Chapter 68: Run

Having made up their minds, the three abruptly smashed through the floor, dropping to the first floor. Then they ran towards the inn’s exit.

“Hey—Selene, didn’t you see something?!” Louise, carrying the two exhausted companions, was running as quickly as possible. Selene was doing better, probably because she’d experienced this kind of near-light-speed movement before, and although her breathing was a little labored, she could still move.

She shook her head.

That overwhelming intuition seemed to only appear when she “saw” something. She hadn’t actually seen the strange creature, only the “treasure.” She naturally hadn’t received any information.

The other two hadn’t seen anything, either.

Glancing at Richter, she saw that his face had turned pale, as if he was about to die. Louise wasn’t running so fast as to make them feel dizzy, but the terrain in Tatra was truly complex. There were not only significant changes in elevation, but also obstacles in the way, making Louise constantly have to dodge and weave, while trying to avoid that creature, and also to gather more information. After leaving the inn, they had been constantly circling and zigzagging through this not-very-large, mountainous village.

Richter, whose body was that of a child, was quickly becoming exhausted. It was lucky that he hadn’t eaten much. Otherwise, he would probably have vomited all the way.

But Louise didn’t dare to stop.

After they left the inn and ran into the village, the strange creature, which hadn’t caught them, entered a state of frenzy, relentlessly pursuing them. The stench of decay lingered behind them. Though they couldn’t see anything, a sense of danger constantly surrounded the three.

After a sharp turn, a ruined building blocked their path. Louise, unable to dodge, used her left and right hands to throw her companions into the air, sending them several meters upwards!

She then retreated, used her momentum to jump, pushing off a wooden post, leaping into the air. A hazy purple mist appeared beneath her feet. She stepped on it forcefully to adjust her trajectory, and she flew forward, catching Selene and Richter, who hadn’t reacted yet.

A few seconds later, a dull thud echoed in the distance.

The pale purple mist appeared again just before they landed, swirling around the debris and making it disappear before Louise stepped on it again, preventing them from falling directly to the ground.

Then she performed several forward rolls, rolling on the ground with her companions. Though they were covered in dust, they landed safely, and they didn’t end up as kebab skewers, tomato paste, or potato soup.

“How was that? My escape skills are pretty good, eh?”

Louise, scolding herself, quickly stood up, brushed the dust off her undamaged clothes, and smoothed down her long white hair, muttering,

“Haven’t done this in a long time. My parkour skills haven’t gotten rusty…”

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“Forget the reward for a moment… I don’t feel good. Someone help me,” Richter said, his face pale, lying on a wooden plank. “I think my arm is broken again…”

Selene, anxious and flustered, immediately went to help. Luckily, it was just a dislocated joint, probably caused by his unconscious attempt to protect himself while rolling. After putting it back in place and using a healing spell, he seemed fine.

More importantly, they seemed to have lost their pursuer.

At least, the stench had faded.

“Safe?” Selene, though uncertain, sighed in relief. Then, she said in surprise, “Those moves… were amazing.”

Louise frowned slightly, surprised.

“Is that unusual? I’m an elf. Those moves might be difficult for you, but they’re almost instinctive for us. Catching two people in mid-air is a bit difficult… But you, both in the real world and here, are weak and frail. You probably couldn’t even beat a bear. That’s probably why it was so scary for you.”

Selene paused, pondering.

What happened to my amnesia? Why can’t you even beat a bear? Are you useless, too? Don’t you want to try harder?

Her friend was clearly a superhuman, yet according to her friend, she couldn’t even beat a bear. She pulled Richter up and helped him stand, suddenly feeling like a worried mother…

She had some strange thoughts in her mind…

“Where are we now?” Selene asked. She hadn’t paid much attention to her surroundings while running.

“I don’t know, but we’re probably still within the boundary of that church,” Louise casually found a rock to sit on, observing the surroundings.

Though she had used the purple mist to clean up a large area of debris before they landed, the scene before them was still chaotic. Broken pieces of wood and rock were scattered everywhere. Damaged walls and collapsed roofs were everywhere. Among the tightly packed debris, tables, bowls, cups, and what seemed to be the legs of a table or a cupboard were visible.

It looked like a large building had been destroyed and collapsed there.

“An explosion… No, if that’s the case, the other buildings wouldn’t be intact,” Richter, who was still pale, said slowly. “There are dents on the roof. There are crush marks on the debris. To be precise, it’s like something heavy pressed down on this area… Since there are no shockwave marks, we can rule out a meteor.”

“So, this seems a little strange,” Louise, leaning against Selene, her usual elegance gone, said. “Did you see anything?”

Selene carefully scanned her surroundings and shook her head.

“Strange… There’s nothing here. It’s completely quiet.”

Although it had been quiet most of the time in the village, when they’d made noise and were running, they had felt a mysterious sense of being watched, as if every house had someone watching them, their gazes following them.

…But the probability of people being in those houses was low.

Theoretically, there shouldn’t be any monsters watching them here.

Had the monsters died because the buildings had collapsed?

That seemed unlikely…

But this area of ruins seemed very unusual. Not only had the monster stopped pursuing them after they came here, but there were also no monsters hiding inside the houses. The safety of this place was unbelievable… But Jose hadn’t mentioned this place. Why?

While pondering, Selene suddenly noticed something different.

Something had fallen to the ground—paper?

Realizing something, Selene coughed lightly to get her companions’ attention, then approached and looked at the drawing, which seemed newer than the one at the village entrance.

【Tatra Village has a long-standing tradition. To commemorate the hero who slew the dragon, on the last day of the second week of every month, they hold a torchlight ceremony at the legendary site where the dragon’s blood fell…】

It was Jose’s handwriting again, but this time the writing was very messy. He must have written it while he was very emotional.

Selene blinked, about to read further, but the already-bright sky suddenly darkened, the words fading into the shadows.

Nightfall.

Faint laughter echoed from afar, and then a long line of torches suddenly appeared below them.