Within ten minutes of fleeing through the woodlands without stopping, they reached a river. It was loud enough that no one should be able to hear them even if they shouted.
"It's safe." She took off her cloak.
She gave strict instructions for 1A to fall back after five minutes. That was their agreed upon deadline since she was confident she could get Hessinia out.
She knows Arnold isn't the kind of person to kill someone right away so he would hold back and try to figure out what's going on. Since the night wouldn't end with any deaths, he should've let 1A go.
"—How did you get past that monster's senses?" Hessinia asked, out of breath, "He can even sense the faintest killing intent so he must be one of those crazy warrior types who can differentiate ants from each other."
It's true that Arnold is quite formidable when in comes to his potential and talent as a warrior, ignoring his immense strength. But it makes sense since his master is an even greater warrior.
How did she hide from such a person?
"I used the 'Artifact of the Pack' to fully erase my presence like a predator, even if I lack the fangs and claws to fully utilize it. I made sure it erased yours as well so we should expect a manhunt through this forest within the next hour." She took off her cloak, "Let's continue. We'll follow this river to the lake where it connects to."
Hessinia nodded and followed along.
"Looks like there is no one else nearby." She said while looking around, "Putting yourself in danger like that just for me is a little surprising, Lady Cadre. I can't help but think there's a deeper meaning to risking yourself like this…"
"Hm, it's true that I have an ulterior motive but I would like to discuss it once we're out of danger. Or at least we can't hear them anymore."
She could still hear them shouting "clear here" but from how distant the shouts sounded, they were a fair distance away. They can't breathe easily just yet, though.
They travelled ten more minutes into the forest, and were now deeper than any of the mountain tribes had ever gone. Even the mountain where they built a mine next to, was far from where they were.
They arrived at a lake.
This was the same place Celeste had met that Land Goddess—Phistia, was it? It's not impossible for humans to meet the lesser gods since they are bound to the mortal realms—though, there have only been a handful of incidents in the past century—so she didn't treat it as anything significant. However, their discussion that day slipped her mind completely.
Eventually she'll tell Arnold about this "Key" the land deity mentioned but for now she has other things to focus on.
"—I am glad to see you are well, Milady." 1A, clutching his broken arm, face half-covered in blood, was waiting for them at the lake. Against the dark sky without a moon to provide light as the eclipse was slowly ending, the lake was oddly the only thing twinkling with a sharp glow.
Normally it would surprise her that one of her strongest subordinates (who is even considered one of the strongest in the entire organization) was beaten to such a state but with what Arnold showed the other day—when he killed an Ancient Dragon like it was nothing—it shouldn't be that much of a shock.
It looked more like he held back but tried to beat answers out of 1A.
"Your beloved… He is remarkably strong, Milady. I'm sure not even Temira and Tharuvon would be a match for him." 1A glanced at Hessinia, "How much have you told her?"
"I was getting to that… You weren't pursued, were you?"
"I may not be able to sense that boy, but I made sure to leave fake trails behind and caused a ruckus in one of the outer settlements far from here. But we shouldn't rule out that they're not going to send out a search party. With the eclipse over, the shadow demons can cover more ground."
"The mountains and forest are the first place they would look after finding no leads around the villages." Celeste took a seat on a rock, "The teleportation tunnel artifact is still on cooldown so we can't travel to my hideout just yet."
She glanced at Hessinia, who seemed quite nervous. What kind of things has she heard to be this tense in front of Celeste?
She admits that she has done terrible things to ensure she maintains her position in the organization and increases her political power in the underworld of society. To someone like her, it's important to not appear too weak, otherwise your enemies—and even those you would call companions—will swallow you. That said, she isn't cruel and wouldn't hurt innocent people.
Is that too unbelievable knowing what kind of organization Serz is and what it expects of its members?
Would it be surprising to know that Serz didn't start out this way?
They once had a noble goal—
"Hessinia, you have served this organization for how long now?"
"Eight years." She replied, sitting across Celeste on a log.
"And before that? Surely you did not have a normal life since the Scouts always go for the most cruel and useful candidates."
Scouts refer to the individuals working under Cadres who pick out potential members for the organization. They dig into the people's lives, learn about them, follow them around to see how they act and what they do. They then make plans to ensure this person is at the lowest point in their lives to ensure they have nowhere else to turn to—that's if they aren't at the lowest point already.
All of this is approved by the Cadres.
It is said that a scout always mirrors their Cadre's personality. She always thought that was bogus but having seen Miara and the others' Scouts, she admits she was wrong.
"I was a hunting dog for a noble."
"Hunting dog? In… the literal sense?"
"I hunted people down and killed them, yeah. I was a naïve girl thinking the noble would be able to find my mother just because he said so." She didn't seem too sad about it, though.
She didn't crease her eyebrows like someone longing to meet their beloved maternal parent.
"Is it important to you that you find your mother?"
"Very much so. Why all the questions? I thought you were going to tell me why you freed me from that city without anyone else's help… Lady Cadre."
"I want to get to know you better, is all. After all, you can't become comrades with someone who you barely know. How can trust even be established?"
Hessinia's looked confused by what she heard.
"Let me be honest with you. What I am about to say is the equivalent of treason," Celeste took out a cubic item—another artifact meant to erase a person's memories depending on the command given before injecting mana into it but she didn't say that to Hessinia.
It has another function: it makes the other person more susceptible to trust the other party no matter what kind of things they say or what they confess to. It's an artifact Celeste has used countless times to get what she wants, without bloodshed most of the time. Hessinia might become hostile to what she hears so the item is essential in preventing that.
A faint pulse spread—a sign that it was active so she began speaking.
"This organization means a lot to me—more than you can know. No, it means a lot to my family, the generations of individuals who served this group for centuries. However, loyalty to a company does not mean loyalty to its CEO."
"!" Her eyes widened upon hearing that a Cadre had no loyalty to her Leader.
"You—"
"Hear me out first." Celeste interrupted calmly. Though her voice was soft, almost like a whisper, the icy tone and strength in her commanding voice made Hessinia shut up, "You may not know this—no one does actually—but my foremother is one of the founding members of this organization—"
Serz was once a group of monster hunters who assembled during the "Blood Festival Era". This was an era that took place during the aftermath of the demonic invasion, and shortly after the Valkyries disappeared from the mortal realms without a trace, leaving behind only their offspring, few of whom were gifted with divine strength from their mothers.
Vampires were the ruling species after the demons wiped most of the powerhouses off the face of the earth. Countless vampire lords spread their influence throughout Diacree, turning villages and town into "farms" while cities served as strongholds.
The age before Promethius arrived was quite chaotic but unlike Serz that documented most of everything they witnessed, the rest of the world is left wondering just how much their ancestors struggled.
Vampires were very active before the demonic invasion but went back into hiding when the Valkyries came down to the world and spread the "Doctrine of Melis", a religion that spread to billions around the world and is the most prominent religion today.
Serz was comprised of many believers who prayed to Melis, believing doing so grants them their strength. Many of them were the offspring born from the lovemaking of a Valkyrie and human male.
During this era, it was rare for humans with extraordinary abilities to be born so they were quite special, getting contracts to hunt down monsters from goblins, up to even Wild Dragons.
They were the adventurers before adventuring became a profession.
However, they needn't be contracted to stop the Vampires' tyranny as their will to do good drove them to save the innocent—quite a contrast to the members of Serz today that range from psychopathic murders, rapists, gangsters to sociopath manipulators.
They were heroes—obsessive, devout, reckless heroes who believed it was their moral duty to protect the weak.
This is what makes their fall in the present day so tragic.
In the end, they were victorious against the vampires, and this changed their public image from simple monster hunters, into "humanity's new heroes" succeeding the Valkyries who fought the demons less than a century prior. They even inspired the adventuring profession and the first guild was built in their honor, though this is one of many historical moments that were forgotten with time.
Where did it all go wrong for their only good deed in the present Holy Year era being assassinating the previous Pope, a dangerous man who hid his tyranny and misdeeds behind his faith?
Celeste doesn't know what happened for them to become a criminal organization. Did the leaders throughout the years crave more political power, not satisfied with the little power they had as monster hunters?
It's true that Serz possesses the power to destroy a nation, not just through sheer violence but also political influence. The number of secrets and dirt they held over the nobles gave them that kind of power.
But why do they need this power? Celeste doesn't crave it—she has it but never uses it to further her political or personal goals. If she did, her "hobby" business with Celeste wouldn't be struggling financially right now after the Golden City's city lord became bankrupt.
Rather, it's risky to do that since she wants her identity kept secret and separate from her personal life.
The kind of political and military strength they have isn't the only issue. Declaring world domination… is this the kind of goal a human strives for? No leader in the history of this organization made this their goal, knowing full well that it's an impossible task to reach and know humans shouldn't make such things their goal—as it is the goal of demons.
However, the current leader knows about an ancient artifact created by the Gods themselves, that allows its wielder to see into the future—the Dark Scroll. This artifact will allow Serz to take over the world, provided they can translate it, which is where Wistorina comes in.
Is the leader even human to know about such an artifact? Or are they… from beyond this world's boundaries?
"—Knowing our leader's goal, I can't think of them as human. It is said that you can travel to and from a realm beyond the nine realms, because you share blood with an entity from that same realm—is that correct, Hessinia?" Celeste finished her explanation and came to the crucial part of this discussion, "I'd like to hear how this is possible."
"…My mother was admitted to a mental asylum when she tried to kill me. But every method she used, my body just wouldn't allow me to die, even as a child. Her crimes were found out by authorities and she was taken away while I was admitted to an orphanage. I received a report of the things she told the people at the institution—how I am a danger to all humanity because I am not human like everyone else."
"Meaning…?"
"I might not be from this world, originally. Or my father was not human but had me with my mother."
"By the sound of it, she was not on good terms with this father of yours… How did the two of them even conceive you if not through a loving relationship?"
"…My mother said she didn't want me and was taken to a remote location with several other women where she was raped alongside them."
'Strange, there were many old articles from as far back as 200 years ago that had the exact same stories in them.'
Women said they were kidnapped by a mysterious man who wooed them and took them to mysterious locations where they were assaulted and impregnated.
The children born from these incidents weren't human, as if the women were cursed by a god to conceive malformed human babies.
Could the two cases be connected?
Celeste stared at Hessinia.
She looks perfectly human.
However—
"Those powers of yours that pull you to another dimension might be the biggest clue that you are not human—or fully human—as this isn't something just anyone can have."
Truthfully, she didn't know much about this woman. She had two options before deciding to coming to this city but investigated what kind of person Hessinia is and how she can "help" Celeste with her "goal".
Basically, Hessinia's power is the third option. Or more like it helps Celeste strive toward that third option.
It's not magic or a skill, maybe more like an innate ability born from the desire to return home.
If the two aforementioned cases are similar, then the world may not be as normal as one might assume. Whoever her father was had the goal to make as many human children as possible.
But what's the point?
"Hearing your story, am I right to assume you aren't looking for your mother just to reunite with her?"
"I want answers. That's what the scout promised me when I was brought here. Whether she's dead or not, I know the institution always finds ways to make their patients record their life experiences. That autobiography might be in their hands if she's not dead already."
"Do you remember where the institution is?"
"No, my memory as a child is fuzzy."
"I see. And you think Leader can give you those answers?"
"I only believed in them the day I joined this organization because I was told they were powerful enough to make things happen. But after hearing that we have an artifact that can predict the future and recite everything in detail from the past—I know I can get those answers even if I don't find her. I am willing to do everything it takes."
A foolish, naïve woman. It seems her mischievous, sadistic nature isn't the only childish thing about her.
"…Are you satisfied with my answers, Lady Cadre?"
"Yes, I feel I've learned more about you than even my own subordinates."
"…Then can you tell me why you rescued me in particular without telling my Cadre?"
"It is possible our leader could be one of these outer gods that seek to take over our world and destroy it. To determine this, we need your powers to—"
She was about to explain exactly how Hessinia fits into this "third option", but Celeste suddenly heard 1A's croaking voice call out to her: "M-Milady!"
She looked over, seeing a hand on 1A's throat and a pair of red eyes looming in the darkness.
Her hands instinctively went towards her mouth.
No…
How…?
There's no way he could've found them so quickly. The artifact she uses to hide their energy signatures is said to be the item created by the most illusive god—the God of Trickery, found in a relic tomb 400 years ago. The artifact hid even the relic tomb away in plain sight so it should have no problem surpassing even the superhuman detection of Warrior Sense, something honed through years of training and bloodshed.
Yet how was Arnold able to find them when they had the power of a god on their side to hide them?