The thought sends a jolt in his body. He hates feeling like this. Why does he still feel fear around her? The nightmares from that night still haunt his sleep. What would have happened if Ari had never replaced Kresi's soul? Would he have crumbled due to his fear or warred with her because of his hate?

He had stopped hating her. He accepted everything that his mother did. Both his mother and Kresi died that night. Who could he blame for the scars that the night left on his soul? His mother was partly responsible too.

It's a girl. Only a girl with broken channels. He tells her with a steady voice, "You have no reason to hurt me."

"Why do you assume that?" She tilts her head and regards him with a puzzled gaze. "You are the first person whom I want to kill right after I regain my abilities."

"Oh, really?" He presses down the fear, hiding his trembling hand under his cloak. His green eyes contract, darkening a little. She's never going to change, is she? Ari's efforts are a waste. The girl is still hungry for blood. He asks her bitterly, "Why does this cripple want to kill her royal highness?"

"I hate you," She replies with a clear voice, going ahead of him. "You look a lot like her… your hair, eyes, nose, lips, and the tone of your skin remind me of her. That's enough for me to hate you."

He inhales sharply. He should be the one who should carry such hate. Does he like being around this girl who killed his mother mercilessly? She was still his mother. "Kresi Mirin, this hate is mutual."

Oh, she knows when someone hates her. His voice lacks the so-called hate. There is an annoyance and a little anger in his tone. But disgust and hate are missing from his eyes and She snorts, not bothering to reply.

Just then, a metallic ball shoots in her direction. She ducks her head, shifting on the saddle. The horse is startled. She slips from the seat, falling on the ground with a loud thump. "Ugh!"

Lying on the ground, she lets out a sigh. She's a little out of touch.

Aren lets out a curse. Who is attacking them now? He climbs off the horse with his little brother under his arm, covering his brother's body with his cloak. His green eyes search for the assassin. Fiery ehr vibrates in his veins, rushing toward the tips of his fingers. A fireball manifests in the centre of his palm. He sees a glimpse of a dark figure running toward the figure. In the next instant, the figure is gone.

Illusion?

He shoots the fireball at the tree. The fire engulfs the tree. There's no sign of the figure. Ai squirms in his grasp. Aren doesn't let him go. Protecting his brother is his top priority. He glances at the spot where Kresi fell earlier and finds it empty.

Where did she go? He turns his head around and sees her standing close to a boulder, leaning slightly on in. She's holding an icy blue bow, twice the size of her body. A thin silvery snake, as thin as a string, is biting the one end of the bow with its tail curled around the other end. It looks familiar.

That bow looks quite similar to a treasure that he had seen in a book once.

"That's Serpent's Sting!" He exclaims in horror. When the gods went to sleep, they left their treasures behind. Their priests guarded those treasures in the temples for generations while they waited for their return. When he studied at Ilucia, he had seen the picture of this bow in one of the books. How did she get this?

She tilts her head with closed eyes, listening to the sound. Though her senses are duller than before, she hasn't lost everything. She moves to her right swiftly, putting a wooden arrow on the godly bow. He gapes at her. Her posture is similar to the royal warriors. Under the moonlight, she has a different glow. With a sharp look in her eyes, she releases the arrow.

The wooden arrow cuts through the air, hitting an obstruction. The elusive shield smashes like a mirror. However, the arrow doesn't stop. The figure, who is a man in his late thirties, gasps as the arrow hits his shoulder. He collapses on the ground.

The bow shrinks into a pair of snakes; one is blue and the other one is silver. They climb her arms swiftly and hide under her cloak. Kresi takes long strides toward the fallen man. The man, wearing black trousers and a black tunic, glares at her. But he can't move his body. The pain in his shoulder is excruciating. She bends down on her knees and pulls off the cloth covering the lower half of his face. "Eh? I don't remember offending you in my lifetime."

"Whore!" He spits at her face. "Sinners like should be tortured to death."

"Whore." That's a first. Maybe not. She taps her chin. "I have never parted my legs for a man, you know. I am not sure that it applies to me."

Aren covers his little brother's ears. What does she mean? She was married to the dark god once.

"Even if I have had sex, it doesn't make me a whore." She sighs. "Why do these men use this word as abuse? What about the men who visit the whores? Are they any worse?"

"Shut up, Sinner!" The man roars. "I would have thrown you into the den of deranged half-lings who would have fucked you until your death."

"How do you know that I have never been thrown into those dens?" Kresi cocks her head and laughs. "If I were you, I would not have let my enemy die. The gods won't bring me back if I die this time. I would be reborn without memories of Kresi or Amara. Then, I could be reborn as your daughter or someone else's child in this world. That sounds too good for me, right? If you want revenge, it's better to keep me alive and torture me every day. Then again, being fucked by halflings sounds lame."

The man blinks his eyes. The tone of her voice doesn't match her age. The shine in her eyes is maniacal, frightening. He swallows, forgetting about his pain. He came here to capture this sinner because of things that she did. Iravan was destroyed by this woman. She even caused trouble when she was the harbinger. The woman like her shouldn't be released without punishment. The Gods are too kind. This woman doesn't deserve such kindness.

"Your friend ran away without you." She checks the wound on the man's shoulder. "You are lucky that I can't do magic." She pulls out the arrow and tosses it on the ground. The man screams. With a cool voice, she continues, "Your bone is hit. I don't think that you can ever use your arms again. But what do I know about healer's magic? Maybe you can go to the gods and complain that I hurt you. Then again, do you think that the gods would punish me for self-defence? I don't have any magic. You couldn't even protect yourself from a harmless wooden arrow? Good luck with that, Sehr."

Kresi clicks her tongue, standing up. She walks toward Aren. Her horse is nowhere to be seen. What should she do now?

"We will capture you." The man shouts behind her. "You will beg for death from us. Even the holy knights are with us. You won't go unpunished, you hateful creature!"

Holy knights? Aren knits his brows. He was the leader of the holy knights once. They were disbanded after the gods reappeared in the world. Is this some fake group that's masquerading as the holy knights? Do they have no will to live? He needs to investigate this. He can't do it now. Taking Ai to the castle is his top priority.

"Hateful creature is better than whore or cripple, I guess," She mumbles absent-mindedly as she walks past Aren. She takes out a talisman from the inner pocket of her cloak. Then, she sprinkles the white powder on it. The talisman shines once, reacting to the powder. She only has five more. Would it be enough for this journey? They need to reach the Dark Castle as soon as possible. Kresi slams the talisman on the horse's belly, feeling the magic throbbing under her palm. The vigorous energy rushes into the horse. It flares its nostrils, ready to charge ahead.

She turns around and frowns at him. "What are you waiting for?"

How is she nonchalant about this? He can't help but feel like an idiot beside her. "What did you do to the horse?"

"It's similar to aphrodisiac." She knows that he won't budge without an explanation. Should she try stuffing mud in his mouth? He won't let her do that willingly. She doesn't want to harm this man in the process. She climbs the horse. "Its stamina has increased. He won't last the whole journey, but he will get us as far as he can."

Aren narrows his eyes, wrinkling his nose. "It will kill this horse."

"If that man's friends arrive, it will be an ugly battle." She bends down her waist and takes Ai from his arm. The little toddler lets out a sigh. He couldn't do any magic earlier. This sister is so bad.

Kresi makes him sit in front of her, covering the boy with her cloak. She looks at Aren quietly, waiting.

"What?" He takes a step back, curving his brows. Does she want him to sit behind her? "No!"

The girl shakes her head. What is he afraid of? She won't bite him.