CORE
Chapter 17 - "Shining"

The Arrow User stood there, completely in a state of shock as they took a few steps back, their entire body shaking, for their years of training they had never seen their weapon shatter like that, and with such relaxation from the victim too.

"...I'll give you another chance, I can forgive that," Hero spoke as he sighed before outstretching his hand.

"Please, do answer, why are you ordered to kill on sight?" Hero questioned, this time in a more serious tone as the Arrow User slowly took a few steps behind the tree, clearly fearing for their life, while it seemed like this individual had no intention of taking their life, there was just this 'aura' that surrounded them.

However, The Arrow User didn't have to stay in this situation for long, if they just stayed silent and did not cause any threats, then soon enough...

"Doesn't seem like they want to answer," Justice said as he jumped up from the bushes in which Hero turned around.

"... You are trying to buy time, are you not?" Justice asked out of the blue in a calm tone, surprising Hero for a moment as he turned around and looked at Justice, but now that he thought about it, the more it made sense, meanwhile, The Arrow User, upon hearing this revelation, was mere seconds away from sprinting as he knew his cover had been blown.

"...By now he would have attacked us again, but he's instead trying to get on our passive side to make us comfortable," Hero followed up as he turned his head back to the Arrow User, who had already summoned two extra-charged magical arrows, aimed at both Justice and Hero, waiting to be fired.

"On behalf of our Guardian, stand down or face the consequences!" They yelled out as their magic arrows were charged up to their maximum.

However immediately as they fired, Justice and Hero simultaneously swerved out of the way, dashing towards the Arrow User they then slammed him down to the ground by hitting their chest with both of their opposite palms, making a crater in the ground from the impact the Arrow User had just sustained, also causing for them to be completely knocked unconscious.

"Simply amazing, what do we do now? If your assumption was correct then they are probably just a few miles away, and approaching rapidly as we speak," Hero said as both he and Justice stood behind each other's backs to make sure they were both equally protected.

"Well, I'm light, need I say less-?" Justice was cut off as a large blast of purple fire traveled to where he and Hero stood, catching them off-guard, Justice instantaneously slowed down his senses and avoided the attack while grabbing onto Hero, flying out of the forest and back to the pathway as they both rolled across the ground from the sudden momentum before they jumped up and regained stability quickly after...

Out of the forests, a group of people in shining knight armor emerged, standing on the path where they had seen the two intruders escape to.

"Any trace of them?" One of the knights asked.

All of them then looked deep into the forest, but no matter how hard they searched, regardless of how thick or thin, they could not find them.

"...They have escaped, report this to the Guardian, no one has entered Area 4 in a long time, this could be bad," One of the knights spoke out, to which the rest of them agreed, marching back into the woods, supposedly to where the place they resided was located.

But as they strolled along the woods, one of them heard a rustle in the bushes, to which they swiftly turned around while the others continued walking, but much to his confusion, there was nothing, not even a hint.

"What is the matter, Knight #1042?" One of the knights questioned.

"...Nothing," Knight #1042 responded, turning back as he caught up with the rest of the knights.

But behind the bushes, Justice vibrated his body at full speed while grabbing onto Hero, essentially making it look as though he was invisible, at least to the knights, they should not be able to perceive Justice's movements this fast.

"Is this okay for you?" Justice sarcastically questioned in an echoey voice as he turned to Hero.

"Close," Hero said as the two, not intending to waste any more time took chase after the knights, to follow where they were gonna go...

Through what felt like an endless amount of trees, they and the knights walked together unknowingly for the past 30 minutes straight, Justice, while not close to tired, had started to get slightly annoyed by him having to constantly vibrate.

And to Hero, it was obvious he was getting dizzy, especially if he was moved at such speeds like this for that amount of time.

But soon enough, this short struggle would end as Hero and Justice stopped in their tracks, watching as the knights stood in front of a large, concrete entrance, bars and spears hung from above, attacking anyone that was not of The Hunter's Kingdom.

"...Now I'm starting to remember, right, this place is ruled by..." Justice commented in a low, quiet tone as his eyes narrowed before a small smirk appeared on his face, but suddenly the ground before them shook, rather violently.

There the large concrete gates opened up wide, like a beast that opened its mouth to devour its prey, the knights stepped into the gate, but rather quickly, as it was quite wide, and could possibly crush them.

"Let's just stay quiet, we will only cause a mess if we have to..." Hero remarked as he sighed, which Justice snickered in response while he quickly careened through the concrete gate, meters away before it completely shut Hero just had to bear the sudden acceleration, but finally, it had ended as Justice quickly swerved his way into a nearby alleyway he spotted, stopping his vibration as he let Hero go in which they fell to the ground on their knees.

"...How can you endure something like that for that long?" Hero said in a strained and unsteady voice, in which he then quickly composed himself by forcefully freezing his mind, after that, he began to stare at Justice in genuine curiosity.

"It's simply something you pick up after you, for so long get- Eh, you know what, I'd rather not say," Justice said, at first confident but then ever so slightly serious as his smile quickly turned into a frown as he raised his right eyelid.

"I suppose it's best... Well then, let's try to find as much info about this place and its Guardian, I've realized it's best we don't just attack them head-on without knowing what they are like... It would be quite the astonishment if we ended up killing someone innocent," Hero said as he raised his hand.

"And to make this quicker... We would need to split up," Hero said as he took a step forward, looking Justice directly in the eyes, to which their frown turned back to a smirk.

"Yeah, I knew that from the beginning," Justice said as he chuckled before crossing his arms.

"Well then, once we're done where will we meet up?" Justice asked as he walked past Hero, putting his hand on his shoulder and then setting it down.

"You already know," Hero responded as his eyes narrowed to the ground before taking another step forward.

"Ha! Indeed I do..." Justice replied as the two walked in opposite directions, departing, for now...

The Kingdom, is a place ruled and watched over by the faithful, cold glare of The Hunter, every inch and every measure, but despite this bone-chilling fact, the people of The Kingdom still live and are to live fulfilling lives, some even leaving Area 4 entirely to settle into other Areas, some had personal reasons.

Similarly to Area 2's structure, down was an enormous city that stretched meters away, almost being that of an entire state, and what overlooked it was a large castle, while not as big as the city, was enough to seem rather intimidating, almost.

And so, as the citizens of The Kingdom continued their day, along a certain street, walked a strange individual, who covered themselves in a blue, dirty cape that also came with a hood, which the individual had put on, this, proved rather effective, as his face was almost completely darkened by the shadows.

"...This is idiotic, I should have just hidden in the shadows," Hero said as he walked along the streets, looking side-to-side if there were any knights, and there sure were.

But while he continued walking, he then turned the corner, but as he did so, he immediately saw two knights, who seemed to be chattering on about something, Hero quickly stepped back and hid behind the wall he turned.

"...That was close," Hero said as he slightly turned his head down, taking a deep breath and easing himself up so as to not look suspicious to the crowd as he decided to eavesdrop.

"So, two intruders have entered our premises?" Knight #501 questioned Knight #523.

"Precisely, if you see any more knights, please do inform them of this so that we will be able to maximize our defense, we have not gotten a full insight on their appearance, but one of them seems to be a completely black being, while the other is supposedly made out of a strange, glowing magic," Knight #523 responded as they nodded.

"Very well, you may go now," Knight #501 responded as the two bowed down at each other in a sign of gratitude Knight #501 parted and walked opposite ways, to which Hero could feel 501's magical aura step closer to the street he was on.

"A game of cat and mouse... then?" Hero questioned himself in his thoughts as Knight #501 turned to his street and walked past him, not even batting an eye, most likely focused on informing other Knights.

"This place is far from Area 2's London... Not as welcoming here, I can tell," Hero scratched the back of his head in slight irritation.

"Perhaps there was no point to this, I'll only get in trouble the longer I stay... So be it, I'll go and invade The Castle myself," Hero said as he turned his head up, looking at The Castle that watched over The Kingdom, and it just so happened he was nearby...

Within The Castle, hallways were dimly lit, the structure as quiet as a mouse, yet as deadly as a shark, thousands of guards protecting its nearly hundred floors.

And at the top floor of The Castle was the place where The Hunter rested, in their black cloak and ancient knight armor there they sat in that fancy yet dusty, empty yet full room of loneliness on their throne, watching their kingdom through a large, glass, circular window in front of them.

But as lifeless as they seemed, they soon got up, standing straight and proudly as they marched closer to the large glass before them before abruptly stopping in place, putting their arms behind their back as they continued to observe.

"...I sense you have returned, Justice," The Knight spoke to himself in a deep, menacing tone, as if he had seen everything from start to finish without a sweat or tear dropped.

"And with a new comrade too, do you wish to overthrow The King again..." The Knight said as they put their arms on the side of their body.

"Just as we tried, all those centuries ago?"

"..."

"Never have I regretted siding with you back then,"

"Nor do I hold resent for what you did,"

"...And so, with a heavy heart, I say with dread..." Sᴇaʀch Thᴇ FɪndNovᴇl.nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

"Under The King's orders..."

"You are to be killed on sight, along with your new accomplice,"

Sᴇarch the FindNovel.net website on G𝘰𝘰gle to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.