Chapter 30: Fleeing From His Ex-Comrades

“I warned you. What were you thinking?” the evil god snapped.

Luke ignored him, gritting his teeth as he was forced to run away from the fight.

Every fiber of his being was telling him to turn back and fight. It told him not to be a coward and face them with everything he had. He could barely keep his rational mind, which told him going back would be a death sentence and that he needed to go into hiding.

He had been a fool not to consider he might be forced to fight his ex-comrades if he confronted his parents.

It should have crossed his mind that if his ex-comrades had spoken ill of him to them, his parents would probably call for their help the moment they saw him. They would rely on his ex-comrades to save them from their own son.

Recalling the looks his family gave him stabbed deep into his heart.

Even though he knew he couldn’t blame them for the poison whispered into their ears, their actions hurt deeply. Probably just as deeply as his ex-comrades’ betrayal.

Luke paused to catch his breath and check his injuries.

Cuts covered his entire body, and parts of his clothes were ripped or torn, leaving parts of his skin exposed.

While none of his injuries seemed serious enough that he needed to see a doctor, they would still cause him some grief. The chances he could go to the store to grab medicine and bandages without being stopped were slim. Security would undoubtedly ask him to remove his hood.

After all, if someone showed up at the store covered in injuries and hiding their face, it practically screamed that the person was shady or hiding something.

He scowled and rubbed at his hair furiously.

How could he make such a terrible mistake?

Luke had lost the element of surprise. Now that he had been exposed, it wouldn’t be long before everyone knew about him, and he couldn’t show his face anywhere, not that he had done so since the beginning.

“You only have yourself to blame. I’ve told you many times before, but you chose not to listen,” the evil god hissed.

“Shut up,” Luke snapped, not wanting to hear the evil god rub it in his face.

Of course the evil god didn’t stop and continued, “To think you were the leader of the heroes. How can someone who can’t think clearly be the leader? You were obviously just the mascot. They were only using you for your face.”

“Shut up!” Luke roared, punching a nearby tree.

The force of the punch shook the tree’s branches, and leaves fell down towards him. Several landed on his head while others slid down him to the ground.

Unfortunately, his actions only drew attention to himself.

He snapped his head up as he could hear roaring thunder overhead. With a curse, Luke ran, hoping to outrun his ex-comrades. He pushed past the trees and bushes while periodically checking behind him to see if any of them had caught up.

Which way should he go?

Going back into town was impossible. It would only increase the number of people coming after him even if most of them would be noncombatants.

Should he just leave town and take the road back to the main road?

No, that wasn’t a good idea either.

Taking the main road would mean being exposed to more people, which would yield the same results as heading into town. He had to go somewhere that didn’t have a lot of people around, like going deeper in the forest.

Of course he would have to first ditch his pursuers before that. Otherwise, they would keep chasing after him even then.

A bolt of lightning shot past his head, hitting a tree up ahead with such force that it actually cut the tree. It groaned as the top part of the tree fell towards Luke, who threw himself out of the way to avoid being crushed. The tree crashed hard to the ground, kicking up dirt and dust.

That had been a close call. That had nearly taken out his ear.

Luke briefly scanned his surroundings. Once he didn’t spot anyone, he quickly turned and continued running.

He couldn’t afford to stop, not if he wanted to be killed.

His mind raced as he worked out a plan that would cause his ex-comrades to lose his trail and allow him to escape the town undetected.

Once he had something of a plan in mind, he was about to act on it when the evil god mocked, “Do you really think that’s going to work? You truly have no brains.”

Luke gritted his teeth and spat, “Do you have a better idea?”

“In fact, I do. Head to where the monster corpses are,” the evil god said.

The monster corpses? Why did the evil god want him to go there?

“If you want to survive the mess you got yourself into, just do as I say. Of course you can choose not to listen and die,” the evil god said nonchalantly.

“I thought you didn’t want me to die,” Luke reminded.

“I would prefer you didn’t, but there’s not much I can do if you don’t listen now that death is hounding your footsteps,” the evil god pointed out.

Gritting his teeth, he reluctantly followed the evil god’ suggestion. Luke ran towards where he found the monster corpse even as he heard his ex-comrades close the distance between them.

Fortunately, he still arrived at the monster corpses before they caught up to him.

“What now?” Luke demanded.

“Go to one of the corpses and place your hand on it. Hurry,” the evil god commanded.

Despite the strange command, Luke went along with it as his ex-comrades were almost upon him.

He knelt over one of the monster corpses and placed a hand on it just as his ex-comrades burst onto the scene. A dark energy washed over him, transferring to the monster corpse in front of him. Before he could question what had just happened, the monster corpse twitched.