The warm sun shone its rays onto the green field. The calm scene fell into chaos as a young boy dashed across the field on horseback while being chased by a group of servant class ents.

The boy was naturally Drake who was making his way back to the Jain village. These ents were weaker than the ent he fought before; however, he had no intention of wasting time with them. Hence, whenever a demon or oni showed up, unless he absolutely had to, he just tried to run away as much as possible.

While Drake was fighting and running from the demons, back in the Jain village, Hazezel had just sent Elwin off on his mission.

‘The pieces are finally falling into place,’ Hazezel thought to himself with an eerie smile.

Now it is my time to act.

Thinking so, he waited for a few hours after Elwin left, working as usual. At lunchtime, Hazezel decided to go to the maid who would serve lunch for Astoria and Sam and took the food from her.

“I want to see my sister so I will deliver this meal,” he told her.

The maid respectfully bowed and allowed Hazezel to take the meal.

Hazezel slowly made his way to the prison cell. As he went, he dismissed the guards, telling them he wanted some privacy with his sister. The guards obliged and left their posts.

“Hazezel!” Astoria exclaimed, seeing his face after a long time. She ran up to the gate and held his hands through the bars.

Hazezel smiled and didn’t say anything. After a few minutes of crying, Astoria released him. Hazezel took the lunch and served them.

“I don’t want to eat!” she yelled, wiping her face from tears.

“You need to eat,” Hazezel protested.

Astoria was going to reject him again when he added, “Don’t you need strength to escape?”

“What!?” exclaimed both Astoria and Sam. Hazezel just smiled and pushed the meal tray further into the cell.

Sam also approached the front of the cell now and they both obediently took the food and started eating, while eyeing Hazezel carefully.

Astoria was very grateful to her brother, as he always tried to support her and even helped her make an escape plan. Even though Holt had ruined it all, she was still thankful to him.

However, even she felt that the situation now was not hopeful. Since Holt had discovered everything, it would not be easy to escape.

As if reading her mind, Hazezel smiled.

“Escape is very easy, I have the keys to your cell right here!” he said, showing her the keys.

“No, Hazezel you can’t!” Astoria protested. If Hazezel released them, then Holt would easily figure out that Hazezel was behind it. Who else would have the ability and motive to do so?

“I can and I’m going to,” Hazezel said casually. “I have already prepared the carriage now, and father is busy with something else and won’t notice if you leave now. This is the perfect time.”

“But what about you?”

“Don’t worry about me,” Hazezel’s response was firm.

“Hazezel…” tears were welling up in her eyes again.

Once she was released, Holt would be furious and Hazezel would have to face the entirety of Holt’s wrath. She couldn’t believe that Hazezel was prepared to go this far for the sake of her happiness.

With her personality, she didn’t want to do anything to hurt her siblings, however seeing Hazezel’s determination, she felt that refusing further would be insulting to his kindness.

Hence, fighting back tears, she nodded.

After the two finished their meal, Hazezel unlocked the cell and let them out.

Suddenly!

Just as they were exiting, hurried footsteps echoed across the prison.

Instantly, Hazezel reacted and dashed to the side, hiding from view. Sam and Astoria tried to return to their cell to act as if everything was normal, but before they could, a towering figure came back again.

“What the hell is going on?” Holt screamed.

How could Astoria and Sam have been released?

Astoria thought Holt would guess Hazezel to be the culprit very easily, but she didn’t know that Hazezel was the one who had initially helped Holt investigate and capture them. Hence, Holt did not think that Hazezel would help them elope after everything he did to prevent exactly that.

“Who released you? Tell me!” Holt demanded. Astoria was surprised that Holt didn’t realise it immediately, but there was no way on earth she would tell him.

She replied by turning away with a humph!

Holt was furious and was about to grab the two again but suddenly, he became disoriented and stumbled.

Astoria was startled to see her father stumble randomly. He was a martial artist who cultivated the undying body. It was not normal for him to randomly stumble. What was wrong with him? Was he so angry that he was losing his mind and bearings?

Holt was also confused and wondered what was going on. However, his mind was fuzzy and he couldn’t think clearly. Soon, his vision started going blurry too, and he started wobbling around the room randomly.

As he was flailing about, he suddenly felt an impact on the back of his head. Normally it wouldn’t have hurt him, but in his weakened state, that force was enough to knock the remaining consciousness out of him.

Holt collapsed on the ground, revealing Hazezel behind him.

Naturally, that impact was Hazezel who had whacked Holt in the back of his head with a rod.

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“Do you still have the pills?” Hazezel asked casually.

“Hazezel!” Astoria gasped again.

“Don’t worry, I added something to his lunch earlier in case something like this happened. He’ll just be out of commission for a few hours but will be fine afterwards, Astoria.”

Astoria was relieved. She knew her brother wouldn’t actually hurt her father, but still, she was worried about what had happened to him. Hearing him explain put her mind at ease.

“Yes, I have the pills,” she said, pulling out two pills from her pocket before putting them back.

Sam was confused about what they were but decided to ask questions later.

“Good, in that case, make your way to the south gate as we said before. I have a large carriage ready there to pick you up, along with enough money for you to start a new life.”

Astoria nodded and was about to leave when she paused again. She turned around and ran up to Hazezel, hugging him tightly.

“Thank you!” she cried. “Thank you, thank you, thank you! You have no idea how much this means to me.”

“Don’t worry about it, it’s not a problem at all,” Hazezel replied kindly, gently patting her head.

Astoria hugged him for a long time. This would be the last time she would see her twin brother for a long time after all. She wanted to cherish this moment.

Finally, she released him and lightly kissed him on the cheek.

“Go on now,” Hazezel said. “I will clean up the mess here,” Hazezel pointed to Holt.

“Take Sam and go be happy. I know father will come around eventually, at which point I will let you know one way or another.”

Astoria nodded, her tears stopping her from being able to form any words.

She then grabbed Sam and the two started making their way to the south gate.

Even with Holt unconscious, the two moved stealthily to avoid being spotted by any other guards or servants. Eventually, they snuck out of the mansion and ran to the south gate.

They found a large and relatively luxurious carriage waiting under a tree that was just around the corner of the gate. An old man was in the driver seat and waved towards Sam and Astoria upon seeing them.

The duo stopped just before the carriage and were panting, out of breath.

“You’re in a rush, aren’t you?” the old man asked with a laugh.

Hazezel hadn’t told him the details of the two, however he was an old man who had seen a lot. Seeing a young boy and girl run so fast while holding hands, leaving the village with a large sum of money, he could easily guess what was going on.

He had no interest in other people’s affairs though, so he just smiled at the two casually.

“Thank you for driving us,” Astoria said. “Also, where are we going?”

The old man laughed again, slapping his knee as if it was the most hilarious question.

“You’re telling me you guys are running off and you don’t even know where you’re going?”

The old man cackled in laughter even more after saying that.

Astoria and Sam looked at each other. What a strange old man.

After taking a moment to calm himself, the old man looked at the two and smiled.

“We are going to Duskville!”

…

“DIEEEE!!” yelled Drake as he brought his sword down on a minotaur.

He had been attacked relentlessly by demons and onis. Given that the demon tide had passed, it was strange that so many demons were still around to attack him.

He didn’t have the time to think it. His horse was killed in a previous battle and so he was hiding and running on foot towards his village. Using his wind butterfly scouting spirit, he realised that there was a path with a smaller number of demons. However, following that path required him to take a small detour so he would end up on the south side of the Jain village.

Realising that he had no choice, Drake took that path. Pouring mana into his boots and activating shadow steps, he could actually run faster than a horse. Though it was a waste of mana and stamina, and he couldn’t keep it up for a long time, he decided to do so anyway to avoid all the demons that were attacking him.

Having left in the early morning, it was now late afternoon, and he was nearing the village gate. He could see it as a small speck on the horizon. However, apart from the village, something else caught his eye.

A large and luxurious carriage was making its way southeast from the village.

‘Who could be travelling in such a carriage now?’ he thought, but he didn’t care much about it. It was most likely just some merchant or an elder going about their business, so he decided to ignore it.

Just as he ran past the carriage, however, a voice he had never expected to hear called out to him.

“DRAKEE!”

Drake froze.

Did I imagine it? He turned to face the carriage, wondering what Astoria would be doing in it, almost sure that he had just imagined it.

However, the face that poked out and waved to him confirmed his suspicions.

“Astoria!” he gasped, running up to her. Astoria also got out of the carriage and ran up to Drake.

The two hadn’t seen each other in a long time and so were very happy to do so now. Especially Astoria who thought she would not get a chance to say her goodbyes to her little brother, was now elated to see him unexpectedly.

Astoria hugged him and started crying tears of joy and sorrow.

Drake was happy to see his sister but was confused about why she was crying. Everything between Astoria and Holt had happened after he left for the elven village, so he was not aware of it.

Astoria ignored him and continued crying for a while, worrying Drake. For a moment he thought something terrible happened to the village and that’s why Astoria was fleeing in a carriage. However, he saw earlier that the village was fine, so he ruled out that possibility.

Just as Drake’s head was about to explode with questions, Astoria pulled away and wiped her face. Then, she started speaking.

“A lot of things happened these past few days when you were away Drake,” she began.

She then recounted the entire story of how she fell in love with Sam, how Holt found out and was furiously against it, how she was about to break up but Hazezel convinced her otherwise, how Holt had secretly arrested Sam, and she tried to use Hazezel’s plan to escape but was stopped by Holt last minute. Finally, when all hope seemed lost, Hazezel came to the rescue once more and helped them escape, giving them the carriage, money, and the pill to keep low class demons away.

Drake listened intently, frowning more and more as he listened.

Coming from Earth, Drake had his own perspective.

He was aware of political marriages happening commonly in the past, but it had basically become non-existent in the modern times he was from. Falling in love and getting married had become the norm, so naturally he thought Astoria was in the right and Holt was just being an overprotective, and misguided father.

He also knew Holt’s personality and how much he loved his kids. After his wife died, he took on the role of being both a mother and a father to his kids and loved everyone greatly. Astoria being the only girl, he dotted on her a lot. Hence, he was also in agreement with Hazezel and thought that he would come around eventually.

So, after hearing everything, he hugged Astoria again.

‘Oh, you poor thing,’ he thought.

Being five years younger at eleven years old, Drake couldn’t reach Astoria’s head like Hazezel. So, he patted her back and reassured her.

“Don’t worry Astoria. I agree with Hazezel too, I think father will soon come around and see the errors of his way. Till then, you can leave and start your own life.”

Astoria pulled away and nodded, wiping her tears once more.

“We are going to the town of Duskville,” said Astoria. “We’ll keep in touch, and hopefully we will meet again in the future.”

“Yes we will,” Drake responded confidently.

Happy, she kissed him on the forehead and said, “We need to get going now. In case father wakes up and starts chasing us, we don’t have any time to waste.”

Drake agreed and walked with Astoria to her carriage.

“I wish I could come with you, but unfortunately I can’t,” Drake sighed.

“Don’t worry, I understand. And I’m sure we will meet again,” Astoria reassured him this time, getting onto the carriage.

Drake nodded, then looked at Sam.

“Take care of her Sam, she loves you a lot.”

“Of course!” Sam replied instantly.

He had seen how much Astoria fought against even her own family to be with him. Frankly, he was feeling terrible the whole time, thinking that it was his fault she had to go against her family like this.

But he remembered the vow he took that day and looked at Astoria. The two stared at each other’s eyes, and he gently caressed her face.

“No matter what happens, I will always be with you,” he smiled.

He said that more to Astoria than to Drake, but Drake also heard him and could tell that it was genuine. Hence, he happily waved them goodbye and watched as the carriage disappeared into the horizon.

With a heavy sigh, Drake ran back to the village and quickly entered the mansion. He wanted to talk to Hazezel and ask what his plan was to deal with Holt once he woke up. There was no doubt that Holt would be furious and would take it out on Hazezel, so he was worried.

Hence, Drake ran to the prison as soon as he arrived and made his way through to find where Holt and Hazezel were.

Eventually, he turned a corner and found Holt lying on the ground.

However, there was something else that was completely and utterly unexpected.

Holt was lying in a pool of his own blood, with a sword sticking out of his chest!