As the whole village busily prepared to attack King Damon’s castle, the rest of the forest creatures prepared to hide themselves away as the blood moon was creeping nearer. The Raven is said to be at its most powerful that night, and King Damon’s body transfer will be at the sun’s first light.
That could only mean war and chaos to everyone. Arwin and the rest of the villagers are not the only ones who wish to fight and dethrone the tyrannical king of the forest.
And everyone knows the best opportunity to strike is before King Damon changes into a younger and much stronger vessel.
However, King Damon sat comfortably in his throne because he knew that no matter how many creatures try to fight him all at once- no one stands a chance against him, and the only one who can is out there cowering in fear.
King Damon mutters, “Arwin… Is there any sign of her?”
“None yet, my king.” Sinas replied and continued, “But… I have a good guess; they’re hiding i
Sinas took a deep breath and muttered to himself, “I need to prolong this game as long as I can.” He started off by opening with his white pawn to f4, hoping that King Damon would fall for his trick and proceed with the two-move checkmate. King Damon looked at Sinas tenaciously as he moved his black pawn, sacrificing it to e5 again with a flick of his hand. He crossed his arms and smirked as Sinas hesitantly captured King Damon’s pawn. King Damon chuckled softly and said, “My ancestors taught me this game. It’s a fascinating game that gets to decide who gets to rule the forest. A strategic game where the winner gets it all and the loser loses his life.” King Damon moved another pawn simply by looking at it to d6. Sinas captured it once again with even more hesitation growing inside him. In his head, he knows it must be a trap. This is too easy. This can’t be right. Just then, as Sinas hesitation peaked through, King Damon smirked and provoked
Meanwhile, back at the village where Mosse and Mark prepared to face off each other, Timothy felt something off as the glass of water he grabbed slipped off from his hand and cut him. His eyes fixated on the broken shards of the glass on the floor as he began to feel anxious. A gentle tap relinquished him. It is Arwin. She asked, “Is everything okay? You seem… occupied.” “I feel something bad is going to happen. I’m going to the borders for a while to check for some irregularities.” Arwin suddenly asked from Timothy, “Oh, can you grab me some pomegranate on the way back. I’m craving some.” “That’s west of the border; plus, since when did you like pomegranates?” Timothy sounded confused as he doubted Arwin's craving, but Arwin smirked and just looked at him straight in the eye; she said, “Just trust me.” “O…kay?” Timothy did not understand what Arwin was going on about, but he agreed with her anyway and proceeded to start going towards th
Arwin took Mosse somewhere back from the training and everything as she tended Mosse’s scars. Mosse took Arwin’s hands weakly and said, “That… right now just proves your theory all along.” Arwin insisted on tending Mosse’s scars when Mosse said, “You don’t have to tend my wounds. You and I both know that my scars heal faster anyway.” Taking a deep sigh, Arwin remarked as she looked over Mark’s back silhouette, “Yeah. I know what I have to do in case this plan fails.” “Listen, Arwin. The forest warned you before; it even showed you visions of what monstrosity Mark is capable of if the transfer of body is completed. That’s… That won’t be Mark anymore.” Mosse explains, “King Damon is slowly eating him away.” “I know!” Arwin snapped at Mosse, “I know my responsibilities and the burdens that come along being a raven! I know what I have to do!” Mosse sighed, looking a little disappointed in Arwin, and asked in a subtle voice, “But can you? Do you ac
Gloin, unable to control his anger, started charging towards the tied-up Dylan without any hint of hesitation. Gloin punched Dylan until his fists bleed out; Gloin shouted, “You’re crazy! You’re a psychopath! Why would you do something like that?!” Dylan coughed off the blood and laughed maniacally, “Just ‘cause he was in my way.” “Who told you to do it? Why would you do something as inhumane as this?” Gloin pulled Dylan’s collar aggressively, which made Dylan choke, but he replied, “Who else? Of course, it’s Sinas. To answer why… you’re just going to have to wait.” Dylan shot Arwin a look for a split second, and she immediately knew what this is or what this means. Timothy sees Arwin’s reaction and finds it odd. Timothy asked from himself, “What is Arwin not telling us?” But before Timothy can say anything out loud to Arwin, Rosa asked from Arwin with her shaky and terrified voice, “Arwin… the fact that Mark and Dylan can enter and leave the barrier
Realizing something, Arwin grew impatient and asked once again, “Where are they? They want to meet me, right?” “Only you.” The tambal squinted its eyes, doubting Arwin’s true intentions, but Arwin nodded in agreement, so the tambal continued as he replied, “They said they would be at the deep forest later at night. They’ll be waiting for you. Otherwise, they will plan an attack in this village.” Arwin said, “Got that.” And just before she left, she added, “I just realized that I couldn’t let you tell anyone anything.” “What do you mean?” “I’m saying I have to kill you.” “What-“ The tambal asked out loudly, shocked by Arwin's words, but before it could even finish, Arwin easily and flawlessly slit its throat. She watched as the tambal choked on its own blood. Just as the tambal is being drained out of its life, Arwin remarked, “I just realized that Atlas is a friend of a friend and what you did was horrible. Be thankful for the quick de
Timothy looked at Arwin straight in the eye as he began losing grip on the reality. His voice broke as tears ran down his eyes; he mustered the courage he could and asked out loud, “Arwin tell me… did you know? Did you know that Atlas was going to die?” The strong gust of wind passed through the forest as if it’s laughing and mocking Timothy. He felt his heart breaking. For the longest time, Timothy trusted Arwin, and for him, he felt so betrayed. He felt his world collapse before his very eyes, and the longer Arwin does not answer, the more real it feels. Finally, Arwin answered, “I… did it to save everyone.” And there is it. Timothy’s long-awaited answer. The confirmation that Arwin knew everything and that she could have been the reason why Atlas died. If she did not ask Timothy to run her some errands, he could have been with Atlas and saved him. If he did not trust Arwin then, Atlas would still be alive. Timothy felt like a heavy
On the way back to the castle, Sinas snickered and asked from Dylan, “Timothy… was he there? Did he hear everything?” Dylan nodded and said, “I made sure he followed Arwin.” “Excellent. Figuring out that Arwin actually knew about his friend’s death must be heartbreaking for Timothy, and it’s exactly what we aimed for.” Sinas continued to explain, “If we manage to break apart their little crew, we’ll easily get Arwin falling into my hands as soon as we leave this forest. Arwin is the biggest treasure we have to steal.” “I doubt that we have to do a lot to break them apart. Their friendship is barely hanging off by a cliff.” Dylan remarks, “They’re capable of ruining their bond without us doing a thing, and the last thread holding them together, which is Timothy finally broke down too.” Sinas chuckled, “Exactly as planned.” Dylan nodded in agreement. There was a brief moment of silence just before he asked, “Sinas… I’d like to know my moth
Arwin, on the other hand, returned back to the village in the morning when the sun was just coming up. Mosse greeted her, “Hiya, cap’n.” Hearing those words made Arwin deeply hurt. She knew that she did not receive such a title. She can feel her eyes tearing up when suddenly, some villagers, along with Rosa, walked towards them. Arwin tried to hide her tears so desperately that Mosse saw through her and hugged her tightly. Rosa was surprised by this action to see them intimate, and she stuttered to say, “Er… sorry, but you have to see this. The- Dylan they brought yesterday is not Dylan.” Mosse playfully patted Arwin’s head and replied, “Yes, yes, we’ll be there soon. You see, Arwin’s a little too shy announcing that we’re a couple-“ Arwin punched Mosse to interrupt him, and Mosse groaned in pain as he continued, “A couple of best friends, I mean.” “O…kay then, I’ll be leaving first.” Rosa left with her blushing and embarrassed face. It’s her
Arwin walked calmly. Wendy saw her when the young woman said, “Yes, everything turned out for the best, they gave everyone immunity, and they decided to unsubscribe. The army’s way of doing things is not the best!”Wendy, with a smile, said, “It’s true. It is not! But it’s good that the republic doesn’t follow them anymore. They’ve been close to me for a long time, so you don’t have to worry!”Smiling, Arwin thanked him and said, “I know! The mafia has done a lot for us, and we are available. We will open a special commission agency, and we can take on any job. Any…!”Wendy, with a smile, said, “I’ll keep them in mind then… Tell me! On the hand, how does it work?Smiling, Arwin nodded, saying, “The hand works great! Just like Strickland’s arm, though, he only knows how to complain….!”Wendy nodded and, seeing Arwin said, “That’s great, but if you don’t need anything, what did you come to do? Just to say hello?”Arwin nodded and said, “I wanted to know how you were, but more than anyth
Arwin was unconscious and the warm hand of a person she knew brought her back to reality. Everything was collapsing, and a one-armed man was pushing hard to remove part of the railing that was above it.“Luca.”She whispered when she saw the effort that the man-made toward her. She placed both hands on the railing and, helping him between the two of them, managed to lift her, she looked at him, and he said, offering her a hand, “I was worried, and I came to see how you were!”She, smiling, took his hand and, standing up, said, “It was difficult, but I did it! Is dead!”Luca smiling, began to run to the side of Arwin. Both were injured but kept a steady pace walking to get out of that place. Arwin seeing him, looked at his bandaged leg and said, “You managed to beat Skyler!”The smiling young man looked at him and said, “Nine times out of ten, she would have lost… I was very lucky!”She looked at him and was sure that he was speaking sincerely. However, she also knew how efficient he w
Arwin looked at the man walking towards her. Her shirt fell to the ground and showed a torso full of scars. The man raised his hands, looked at the pirate, and said, “It is said that you were the captain of a pirate ship. Is that true?”Arwin tightened his muscles, and the smiling man said, “I also!”With speed, she approached. For Arwin, it was strange to see a person of that size move at such speed, the man launched two direct blows to Arwin’s face, and the young woman, moving her head from side to side, managed to avoid them.He prepared a strong uppercut and threw it at the girl’s face. She tilted her face back to avoid the blow, but she could only feel the impact and see the entire room move around her. She didn’t understand what was happening.She was sure she had dodged it, but now the whistle that deafened her ears was in accordance with the erratic movement of the lights when the next blow caught her in the stomach.She felt a powerful hollow in her stomach as her legs failed
Arwin looked straight ahead at the swordsman of the black knights, the corpses of his companions adorned the entire anteroom, and he said, smiling, “After killing you. I’ll go find that Skyler guy and finish him off!”She, smiling, calmly breathed as she squeezed the handle of her gun. In that place, the smell of blood began to permeate everything, and the man in front of her said, “This is it. It’s the end!”Taking a step forward, he pressed the handle of his sword. That action generated a reaction from Arwin, who, with full power, advanced. Their steps were synchronized, and in a fraction of a second, the blood on the ground splashed from their strong steps until they crossed each other and stayed behind their enemy.They both calmly smiled, and it was one of Arwin’s daggers that broke at that moment. She looked at it and straightened up, and looked back when she said, “The weapons of the black knights are unmatched!”Seeing the man, he fell to his knees, and slowly, his hands went
Luca watched Skyler. Every move in his mind ended with the man stabbing him somewhere in the body, and even though the sword was severed and its reach reduced, Skyler didn’t look fazed in the least.In a normal fight with a normal person, Luca would have the advantage because of his armory on his arm, but against Skyler, all those weapons were useless. Something about that person was extraordinary, and his ability to fight was beyond everyone’s expectations, including Luca’s.Skyler bending her knees forward, jumped towards him, Luca raised his arm, trying to anticipate the blow, but the union member did not reveal his attack until the last minute.With a precise sword strike to the abdomen, Skyler made Luca step back, activating the barrel of his weapon. He opened his palm so that it pointed at Skyler, and the young man, only leaning forward a little, managed to dodge the shot.Swinging his sword hard, he hit Luca’s arm with the edge making his hand do a huge flip, and with his bare
Arwin and his men arrived at the antechamber of the emperor’s room. They all looked at the door ornamented with the symbol that was the shield of the empire on the doorknobs while they breathed deeply. Arwin said, “Once we go in, probably if we find opposition, they have to be careful and attack firmly. We don’t know what’s in store for us!”But that was not entirely true, and she had a clear notion of what was waiting for her behind that door. Seeing her companions before entering, she said, “Listen, if there are any black knights entering behind this door, I want you to retreat immediately… if you stay, you will die!”One of the soldiers saw her and said, “We will not retreat. If we even die, we have to make sure to make your mission easier, and if the black knights are behind this door, then we will have to face them, that’s all!”She smiled, the support of her men always lovely, and kicking the door hard, she had a split second to see the formation in front of her.Four soldiers a
Holly looked back and could see Loid storming in, firing her gun and sliding on her knees to get behind the wall her grenade had built. Seeing Holly, she asked, “Are you okay?”She was happy to see him and smiling. She nodded, breathing deeply. Loid saw how a fragment of the wall deteriorated and, looking to the side, said, “First, we must move. This won’t last long!”Coming out of the side of the wall, he raised his rifle and, firing several times, managed to hit Ben in the chest, knocking him to the ground. Looking at Holly, they both began to run at full speed towards another iron container.From the ground, Ben threw his nails, trying to kill them, but they moved quickly and managed to take cover.Loid was surprised, and seeing Ben stand up, he asked, “I gave him six shots. How the hell is he intact?”Holly, with a hint of frustration in her voice, said, “He’s reborn. I shot him in the head, an explosion with a grenade, I even hit him with a forklift, and he’s still whole. It won’
Luca was right in front of his enemy. The man in the white suit was smiling despite the wound on his shoulder. The man was looking at Luca carefully when he said, “Do you think you can survive this time? This injury was because you took me by surprise!”With those words, the man threw himself on Luca. He threw a hook hoping that Luca would protect himself but instead, the soldier moved his head from the place of the impact avoiding the blow with ease.The man looked at that, but, far from being discouraged, he launched a strong kick to the abdomen, but Luca, moving with his legs, got out of the reach of the blow. The man started throwing combination after combination, but Luca moved his body kept away from him.The frustrated man felt the pain in his shoulder when Luca smilingly said, “It’s not space mechanics. If I can’t cover myself, then I’m going to dodge everything you throw… your physical condition isn’t very good!”The smiling man shook his head and said, “As if they hadn’t tri
Arwin was running at full speed. The corridors turned into different paths but they had their path well established. They exactly knew which direction to go thanks to Holly’s help. However, the girl had stopped responding, and that puzzled Arwin a bit as he advanced with a glance. A quick glance at the troops that were with her, the girl stopped.She was looking at her men curiously when one of the Mafia soldiers asked, “What’s wrong, Arwin?”She is a quick movement, took out her dagger and, throwing it at full speed, stabbed one of the mafia soldiers directly in the chest, and all the soldiers raised their rifles to point at her. They were terrified when she, without paying any attention to them, saw how the man stabbed in the ground became another person.The guards looked at each other and saw Arwin, and the girl said, “Apparently, he can change his appearance and clothes at will... I don’t know when he replaced one of you, but he did!”One of the mafia soldiers looked at her in su