“Princess!” Alhen said in a hurry.

  She fell to the ground and panted, trying to regain her stamina from the constant running.

  He couldn’t wait that long; they had assassins following after them that would catch up if they rested for even a second.

  He helped her up and carried her, slowing their pace but allowing them to keep moving forward.

  Alhen had torn a piece of the princess's dress to wrap around her head, giving her some protection against looking at the moon.

  She didn’t have glasses, and would turn into a wiht the moment she caught a reflection of the shiny rock in the sky, but at least the cloth limited her vision, and she should be fine as long as she kept her head glued to the ground.

  It wouldn’t work in the long run, but for now, it would have to do until they found something better.

  Before he left the church, he saw the guards’ betrayal, but he also saw that some loyalists to the princess had survived and were currently fighting against them, giving them a chance to escape.

  ‘Their efforts won’t last long; however, they are few against many. To think that so many people had betrayed the princess makes me think that a serious headache is coming when we return to the kingdom,’ Alhen thought.

  Not daring to turn off his blessing, he could feel a raging headache. It had been more than six minutes, and he could feel himself reaching the limit.

  Alhen ran searching for a door or something that would take them outside.

  His eyes darted around the place, wary of any assassins who might have followed after them.

  This caution proved fruitful when he noticed a shadowy dagger piercing his leg and exploding, effectively tearing it off.

  He waited for the correct timing and immediately jumped to avoid it.

  The dagger, which seemed made out of shadow, embedded itself in the ground but didn’t explode like in his vision.

  From behind, he could hear the sole assassin clicking his tongue and following after them.

  Turning around, he saw a cloaked figure with a snake-like mask closing in on them.

  The assassin chased after him at unprecedented speeds, and in a few seconds, he would catch up to them if nothing changed.

  Alhen’s short frame didn’t allow him to run fast, even with his sign activated, especially now that he was carrying someone, and he had to decide what to do.

  The princess hugged him and held on tightly, placing her head on his chest, trembling and not daring to open her eyes.

  Alhen tried to keep a steady breathing rhythm to avoid running out of stamina, though the extra load on him was starting to make his back hurt.

  Fortunately, all that running Alaran made him do came in handy. The real problem wasn’t his stamina; it was the princess.

  Despite all his efforts, the distance between the assassin and himself kept getting shorter.

  Various daggers and knives were thrown his way, but he avoided them all with the help of his blessing.

  The more he dodged, the more the assassin threw his knives with more vigor, with all of them landing on the floor.

  Alhen heard a click of tongue right behind him, confirming that the assassin had come closer and was just a few steps away from reaching him.

  After a few seconds, they had run through various streets and made many turns until eventually the assassin caught up to them.

  The assassin had grabbed his jacket.

  The moment he felt the tug on his clothing, Alhen threw Katherina as far as possible and screamed at her to run.

  All he could hear were cries of pain and curses as she left, but he didn’t pay much attention as he now had to survive.

  The assassin visibly paused, weighing whether to pursue the princess or stay with Alhen, but ultimately chose the former.

  Alhen didn’t allow it; he took hold of the assassin's cloak and pulled back just as he began running in the princess’s direction.

  Thanks to his blessing, he saw the fast strike aimed at his neck that would have ended him instantly if he had not foreseen it.

  His mind went into overdrive as he focused on avoiding the deadly knife strikes from his attacker.

  Blood poured out of his eyes, flowing down his cheek through the gap of his glasses, and the corners of his vision started darkening.

  He recognized the signs of overuse and understood that he didn’t have that much time left. This fight couldn’t be drawn out for long lest he suffer the consequences.

  Despite his blessing showing him where the strikes would pass, he barely avoided getting killed each time.

  The assassin’s speed was insane; even if he could see five seconds ahead in the future, it still left a tiny margin of error that, if calculated wrong, would end with him.

  In a moment when he spotted a gap in the attack, he took advantage of the fact and unholstered his revolver.

  He pointed it at the assassin's chest and took his shot.

  “Bang!” He moved just in time to save his life, but received a massive wound on the side of his stomach.

  Alhen immediately deactivated his blessing, feeling that he wouldn’t be able to hold on for much longer.

  Disoriented by the pain, the assassin staggered, and Alhen fired again, this time at his face.

  He dodged, appearing to have teleported from his speed, and went to slash at Alhen.

  Without his blessing aiding him, Alhen’s reaction speed was slower, and despite dodging, he got cut on the face, leaving a trail of blood from his cheek down to his neck.

  Had he not stepped back in time, he would be dead on the ground.

  The assassin followed up with more attacks, but this time, they were slower and more predictable.

  The wound on his chest seemed to be doing his magic as Alhen could see in real time how his movements started getting sluggish, and a huge amount of blood pooled on the ground.

  Once he felt that the assassin had lost a lot of strength, he took his chance to aim his revolver at his face and fire.

  “Bang!” The shot rang out.

  “Splatter!” The remains of it landed on the ground.

  Alhen’s heartbeat raced. Looking at the body, pooling blood on the ground, he snapped out of his trance and rushed ahead.

  His fingers trembled; he had been close to dying for real.

  A headache started to form in his mind, but he shook it off and ran. He couldn’t allow himself to be distracted at the moment.

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  Looking around now that there was no imminent threat, he noticed that the once-lively streets were tranquil, something that seemed unusual for this place.

  ‘This was all planned, for some reason, there is no one on the street, even though when I arrived two cycles ago, it was full of energy and liveliness,’ he thought.

  Alhen shook his head once more and focused on his current task: finding the princess and getting her out of the city.

  He frowned the next second; however, with no way to find the princess, all he could hope for was that she was safe and nearby.

  Alhen ran around the area, trying to be as discreet as possible, looking for Katherina.

  ‘Come on, where are you at? We need to get out of here right now. More assassins could come any second now. I don’t have time to be searching for you,’ Alhen thought.

  In his mind, he had decided that if he didn’t find Katherina in the next three minutes, he would be leaving the kingdom without her.

  ‘If I don’t find the princess, the king will go after my head, but this is something that he will do eventually. Better to survive now and have hopes for the future than die trying to protect myself.’

  Thankfully, he didn’t have to wait long to find her. After wandering through the empty streets for a bit, he heard a faint voice calling out for him.

  “Alhen!” He stopped dead in his tracks and turned to the source of the sound.

  He found Katherina hiding behind some buildings that blocked the moon and waved at him to get closer.

  The darkness hid her figure, and it took him quite some time to see her, but when he did, he sighed in relief.

  ‘Thank the Supreme! She’s alive.’

  Katherina sat on the floor, hugging her knees and being completely still. He couldn’t fathom the consequences of the princess dying under his protection.

  It would have been his end in many ways.

  He approached her, took her hand, and raised her from the ground, keeping her close to him at all times.

  Looking around, he didn’t notice anyone else, but the sounds of the conflict happening in the church reached their area.

  Alhen felt the ground vibrating, and a loud explosion reached his ears. The princess beside him covered them and looked at him with worry, as if asking, “What do we do now?”

  It was sure to say that her guards were no ordinary individuals; they were strong in their own right, and even when they appeared to have lost in the beginning, they held on firmly to life.

  ‘No matter how I think about it, at least one assassin should be following us now. There’s no way that they sent only one in our direction, that would be stupid,’ Alhen thought.

  Right now, he couldn’t find the answer, but he would worry about it when they fled trouble.

  “Don’t let go, and follow me closely,” Alhen said after grabbing her hand.

  Katherina nodded and made no effort to start a conversation, since they could wait until they were out of trouble.

  They were both preoccupied with staying vigilant at all times.

  Alhen officially couldn’t use his blessing for fear that something might happen. He still remembered the last time when he fell unconscious, and this would be a bad time to do that.

  Katherina gripped his hand tighter and pointed at something ahead.

  Alhen glanced at where she pointed and saw a set of doors leading to the forest being guarded by two guards.

  They were dressed in white cloaks and wore swords embedded in gold.

  They were on high alert due to the sound of the conflict reaching this area, their eyes practically leaving nothing unseen.

  “Alhen, can you do something about those guards? We need to hurry and get out of here,” the princess asked.

  Alhen stayed silent, observing their movements and equipment.

  Katherina looked impatient to get out of there, but he couldn’t rush lest he wanted to escape with his life.

  They didn’t seem to be wearing armor; a clean shot to the head should take one out if they don’t have any weird abilities, and for the other one, he would have to be quick and eliminate him after killing the first one.

  Alhen and Katherina were at an intersection of buildings, and he hid behind one with the princess.

  The exit lay to his right, and he stopped to think how they would get out of there without being seen or causing a ruckus.

  His eyes made a direct path that would keep him unseen for most of the time. There was a wall ahead that he could hide behind, and a water fountain closer to the guards, which was perfect for his situation.

  He had to get closer to get a clear shot, and if he did everything right, it would lead to a quick way out of the kingdom.

  ‘Talking about the kingdom, there always seems to be little to no protection on its entrances and exits. I wonder why that is.’

  He shook his head and focused, observing the guards and developing his plan.

  “Please tell me that you have figured something out,” Katherina lightly said.

  “I have,” Alhen responded, “but I am going to wait for a bit to see what the guards are doing. For now, I plan to get closer and get rid of them. It’s going to be messy and will cause a ruckus, but it will allow us to escape.”

  Katherina frowned and clasped her hands together. She seemed nervous, and she had every right to be.

  If something went wrong, it would mark her end, but Alhen wasn’t planning on messing things up.

  “Very well,” she said, “please be safe and do not die.”

  Alhen nodded in her direction and took off his boots, leaving them with the princess; he wanted to run quietly, and having them on would be a fast way to get him noticed and killed before he could do anything.

  His heart shook; the time was nearing when he would take action.

  ‘There is no room for error, I can’t fail,’ Alhen thought.

  When the guards looked away, he leaped out of his position, hiding behind the nearby wall. Looking back, he could see the worried expression on Katherina.

  He was almost one hundred percent sure that the source of her worries wasn’t him, but what would happen to her if he died.

  Placing those thoughts to the back of his mind, he peeked around the wall and, seeing they were looking in another direction, moved quickly to hide behind the nearby water fountain.

  He was about to peek his head when he noticed Katherina making gestures with her hand.

  She seemed in a panic, frantically gesturing with her hands to show him something, but he didn’t understand.

  That’s when he heard footsteps approaching, and Katherina rushed to hide behind the wall.

  ‘Damn it! Did they see me?’ The pace of his thoughts sped up as he tried to find the best way out of this situation.

  “If they spot me, I have less than two seconds to kill them, maybe even one, given that most people have enhanced reflexes. I don’t know if they are powerful or not, nor do I know if they have signs. Escaping in this situation is almost impossible; there’s nowhere to run.”

  Alhen’s heartbeat struggled against his ribcage, trying to break free.

  He took some slow and quiet deep breaths, calming down considerably in a few moments.

  The footsteps were now just behind him. He held the revolver in his hand tightly and steeled himself for what was to come.

  ‘It’s now or never,’ he activated his blessing.

  Leaving his hiding cover, he aimed his revolver forward and froze for a second.

  The guard was close, way too close; his revolver basically almost touched his head. Without a second thought, he pressed the trigger.

  “Bang!” The first gunshot rang out, blasting the head of the guard in the process. He didn’t have time to process what had happened before he lost his life.

  Alhen activated his blessing, preparing for the worst-case scenario.

  The headache he felt intensified and almost left him on the ground, but he held on as he felt his neck being disconnected from his body.

  His partner was momentarily stunned, but the next second, his sword swung at Alhen’s neck at unprecedented speeds.

  He barely avoided a fatal strike; the wound on his cheek caused by the blade was superficial and not enough to make him lose focus.

  Alhen, however, unfortunately lost his footing and fell on his butt despite seeing that this would happen with his blessing.

  He was so focused on the threat in front of him that his mind didn’t process anything else.

  The guard, with his combat experience, followed the attack, aiming to impale Alhen’s heart without mercy.

  He avoided the guard’s blade, crawling backwards and moving his body into uncomfortable positions, feeling the headache become almost unbearable.

  Blood had already started flowing down, and he didn’t know how long he would be able to hold.

  One second, he was struggling, fighting for survival; the next second, the world plunged into darkness, the guard, the sword, the environment… gone.

  “W-wha?” Alhen didn’t understand.

  “Pierce!” Alhen felt something sharp penetrating his shoulder, and that’s when he realized that he had gone blind.

  “Arghh!” The reaction was delayed; he scrambled backwards, unable to see, panic evident in his features.

  The brightness of his eye was gone, and his pupil disappeared, leaving only a white space that reflected nothing.

  Eventually, his back landed against a wall.

  In a desperate attempt to preserve his life, he raised his revolver and shot blindly, “Bang!” another one, “Bang!” And he kept going until he ran out of bullets.

  “Click! Click!” He lay frozen, panting out of exhaustion, but he didn’t let that distract him.

  His hand trembled, and his shaky breathing made it hard for him to concentrate.

  Without the ability to see, he didn’t know whether the guard was dead or not.

  If the guard were alive, he wouldn’t be able to defend himself now that his revolver had run out of bullets and he still couldn’t reload with one hand.

  Then he remembered that he had his artifact and had forgotten to use it.

  Before he could, however, a sound startled him, making him raise his revolver and shoot in its direction.

  “Click!” Alhen’s expression darkened; he had forgotten that his revolver was out of ammo, and no matter how much he pulled the trigger, nothing would come out.

  Dread filled him; he was dead.

  “Hey! That is dangerous; if it still had bullets, you would have blown a hole through my chest!” A voice rang out.

  There was no doubt; that whiny voice could only belong to one person.

  ‘Perfect! If she’s here, it can only mean one thing: the guard should be dead,’ he thought.

  Alhen took a second to calm down as he heard footsteps getting closer.

  “What happened to you? I remained hidden until I could no longer hear the conflict,” She commented.

  The cloth on her head obstructed her view of Alhen’s eyes, and she could only see his legs and the feet of a bloody body in front of him.

  “Help me stand up, we have to get out of here,” Alhen said.

  Katherina rushed to his side and helped him get up, feeling something warm on the palm of her hand.

  She gazed at it and saw blood, startling her.

  “Alhen! You are bleeding!” She exclaimed.

  Alhen gave off a bitter smile and replied, “Not only that, look at my eye. He took his glasses off and looked in the direction from which he last heard Katherina, showing her his eye.

  “Gasp! Alhen!” She exclaimed in worry.

  “I will explain later. We have to get out of here; the sound of gunshots is sure to have attracted attention. Let us leave before anyone comes.”

  Katherina nodded and, taking a determined step forward, she guided him towards the exit, leaving the walls once and for all.

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