Livora's puzzled expression grew increasingly; she was truly confused about what had happened.
She thought to herself.
Was I not just about to die…?
But reality had snapped back at her, her gaze focused on a mysterious man, his hair dark as the night and his structure deemed that of an average but athletic individual. The man wore: a dark black long coat with a hint of navy translucent space blue, almost as if reflecting the crescent moon's glow. Livora could not help but notice that the man had spectacles/shades covering his eyes. Truly mysterious, as no one wears shades at the peak of night but those who may have something to hide from the world.
"Oi… Can you not hear me?" the man exclaimed in a calm yet annoyed demeanour.
She looks at him, and her eyes meet his black spectacles.
"I..I.." words are trapped inside her mouth; they can't flow out, possibly due to the traumatic event she had just experienced.
The man turns his body.
'Damn it, no luck here either", he murmurs as he starts to protrude out his long limbs and walk away.
Livora thinks to herself.
I have to ask him for help… I have to say something or it's the end for me…
She uses all her energy to let out, "W…Wait!"
But the man doesn't stop.
I said, "Wait", she shouted.
No response: the man keeps walking as if he has lost all interest.
"I know… I know a doctor!"
Finally, a response, the man's ears raise as if he had heard something exciting; in a peculiar fashion, rather than turning his body around, the man walks backwards towards his original position.
He turns to face her, contradicting his previous indolent nature; he enthusiastically states, "Oh… so you do know a doctor… well, who is it?"
Livora was just an apprentice doctor who had no practical experience but had learned from her mother, who was known to heal all kinds of ailments.
So, with a fearful heart, she murmurs, "I am an apprentice doctor…"
"Huh… Speak up," he retorts.
"I said, I am an apprentice doctor!"
"What… an apprentice doctor, that's the same as not being a doctor", he impudently remarks.
"My... my mother is an experienced doctor."
The mysterious man's face had started to lift up, and his cheeks began to raise as if he was jubilant that he had found something he had been searching for eternity.
Their conversation is cut short by the miserable noble.
"Well… Well… Well… did the demon call its allies here to tarnish our sacred ceremony?"
His gaze fixated on the back of the mysterious man
"And tell me, knight in shining armour, how will you save his wretched creature? Will you start growing wings and fly her away?" the noble smirked.
But the man did not turn his body; he did not face the noble and continued to ignore him, infuriating the noble's puny pride.
"How dare these rats think that they can ignore me! GUARDS! Kill that vile man and prepare to restart the ceremony."
A guard positions himself behind the mysterious man, who's still fixated on Livora.
"WATCH OUT!" Livora screams
Before a moment's notice, the guard hurls his large club and hits the back of the man's head.
Livora, who had closed her eyes on the impact, opened her eyes to see what had happened to him, but to her surprise, the man was still standing; his head was slouched as if he had only been smacked with a small branch. However, the most important thing was that the man's shades had fallen to the ground. Livora finally managed to take a peek at the man's eyes, but she was shocked.
The colour of his eyes wasn't human; they weren't of any creature she had seen. They were scarlet red, so red that it reminded her of the great crimson flames she witnessed moments ago, the same crimson that was about to torch her alive. But amidst all that, she blurted out.
"How beautiful…"
After a moment of pause, she realised what she had said and felt incredibly embarrassed. Nevertheless, she composed herself.
The noble starts to giggle.
"HAAA… Did you see what happens to those who ignore me? Nothing is above me; I am the ruler of this domain; don't you dare think that the likes of you can get the better of me."
The guards also smirked as they looked at the man, but those laughs iced over.
The mysterious man straightened his head and cracked his neck to relieve tension. His veins popping out from the side of his head, the man casually turned his head, his crimson red eyes enraged with anger as he looked at the noble and spoke, "Shhhhhh". Like a shadow, his aura had seeped and penetrated the ground, covering the noble and soldiers.
A sudden feeling of fear imprinted inside the noble and all the guards around him; sweat started pouring down their skins. The noble understood he would be in danger if he had not shut his mouth.
The man turned to Livora, "So where is this so-called doctor mother of yours?"
Livora knew that her value had risen up in this man's world; she did not know her mother's location because they had been separated. However, she worried that the man might forsake her if she said this. Hence, she had no choice but to strike a deal.
Fearful but also confident, she spoke, " I can take you to her but, only if you help me."
"Aha, you are cleverer than you look… I see how it is…"
She momentarily worried that the man may have found her words impertinent. Still, the man grabbed the shackles, and they withered away like dust.
The people around scream, "Blasphemy! How could he destroy the holy chains of Arkon".
These chains were not typical, as they were imbued with powers that suppressed mana and ethos; if anything were trapped with them, it would be practically impossible to remove, much less destroy, without the owner's command.
The noble shouts: "HERATICS!!!! I don't know what sorcery they used, but they are no match for the noble troops of Arkalon. All guards get ready! Kill those two Ashriven! I want their heads!".
He turned his body towards the noble and his guards. On the back of his coat was a prominent symbol; it looked like an arrow pointing up, and the bottom of the arrow had a line across, somewhat like an upside-down cross.
The guards surround them and slowly approach.
The guard in the red tunic swings his sword; the man dodges by a hair width, and the others follow. Their swords cut through the air at the man's body, but he dodges them, moving rapidly through the guards as he slips left and right, passing by each attack. The attacks continue, two guards slashing down, three slashing left and right, and four piercing the air with their spears but with no luck.
Until a guard lunges with his long spear at the man's heart.
Livora shuts her eyes, thinking the man has been struck.
"HAHAHA… Is that all you had to show? So weak, as I thought, no one is better than my noble soldiers" the noble snorts in relief.
"Now guards, start the ritual again, I'll make sure to burn her till there's no bones left" he wickedly smiled.