The last ride to Apollon entered the final stretch of greenery before reaching the city. It seemed Lily had decided to avoid much expansion and leave the city as a place fortified by the forest on all sides. In the center of this forest path, halfway through the route to Apollon, was the mansion that I had been exiled to.
I shared the top of the carriage with Dawn as the wide wheels covered the entirety of the narrow forest path. Small twigs and leaves brushed us by as only the sight of the two main buildings of Apollon reached this far away.
"Hey, hey, Eugy. What should I do if they don't like me!" Titania, sitting on my head, twisted her body as she spoke out dramatically.
"Don't worry, they are all good people."
"Still! What if they ask me about my age? And it's not like I have a job either! I can't stand it if your family doesn't approve of us."
Maybe a bit too dramatically. I smiled and clenched my fists.
"Don't worry, my darling. Only our approval matters. We can convince everyone else."
"Eugyyy!"
"Titaniaa!"
The fairy grasped my hair tightly and rolled around on top of my head.
"Do you guys, just, randomly start roleplaying all the time?"
Dawn directed a skeptical question our way, to which I could only shrug.
"We have been roleplaying since we first met, Dawn. Our souls yearn for roleplay, our minds pray for roleplay."
"It is the life of an actor, I don't expect a little angel to understand. They used to call me the primadonna in Alfheim, I was the star of theater."
I conveyed Titania's words too for the angel that couldn't hear her. Well, an actor is just a glorified con man, so Titania's words had all the credibility they would need.
The carriage was rather stable on the route. They had also changed the paths into narrow one-ways to perfectly control entry and exit. I had made a different route for trade lines which should have also been completed in the city by now.
Dawn suddenly placed a hand on her chest and smiled.
"I am a bit nervous too. About your family, I mean."
Family.
That's right, they were my family. All three of them were my family.
"As I said, they're good people. Just relax."
"Good people, huh..."
She didn't seem convinced. It was true though, people like them would never even harm a mosquito if it didn't deserve it. All mosquitoes deserve it, but that's not the point. They are all good, calm people—
—A spine-freezing chill climbed up my back. I could feel my hands tremble from the sheer strength that was being exuded. Intent. No, this was Soul Ki.
"DAWN! " A scream erupted as I kicked her off the carriage and jumped down from the other side.
I tried my best to gain my balance, but my injuries still stung. My feet slipped off the paved incline of the road and I rolled down into the trees on the side as the unassuming carriage continued ahead.
"[Azure Dragon]"
Familiar words rang in my ears. The chilling sensation only grew.
"[Seven Falling Heads]"
The sky flashed blue. From beyond the rows of trees, locks of red hair swayed in the wind.
With the swing of that man's sword, seven dragon heads plunged down the skies. The seven dragons went haywire as they coiled over the entire forest and crashed into the trees and ground around us. And at the end, the final head dived from the clouds and rammed into the carriage.
A shockwave spread as clouds of dust rose in the air.
A shriek resounded. The coachman and his horses were uninjured and were running away.
"Dusk! What the fuck, are you alright!?"
Before I could return a reply to Dawn, the cloud of dust on the road was blown away. The dust faded and the sight of the red-haired man revealed itself.
Dawn stopped in her tracks. This wasn't an opponent she hope to take on, and I was far too injured to even handle Dawn properly right now.
The redhead turned my way and glared straight at me, in his hands a long sword.
The move, the style, the weapon, I knew all of it.
Slowly, I stood back up taking the support of a tree. The man and I engaged in a stare-off.
"Keith..." I muttered.
His Ki filled the air and pressed down on my chest. Without saying a word, Keith filled his sword with his Ki as a red glow overtook its entirety. From the outside to inside, the red glow didn't just fill the gaps of the blade but eventually covered every constituent particle in its shape. Just from the presence of the blade, the wind blew in all directions like a leaking tempest.
This was the level of Ki infusion that someone even above the bottleneck of Intent Ki could reach. A level people only touched in maybe a few hundred years. Soul Ki.
Keith raised that terrifying sword and pointed it at me.
Catene trembled with hostility, but I didn't let it move, my hands clutching its chains with all the strength I could manage.
Keith pulled his hand back.
And then threw the sword ahead. Time seemed to have slowed down as the blade tore through layers of the air and crossed the distance. Dawn couldn't even move, Keith couldn't bring his hand down, and the speed of the blade exceeded what one could touch.
The blade reached right in front of my eyes.
I could see my reflection in the glimmering red metal.
"Gah!"
A scream resounded.
The sword barely grazed my cheeks as it passed me by and lodged itself into the head of a cloaked person behind me.
Silence filled the forest.
Keith raised his hand and the sword came rushing back to him. His eyes were stuck on me.
I wanted to inspect the one that died right away, but I couldn't look away. My gaze widened as I noticed another of the cloaked figures underneath the rubble of the carriage. The other six heads must have gone to more of them as well.
"Keith," I spoke again, firmly this time.
"Young master..." a response came. His tone just as cold as before. "You... you had your first drink without me, didn't you!?!"
"Bastard that was your problem all along!?"
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