A trail of light illuminated the northern outskirts of Parte, the dark horizon was brightened up by the numerous torches that moved uphill, as a platoon of heavily armed infantrymen traversed the terrain. Their rhythmic march reverberated through the hills as they pushed toward the old Fidelis Manor.

Irae Praeter led them at the front, his thirst for revenge was burning. He rushed on ahead with the help of his steed and managed to catch up with the scouts who were still dispelling Sagitta's Wards. The scouts froze in nervousness at the sight of the 3rd Brother and his abyss-tinted steed. They greeted Irae and guided him towards the Ward that they were currently dealing with.

"Big brother! Unfortunately, we are unable to dispel this Ward…" One of the scouts bowed his head apologetically to Irae.

The mages had informed Irae that their dispelling enchantments wouldn't work on the walls of the Ward. They also tried throwing spells to damage the Ward, however, their attempts were fruitless as their spells were reflected and hurled back towards them.

"Our mages can't decipher what type of attribute was used so they are having trouble taking it apart, Big Brother." A Church sorcerer interjects nervously. "We won't be able to pass through if this-"

Irae aimed his rapier toward the sorcerer. "What do you mean by we won't be able to pass through here?" Irae's intimidating voice pierced through the sorcerer, shutting him up.

"Haahh, you… Church folks should use your head." Irae sighs and puts away his weapon, he then dismounts from his steed.

Irae walks toward the Ward that was in front of him, its walls looked like a smooth mirror, and it reflected anything in front of it.

A cunning grin appeared on Irae's mouth as he observed the Ward, he stretched his arm out to touch it's surface and was pleasantly surprised that his hand breached inside of it rather easily. He then steps forward and enters it, a few minutes after, the Ward crumbled like fragile eggshells. Irae then emerges from the Ward, he was unharmed and his men saw his golden eyes shining brilliantly.

"It was just an illusion barrier." Irae's voice sounded irritated. "Your incompetence is appalling." He walked past the befuddled scouts while fixing his cloak and slowly mounted his horse.

"What a way to waste my time." Irae clicks his tongue and gallops ahead towards the Manor up the hill.

***

Labored grunts and breaths echoed through the dark northern forests of Parte, the trees rustled vigorously, and the sound of branches and twigs breaking disturbed the peaceful slumber of the animals along the forest grounds.

[Omri! Keep up your pace and keep running!]

Sagitta's stern voice rang loud inside Omri's head, She had noticed that Omri was lagging behind. They have been steadily advancing deep into the forest for fifteen minutes already. They leaped through the treetops to avoid any interruptions from the monsters and animals below.

There was a reason for Omri's delay, he had been carrying Athos on his back ever since they left the manor. Sweat dribbled from Omri's face and it was not due to exhaustion, but rather out of nervousness.

Omri had recalled how Athos suffered from motion sickness when he exerted his full speed back in Anima. Due to it, his steps were hesitant, and sometimes he would slow down the pace in consideration for Athos.

"Hey, Omri…" Athos taps on Omri's shoulder. "You can run as fast as you can, you don't need to hold back."

"But won't you feel unwell after, My Prince? We can't have you suffer-"

Athos sighs and pats Omri's back. "It will be fine! After all, I have two reliable healers running with me." Athos chuckles softly. "Also, I don't want to see Sagitta angry. You did see her scary face back when we were arguing in the watermill and back in the manor too..."

Omri recalled Sagitta's fuming face, he had seen it several times in the past when he was still a reckless youth. This made Omri's face slightly pale.

He then lets out a sigh and answers Athos in a gentle manner. "Understood, then please hold on tightly onto me." He then fixes his stance, props Athos a little higher on his back, and tightens his grip on Athos' legs.

"Please use telepathy from hereon, my prince, we can't have you biting your tongue and ingesting leaves or branches along the way."

[Alright then, do catch up with Sagitta, she's about ten meters away now.] Athos wraps his arms around Omri's neck and clung on his shirt. [I'll close my eyes for a bit too, go ahead and run to your heart's content."

A faint smile appeared on Omri's face, he knew that Athos was trying his hardest to adjust with their pace. Omri then layered an additional haste enchantment to his body and ran towards Sagitta.

[Mother, apologies for the delay.] Omri was now on par with Sagitta's pace and was leaping in sync beside her.

[Good! We're still a bit far from the border of Sequi…] Sagitta glances at Omri with a hesitant expression. [We need to lose the tail behind us first!]

Sagitta then activates another Illusion Enchantment, this time, to cover up the broken branches and trees that they landed on every time they leaped forward.

[Omri, I'll activate a Teleportation Ward in a minute, stay close to me so we won't get separated.] Sagitta's jade eyes glinted as she gathered Mana around her body.

Athos and Omri sense a great amount of Mana coursing through Sagitta. They then saw a faint golden glow from her jade irises.

[Jump to that tree up ahead, I'll invoke the ward once we land.] Sagitta pointed her finger at a tall oak tree that was fifty meters away from their current location.

[Yes, mother!] Omri nods at Sagitta and then turns his head to Athos. [My prince, please bear with this for a bit, this might get a little rough.] He then casts a minor recovery spell on Athos as a safeguard for his motion sickness.

[Omri, Now!]

Sagitta extends her left hand and grabs onto Omri's right arm as they landed on the oak tree. A flash of light suddenly brightens up the skies above the forest, the golden light enveloped the three of them, and their figures vanished into the night as the light faded.

***

A bitter scowl was etched on Irae's face as he stood outside the courtyard of the old manor. His men searched high and low throughout the estate and the forests surrounding it, however, their efforts were fruitless as they were not able to find the fugitives they were seeking.

One thing was certain, there were numerous traces inside the residence that alarmed his men. The hearth at the kitchen was still warm as if someone had used it within the hour or so. Irae also noticed the footprints that littered on the 1st floor of the manor, he also inspected the guest bedroom down the hallway. He found the room unusually clean. As if someone had sanitized and occupied the room prior to their arrival.

"Big Brother, we've already scoured the manor, it seems that its occupants recently vacated the place." One of Irae's men reports nervously as he knelt in front of him.

"If only we arrived a bit earlier…" Irae glares at his henchman with a deathly expression. "We could have caught up with them if the lot of you dispelled that damn Ward the moment you saw it" He then scratches his head in frustration.

"A-apologies Big-"

A magic circle suddenly appears in the courtyard, one of Church's sorcerers then emerges from the light and gives a salute to Irae.

"Big Brother!! A word from the scouts! There was a brilliant light observed a few minutes ago from the forests north of this manor. We believe it may be related to the fugitives we're after." The sorcerer answered with vigor.

'So… they were heading north? Do they plan on escaping to the northern ranges of Silva?' Irae scratched his head as he thought of why they opted to escape through the northern forests of Parte.

'Hmm...unlikely since by now, they should know that the Church is on our side.' Irae pondered why Omri and his companions were moving northwards, he then recalled Sagitta and her husband Turris.

Irae then remembered that Turris was not born in Anima, but was born in the eastern archipelagoes of Orto. 'Are they planning on reaching out to old allies then? I recall, Turris had ties with the Merces of Sequi in the past. But after those two married each other, the Merces cut off their ties with Turris and their relationship fell apart…'

Irae's scowl disappeared and was then replaced by a sinister smile.

'Let's take a gamble then.'

Irae then called out to his men. "Tell the scouts and the mages to trace where the flash of light occurred and investigate the northern forests for their trail. Send word to our brethren in Sequi and inform them that I will be visiting personally!" Irae then walks toward the sorcerer and whispers to his ear.

"Take me to the Council of Merces."

The sorcerer nods and activates a Teleportation Circle beneath him and Irae. The two men disappeared after the circle was invoked.

~~~~~

To Be Continued.

~~~~~