After satiating his desire, Aeson was about to find the address that Al gave him until he sensed something was amiss. His years of experience and elf senses heightened his alert.
'Something is definitely going on... I could feel ominous energy.'
The brown cloak that was in the middle of the square disappeared in a flash for him to reappear in an alley at the source of that weird feeling. The alley was between two stone stores and it was desolate with few people walking by.
Aeson carefully pasted himself onto the wall the avoid the detection of whoever was releasing such malicious energy. He waited for a few minutes for something to happen but only the wind passed through and howled in the alleyway.
He scratched his head with confusion on his face.
'Has my skill gone rusty?'
He was about to land back on the ground before a stone wall, or a stone door, of the store opened. The stone door was so seamlessly blended in with the house that he did not even notice it was a secret door. But he was nonetheless proud of himself for being right this time.
Pulling his attention back to the secret door, four men in black cloak with a red flame symbol on the side of their hoods walked out. They were all tall and big, judging from afar. One of them was carrying a black sack.
'… isn't it obvious that they are some sketchy group? They even have a logo.'
But Aeson did not want to make a move as of yet, information was always valuable. He decided to tail those sketchy people to see what they were planning to do.
Thanks to the setting sun, the sky was also getting darker for him to blend in easily with the darkness.
They passed through a dozen of houses, avoiding the eyes of the people in the city. This was clearly some secret operation.
Finally, they stopped and put the black sack into a troller. The light illuminated on the sack a little, making Aeson's eyes wide as he saw that it was a silhouette of a person.
He raised his vigilance and followed behind them without a sound into a tunnel popping up behind a building. The tunnel was dark with only the creaking sound of the rolling wheels echoing. The men were remaining quiet until one of them spoke.
"Are you sure it's her?"
"Does it matter if it's not? She will be our sacrifice anyway."
"Fucker, she and other people are different!"
"How so?"
"Ugh, newbie… Listen, the saint needs to be killed in a ritual to stop her holy power passing down to others."
'!!!' Aeson who was quiet all the time halted his steps for a bit before continuing. 'So that sack is the saint? She was kidnapped in the original plot?'
"That's all you should know, you will learn the rope the more you work." The impatient man had an annoyed tone.
After that statement, the tunnel fell into a silence again. They walked and walked until Aeson heard some clanging noises and light suddenly seeped through when a gate opened.
He immediately jumped back and covered himself in darkness and watched the people go in. The moment the door was closing again, he slipped through it and hung on top of the ceiling, finding a dark corner to hide.
When he finally settled, he got to see a the whole picture. This was just an empty basement or some sort, it was not a large space but big enough to fit 15 people with lots of breathing room.
The most eye catching thing was the circles on the ground, in the middle of the room. It looks like those fantasy circles where they used to summon something, or a sacrifice ring.
The content of the sack finally spilled out. A girl with platinum hair was tied up completely, her clothes were tattered, and her eyelids were shivering. She seemed to be awake but not dared to open her eyes.
They placed her in the middle of the circle and a bucket of red liquid was put next to her. The stench of it must have made her disgusted as her face scrunched up and turned green. Her eyes were still closed.
"Brothers, we are the honorable chosen disciples of the great Demon King!" The man lowered his hood down and revealed a man in his fifties. He had a clean cut face with white hair and beard. He looked sane but his eyes contained madness.
The 'brothers' hurrayed at his statement, making Aeson feel creepy at this whole event.
"Today, we finally found the seal to release our King! The Saint! After this ritual, we will bring one thousand more sacrifices and the King will revive!"
Hearing this, Aeson's brainwork started moving. Luciel occupied the Duke's time when he was supposed to meet the saint. Therefore, the saint who was in the forest was captured by the cult. They were not being chased by the Duke! And the saint was possibly killed in this ritual to unseal the Demon King! But they still had not have enough sacrifice to wake the Demon King up. But who knew if the Demon King cult really disappeared or not?
The 'brothers' roared in excitement and agreement and it woke him up from his theory. They began to stand on the outer line of the circle. The man with his hood down walked to the middle and began to ladle the red liquid in the bucket out.
Aeson was alarmed and jumped down in an instant. He shot out the tiny needles to them and they collapsed in an instant. Quickly cutting the rope with a dagger, the saint finally opened her eyes to reveal sky blue eyes with her white lashes.
"Th-thank you…" Her voice was weak and hoarse. Her face was also shallow and her body was skinny, she might have starved for a while.
Aeson nodded his head and noticed the saint's gaze the direction behind him with fear. His head whisked back to see three members of the cult appeared at the gate. On them were magic bomb, they were suicide bombers.
His eyes darkened and tried to shoot them with his needles but it was too late, the bombs were already detonated! Aeson gritted his teeth and picked the saint up by her waist. She was held like a bag as they dashed passed the bombers and ran through the tunnel.
He reached the outside but the bomb exploded before he got any further! The building started crumbling down and the debris was flying everywhere. Having no other choice, Aeson shielded the saint from the impact, spraining his right leg when a pillar fell down.
But as an elf warrior, he was tough in any situation. He settled down the fainted saint further away then returned back to investigate. He was scared that they would do something in case their base being found out.
As he was scurrying down to look at the tattered corpses of the cult members, he cursed internally.
'They are all suicide bombers! WHAT THE HELL?'
He ran away again because those bombs were detonated again! What a life! They really wanted to erase all their traces! He hated Western World now! He hate all of the worlds he had ever been in!
But how could he run far when his legs were injured, he had no time to even open the system shop as he could here the ticking time bomb sound ringing in his ears. He felt stupid for not healing himself first before entering, just because his points depleted a lot!
Suddenly, a force grabbed him and he was carried easily. So when he lifted his head, his usual calm face could not hide his surprise.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
His heart beat wildly as he looked at the person's profile. The surrounding was dark already, the street light was casting on them, making them look magnetic.
Their long lashes highlighted their phoenix amber eyes, with a high nose bridge and the thin lips in a straight line. Their face was so serious that he could not imagine how it was playful. The fiery red hair fluttered in the wind, like a fire was dancing.
"Al?"
Al looked back at him and the serious expression turned into a sly smile. She kissed his forehead and continued dashing to safety.
"!!!"
How on earth was his heart beating so hard for her? This reaction was supposed to be for his husband only…
Then he looked at her chest, they were definitely bouncy and soft as they grazed his arm. They were… real.
No way did he like someone else besides his husband!!