Book 4, Chapter 11

Escape

           The travel from the prison to the city gate

is safe at least. Not surprising, cause I won't be making the move at this

moment if I'm the robber. 

           I gave the bracelet to Hawk as soon as we left the

city range. "Be careful you two!"

　　    "Ha!

I won't even sweat in the face of a dozen people or two. Any more and I'll just

flee. No one can catch Suns.h.i.+ne that easily."

　　    Elfy

protested: "Don't forget about me! I'm not a decoration you know."

　　    "Alright.

Try your best. Oh wait, let me trying something first."

            I summoned all of

my companions and the Phantom Knights.

           "I wonder if the NPCs will attack

my companions even if I don't go in there myself. If they don't, I'll ask these

guys to protect you."

　　    "Oh

they won't attack. But your companions won't help either."

　　    "Why?"

　　    "One

of my friend did it before. The guards will only attack red named players and

will just ignore their companions, unless the pets do something first. But...companions

cannot go outside their master's view. In other words your companions can only

move where you can see them."

　　    "That

can't be," I spoke in surprise. "When I was grinding outside the Lost

City, I would ask Lucky to fly back to the city and bring me some potions. Of

course I can't see through the city walls. There's another time when I asked

him to find some trees to make a towing cart (when I was trying to get inside

the underground dungeon). He went towards a forest which was pretty far away."

　　    "Wait

wait wait, your companions buy potions for you?" Elfy is quite shocked.

　　    "Only

Lucky. The other companions don't have inventory so they can't carry any items.

But still, I can ask them to fight or do something simple outside my sight as

long as they can understand what I'm saying."

　　    "...There

must be something special on you! I've never heard of any companions so smart

that can help their master run errands!"

           Hawk nodded in agreement.

　　    "I

can't think of anything. Maybe it's because they're special? Or because that's

how high-level companions act, since you never see any high level ones before."

I pondered. "Never mind. I'm pretty sure they can help you get in there

safely. Let's do it now. The enemies may be a.s.sembling, it'll be more dangerous

the longer we take."

　　    "Okay

then. We're going in." There they go.

           I ordered the Phantom Knights

to follow them, and split into two groups if necessary. They'll be

acting as stand-out bodyguards. I believe five level 850 monsters are enough to

keep most people away.

　　    I

can't forget Rosa either, as he can conveniently hide underground. His job is

not to protect the couple, but to get the bracelet to safety if

anything went wrong.

           Phantom will be following Hawk and interfere with any

pursuers using his mental attacks.

           Dart is to protect the bracelet as well. No

one can s.n.a.t.c.h the item faster then this little creature.

           As for Phiona, Loong'er

and Lucky...they'll stay outside since their size would probably cause trouble

in the city.

　　    I

just wait. I would like to be patient but those guards are making it very hard

by staring at me and keep reaching for their quivers.

           Hawk isn't having an easy

time either. We were right, someone among those girls already spread the

message to someone. Well, more than just "someone". They ran

into a whole band of highjackers not long after they entered the city. A crowd

is standing in line across the main road, completely blocking it. The usual

pa.s.sers-by are pretty annoyed by the sudden inconvenience but they can only

choose another way since there's nothing they can do against such a huge group.

　　    Hawk

looked at the scene. That's at least a hundred people. As he considered about how to get past them, the Phantom Knight Leader moved in front of him.

           "We'll clear the way. Follow us!" 

           They didn't really wait for Hawk's

answer between the knights formed up an arrow head array.

           "Phantom Knights!

Onward!" 

           The other knights gave out a loud battle cry.

　　    "Crush

them!"

　　    Hawk

wasn't expecting them to be so aggressive. That's how they were when I first

met with them, and they haven't tried to change that. 

           The people in the front

of the group were mostly knights and warriors. However, most of them don't have

mounts, since it's not really easy to get one. 

           They still know what it means

to face someone charging on a horse though.

　　    The

Phantom Knights approached the roadblock with alarming speed. Hawk grasped onto

his sword as well, ready to face anyone that might get past the knights' formation,

which never happened. The first knights to contact with the enemies didn't even

use their weapons. They simply placed their s.h.i.+elds in front of them to bash

people away. The players standing in front are all fierce attackers like Orc

Berserkers, however they still can't withstand the charging horses just with their

bodies--they were knocked away like bowling pins. 

           The crowd scattered in an

instance. The knights at the tip of the formation didn't slow down in one bit, the

other knights readied their lances and started killing anyone who gets close. Hawk

stayed in the middle of the formation. He feels like surrounded by a solid

iron wall, no one managed to went through, not with that kind of level gap.

　　    I'm

sitting outside the city, looking at my Evilness bar. I can't see what's going

on in there but I can pretty much imagine, since the digits are growing like

water meter running at full speed.

　　    The

robbers planned to keep Hawk and Elfy busy using their front-line berserkers

and do damage with their wizards and archers. The plan is good on itself but...no

one expected the Phantom Knights to break through their 27 Berserkers and 43 high-level

Iron Knights like cutting a piece of paper. The Wizards and Archers in the back

didn't get the chance to prepare their first attacks when they saw their

defenders were all sent to the rooftops nearby, and were soon stomped to death

by the war horses.

　　    The

most unfortunate one among those people is none other than my previous enemy, Mr.

Loong. He was just dragged to death outside the city, now he went back to his

guild and heard the information about an anti-red name bracelet so he led some

men here to get the valuable treasure. Of course he joined the group himself for the merit. Now he became

the first batch of wizard corpses.

　　    A

hundred people can't make a very thick defense so the Phantom Knights charged

all the way to the other side within 3 seconds. A b.l.o.o.d.y path was left behind

them, with several remaining warriors groaning on the ground. The weaker

cla.s.ses have already disappeared. The scene looks grim but the actual casualty

is not really big. Ten knights won't cover a lot of area, those who died are

mostly unlucky wizards.

　　    A

wounded guy jumped up and decided to call the others to retaliate. But the

Phantom Knight leader re-a.s.sembled his team before the idiot have the chance to

give any orders.

           "Fools! Your trophy looks pathetic! Do you not remember

the codes for us Phantom Knights? Tell me, aloud!"

　　    The

other knights roared in unite. 

           "Leave no one standing! Crush them!" 

           Then

they charged back! 

           The remaining defenders panicked. They no longer have any standing defenses left, so the knights just killed the last of them like a pack of wolves

into a sheep herd. Even some bystanders were involved inside the chaos.

　　    Elfy

sent me the video feed in her private chat and told me to "admire the

heroic deeds of my subordinate". I almost fell from Night Shade when I saw

it.

           "Tell them to move NOW! It's an order!" 

           G.o.d dammit. Leave no one

standing?? I need to give them some serious lectures after this.

　　    "Let's go! Your boss is angry with you guys!" Elfy yelled to the knights. 

            Woos.h.!.+

An arrow pierced the air, towards Elfy's heart with extreme speed. But a shadow

blocked the arrow with even better speed.

　　    Dart

did a back-flip and landed on Suns.h.i.+ne's head, with the arrow still in his

mouth. A masked man stood up on a rooftop across the road. 

           "But that's

impossible!" 

           He drew his bow and shot at Elfy again. Dart caught the arrow,

with exact the same trick.

　　    Elfy

looked at Dart who's now standing on the ground. "Nice move little one! Now

I really regret cutting Ziri's hand like that, or you'll be mine already..."

　　    The

man on the rooftop is obviously unable to accept what's going on. He pulled on

his bow again. When Dart prepared to intercept the attack, the arrow suddenly

turned into three.

           "Multi-shot!" Elfy is an experienced Archer, of

course she recognized the skill. 

           Dart however, made a swift U-turn in the air. He

caught all three arrows before he landed.

　　    "What the fuc??" The Archer's voice is shaking now. That's too much shock in a day.

　　    Hawk

decided to ignore the a.s.sailant and asked the Phantom Knights to ran towards the prison. I sighed in relief when I noticed my Evilness has stopped growing. 

           "b.a.s.t.a.r.ds. Five minutes away from my sight and they're already causing me

troubles."

　　    Hawk

and Elfy saw another group of people running towards them just after they cut a

corner. Another wave of robbers, but they were too slow. Hawk dashed past their

intended point of defense before they can reach it. 

          One of the leading Fighters

shouted towards Hawk: "Stop right--"

          An arrow shut him up by pinning

into his helmet. Elfy did that while sitting on Hawk's shoulder, the arrow is

well-aimed at between the man's eyebrows but it didn't actually get in. For Elfy

didn't want to earn herself a red name just because this. That shot was merely

a warning. 

　　    The

whole route is quite a mixed bag. Hawk and Elfy encountered 15 groups who tried

to stop them before they reached the prison. Of course they reported it back to

me. Now I can see people's insane thirst for equipments.

　　    "We

got Rose. We're on our way back now!" 

　　    Rose contacted me as well. "Finally! Hey Ziri, you have to take me to wash

my name! I don't want to be in that place again!"

　　    "You

said it. We should go shopping in cities later!"

　　    "But

aren't you red yourself?" 　　

           "The

bracelet! I'll take it back once you clean your name, then this No.1 criminal

will go for walks in those cities as he likes!"

　　    "Oh

oops. Let's talk later. We have some more company here."

　　    Hawk

is stopped this time because...a group of beautiful girls are standing in front

of him. 

            "Hey Ziri! We got trouble! Can I have some air

support?"

　　    "What's

the matter?" 

　　    "Just

look!" Hawk opened his video feed and pointed at front.

　　    "Huh?

It's Red Moon!"

　　    "You

know each other?" Hawk asked in surprise.

　　    "Yes

we do. Get closer, lemme talk to her."

           Hawk unmounted and walked towards

Red Moon, with his hands raised. I spoke when they're close enough. 

           "Hey

Red Moon, do you have to do this?"

　　    She

seems angered. "I'll ask you one last time, do you join G.o.ddess Alliance?"

　　    I

frowned. "Is that very important? I'll help you get your members out, but

I won't join you. Don't push me!"

　　    "I

do hope you don't push me into pus.h.i.+ng you! You will join us at your own will!"

　　    "c.r.a.p.

What's that supposed to mean?"

　　    "I

meant well!" 

           I'm seeing too much anger from her eyes as if I owe her a

million dollars. I almost owe that much money to Clark, and he never gave

me that look!

　　    "...I

see. So we must settle this with a fight then?" I lost my patience. "I

know girls tend to act up. But don't take it too far!"

　　    "You want me to kill Rose and your friends so I just take your bracelet by force?"

Her brain is obviously heating up as well.

　　    "THAT'S

IT!" I cut the chat. "Lucky!" 

           I hopped on Lucky's back. Getting

in by the ground is not an option. My wing blades can help me fly but there are

restrictions. I can't avoid those archers with it. While Lucky can easily fly

way higher than me. I'm not sure if that's enough to get out of the archers' attack

range but it will be safer.

　　    I

told Lucky to head to their location from above and asked Rose to hang on for a

while. The city is big in size but we can get there in a matter of a dozen

seconds. We spent most of our time trying to climb high. With the help of Star

Gaze, I can already see Rose's escort team fighting with Red Moon's guild

members. As a Paladin, Hawk is having a hard time dealing with the young ladies.

His honor doesn't allow him to use his full strength. On the other hand, Elfy

and Red Moon don't have that kind of problem. They don't need to hold anything back in a girl's fight. 

            As for those Phantom Knights...Well they're just too

good at drawing attentions. Wherever they go, people will see screaming girls

running all over the place.

　　    They

never tried to control their damage in the least. Let's say they don't even

know why you should go easy on girls--they simply charged around like how they

did to those berserkers and warriors. Of course those delicate la.s.ses don't

have any chance against them. Half of the females are lying on the ground after

only one round of attacks. 

           The other on-lookers decided to help G.o.ddess

Alliance for some reason.

　　    Maybe

not realizing what's happening, or maybe just because he's dumb, a player

wearing scholar suit walked in front of the leader knight and scolded: "How

can you call yourself a man?? How can you do such a thing to those beautiful

ladies??" 

           Ugh. Apparently this guy saw Phantom Knights as some high level

players.

　　    The

leader is surprised by the sudden intruder as well. He even believed that the

guy must be someone really powerful so he can ignore the danger around him. 

           He pointed his lance at the scholar, who's still giving out his moral

theories like a teacher lecturing a group of students.

           The scholar screamed when he finally saw the lance tip at his

own neck. "What-what-what are you doing??"

　　    The

knight thrust his lance forward, turning the idiot into a white flash. "Oh

lord. I though he was a Grand Priest from the G.o.d's Altar or something." 

　　    Another

Phantom Knight moved over. "Maybe that was a reserve priest. He was

blabbering just like those heretics. But he was too weak!"

　　    "Cut

the small talk." The leader held up his lance. "Our codes!"

　　    "Leave

no one standing! Crush them!" 

            People began to flee when they hear this

line again.

　　    "YOU'ALL

COME BACK NOW!" 

            Lucky almost crashed himself onto the ground. People close

to us all fell down. I don't have time to explain so I just pulled Rose up, threw

two recall scrolls to the Lost City to Hawk and un-summoned all other

companions and servants.

           "Use the scroll! Let's meet over there!" 

            I

patted on Lucky's neck to tell him to take off. Red Moon noticed my intentions

and charged towards me, with her female members following behind. 

            Lucky kicked

at the ground and flapped his giant wings, causing a strong wind current which

helped us up while causing the enemies to tumble away.

　　    "We're

safe!" I hugged Rose in my arms. 

           We're already at a safe distance when the

NPCs arrived at the scene. Some still tried to shoot at us but those arrows don't

have any power left at such an alt.i.tude.

　　    "...h...elp...!

....ahhh....! ..."

　　    Rose

pushed my hands (close to her breast) away and asked: "Did you hear something?"

　　    "Yeah.

No idea what it is. The wind is too strong." I looked around, and looked

below us. "Well we can't be hearing anything this high up. Must be

imagination, or it's just the wind. We never tried to fly this high before. Hey

Lucky, lower yourself a bit, and take it slow."

　　    "...aaa...me...halp...!" 

           It came again. The wind is not so loud this time since we went a lot lower. We

can hear the voice clearer.

　　    "I

think there is something..." I looked about again. I even used my Star

Gaze as a binocular but I still don't see anything. "Strange. A ghost

maybe?"

　　    Rose

leaned into me again and looked around nervously. "Gho-ghost?? You're

right! That sounded like some woman is crying!"

　　    "So,

a woman ghost. Did you make someone hate you before, and now she came to get

revenge?" I joked.

　　    "Heelp!

...*sob* Somebody help me please!" 

            I heard it again. It's very obvious this

time. Indeed a woman's cry, trembling. Man, creepy.

　　    "I'm sorry!!"

Rose nudged her head against my chest and won't get out.