deadly.

Throughout the night, I kept thinking and thinking about what a hell my life had become and about my future plans, until, however, because of the small sense of security I felt at that moment, my body began to relax more than it should, my eyes became "dry," and my eyelids gradually became heavier and heavier, until, before I could even realize it, I slowly closed my eyes.

I don't know for how many minutes, or hours I fell asleep, but the only thing that was certain was that, in the middle of the night, my senses were brutally reactivated, causing me to leap into the air, even though I was incredibly tired and sleepy.

At first I was confused, not understanding why my "body" reacted that way; but then, I sensed an energy nearby, a very familiar energy that I could never forget; at that moment, My breathing began to become labored, and that false feeling of calm that I briefly felt, crumbled like a sand castle.

In a hurry, I forcefully open the door of that dump, and with my last remaining energy, I desperately began to run barefoot along the beach, with the cold sand that made my movements awkward and slow ...

"R-Rudolf… Rudolf is here!"

I said with bated breath, hastily searching with my eyes for a way out of that city that, at that moment, could become my grave. But as I began to head into the woods, to my enormous surprise and horror, I sensed Rudolf's energy in front of me.

"H-How is this possible?" - I thought, braking abruptly and falling to the ground, further injuring my ankle. At that moment, I knew it was impossible for me to escape from Rudolf in that condition, and at first, fear got the better of me. But then, I thought about the oath I swore, and I knew that I could not give up like that, even if it meant dying.

With my ankle completely purple, I got up laboriously from the ground; I sensed Rudolf approaching me with slow steps, and my heart was pounding wildly; for a moment, in my head I thought of running away. But then, on second thought, I had a score to settle with that bastard, a score that I wanted to settle as quickly as possible. Despite my fear and pain, I decided to face my fate, waiting for that vile traitor to come out of the darkness of that forest.

But when what I thought to be Rudolf came out into the light, with the moonlight illuminating his figure, an expression of surprise, confusion, but most of all anger slowly appeared on my face, since at that moment, I knew I had been royally screwed.

"...D-Damn it!"

*Elaine's POV ends*

-----

*Rudolf's POV*

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*A few moments before…*

After a few hours of travel, I finally arrived in front of the walls of that dirty village called Hakvill; this time, compared to the other times, I had taken it easy in the chase with Elaine: I wanted her to rest, I wanted a situation of apparent calm to be created in her small and stupid mind, so I could catch her off guard.

Many times, due to my haste, she had managed to sneak up on me from under my nose, causing discontent among our ranks that grew from time to time; This time I couldn't make a mistake, otherwise the consequences would have been catastrophic for me. This time, I had to remind myself that I was the hunter, and as such, I had to make patience my main weapon, so that I could finish this mission which, frankly speaking, was starting to get on my nerves.

I quickly climbed a long tree, starting to observe that seaside village carefully; although this village was among the poorest in the kingdom, there were still guards present, who fortunately were sleeping like babies; sure, even if they had been wizards, they wouldn't have caused me huge problems, but there was a risk that things wouldn't have gone smooth as I hoped.

Continuing to observe the area, I realized that the more time I spent here, the more my hatred for this place and for this kingdom grew: I hated that annoying and pungent fishy smell that invaded the surrounding atmosphere; I hated that fine sand that continued to rise with every step I took, infiltrating the spaces in my clothing; and above all, I hated those damned Earthlings... I hated them, with all my heart: even today, I couldn't understand how it was possible that an inferior race like theirs could have such power. But soon, things would change, I was firmly convinced of it.

" Tsk…. Let's find this stupid girl..."

I closed my eyes, and began to scan the village with my power, looking for that damned girl; besides the mana of the awakened, I did not sense any other type of mana attributable to the girl.

" Tsk… he's probably hiding with those damn "Mana-Break rings" I said in an annoyed tone of voice; those rings were really annoying, and with one of those objects on, it was almost impossible to find a person.

For a moment, I even thought that she might have already run away, or that she had asked someone for help, but I discarded this possibility, since, being an intelligent girl, she would never have moved at nightfall; she was also tired, and that gave me reason to believe that the damn girl was there.

"Let's try to flush out the prey..."

I climbed down from the tree, finding a stick large enough with which I could draw on the ground; I created a large alchemical circle, and after completing it, I released some of my mana onto my hand, and then placed my hand on the ground;

After a few seconds, here is the masterpiece: the ground suddenly lit up, starting to emanate a strange cold wind from the ground, and immediately after, from the hard and sandy ground, 5 ice Golems began to emerge, ready to carry out any of my commands. .

Despite this however, I noticed that the golems were slightly different from usual: the energy they emanated was slightly lower than usual, while I noticed that their dimensions were also slightly smaller;

" Probably, because of the poor soil, the golems were born weaker... never mind" – I said in a low voice, shaking my head slightly – "Just do your job... Go! Surround the area without being seen! And if you see Elaine, stop her by all means!"

As soon as I gave the command, the 5 golems took off immediately, without wasting any further time: this is why I loved the golems more than my companions, since they did everything I wanted without questioning my order in any way.

At that point, the only thing to do was to track down Elaine without being seen by those filthy Earthlings that could ruin the mission: if by chance they discovered our identities, there was a real risk of ruining the dream of my "father", and this would have weighed heavily on me.

I wore my magical cloak, which allowed me to be invisible to anyone by hiding my steps and my energy, and immediately after, I began to move quickly and carefully, overcoming those useless guards and entering Hakvill: from above , I hadn't noticed any suspicious places, but I was sure that walking through the streets of the village, I would notice something.

I walked among all those damned people, carefully looking at every area that seemed suspicious to me: a few minutes passed, but still no trace of her; in my mind, I began to consider that the girl might actually have asked for help from some Earthlings in these lands. In this case, it would have been a big problem, because if she had revealed her identity, maybe I would have had to kill every inhabitant of this shitty place.

And this was something to avoid, since I didn't know if there were any emergency spells*, and I didn't even know if this place was actually free of wizards.

" Ehehe… Damn!" I said softly as I continued my exploration. But while I was walking regardless of the fact that someone might discover me, something unusual happened, something that immediately put me in a state of alert; Across the street, in front of what looked like an inn, a middle-aged man looked in my direction with cold eyes.

[Damn… did I get caught?!] I thought, completely taken aback; I was so close to Elaine, I couldn't be discovered just now!

[What should I do now, kill him?]

If he really had discovered me, then that was the only thing I could do before the bastard could raise an alarm. But after a few moments, the man looked away, and after taking a cigarette out of his pocket, he began to smoke, and then went back into the inn.

At that moment, it was as if a strange feeling of relief pervaded my body; the sensation was strange, as it was as if my entire body felt fear in front of that old man's sharp gaze.

"Maybe..I'm too nervous because of the mission." I hissed, categorically dismissing the fact that I could be afraid of a human.

That incident, however, made me change my mind: it was too dangerous to walk among people, with the risk that someone might notice me: I had to speed things up and close the matter quickly.

Just as I was ready to commit seriously, something incredible happened: one of the 5 golems I created was destroyed, and with it, I felt a very familiar energy; a smile of happiness with a slight sadistic note began to appear on my face, as I finally knew where my target was.

Not caring about the people around me, I sprinted as hard as I could, towards the energy source I had perceived shortly before.

" Elaine…I'm coming!"

*End Rudolf's POV*

-------

Erwin's POV.

" H-Hey…"

Finally, after wandering around Hakvill, I finally returned home.

Ron was outside the inn, probably for his usual "break", which consisted of smoking at least two cigarettes, before returning and starting work again.

" S-So… there are a lot of people, huh?" I said with a shaky tone of voice, carefully approaching Ron who however, completely ignored me.

[I should be the one offended, you idiot!] I thought slightly annoyed, trying not to blurt out like I did before: who knows what was going through my head to respond in that way to a grumpy man with a tendency to beat up people...

" R-Ron… maybe we should talk about what happened, don't you think?" I said to Ron again, this time taking me a few steps away and ready to run in case he tried to hit me.

" ...Damn." - was the first thing Ron said, and he started taking off his apron, leaving me somewhat perplexed. - "Erwin, take care of the customers, and don't leave the inn for any reason whatsoever, understood?"

How strange… I had the impression that Ron was a little strange when he didn't hit me ike he used to do when I overdid it; now I had confirmation of this, given that he had never left the inn in the middle of the evening, moreover leaving me the task of checking the inn. And those final words…

" Ron, can you tell me what's going on... Huh?! he already disappeared?" I said in shock, not realizing that, the moment I looked away from that old man, he disappeared at a frightening speed, without making the slightest noise. What was happening?

" ...Oh well, better think about it later. Let's take care of the inn" I said, huffing, entering the room...

Then, as I entered and smelled the food, I thought of that girl, seen in the late afternoon: although she had been quite grumpy, it was certain that, given her condition, the girl was now dying of hunger. I don't know why, but I saw in that girl's eyes some type of desperation, and I felt the need to lend her a hand, as much as possible.

"Tsk... maybe I should look for her later and give her some food..."

*End of Erwin's POV*

******

" Damn…Damn!"

Elaine, at first, was bewildered before what she saw: in fact, that faint energy she felt did not come from Rudolf, but rather from an Ice Golem; Elaine then realized that she had unintentionally made a first mistake, since, at that moment, she had exposed herself to Rudolf, since the Golem was connected to Rudolf. Of course, she had a ring with her that concealed her mana, but at that moment that precious object had become useless.

"...Damn it."

The girl took a step back, but the moment the Golem saw Elaine move away, the latter turned one of its limbs into a harpoon, hurling itself with surprise at the girl and thus piercing Elaine's belly, who was invested with a pain she had never felt in her life.

"Aaargh!"

The girl let out a piercing scream, which sharply ripped through the silence that hovered in the woods. The pain was immense, terrible, but not lethal, since Rudolf wanted and needed to capture the girl still alive.

Elaine was on the verge of fainting, but the anger for the foolishness she had just accomplished made it possible for her to recover from that violent and swift attack. The girl thus removed the ring from her finger, and in the next instant, created two daggers of ice through her magic, and with inhuman effort decapitated with an extremely swift movement the Golem, who was destroyed as a result.

The girl, after destroying the Golem, fell to the ground, with a large amount of blood gushing from her belly; gritting her teeth, the girl wrapped her hand in a strange icy mist, and then went to put her hand on the hole in her belly. The pain she felt at that moment was perhaps worse than the pain she felt when she was pierced, but Elaine did not scream, her eyes, however, becoming increasingly lucid.

The cold mist, in contact with the wound, began to "freeze" the muscles and the blood, thus going on to "cauterize" the wound, although it was a very rudimentary maneuver.

The girl knew she had no time to waste, and so, with effort, she got up from the ground trying to go deeper into the woods. But before she could even take a step, her worst nightmare appeared in front of her, thus ending her dreams of escape.

" N-No..." the girl hissed, taken completely by surprise by the sudden appearance of Rudolf, who appeared almost out of nowhere.

" Oh yes…" said Rudolf, who created gigantic and impressive handcuffs from his hands.

" S-Stay back..." said the girl, creating two ice daggers again; she knew that she had not the slightest chance of defeating Rudolf, partly because of her severe injury; for the girl, it was impossible to even think of hurting Rudolf, but the anger she felt toward the latter was big, too much perhaps, and although it was obvious that she would certainly lose in a direct confrontation with Rudolf, her ego would not allow her to give up, not after what the man in front of Elaine did to her family.

" Calm down… it's all over now." said Rudolf, who approached calmly the girl, while the other 4 Golems were also grouped around them.

" ...Uarrrgh!"

The girl, without esitation, desperately throwing herself at Rudolf, who dodged every blow as if it were nothing, since Elaine's attacks were wide, slow and without any strength, all made worse by the fact that she had a hole in the belly.

" I told you...to stay calm, you stupid girl!"

Rudolf, who was trying not to lose his temper, kicked Elaine on the abdomen with a violent kick, worsening the wound on her belly, thus reopening the injury.

The girl certainly couldn't bear that blow, falling almost lifeless, losing consciousness for a moment due to that infernal pain.

"It's over now, we're going home..." - said the man, while he immobilized the girl by putting the icy handcuffs on her wrist: these handcuffs were special, given that they had small ice thorns inside, which stuck forcefully into her wrists.

The girl however did not feel any kind of pain at that moment, since she was not entirely lucid;

Rudolf, looking at the wound, realized that perhaps it was better to perform first aid, trying to avoid unnecessary infections. He placed his hand on his belly, and after a few moments, a strange layer of ice began to freeze the affected part of the belly: it was similar to what Elaine did earlier, but the energy released by Rudolf was greater and more precise, thus having much better effects on the wound.

" Now we're sure you won't die, am I right?" said Rudolf, lifting her onto his shoulders;

"… Why don't you kill me…?" Elaine said in a faint voice, who no longer had the strength to rebel;

" ...Order from our "father": if it were up to me, I would have already killed you."

Elaine, hearing those sentences, began to laugh, although every part of her body cried out in pain with each laugh;

" What are you laughing at…?"

"Well, I thought dad was dead… No, wait, I almost forgot! You now have a new family...hehe..." Elaine said with a sarcastic tone of voice, trying to unnerve Rudolf, who however seemed calm.

"…"

"Tell me Rudolf, how does it feel to betray your family? Huh? You dirty traitor---Argh!"

Rudolf, without any warning, forcefully slammed the girl's body into the hard ground beneath their feet, causing the girl to suffer a wound on the back of her head.

" Maybe there is one thing that isn't clear to you" – said Rudolf in a calm tone of voice and with a smile on his lips, starting to press the girl's wound with his feet, who began to squirm wildly; - "You are the traitors, since it is your fault that the other kingdoms no longer respect us! And just to be clear, it's true that my job is to bring you to life..."

Rudolf created an enormous ice sword from his hand, then raised it towards the sky, with the moonlight making that icy weapon almost fascinating;

"....But nothing stops me from torturing you a little, Sister!"

Rudolf brought his blade down inexorably against the girl's arm, who at that moment had completely lost consciousness. Rudolf hated Elaine more than any other person… he had hated Elaine since her birth, he had hated her during his childhood and he still hated her now, after all the "harm" she had done to him, and certainly, he would hate her forever; amputating her arm was something he had always dreamed of, which is why, as that diabolical sword was about to finish its run, his gaze, with a huge smile on his face, almost seemed like the face of the devil.

At that moment, however, something happened that was not at all foreseen: a huge ball of fire hit Rudolf's face directly, before exploding with force and violently catapulting Rudolf's body several meters into the forest.

The Golems, having found the source of that powerful attack, quickly headed in that direction, but before they could even attack the enemy, they began to melt with each passing second, until they completely liquefied.

" ...What a cheap Golem." said a male voice, who with a leap went towards the girl; the wound had reopened again, and although he knew that the girl had suffered a lot, he decided to heal the wound with his flames, suddenly awakening the girl from her pain.

" A…Argh…!!" The girl, once she regained consciousness due to her pain, found a completely unknown man in front of her, and in sudden panic, she tried to hit him in the face, with the latter, however, blocking the attack pretty easily.

" W-Who the hell are you…?" said the girl, who realized that she didn't feel any danger from the man in front of her.

"I should be the one to ask you this, miss. But there's no time to talk, you'll explain everything to me later" said the man who felt Rudolf's mana growing more and more on the horizon.

" Well... it wouldn't have been funny if he had died that easily..." the man said with a slight smile under his moustache, somehow glad to be able to face a "proper" opponent after such a long time

Elaine looked at the man, and although she felt that the man had a lower mana level than Rudolf, she felt that there was something abnormal about this middle-aged man; she didn't know what had happened, but judging by the fact that there was no sign of Rudolf, the man in front of her must have saved her life.

" Can I at least know your name, sir?" said the girl, looking almost with admiration at what was a hero for her;

" …Ron." The middle-aged man replied, leaping further into the forest, ready for action.

END OF CHAPTER 4 – CROSSED FATES.