...

Fifteen minutes later...

"Cure." Luna chanted as a faint green hue encompassed the wound of an injured captive. One second later, the open wound on the captive's leg disappeared without a trace.

"Thank you, saint of the All-Seeing Mother! Thank you!" The captive healed by Luna bowed his head as he cried tears of joy.

"Saint..."

"She's a true saint of the All-Seeing Mother..."

"The divine ones have not forsaken us...! The All-Seeing Goddess is watching over us...!"

The captives whispered silently among themselves as they looked at Luna with eyes full of reverence. During the darkest of times, even the smallest light resembled the brilliance of a sun. Right now, to the captives, Luna was that sun in a world without light.

At the same time, Earl Sakari narrowed her eyes as her gaze fell upon Luna. But, Luna was careful not to meet Sakari's gaze and feigned ignorance to the Earl's watchful eyes.

"I did not want to attract too much attention to myself, but my options are limited. If the people here have some trust in me, then..." Luna thought to herself.

Luna spent the last fifteen minutes going around the room and healing the injured captives in the name of the All-Seeing Goddess, Helilatiaa. However, it was not as if her sole purpose was to act as a missionary.

"Everything is almost in place. Now, I just have to wait for the right moment to-" Just as this thought passed Luna's mind, a massive portal opened up in front of the corridor at the top of the stairs behind Sakari.

The portal's opening startled the captives as it caused the room to shake for a few moments before settling down. But, no one had time to speculate what the portal was for as an aloof voice carried to every corner of the room.

"The preparations for the nightly altar are complete! Take the first half of them through! And-" Sakari declared as she suddenly paused.

A smirk found its way onto her face as she continued, "Make sure you take her along with the first batch."

Sakari pointed through the crowd and directly at Luna!

Luna remained calm; however, a flood of thoughts raced through her mind as Sakari singled her out. It was too soon! She still needed a bit more time!

When the captives witnessed this, the spark of hope in their eyes slowly began to fade away. That's right, the moment they were captured, their fate had already been determined.

Sakari's expression became one filled with delight. The only reason she allowed Luna to move about freely and heal the injured was for this exact moment. To give hope and then snatch it away just as fast, the looks of despair and anguish on the faces of those who lost the will to struggle—was there anything more satisfying in this world?

A handful of hunter skounae surrounded Luna as the captives watched on in fear. They wanted to help, but what could they do against trained soldiers? In the end, they would only be rushing towards an early grave.

"rds..." A small voice uttered from the group of captives.

"Hm? What did you-" One of the captives spoke out but jumped from the unexpected voice that rung into their ears.

"Cowards! Every last one of you are cowaaaaaaaards!!!!!" A small but powerful voice sounded.

Surprisingly, this sudden outburst came from the young girl Luna assisted in the group she was originally brought in with, Aria.

Aria's loud outburst drew everyone's attention; however, the young girl had yelled without thinking and trembled at the pressure of everyone's gaze on her.

The young girl's legs visibly shook as she almost intuitively took a step back. But, at the last second, Aria stopped herself as she clenched her trembling fist.

She was young but far from foolish. Aria knew the skounae did not have any good intentions by bringing them to a place so far away from their homes. If they took Luna away now, the chances were that they would never meet again!

Not only did Luna save her life, but she even helped every injured person without asking for anything in return. Now, in her time of need, everyone just put their head down or looked away in hopes of not getting caught up in the crossfire. Witnessing this kind of behavior, Aria's anger and fury momentarily overwhelmed the fear in her heart, which caused her sudden outburst.

Aria's eyes teared up. She was furious at those around her who did not stand up for Luna. But, what angered Aria the most was being so weak—unable to do anything to change the outcome.

For a brief moment, the room fell silent. Though it did not last long as the sound of clapping filled the chambers.

Clap. Clap. Clap.

However, the clapping did not come from the captives. Surprisingly, it was from none other than Earl Sakari herself.

Sakari grinned as she clapped her hands and said, "How touching. As a reward, you may also join her with the first group. Hunters, take the girl, too."

After Sakari gave the order, one of the nearby hunter skounae started to make their way towards Aria as her heart dropped. She wanted to run away, but her legs refused to move—frozen in place by fear.

Aria closed her eyes tightly and prepared to be taken away.

Bang!

Suddenly, the sound of an explosion echoed as a blinding radiant light engulfed the room.

"Gah!"

"My eyes! Too bright!"

"Ahhhh!"

The skounae were immediately disoriented and stunned from exposure to the bright light. Even Earl Sakari was not unaffected by it. While light did not physically harm them, to the skounae, its effects were similar to abruptly turning off all the lights in a brightly lit room and rattling their brains.

"Persist!" A booming voice thundered as a powerful wave of mana spread outward from the center of the room.

Boom!

Out of nowhere, a portal a bit shy of two meters tall appeared at the room's center that shocked the nearby captives. The light was bright for the skounae, but to the humans and zensana, it was nothing more than a mild annoyance at best; therefore, they had no trouble seeing their surroundings.

"That was a very dangerous and foolish thing to do." A familiar voice drifted into Aria's ears as she slowly opened her eyes.

"It's an angel..." That was the first thought that entered the young girl's mind as she saw the radiant light emerging from behind the figure before her. However, as her vision cleared up, she made out that person's true identity.

"But, your words—hearing them made me happy. Thank you, Aria." Luna said as a lovely smile blossomed on her face.

"...Saint..." Aria managed to utter that one word before she lost all the strength in her body. She fell to her knees with her eyes widened as she looked up with a stream of tears flowing from her eyes.

Luna shifted her gaze to one of the captives nearest to Aria and said, "Please take her and go through the portal. It will deliver you safely within Amaharpe territory." Luna stated calmly.

"Y-yes...!" The captive replied as he hurriedly jumped to his feet and carefully carried Aria.

As he walked past Luna, she warned, "If any harm comes to that child, I will hold you personally responsible."

"P-please leave it to me, saint! I will make sure no harm comes to her! Not even a single hair will be missing!" The captive assured.

Luna slightly nodded as she then turned her attention forward and announced, "Quickly, enter the portal if you want to live!"

There were still those frozen in shock by everything going on; therefore, not many moved immediately after Luna's announcement. But, after they saw the man who carried Aria disappear from the room by stepping into the portal, it was as if something clicked in their minds. The next moment, every last captive was on their feet and rushed in the direction of the portal at the room's center.

"Get to the portal! We can escape!"

"Thank the All-Seeing mother! I can live! I can live!!!!"

"Out of the way! Me first!"

"Move it! I don't want to die here! I have to get out of here!"

"Ah! Watch where you're going! I was here first!"

The captives were in a state of panic as a chaotic situation ensued. Everyone was afraid that the portal would disappear before they got the chance to enter. They pushed and shoved to try to get ahead of one another.

"Don't let anyone escape! Stop them! Especially that woman! That little bi... Gah! I'll kill her!" Sakari roared at the top of her lungs as a dark veil began to slowly push back the radiant light.