Not all weak people really need power.

Many wallow in their weakness, irreparably infecting everyone around them. These are the worst among the weak, those who do not want to become strong, those who tyrannically exercise their weakness, who arrogantly admit that they are weak.

Those who are not ashamed of being weak, those who do not harbour at least a hint of self-contempt, do not deserve to survive.

And instead there are also people who are able to take away self-satisfaction from their weakness, not to give it highly flammable fuel, to tame the whip of extreme and nihilistic cynicism.

Francesca's only purpose, as she explained to Helial and the others that she should take a detour, was to leave behind the aura of weakness that had always surrounded her. Sometimes, sacrifice is indispensable, she thought.

The words flowed out of her mouth, so brave. She said she had a very powerful object that would allow her to save herself. But first, he should have warned some members of her Clan that they could save other civilians as well. The deployment in the perimeter was not insuperable, according to her, maybe some powerful member of the Clan would have brought the weakest to safety.

But Francesca knew that this was nothing but chatter. The bigwigs of Orma and the strongest members of the city were already inside the various Formations, busy fighting against the enemy coalition. It wouldn't have been easy to find someone above the Fifth Phase who wasn't already engaged in the various fights in the city centre.

The people manoeuvring the most powerful Formations were all at the tenth Phase, but the Mana required to fight an Immortal was taken by anyone willing to get involved. A warrior in the Sixth Phase would not have made the same contribution as one at the Ninth, of course, but he would still be able to fight for his city as part of a Formation.

That would be the decisive battle. If the Goblins lost the fight, Orma would be wiped out. What citizen would not give his all to defend his home?

Besides, their position was not bad: they had reached the ring closest to the walls of Orma.

The city, in fact, had a ring-like layout, which saw at its centre the most important buildings, such as the Royal Palace, the Colosseum, the buildings of Clan, Sects and Guilds...

The central and most dangerous area had long since been surpassed. Now Helial and the others had reached the area where the market used to be. The walls were only a couple of kilometres away.

The real danger they would face once they left the walls. There was the enemy line, which had positioned itself in a place airier and devoid of homes, a plain, easy to control even in the distance with a simple glance.

"Then we will go on, but... are you sure you can get out even without us?" Helial asked, very doubtful. He felt that something was out of place.

Why had Francesca remembered the civilians only now? Perhaps the frenzy of escape had distracted her from certain thoughts? The young man could not understand what was going through the head of the Goblin in front of him.

Zion, Sidra and Lev were petrified. The words that Francesca had uttered hid an inconsistency that only someone who had known her for some time could notice. And they knew her better than anyone else.

The Divine Sense of the Princess reached her three companions and, in a whisper, made a desperate request: Please, I beg you.

Sidra was ready to protest, but she gritted her teeth and held back all her anger.

"Francesca, what are you not telling us, damn it!" she wanted to scream in her face.

Lev and Zion exchanged a worried glance.

If Circe had been there, she would have stopped Francesca and prevented her from leaving the formation. The Witch of Orma would have immediately tied and dragged her with them, maybe even forcing her to spill the beans.

Francesca's friendship was worth more than anything else, more than the useless sacrifice that the Princess wanted to accomplish to save them all.

But Circe was not there with them and, of all this, she knew absolutely nothing. There was no one, at what moment, who could have dissuaded Francesca from her decision.

Helial looked at Caliban, who immediately responded with a shrug.

Catching them off guard in their hesitation, Francesca turned her back to the group and began to run in the opposite direction to the one they had been traveling until a short while before: "See you outside the enemy perimeter, don't get killed!"

Be careful. Zion sent Francesca a message with his own Divine Sense. In response, the girl turned and gave him a calm and determined smile.

Francesca disappeared behind the buildings, speeding towards the centre of Orma. She avoided the same route they had taken on the way, knowing that she could meet Circe and Vlad. If she crossed paths with them, she wasn't sure she could keep her resolution.

Helial really had a bad feeling, but he couldn't help but hide it in the back of his brain and pray that Francesca knew what she was doing. He ordered the others to resume at full speed. They couldn't afford to slow down.

…

The more she went towards the centre, the more the acrid smell of blood flooded Francesca's nostrils. As soon as she entered one of the main streets of the market, the girl saw several corpses, some lying on the ground, others on the food carts.

Their bodies were battered, swollen with bruises and full of cuts. Who was the monster who had reduced all those citizens of Orma like this? How was it possible that no one had protected them?

Francesca was certain that Comodo had been responsible for that massacre. How could he do that?! He hoped to reign over Orma like this, hating his subjects and killing them without restraint? Oh, once she found him, once she found him Francesca would… she would…

Yes, once she found him, what would she tell him? Francesca kept thinking about what to do to stop Comodo.

I'm his girlfriend, Francesca thought reluctantly. I can give him the title of King of Orma that he craves so much. This could be a good deterrent to keep him from killing Vlad, Circe, Helial, and everyone else.

However, Francesca knew that even if Comodo stopped, his henchmen would persevere in their mission; however, Comodo's henchmen weren't as strong as he was, and Helial would easily have neutralized them with the help of the others in his group.

Francesca knew how crazy Comodo was, she knew what she could do to her friends if she found them in front of him. She knew what he could do to Vlad ...

Comodo cared little about honor and fairness. With his cool head and cunning, the descendant of the Sect of Worthy had killed several warriors in the Fourth Phase when he was not yet in the Third, without ever confronting them in a duel. Poison was his weapon.

His fighting style was completely different from that of any honorable warrior. Francesca knew well that if there was a fight, there would inevitably be losses. How could she ever forgive herself?

He had to stop Comodo, at the cost of sacrificing her body, her position and her dignity.

Thanks to the Mirror of Desire, Francesca had analyzed the position of all the enemy warriors and had found that the enemy encirclement included soldiers that were below the Fifth Phase.

Snowflake could have torn them all to shreds by himself, not to mention the help of Helial and Lumia.

The real danger lay behind them and it was someone who wouldn't play fair.

The Revenant had proved much more honourable, attacking its enemy head-on. Comodo was much more dangerous, considering his ability to escape the enemy and poison him in the meantime.

By attacking from afar and running away like a coward, Comodo could prove to be truly lethal. In Orma, this fighting style was not highly regarded, despite being very effective. But no one would ever give credit to a Goblin who could only fight with poison.

…

A few streets away

As he moved quickly through narrow streets and tunnels, Circe's Divine Sense reached Helial.

"The situation continues to be calm," the Witch briefly commented, waiting for Helial to leave a message she would bring back using her Divine Sense.

"Francesca went to the men of her Clan, she says she wants to try to save some civilians. She practically ran away without saying much else. It will reach us out of the enemy lines", was the message that the Divine Sense brought back to her.

Circe suddenly froze, terrified. He kicked towards a banquet full of now cold meat skewers, blowing it up in a thousand shards of wood.

"Damn it! Shit! Shit!" swore Circe. Why did Francesca always have to get in trouble, for fuck's sake?!

Without waiting, she sent a message to Zion, Lev, and Sidra. "If you still perceive her presence, abandon Helial and pursue Francesca. Keep me up to date on the situation."

Then, he sent one to Helial as well. "I asked my companions to take a look around. You keep going."

Around them there were too many houses and buildings to be able to efficiently use their Divine Sense and trace Francesca's Aura. The market area, so full of objects and clutter made it difficult to navigate it without getting lost.

The escape operation could not be compromised, but Circe could never let Francesca risk her life either. Zion, Lev and Sidra would have done better to get her back in position and drag her out of the walls, otherwise they would have remembered this day as the worst day of their lives.