Chapter 41: Heading to the Capital

The evil god didn’t let Luke rest after hearing that declaration. He kept inflicting pain that nearly drove Luke to unconsciousness and spouted vile words to deter Luke from his course of action, but it only showed just how desperate the evil god was.

It was obvious that the evil god was afraid that Luke would succeed, which only pushed Luke to keep going.

Eventually, the evil god had been forced to stop in fear that Luke would actually pass out on the road and be discovered by someone. If that happened, then Luke would be as good as dead, which the evil god clearly didn’t want to happen.

Luke followed the road and river closely, making sure not to let either out of sight.

He didn’t want to accidentally wander off somehow and end up far from his intended destination. That was the last thing he needed at the moment, but he also made sure not to stay too close to avoid being spotted, which was easier said than done.

The area was crawling with people searching for him.

The only reason he hadn’t been spotted the moment he stepped out of the forest near the river earlier had been pure chance.

No one happened to be nearby or looking in his direction, so he got away with standing there talking to the evil god before he started making his way to the capital. It was almost like Fidall was guiding him.

Luke stopped again as a group of people searched near the area where he was hiding.

None of his ex-comrades were among them, which was a huge relief. He might have lost control again, though dark energy still seeped out of him, but he did recognize one of them. He hadn’t expected to see that female monster hunter again.

Fate seemed to be pushing them to encounter each other.

Wouldn’t this be the third time he’d seen her?

Hopefully, this wouldn’t be one of those times.

Unfortunately, it seemed fate had other plans as Deena snapped her head in Luke’s direction and stared with narrowed eyes.

He tensed, praying that she hadn’t actually spotted him while placing a hand on the hilt of his sword just in case a fight might break out. Several tense moments passed with neither of them moving, though Deena’s actions garnered confusion from her companions.

“Deena, do you see something?” a monster hunter asked, glancing between Deena and the direction she was looking at.

“I don’t see anything,” one of the monster hunters said, holding a hand over their eyes and squinting in Luke’s direction.

Deena finally looked away and said, “I must have seen wrong. Let’s keep searching.”

“If you say so,” a different monster hunter said, trailing after Deena.

The group traveled down the road until Luke could no longer see them, but he didn’t dare to move just in case they might look back or turn around. After a while, he hesitantly continued his trek towards the capital.

As he traveled, he couldn’t help wondering if Deena had really spotted him.

It didn’t seem like it since she didn’t rush at him to confront him or immediately reported his whereabouts to anyone, but his instincts were telling him otherwise.

Something wasn’t right.

Then a flash of realization struck him just as a bolt of lightning struck where he was. Dirt and dust flew everywhere as the group of monsters watched from a distance.

“Did you get him?” a monster hunter asked, trying to get a better look.

“If it were that easy, everyone wouldn’t have been mobilized,” one of the monster hunters pointed out.

“Look!” a different monster hunter exclaimed as Luke shot out of the dust cloud.

“Keep attacking. I’m going in,” Deena said before rushing towards Luke.

“Wait,” another monster hunter called after her, but she ignored them.

Luke cursed himself for not seeing through their scheme right off the bat.

She had really spotted him and had wisely not confronted him right away. Instead, she had waited until they were far away to inform the others about him and worked together to take him down. It was highly likely they had already told everyone where he was.

Now he had to hurry and lose them before everyone showed up.

The sound of lightning crackling above him gave him enough of a warning to dodge. It landed where Luke had been, but it hadn’t been as strong as the first strike.

Apparently, the one attacking him with magic wasn’t very strong.

That worked perfectly for him as he hurried back into the forest, using it to hopefully confuse his pursuers and get away. He barely made it very far before he was forced to duck and roll out of an ax. Strands of his hair were cut off as the ax passed him by.

He scrambled to his feet and faced Deena, who calmly observed him. Her eyes scanned him from head to toe with a strange light to them.

As he drew his sword and pointed it at her, she said, “It’s you.”

Luke shot her a puzzled look.

“You were that newbie back at the monster hunter base. You blocked my way several times,” Deena said.

He wasn’t sure how he felt about her description of him.

On one hand, it was better than being called a monster. On the other hand, it was weird and off-putting that was the first thing she thought of when encountering him.

“So what? Will my senior let me go?” Luke asked, probing her.

“Everyone says you’re a traitor who sold their soul to the evil god for power, but you don’t seem like a mindless monster,” she said, not keeping her eyes off of him.

“Is that what they told you? Then they’re wrong,” he said, watching for any signs of her making a move against him.

She was silent, considering his words before aiming his ax towards him.

“I suppose we shall see about that,” Deena said before charging towards him.

Gritting his teeth, Luke met her charge head-on.