Evan D. Sherden, Running. (5)

“Sherden is in danger.”

At Evan’s words, Marquis Soline flinched. In fact, he had been expecting this to some extent.

But Sherden was a few days away by carriage. And now, the gate to Sherden had been destroyed!

The Marquis closed his eyes to conceal his frustration, then he spoke.

“Let’s trust Eric…”

“Of course, I believe in him. But the catastrophe that Pellati now faces has never happened before, so will Sherden be in any different state than Pellati? I don’t think so. No matter how perfect the preparations are, there are still limits in dealing with it.”

Evan searched his arms and pulled out a portable telecommunication device. He had many kinds of communication tools, but there was only one communication tool that was good enough to surpass the gap between countries. It was a communication line connected to Shine.

“Shine.”

The answer did not come back immediately; perhaps because they were occupied with the emergency. This alone was enough to raise the alarm. Evan tried to shake off the crushing tension and called Shine again.

“Shine.”

[Master.]

He answered back. Shine’s voice brought Evan some relief. Evan knew Shine couldn’t be beaten by some regular enemy.

“Are you all right?”

[What about you, Master? Are you okay?]

“I’m asking about you.”

[I’m fine.]

Shine answered briefly and remained silent for a while. Soon after, he explained the situation.

[But Raihan is overdoing it. Help me, sir. He’s going to die.]

“I’ll be right there. What about Eric?”

[Prince Eric is all right. I wanted to bring him to a safe place, but he said he’d help fight. Master, I’ll tell you more later. I’m begging you. Please come quickly.]

“Alright.”

The communication had been cut off. While everyone who heard the message was glued to Evan, he calmly reached out and mumbled quietly, smoothening his boots.

“Release.”

So far, the terrible magic that had been imprisoned by Evan’s body surrounded him with the flow of the Devil Rune, which he had established with Redine’s help.

As he was usually restraining himself, the magical release made it possible for Evan to exert more overwhelming power. That was the substance of the boots. It was a perfect match for Evan.

“I’m going alone. If I go, I can make it on time.”

“Evan!”

The Marquis suddenly raised his voice, but Evan was determined.

“You won’t be able to keep up with me anyway. Lua, I leave everyone to you. Can you defend them?”

“But Master, I should be with you…”

“Please, Lua. There are people here to protect.”

Immediately after, Belois shrank down without refuting anything due to Evan’s determined eyes. Following that, Evan did something that no one could believe.

He approached her first and kissed her on the cheek! Belois became stiffer than the ground underneath them.

“Master.”

“Don’t you die, Lua.”

“Yes.”

“Arisha, you too.”

“Yeah, don’t get hurt, Evan.”

He then kissed Arisha on the cheek, throwing people in a frenzy again, and then took a step backwards. The magic he had been repressing then loosened and rushed to cover Evan’s whole body instantly.

It was inevitable that the monsters concentrated on him as the dark and black magic mixed with Evan’s dark-purple magic was emitted.

“I’ll take care of as many people as I can.”

“Father-in-law, I’m sorry I can’t stay to protect them.”

“No, don’t be sorry. Hearing you call me that is enough.”

“That’s good… Then father, mother, and Liz, I’ll go back.”

“Evan……”

“Brother?”

Evan turned around, ignoring the worried gaze from his family. He could sense the Demons going berserk because of the dark-purple magic emanating from him.

It was the same magic he used in dealing with the Mahwa tribe.

“We don’t have time. I am heading for their boss.”

The strongest of the Demons, but the one who hid itself the most. He was now hiding in the midst of countless monsters, patiently waiting for the right moment to strike and achieve his purpose there.

Evan zeroed down the boss. Just one step in his magic-enhanced state, and he was already in front of him. He immediately stamped on him.

[Gasp…!]

“I’ll ask one question only.”

Evan’s feet crushed the Demon’s neck, and his words crushed his spirit. The Demon was a Noble, one of the high-ranking Demons; yet, in front of Evan’s dominating presence, he found it difficult to breathe, let alone move a finger.

“What’s your purpose here?”

[Wha—I…don’t…know—ordered…to…attack—kill…the…Count’s…family.]

“That means this isn’t the main stage. That’s a relief—for now.”

[Kaah!]

He knew it because the level of the head wasn’t as high as he had initially thought. After forcing the intel out of him, Evan killed the Demon. The Heaven’s Press, which was charged with the power of Heaven, exerted such overwhelming force on the Demon’s body that no trace of him remained.

“Hmm!”

Evan caught and killed the Demons near the leader and then took off once more. His body soared high into the sky. If one were to use the Heaven’s Step, they could dart straight through the sky.

Evan stamped his feet in the air. For a moment, he felt terrible pressure on the area, and soon after, the multitudes of monsters in the proximity near him exploded!

[Keeeeeeee!]

[Keek! Keek!]

[Keeeeeee eee!]

It was a terrifying scene; a complete juxtaposition of the radiant, ambient fireworks they were seeing before. The sky was filled with dark, disintegrated vestiges of the monsters. All the humans on the ground were completely awe-struck. The same went for the Demons and the monsters.

The only emotion all the witnesses could feel was fear—even the humans. Evan unleashed another Heaven’s Step.

[Keeee eee!]

[Keek, keeeee!]

[Run away, run away… we can’t beat him!]

The monsters broke formation and started to flee, but the gap they had just revealed was truly fatal. The humans, who were waiting for a chance to fight back, now rushed to aid Evan.

“The Great Wizard.”

“The Great Wizard has saved us.”

“Evan D. Sherden! Evan D. Sherden killed the head of the Demons and wiped out the monsters!”

Without wasting a breath, Evan proceeded for Sherden. Behind him, Belois was seen once more, employing her magic to get rid of the remaining demons.

She and the rest of the city would be able to overcome the remaining crowds. Believing that this was the case, Evan went forth.

Unlike his previous clumsy movements in the western Silk Line, his movements now were very smooth and ridiculously fast. It could almost rival a teleportation technique.

He refused Belois’ company not only because he wanted her to remain in Pellati and fight but also because he thought she would not be able to withstand Heaven’s Step. Only Evan was capable of enduring the ability’s shock.

Evan’s face was filled with dread and horror. He thought that he had been prepared for anything that would happen, but he couldn’t imagine what the rest of the group in Sherden was going through now. His stomach seemed to twist and turn.

‘They’ll be able to endure it. I trained them for this. I’m sure…!’

Were the Dungeon Knights members going to be okay? Was Eric, who had little experience as Marquis’ deputy, dealing with the situation calmly?

The dungeon explorer guilds, who had always been a friend, and Ironwall Knights, who always guarded Sherden, and their Commander!

‘Let’s hurry.’

Evan clenched his teeth and kicked his foot again. The surrounding landscape changed in an instant. Humans on the ground would not even be able to gauge Evan’s presence.

Nevertheless, there was still quite a long way to Sherden.

“Lady Arisha.”

As Evan disappeared into the sky’s vista, Belois turned to Arisha and asked with a cold voice.

“Did you hypnotize Master Evan?”

“No, I confessed my feelings to him.”

“That kind of abuse…”

“And then he asked me to engage him.”

As soon as she heard it directly from Arisha’s mouth, Belois seriously thought of changing the direction of the firefoxes she was firing just a bit in Arisha’s direction.

“You know, Evan doesn’t exactly hate me. He just avoided me. But he’s not going to avoid me anymore. So he asked me to get engaged with him as proof. You know, I was so glad to be born as a noble’s daughter in Pellati.”

“Is that so…”

Instead of telling Arisha off, Belois reached out and used more magic. She succeeded in capturing the Demon and killing it, while the Demon had lost its leader and was visibly confused.

The spear of flame concentrated on the target and fired quickly, burning the object. She burned the Demon in an instant!

[Arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!]

However, Belois clenched her teeth, creating two more spears of flame in the air to see if it was enough to relieve her anger. She has never been so resentful of her status as she was at this moment.

“Congratulations on your engagement…”

“Thank you, Belois. But I envy you more. Evan likes you the most. He affirmed it to me. He’s a born womanizer. The worst guy in the world.”

At the unexpected timing of Arisha’s words, Belois’ cheeks turned red as she recalled what she had heard from Evan in Palman.

No, there had been so many other things to notice Evan’s feelings, not just that. And the fact that Evan even revealed his heart to Arisha…

“Well, that’s what it is. Ah!”

“So let’s cheer up together. We don’t have time to pause here.”

Arisha laughed and raised her Rapier, smiling at Belois’ embarrassed reaction. She roughly understood what she had said.

“Let’s get this out of the way and aid Evan.”

“…That’s right. Especially Maybell. If she finds out about the Young Master’s engagement, things will turn ugly.”

Belois breathed deeply and managed to calm herself down as she raised her hand again and coughed. Her face was still red, but Arisha decided to pretend not to have noticed.

“We need to go back to his side and support him.”

“Yeah, now this is more like the Belois I know.”

After the conversation, the two girls turned around and faced the enemy again, both increasing their magic. Diona, who was watching the scene from behind, spoke up.

“I’m listening to you from behind, aren’t you guys ashamed of what you’re talking about?”

“That’s normal for their age.”

The Marquis laughed and replied to Diona’s words. He was still worried about Evan heading to Sherden alone, but this was not the time to show weakness.

All he could do now was trust his sons, as well as survive here without dying. He also had to protect his precious family.

“Melto, I can’t just stand still. I already have a lot of families to protect, and I think I just added two daughters-in-laws.”

“Oh, my God. I can’t lose, either! Shouldn’t I be allowed to die at least after watching my daughter wear a veil?”

With the hero Evan’s performance, humans regained hope and stood up again in front of the incoming monster wave.

It was going to be a long night before dawn would rise.