After passing through the Beastman-infested forest, the Red Mountain convoy emerged into a large open field, only to find a rather unwelcome sight.

“Halt, brigands! By order of the King, drop your weapons and surrender peacefully or face a brutal end!”

Arrayed before the convoy was a rather large contingent of soldiers from the Trelawney Kingdom. It seemed as though they had foreseen that the Red Mountain Bandits would be passing through the area, or perhaps it was just really good guesswork. Either way, the convoy was not prepared to face them, stretched out like a worm as it was.

Vaile popped his head out one of the windows of the carriage and then asked Seivalt, “Did you make this happen?”

Seivalt sighed and shook his head. “No, my Lord, I did not.”

“Then how did they find out about us moving through here?” Vaile asked with his stressed expression hidden beneath his mask.

Seivalt looked out of the carriage as well before settling back in his seat.

“I have heard through the grapevine that the Trelawney Kingdom managed to somehow create or acquire a relic useful for divining the locations of certain individuals quite a while ago. Maybe about five or six centuries, if I am not mistaken. Perhaps they used it to locate either you or I and track us?”

Vaile could not recall such a device, tool or object used for such a purpose being in the game, but that did not mean that in the ages after this new world was made something or someone managed to create one. Such a device would have been game-breakingly cheaty in the VRMMORPG that he had played; it would have allowed PK’ers to know their target’s location and grief them to no end. There was no way that the Devs would have allowed such a broken device to be made, as it would have let anyone who had it target specific Players and/or Bosses or Mobs and just dominate them.

There was no way that it could have been a Player-owned item, and Player-owned items were, by his knowledge, the most powerful objects in the New World. So, there was only one other option, but Vaile could not recall if such a device was ever usable, even for story purposes…

Oh, wait, there was that thing…

“Wait, do you know what they call the rumored device?” Vaile asked, hoping that he would not get the answer he was thinking of.

Seivalt rummaged through his memories and found the answer.

“Yes, I believe they call it the ‘Eye of Saur’aun’. Why do you ask?”

Oh, fuck.

“We need to get that thing out of their hands, asap! If they use it too much, it could cause immense damage to everything and everyone!”

Seivalt shrugged.

“I do know that, up until now, they have been using it nearly non-stop to spy on their own people. At least, spy on those not of a certain court rank or higher. If there was something bad about that device, it should have activated long ago.”

Vaile brushed off Seivalt’s declaration.

“That’s impossible. Using it even ten times in quick succession would undoubtably open a doorway to…”

Then it hit him. There may very well be a reason why the invasion from Gehenna never occurred, despite the repeated usage of the very, very nasty tool.

“Say, Seivalt.”

“Yes, my Lord?”

“The ancient covenant you and the others who I took in… were a bunch of demon-looking people of various sized and shapes hailing from a place called ‘Gehenna’ a part of that, by any chance?”

Seivalt nodded.

“Yes, certainly. They were quite cordial too. There was something about how they said ‘see you later’ that rubbed me the wrong way, though.”

Well, that explained it.

Vaile sighed a sigh of relief and calmed down.

Then he remembered the large number of soldiers outside.

“So, uh, how are we going to deal with the guys stopping us?”

Seivalt smiled.

“Rule Number One of being a successful revolutionary force; Prepare and plan for every possible and impossible scenario.”

It was at that moment that the sounds of battle began to drift in, along with the faint aroma of blood and bile. Accompanying these sounds and smells was a feminine yell that sent shivers down Vaile’s spine.

“MY DEAREST BELOVED! I AM HERE FOR YOU! I WON’T LET THESE FILTHY LITTLE SHITS HURT A HAIR ON YOUR HEAD! YOU ARE MINE AND MINE ALONE!”

Vaile leaned his head back and closed his eyes.

“Great!” He thought, “Another crazy lady who wants me. Why is it always crazy ladies?”

…

Nora had arrived just as the Trelawney Kingdom’s soldiers had finished forming up. She was still out of their sight range but was close enough to let her absurdly superior senses pick up everything. She could distinguish each individual’s heartbeat from the others and could smell the sweat and BO coming from them.

“What the fuck could these fucking fucks want?! What are they doing here, keeping me from rushing to my beloved Vaile?!”

Just as she was about to rush in and start massacring the soldiers, she overheard a undesirable conversation.

“So, are you sure that the Tyrant of Red Mountain will be coming through this area?”

“Yes, yes, a thousand times YES! Do you not trust the information given by the inquisitors?”

“It’s not that! I am a loyal and devoted man. I just find it odd that the Tyrant, who never leaves that damnable stronghold, would just go out to a random place, dick around in the Beastman-infested forest and then emerge right back into our lands.”

“The way is quicker through the forest, although why the bastard would do such a thing is beyond me. He was probably trying to cut the time needed to get back to base by a decent percentage.”

“Is it true that some being of high strategic value is with him?”

“Dunno. Either way, no one leaves here alive. Whether the being they are transporting in important or not is irrelevant. Whoever or whatever it is, it will die all the same.”

Nora processed what she had just heard for a while before coming to the realization that they were not only going to try and off her ancestor (which she wasn’t mad about) but that they were also going to try and kill the object of her crazed obsession.

“No. Not gonna happen, you shits! I will fucking bury you!”

She nearly screamed that and ran towards the unprepared soldiers before another idea struck her.

She should wait until her darling Vaile was in danger, then swoop in and rescue him! He would thank her and kiss her and hug her and then they would-!

“Halt, brigands! By order of the King, drop your weapons and surrender peacefully or face a brutal end!”

The command of the leader of the soldiers boomed out thanks to a magic tool. Nora waited and prepared for the sounds of conflict, but after a few moments she got bored and rushed in with the fury only a deranged and psychotic hardcore super fan can exhibit. After first sending a few rounds from her twin one-handed repeater crossbows accompanied by several area-of-effect magical projectiles, she then switched to her twin handaxes and rushed towards the mass of soldiers.

“MY DEAREST BELOVED! I AM HERE FOR YOU! I WON’T LET THESE FILTHY LITTLE SHITS HURT A HAIR ON YOUR HEAD! YOU ARE MINE AND MINE ALONE!”

With that battle cry, she entered the fray and ‘danced’ to the sounds of flesh and bone being cleaved and the screams of the dying.