Chapter 138. Fleeing Olivia
A rumbling peal of thunder exploded, and the dim forest was instantly draped in a silver-white veil.
Next came a torrential downpour.
Weaving through the trees, Olivia raised a hand and wiped the rain from her face, her peripheral vision flicking quickly behind her.
Shouts rose one after another, low shrubs shook incessantly, and one wizard after another in black robes burst toward her.
Duncan was right — those wretched wizards did have a way to locate the key.
No matter which direction she fled, the wizards behind could find her in a very short time.
Still, that was fine.
Although she was in constant danger, she no longer had to worry that Duncan's plan would fail.
Olivia took a deep breath and kept sprinting forward in great strides, vaulting over fallen trunks and uneven pits.
Branches hanging along the way lashed her face from time to time, but she felt nothing at all, and her speed did not lessen in the slightest.
Suddenly, a deafening sound of something cleaving the air rose behind her, nearly drowning out the thunder booming in the sky.
Olivia glanced back on instinct, and what she saw made her hold her breath.
A silver arc was hurtling toward her, carving a true vacuum through the rain, which only fell again once the arc had passed.
Olivia twisted her body with all her might to evade, but pain flared in her arm as the arc sliced swiftly across it.
It had only nearly taken her arm — her life was still intact, and that was good enough.
The thought flashed through Olivia's mind.
Before her footing had steadied, the shrubs ahead took on a metallic sheen, every twig tip like a sharp sword, quivering with excitement, eager for her to fling herself onto them.
"These bastards really do hit hard!"
Olivia swore under her breath, wrenched her waist with all her strength, then let her body scrape along the edge of the shrub as she slammed to the ground.
Bloody welts scored her skin, and together with the agony from her arm, her face instantly went paper-white.
Her pale lips trembled uncontrollably, and a muffled groan of pain escaped her.
"Let's see where you run now."
A wizard strode over from not far away, a knight chess-piece motif carved on his mask.
Another wizard stood respectfully at his side, wand raised, gathering the rain into an umbrella to shield him.
"Oles."
Another group approached from a different direction at this moment.
Their leader also wore a knight mask, and he demanded without ceremony, "We were the ones who spotted this prey.
Aren't you overstepping with what you're doing?
Do you intend to violate the rules the Master laid down long ago?"
"Come now, Bob, I wouldn't dare do such a thing," said the knight called Oles with a shrug.
"Then why are you doing this?" Bob pointed at Olivia and asked.
"You may be mistaken," Oles said.
"She fled into my sector.
I was afraid she'd get away, so I was forced to act."
"Oh?" Bob's voice turned a little cold.
"Are you implying that our capability is lacking?"
"No, no, you've misunderstood me again," Oles said.
"I'm helping you.
If she slips away again, how will you account to Bishop Charles?
Can you bear his wrath?"
Olivia glared hatefully at the two men quarrelling over who she belonged to, wishing she could rush over and kill them both on the spot.
But that could only exist in her imagination.
With her strength, it was utterly impossible.
Suppressing the impulse, Olivia inched along the ground without a sound, hoping to slip away while they were still arguing.
"I don't need it!" Bob said.
Catching Olivia in the corner of his eye, he frowned and gave his wand a casual, slight flick.
The invisible air seemed to condense into an iron hammer and slammed mercilessly into Olivia's back.
Olivia's clenched teeth let out a muffled groan; her body shuddered, and every bone felt as though it had been smashed to pieces.
"Fine, she's yours," Oles shrugged, then reminded, "But don't forget I helped you this time."
Bob was silent for a long moment, then gave the barest dip of his head.
"In that case, I'm off.
Bob, don't kill her — otherwise her younger sister won't be willing to cooperate with us."
Oles gave a soft laugh, waved a hand, and left with the wizard at his side.
"I don't need you to remind me!"
Looking at Oles's insouciant manner, Bob felt a nameless fire rise in his chest.
He saw the figure still crawling forward on the ground with all her might, and, blazing with fury, he swung his wand again.
A tremendous force struck Olivia's body; she arced high into the air, smashed into a nearby trunk, and spat blood.
"I can't fall here.
Sylvia is still waiting for me.
Duncan is still waiting for me.
I must stay alive!"
Olivia roared inwardly, braced a hand against the ground and struggled to rise.
Her trembling hand gripped her wand and lifted it with all her strength.
The incantation she intoned brimmed with blazing fury, as she used that spell she had never once managed to cast.
"Avada Kedavra!"
Terrifying green light burst from her wand tip, illuminating Olivia's blood-smeared face, and surged with unstoppable momentum toward the man striding up to her.
Bob's steps faltered, and he hurriedly dodged aside.
"Damn it!"
Seeing she had missed, Olivia pounded the ground in rage, coughed, and blood surged up at once from her throat.
"Now I can only rely on this..."
Olivia forced down the blood in her mouth.
With trembling hands she took out a small sphere — yes, the life-saving item Duncan had given her earlier.
The fine patterns on its surface made it look precious, and she had never been willing to use it.
But she had put it off until things were this dire — she had no idea if it would still work.
Mocking her own stupidity, Olivia gripped the sphere and crushed it with all her might.
"You've provoked me again and again — I've had enough!"
Bob, now returned, bellowed.
Grass and mud smeared his clothing in a sorry state.
He raised his wand, his clenched fingers turned livid with the pressure.
"Beast!"
Olivia sneered, spat a mouthful of blood in contempt, and paid him no heed.
Blood pounding in his head, Bob was nearly losing his reason, wanting only to tear the woman before him to pieces.
But at the very moment Bob began his incantation, a hazy grey mist rose from Olivia's hand, spread over her entire body with startling speed, then surged outward like a roaring sea.
In an instant, the whole forest seemed to sink into a sea of clouds.
Sensing something was wrong, Bob flicked his wand again and again, flinging out Dark spells as though they cost nothing.
Moments later, the mist dissipated.
Bob hurried forward to check — yet the pitted ground was empty.
Gravely wounded, Olivia had escaped.
"Damn it!"
Bob threw back his head and howled, startling the birds sheltering from the rain under the leaves into panicked flight.
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