Chapter 149: Battle in the Night (1/2)

”Driver! Get them all here now or we are going to die!” The Priest cried out to the driver who almost immediately awakened from the scream. His swift reactions and the fact that he was a light sleeper made it obvious that he had a tonne of experience when it came to emergencies. He did not ask for any further information as he went down and commanded.

”All passengers, board the wagon now! We will depart in thirty seconds! Those that are not in the wagon after thirty seconds will be mercilessly left behind!” The driver's shout rang loud and crisp. It instantly attracted the attention of the other passengers and as soon as his words fell into their ears, they immediately turned around and made a break for it into the wagon.

They moved in so fast that Calvin had no chance to react. By the time ten seconds fell from when the driver shouted, all passengers were already inside the wagon, huffing and puffing, in the middle of catching their breath.

”Wow...” Calvin couldn't help but gasp in astonishment.

”First time?” Ricardo asked with a smile.

”Yeah...” Calvin could only count in one hand the times that he had boarded a carriage in the world of Las Felipinas back then. This was why he was astonished that these passengers could react so fast to danger and to the call to action.

”We've experienced almost a dozen attacks since we left our city of origin, the passengers here are veterans when it comes to emergencies, you do not have to worry since they won't be dead weight.” Ricardo proudly smirked. It was obvious that given that he was also a passenger from the wagon's city of origin, he was also indirectly raising himself onto a pedestal in front of Calvin.

Swoosh!

The wagon moved fast, the two creatures pulling it at full speed as they sped through the forest.

”Hold fast now! Stick to the floor!”

”Ahhh!”

The driver gave out a warning and a moment later, the wagon suddenly shook with such force that those who remained standing were thrown off balance. Ricardo and Calvin had immediately heeded the advice of the driver so they managed to stick the landing, but the others who reacted a bit late were thrown onto the ceiling of the wagon, instantly losing their consciousness upon impact.

”Fuck... Shit's about to get real when the driver's all that riled up.”

”Well, the Priest said that we were about to meet certain death, so who wouldn't be riled up for that?”

”Don't you feel nervous at all?” Ricardo found it strange that Calvin could still converse to him so casually like this.

Calvin saw the pale look on Ricardo's face. A smile appeared on his lips as he replied, ”I do feel nervous. But what use is fearing death when there is only a single outcome in life. It's either you live, or you die...”

”...”

Ricardo wasn't able to reply for a few seconds. The phrase seemed to have oddly stuck on him.

But he never managed to utter a reply as the Priest's scream of complaint rang through the wagon.

”Why did you have to use this route to go through the forest?!”

”Come on, pastor! I've been using this route for my entire life! I've known it to be completely safe! Do you really think that I would expect that there's danger out here?” The driver replied without turning his gaze away from the road.

”Fucking hell, now what should we do now?”

”Don't worry, I guarantee with my career as the stake that I will get us out of here alive!” The driver vowed.

”You better do it properly...”

The Priest warned and then he muttered a curse under his breath before he lowered his body and stuck to the floor.

He swept his gaze across the surroundings and noticed that Cherry was bleeding from her forehead. She was flung to the ceiling earlier when the wagon jumped through the air, caught unprepared and with her reflexes far too slow to react. She slammed to the ceiling and immediately lost her consciousness from the shock.

The Priest moved closer to her and checked.

Then, he shook his head and moved away.

She was dead.

She broke her neck from the impact.

It was not that surprising since she was just an average human.

Calvin saw through a glance that the woman had died instantly when she struck the ceiling. Although he felt bad, the uncomfortable feeling disappeared as fast as it appeared. There were more pressing matters that he had to attend to. Taking the Notebook of Secrets from his chest pocket, he scribbled some words into it with some pen and paper.

”Is the danger that is pursuing us something that I cannot defeat?”

A moment later, the word, ”Verified” appeared beside the scribbled statement.

Calvin's face fell.

He glanced around him and started to plan his escape.

But before he could even start thinking about his escape plan, he suddenly saw the Priest take a seat in front of him and started chanting.

”Hear us!”

Most of his chanting was inaudible murmurs, but he exclaimed when he reached the end of his chant. As soon as his words fell into the ears of those around him, they fell into a deep sleep with their bodies stuck close to the ground.

”A combination of the Laws of Space and an illusion... This Priest has some weight to throw around.” Ricardo commented.

”Yeah...” Calvin agreed.

The Priest swept his gaze across the entire wagon and that was when he noticed the presence of two unaffected people.

”Both of you...”

”Hello, I'm a member of one of the three Judiciaries, an Executor from the Church of Aesculapius!”

”A member of one of the three Judiciaries? I apologize for the rudeness that I have displayed previously.”

”It's fine, don't mind it.”

The Priest immediately became polite the moment he found out that Ricardo was a member of one of the three Judiciaries. Then, he turned his gaze at Calvin and signalled for him to speak.

”I don't know him.” Ricardo was quick to deny that he knew Calvin.

”Hey...” Calvin didn't know what to say.

Ricardo probably said what he had said because he wanted to know Calvin's true identity through the use of this self-introduction.

”I'm from...”

”We'll do that later. We do not have the luxury of time.” The Priest didn't even bother to know Calvin's identity. He decided that he was probably a servant of the Executer from the Church of Medicine and Poison, Aesculapius. He had no desire to know the name of a servant much more interact with someone like that.

Calvin shook his head and shrugged. He wasn't really offended from what the Priest had done.

To be honest, he wanted to put all of his attention towards what was about to come.

”I'll check where our enemies are. I'm a Scout.” Ricardo said to the Priest.

”Much appreciated, I'll keep us incognito. I can manipulate Space to a certain degree so I can somehow mask the noise of our movements, I can also place an illusion around us so that we can potentially confuse that beast. However...” The Priest stared right into Ricardo's eyes, ”I can only do so much. If all else fails, I am able to open up a portal for two so we can escape here together... Just do your best to protect me.”

Ricardo was astonished at first, but a smirk soon appeared in his lips.