‘I sure hope this works.’

Was the last thing in my mind before I ran out of the empty warehouse in full force. Then, the instant I left that building, I heard a shout coming from the direction of the knights.

Followed by the reverberating sound of footsteps coming from their steel boots.

Step, step, step!

With each step I took, I noticed the change in my mood. Earlier, I felt apathetic towards anyone - even at that harmless girl. But now it’s different. Although my heart was racing fast and felt like they would burst due to the sheer volume of the anxiety I’m currently feeling, I’m somehow feeling rushed. Anybody would be, I think, if that anybody was running away from four heavily-equipped knights with decapitated heads adorning their waists chasing you from behind.

- or is it thrill?

Either way, I couldn’t even bother looking back.

They say first impressions last. Apparently, it’s true.

The first time I saw them, I felt my skin crawl. It wasn’t due to the heads, nor the weapons, nor their helmets and armor, it was due to the atmosphere around them - the suffocating bloodlust that filled the air around them with repulsive pressure.

And now, given the situation that I’ll most likely end up at the receiving end of their complete horror package, I’m worried, and it’s natural.

But even that was overtaken by my desire for survival.

So I urged myself, to run faster and faster. More! Hurry! I said to myself.

Now. Looking back, this plan felt wrong from the beginning. In the first place, acting as a diversion is dangerous. Add to that, I have no memories of this place and could only run haphazardly into streets I have no idea if they’ll be a dead end or no. Ultimately, not having that woman work together with me nor have her help formulate a plan was wrongest part of everything that’s happened until now.

Too late for regrets now. Sigh. I just hope I don’t end up dead.

Feeling refreshed with the motivation of the ‘don’t die, me!’ idea, I ran.

I ran past burning warehouses, warehouses yet to burn, half-burnt warehouses, the occasional corpse, benches, lightposts, it was the usual surrounding one would expect from a storage-centric area.

It wasn’t until I ran past the third street corner that I managed to catch a glimpse of my pursuers. I’ve made significant distance from them so at that point, I decided to check out whatever or whoever was chasing me.

“Two, three, four knights. All there.”

After confirming the same amount was chasing me, I ran again.

They weren’t fast like what I initially expected when I was hiding, but they’re persistent. If I had to chase someone inside those armors in the fullest speed I could manage, in the midst of a burning city, at night, I’d give up. But them? No, they kept on chasing.

‘Fuckers.’

I initially thought I’d be able to outrun them in the shadows between the warehouses, so I did some maneuvers in between. Unfortunately, the roaring flames that was burning the city to the ground didn’t offer much darkness to move creep in.

Still, given their lack of speed, I’m somehow maintaining the status quo for now.

But apparently, being overconfident has its flaws.

*Fwoosh*

“..what?”

An object flew past my shoulders and almost hit my head.

It was a thin, short, sharp pointed object that was shining brightly flew past me and made a *thunk* sound as it hit something.

Surprised and shocked at the sudden inane development, I looked at where that thing hit.

And as soon as the scene registered in my mind, I ran faster.

The wooden wall of the warehouse that was hit got pierced all the way through. I could see the other side of the building, despite those walls being composed of thick wood. The hole it left was approximately the size of an adult’s fist, was in cinders and is starting to blaze up.

In other words, if I’m hit I’m probably dead. Or if I’m not, I’d be killed the moment those fuckers catch up to my while I was writhing in pain.

*Fwoosh*

Another one almost grazed my thigh.

But this time I didn’t bother checking how the place it landed ended up.

I just ran.

So I ran like there is no tomorrow, I couldn’t even care less what I was stepping on.

Whether it was huge blocks of stone, chunks of burning wood, flesh of something dead or whatever debris it was, I ignored whatever I managed to step on and just kept on running.

I could feel my breath running short. My chest was tightening and the edges of my vision getting darker.

To be completely honest, I have no idea if I could run faster than how I am running right now.

My body was screaming for rest but I manage to ignore it and hurry. My legs felt like they were burning and my joints felt like they’d break, but still I struggled forward.

A couple of minutes after running through warehouses in irregular patterns, I think I managed to lose them. Which is good, considering the burning pain I was desperately enduring in my chest.

Not thinking twice, I crouched behind the base of a broken lightpost to catch my breath, staying as low and as quiet as possible. I rested for a bit before finally recovering to a state where I could observe the darkness properly.

Crouching low, I sneaked a peek to the dark alley that was faintly illuminated by the flames, struggling to see if the shadow that was moving was from the knights.

Fortunately, it was just me overthinking things. I remember seeing the large, swaying flames from that direction as I passed through that place earlier. Or at least, that’s what I hoped.

Making sure that they weren’t there, I sneaked towards one of the warehouses that isn’t burning. I hesitated for a bit before entering.

*creak*

‘So dark.’

I walked forward for a few meters before bumping into a large crate. Or what I assumed to be a crate. I didn’t really know what it is exactly, but it was covered in cloth and fastened by ropes. It was hard, and large, and is square. Probably a crate for some sort of merchandise.

Anyway, after ascertaining that the boxes can be climbed over, I went towards one of the corners of the warehouse near the entrance.

It’s fortunate that the walls of the warehouse I’m hiding in was apart from each plank in a perfect distance. Peeking could be perfectly done with ease. I tiptoed towards the dark corners as silent as I could manage.

Surprisingly, corners in dark places can be awfully relaxing. I was able to sit comfortably in the dark corner of the building and for the first time, I felt tension leave me. My decision to position myself to be as comfortable as possible while still able to look outside between the gaps is effectively working.

It took me a few minutes of surveillance before I felt relatively safe, relatively speaking. The four knights passed by my hideout but they never thought about entering the warehouse. I guess closing the door after I came in worked. I didn’t let my guard down for a second, thinking that they’re sure to make another round.

And I was right.

They passed by again but this time, I didn’t hesitate to move. The moment I saw them enter another alley, I scurried towards the back of the building.

The wooden crates that were piled up was sturdily knotted and didn’t even creak when I climbed over. Naturally, I didn’t rush. It would be too stupid to even think that I’d come crashing down these boxes despite me being all careful and silent just minutes earlier. As I reached the halfway point of my climb, I wanted to see if my efforts wouldn’t be wasted. Seeing an outline of a door faintly illuminated by the light outside, I breathed a sigh of relief.

‘I hoped there would be an entrance at the back. Fortunately, there’s one.’ were the thoughts that ran across my mind as I carefully climbed down the stacks of wooden crates. At this point, every step I made was carefully done, bearing in mind to avoid any blunders that would reveal my position.

Still, I did good to manage this far without attracting their attention. But then I stopped. What if they were there at the entrance? Straining my ears for a moment just to make sure that there weren’t any sounds coming from the front, I halted my steps and stayed right where I stood.

Then, complete silence.

‘Good. Time to go outside then.’