"Thank you very much!" Overwhelmed with joy, Dylan vigorously bowed three times and accepted the cloth sack.
'I was caught a little off guard but if he dares make a move on milady, I shall cut off his limbs!' Kaiden's eyes shone with a dangerous gleam.
His hands abruptly moved at the same moment and held his sword, preparing for a sword skill.
'It's a bit different but... the kind lady would not need to lie to someone like me!' Dylan thought as he held the pouch near his chest and inspected it for a moment.
The pill was deep blue in color rather than the usual light blue color of the Cooling Water Pill.
Though the pill that was given to him was somewhat different from what he was used to seeing. Dylan did not doubt the kind and beautiful girl in front of him, 'With this, I will be able to heal Scarlet!'
Dylan, still holding the cloth sack with the mysterious pills inside, looked at Victoria and Kaiden with a mix of gratitude and determination. "I appreciate your kindness, esteemed cultivators. With my speed, it will only take me around 10 minutes to reach my house. I'll feed this medicine to my sister. I'll meet you both by the gate , keeping my end of the bargain."
'10 minutes?' Victoria and Kaiden thought that was an astonishing time to state since that would be the same speed as an early stage cultivator.
But Dylan clearly does not have any signs of being a cultivator, not even a little fluctuation of energy within him.
With that, he bowed respectfully before turning to leave, his silhouette disappearing into the night, rain cascading around him.
However, before he vanished completely, Dylan hesitated and turned back to face Victoria and Kaiden.
"I don't know your esteemed names, but I will never forget this kindness. Please, may I know the names of my benefactors?" he asked, sincerity evident in his eyes.
Victoria exchanged a glance with Kaiden, and she softly replied, "I am Victoria, and this is Kaiden. Remember, Dylan, there is no need for repayment. Just take care of your sister."
Kaiden simply nods in response
Dylan nodded gratefully, a sense of indebtedness clear in his expression. "Lady Victoria and Sir Kaiden. I'll remember those names for the rest of my life. Thank you again. I'll see you both shortly."
With that, he dashed off into the rain, leaving Victoria and Kaiden to face the looming danger that awaited them in the city.
Without sparing a single moment, he dashed with all his might.
Maybe it was due to his mission being completed or maybe it was due to his eagerness to save Scarlet, Kaiden noticed that Dylan's speed was actually faster than his previous speed!
'That... was not his full speed?! Is this even a speed that a non-cultivator human should possess?' Kaiden's eyes were looking at astonishment as his senses still followed Dylan's movement.
"He's gone just like that..." Victoria thoughtlessly uttered.
Regaining his focus, he looked at Victoria and asked, "Milady, if I may presumably ask, why did you give a Bright Sea Pill to a stranger whom you have not even met?"
Victoria, who was still staring at the direction that Dylan left, snapped back to reality, "I figured that he really needed help so..."
"However, his request was only a Cooling Water Pill, a simple white rank pill necessary for fevers and calming the body. The Bright Sea Pill is a yellow rank pill that is hundred times more potent yet possesses the same aura. This..." Kaiden found this a bit of a waste.
"But I-I did not have anything else..." Victoria meekly replied.
"Milady, this kindness of yours..." Kaiden was a little bit exasperated but he decided to move on to the next topic.
"You should be more careful with strangers especially in this situation. Anyone could try to assassinate you. What's more the boy just now exhibited speed and stamina that should not appear in a regular human's body. His power could match that of a cultivator at the Spirit Gathering Realm..."
"I understand..." Victoria passively nodded as she became silent again and started walking towards the city.
She looked as though she was lost in thought like she had earlier but this time there was an odd thought in her head, 'Somehow, talking to him made me remember big brother and... it also caused my chaotic thoughts to settle down... How peculiar...'
"Huh?" Kaiden was a bit baffled. He thought that Victoria might have recovered seeing that she didn't hesitate to ask the boy just now and spoke without her usual shyness.
He remembered the way she spoke to the boy with a gentle tone and actively tried to engage with him. An uncomfortable feeling rose from his heart. Something that he was not familiar with.
He held his chest and muttered, "What is this?"
Kaiden shook his head and exhaled, "I need to focus. Lady Victoria's safety is my utmost priority!"
With that in mind, he rushed his steps and quickly trailed Victoria's steps as he surveyed the surroundings for any suspicious movement. His Spirit Sense was spread out at all times.
Ten minutes later...
Then, he sensed that Victoria had suddenly stopped and her eyes were fixated on what was in front of her. " But nothing is appearing in my spirit sense..."
Then, roughly five kilometers away from them, he saw what it was that made Victoria halt her steps. "Yumi?!"
Indeed. The person in front of them was the person who had led the Evil Cultivators, Yumi!
Her sexy figure was appropriated by the fitting dress she wore and the small face had an ecstatic smile as she said, "I'm so glad that you remember my name, Kai~den."
"She's here?! But how...? I already made sure that..." Kaiden took a step back. Even when he knew where she would be and even made measures to change their route, she had still somehow managed to corner them.
"My Silvernight Threads are really handy for situations like this." Yumi smiled knowingly.
"Threads! But when?!" Kaiden was flabbergasted.
He noticed that there was a loose thread on the back of his robes and based on its color, it was not something that could have been part of his clothing.
'Is this her Avatar? So that's how she managed to find us... From the start, we were just playing on the palms of her hands?!' Kaiden clenched his fists tighter.
Then, he remembered another crucial part of his visions from earlier, "Does that mean...?!"
His fear had come to light. Yumi was not alone. There was another person beside her. This man had macho build and his uptight face will tell you that he has already entered middle age.
This man was as pale as paper and he had a hole in the middle of his chest with dried up blood on his clothes.
This person wore the same clothes as Kaiden but had three crosses atop his breast pocket signifying his status. It was someone who was familiar to both Kaiden and Victoria.
Hawks Cross!
"U-uncle...?" Victoria trembled when she saw the state Hawks were in.
She could not feel an ounce of life from him anymore and yet he was still standing in front of them.
It was as though Hawks had turned into something similar to a zombie.
The sight of blood and the lifeless standing body of her dear uncle triggered her trauma once more. Her face became paler than it had ever been.
Her hands held her mouth but she still threw up. "Blergh!"
"How unsightly. Fufu." Yumi chuckled as she approached with Hawks trailing her steps.
"There's no life energy coming from him... A Zombie? But his eyes aren't blank... This is... Body Possession?!" Kaiden showed a ferocious expression as he realized what happened.
"Brilliant! As expected of my knight!" Yumi showed an amused smile.
"What madness! I only serve one person and that is, Lady Victoria!" Kaiden retorted.
"Body Possession...? But how?" Victoria was rather confused by this bizzare circumstance.
"Her Mystical Soul is what she used to seize Captain's body before his life completely faded! A skill exclusive to Malevolent Magnates!" Kaiden's expression turned even more hostile as he stared at Hawks.
"She killed him and seized uncle's body..." The revelation once again shook Victoria's heart.
The heart that she previously thought had gone numb was writing with pain.
"Milady, you should run away from here. I will hold them off so that you could have a chance to run." Kaiden grimly decided.
"..." Victoria looked at the ground with a vacant expression.
"This is the only way! Go!" Kaiden emphasized as he unsheathed both of his swords but his words did not manage
"...." Victoria did not respond but she started grabbing her chest tightly as tears traced her flawless face.
"It seems like the little princess is broken. Fufu. As kind as I am, I should just kill her as slow as I can." A sadistic smile appeared on Yumi's face as she slowly walked forwards.
'Why is fate this cruel?! Every single one of her newly gained friends died and even her uncle died as well! The trauma from when she lost her big brother will come, hurting her several fold... Just what did she do to deserve this?!' Kaiden felt indignant for Victoria because everything that has happened was just too harsh for gentle girl like her.
"I will never let you touch her! Fleeting Cloud Sword!" A gray long sword appeared from Kaiden's body. He grabbed it and placed it on his mouth.
"Oho, a Sword Knight of the Cross Clan that uses three swords? That's the first that I have heard of it. Interesting~" Yumi revealed a surprised look and said in a seductive tone.
"I may have only used half the power input every time I practiced but it nearly killed me every time... I might really die if I use it at full power... but, Victoria is still with me! I will not let her die as long as I breathe!" Kaiden closed his eyes after mumbling those words.
With a deep exhalation, he chanted, "Three stars of the north, let me reflect your holy brilliance to my soul! Triple StarBurst!"
....
Meanwhile, Dylan was able to rush back to his house in the ten minutes that passed. He had no idea that Victoria and Kaiden were in grave danger.
The only thing in her mind was to cure Scarlet of her illness!
"I'm home!" Dylan loudly announced as he slammed the door open and slammed it back to a close. Not minding his overly wet clothes, he entered the house.
When he reached the first step of the first floor, he jumped and effortlessly reached the second floor with a flip.
Repeating the same movements, he quickly reached the fourth floor and bolted to Scarlet's room.
"Scarlet?!" Dylan opened the door and saw a weird scene.
Scarlet was still resting on her bed and looked as flushed as ever. Her perfect doll face was frowning as she scampered on the bed. She seemed to be having a bad dream as she continuously muttered weird sounds.
"Nu... We... Beng... Aa... Poy... Sa..." Her voice kept tracing to the "sa" syllable and died down after the next syllable. It was as though she was chanting something.
The temperature of the room has also increased to an unimaginable degree. The instant that Dylan entered, his overly wet clothes were being dried at an incredibly fast rate.
"What the hell?! Why is it this hot here?!" Dylan was confused. The room had become a sauna of sorts where his damp clothes were releasing steam and covered the room.
Beside her, eight foxes which flickered like flames floated around her.
The flame foxes seemed to be looking at Scarlet in a docile manner. They seemed to be prostrating towards her.
"What? There's another one of you guys?" Dylan noticed as he approached them.
When he reached this point, his clothes were already dry and beads of sweat were already gathering on his forehead.
It was also at that moment that Scarlet's face contorted with a pained expression as she groaned, "Urrr... agh..."
"Scarlet, wake up! I have the medicine- Ah! She's... burning hot!" Dylan took out a Bright Sea Pill from the pouch and tried to get Scarlet to swallow.
When he tried to put his left hand under her back so that he could lift her body up, his hands were burnt as though it touched some sort of flame.
"What the hell is happening here?! Just when I thought that with this pouch, I would no longer have to worry about Scarlet's fever every month. This happens?! Damn it!" Dylan was panicking as he did not know what to do.
Suddenly, the foxes stood up and looked at Dylan.
To be precise, they were looking at the Bright Sea Pill on his hand.
The sudden movements of the flame fox spirits caught Dylan's attention and he tried to move the pill whereas their heads also followed suit.
"No, you can't have this! Scarlet needs this!" Dylan hid the Bright Sea Pill on the pouch. His movements were caught by the eight foxes.
The next instant, all of the eight foxes disappeared as eight streaks of scarlet red flames entered the cloth sack Victoria gave to Dylan.
"Hey, wait?! What are you doing?!" Dylan tried to hide the pouch on his body but the pouch has somehow been emptied!
"What is this?! There were around twenty four pills here earlier!" Dylan looked as though he had seen a ghost when he saw the empty sack that was filled with Bright Sea Pills.
The eight streaks appeared once more. However, the scarlet red flames seemed to have been mixed with a deep blue color that resembled the color Bright Sea Pill.
The flames shot towards Scarlet's body and assimilated itself perfectly, leaving Dylan dumbfounded. The room's temperature had also gone back to normal.
Scarlet seemed to have gained serenity and was sleeping like a harmless kid.
Dylan, who witnessed all of this, was left to say, "What the fuck just happened?!"