A small, sharp noise rang out in the tent, jolting Auriel and Elise awake. They had been sleeping lightly due to the unfamiliar surroundings, and the sudden sound was enough to startle them.
Auriel kicked his legs and got up even before knowing what was going on and a blackish knife appeared in his hand, which was stored in his soul.
He understood that the noise came from the alarm feature of the artifact that Archpaladin Asher planted on the ground.
So, he thought that something came closer than necessary. He didn't know what. Maybe a human or a fiend, or even just an animal. However, he leaned towards the possibility of it being a human or fiend more than an animal. As considering that animals tended to possess sharp instincts that helped them avoid dangerous Awakened people and sense dangers.
Approaching the trembling Elise, Auriel leaned in and whispered directly into her ear "What do you see?" It was a direct command instead of a polite request.
Startled by the sudden noise, Elise flinched but quickly regained her composure and turned her head towards the place where the noise came. A brilliant golden light shone under her blindfold
A few tears of blood streamed down her cheeks and trickled down towards her chin.
Waiting for this to happen, Auriel extended a handkerchief to Elise and waited for the response.
Auriel more or less knew what Elise's ability and its recoil were. Her ability was making her able to see the soul bodies and mystical abilities. Auriel thought of her as a sort of mix of appraisal and medium. Though the true nature of her ability was currently unknown.
"People, 7 of them. Most of them are normal, 2 of them are Awakened." Elise reported as she wiped the blood from her face.
"Where are they, point to the Awakened ones," Auriel asked leisurely. He was calm after hearing that there were just 2 Awakened.
Elise lifted her arm and pointed 2 different places with trembling hands. "They are coming here!" she exclaimed loudly.
"Idiot, why are you scared? We have Archpaladin on our side. 2 measly Awakened can't even scratch his skin." Auriel voiced as he didn't understand why this girl was scared of just a 2 cannon fodder that even she could kill.
"But he is still in his tent, in a praying position…" Elise stuttered, her expression pale and her lips trembling.
Auriel slapped his forehead in exasperation. "Damn church members. All of them are lunatics." Auriel whispered as he realized that Asher wasn't going to get up before his prayers ended.
Auriel didn't know if this church dog was testing him or if he genuinely didn't care about the measly Awakened bandits. Most church members were a devoted bunch and didn't mind dying, but that doesn't mean that they would just let a few bandits kill themselves to just pray to their almighty god a few seconds longer.
All Auriel knew was that, killing these bandits fell on him.
Auriel sighed as the dagger in his hand levitated vertically. "Use your ability for a little bit longer than usual and tell me their exact locations and directions," Auriel ordered Elise, to which she immediately complied, her eyes once again bathed in a golden light. Blood trickled from beneath her blindfold and nose, staining her lips.
Then she pointed again. "There… he is walking to the right while hiding behind the trees."
The floating dagger shot through the direction where Elise pointed with an unimaginable speed, slicing open the tent and vanishing from Auriel's sight. It was currently unknown where did that deadly metal go, maybe crashed into a sturdy tree or stabbed a sneaky bandit. Auriel hoped for the latter.
"Did I kill him?" Auriel wondered aloud and Elise nodded slowly in response.
Auriel's lips pulled upwards a little. "Heh! I am a natural talent, it seems." Auriel said arrogantly and asked Elise. "Where is the other Awakened?"
Elise opened her mouth to answer but before she let out any word, her expression paled and she pushed Auriel with all her might, which was not that much compared to giant-like Auriel. He was taller than her by almost 12 inches (30cm), it was simply impossible for Elise to cause Auriel to fall.
Though it still made him take a single step back. Auriel was about to question her action, but before he could, something searing hot struck his right arm. The impact caused him to lose his balance, and he fell onto his back with a grunt.
"Agh!"
His face contorted as he gritted his teeth. His arm was burning like hell, causing a few tears of agony to well up in his eyes. With great difficulty, he took a deep breath and looked at his arm, and to To his shock, he discovered that a small portion of his flesh was literally missing. Fortunately or unfortunately, his flesh was burned, so there was no bleeding that he needed to worry about.
Though this didn't mean that Auriel was happy about this outcome. On the contrary, he just wanted to close his eyes and fall asleep. He wasn't used to pain and holding his mind to stay awake was taking a huge burden on him.
With a low, weak voice, Auriel asked, "Where is the last one?"
Snapping out of her daze, Elise crouched beside Auriel, checking every part of his body. Without noticing, her hand grazed his burned wound, causing Auriel to roar weakly. "Aghh! Damn girl, why are you touching there!? Just point me in the direction!"
Startled by Auriel's sudden outburst, Elise trembled but quickly did what Auriel asked, pointing toward a specific location.
"I hope Loki will understand what he needs to do…" Auriel muttered as he pulled Loki's strings towards the place where Elise pointed, and he also sent the dagger towards there. "Or else I will break his beak…"