Chapter 10 The Escape Plan
"That's the move. If a High Knight of that caliber wakes up and realizes he was knocked out by a "defenseless girl," he won't just be hunting a monster anymore—his pride will make this a personal crusade."
"We need to move fast. Even unconscious, a Paladin-class soul like Finn's has a passive "Beacon" effect. His squad will find that alley within minutes."
"Don't run through the main square. Use the back-alley paths Milim spotted during her "shopping" trip. Keep your mana suppressed—Rin, that means no silver tentacles unless someone blocks the path."
"Naga needs to burn the "Safe House" markers. she's a high-level Vampire, she likely has a Mist Form or Shadow Step that can ferry the three of us past the village gates without alerting the guards." Rin said assessing their escape.
" we need to Head toward the marble mines." Naga wisped as they sneaked passed armored knights searching for them. "The high concentration of natural mineral mana in the white stone will scramble Finn's tracking abilities. It's the only place a Level 2 Slime and a Fox Spirit can truly disappear."
"Milim, if you drew blood when you bit his palm, you've created a possible Blood Link. In the hands of a Holy Mage, that's direct coordinates to you. We need to perform a blood-cleansing ritual the second we hit the tree line."
Rin, was currently the "Master" of a Goddess and a Vampire. he has the raw materials for an SSS-Rank party, but right now, he is a Level 2 glass cannon. they need to successfully leave the village before the "Saint" opens his eyes.
Naga doesn't even wait for the full sentence. She's already moving, her casual smirk replaced by the predatory focus of a high-level vampire who realizes her quiet life is about to go up in flames.
"Scent and mana? Darling, I can do better than just masking them. I can make this house look like it's been empty for a decade," Naga says, her eyes glowing a deep, rhythmic crimson.
Naga grabs Milim's hand and pricks the finger that bit the knight. She draws a single drop of golden fox-ichor and consumes it, effectively hijacking the spiritual connection. To the knight's tracking magic, Milim now "exists" in three different directions at once.
Naga slams her palms against the ally ground. Thick, viscous shadows pour from her silhouette like spilled ink, crawling up the walls. This isn't just darkness, it's a sensory void that absorbs sound, heat, and mana radiation making them hidden from prying eyes.
Naga crushes a handful of dried lavender and old iron filings from her workbench. She blows the dust into the air, using her blood magic to bind the particles to their skin.
Naga looked visibly paler after the ritual. "That will hold for about four hours. But Rin, if you or Milim flare your mana even once, the 'Shadow Cradle' will shatter like glass. We need to be through the village gates in the next ten minutes."
Outside, the distant sound of rhythmic metal—marching boots—begins to echo against the cobblestones. Finn's squad is close.
Rin, Naga, and Milim made it through the front gate of the village just in time as the local soldiers began their search.
"We made it out, so now we have some time to escape," Naga said, scanning her map.
As they trekked through the dense forest, Rin felt a familiar presence trailing them. Slowing his pace, he created some distance between himself and the women, intending to confront the stalker. When Rin turned to face the culprit, he froze.
Finn was standing right in front of him. "Did you miss me?" he asked, a sly smile playing on his face.
Before Rin could react, Finn pressed two fingers to Rin's forehead. A sharp zap of energy surged through him. Rin felt his strength evaporate; his body grew heavy and his vision blurred. As he slumped forward into Finn's arms, the last thing he heard was Finn's calm voice.
"Rest now, kid."
The silence of the forest is what gives it away first. For a high-level Spirit and a Vampire, the absence of a heartbeat and the soft scuff of boots behind them is like a physical weight lifting off the air.
Milim was the first to stop. Her fox ears twitch, rotating 180 degrees toward the empty trail. "Rin?" she whispers, her voice barely a breath.
Naga stops two paces ahead, her spade-tipped tail going rigid. She doesn't turn around yet; she just closed her eyes, tasting the air for the metallic, ozone-scented mana that defines their master. "The shadow... it's gone," she hisses, her playful demeanor vanishing into a cold, predatory stillness.
When they sprint back and burst into the clearing, the sight stops them cold. It's a tableau of impossible duality: the "Saint of Steel" in his full, terrifying glory, cradling a smaller, silver-haired Rin in his arms.
Milim's green mana flares violently, her white fox tails fanning out like a massive, glowing shroud. She doesn't see a "split soul" right now; she sees the man who nearly strangled her in an alley holding her only anchor to this world.
"Let him go!" she screams, her voice cracking with a mix of rage and a Goddess's authority. She drops into a low crouch, a sphere of volatile spirit energy forming between her palms. "I don't care who you are or what face you're wearing—if you hurt him, I will burn this entire forest to ash!"
Naga was quieter, which is infinitely more dangerous. She doesn't scream. She simply vanishes into a blur of shadows, reappearing ten feet to Finn's left. Her claws are extended, glowing with a dark, necrotic violet light.
"He's not hurt, little Fox," Naga says, her voice a silk-wrapped blade. She's staring at the way Finn is holding Rin—not like a prisoner, but with a strange, unconscious tenderness that confuses her vampire instincts. "But if that 'Saintly' hand of yours stays on his neck for one second longer, I'll find out if a Saint's blood tastes as holy as the scriptures say."
Finn doesn't even reach for his sword. He remains standing, looking down at the unconscious Rin in his arms with a look of profound, haunting recognition.
"The girl is fine," Finn says, his voice devoid of the icy command he used in the village. He looks up at them, his blue eyes clouded with a confusion that mirrors their own. "she's just sleeping. But we are not staying in this forest. The local scouts are four minutes behind me, and they aren't as... patient as I am."