Nur made a detailed plan. He already knew where the end point of the city was located, that was the location from which his group could exit. Originally he planned on heading there together with his group as soon as they got their hands on the map. But certain knights patrolling the streets made it almost impossible.

For starters, the knights were on guard against anyone walking in groups, people who walked by themselves did not attract attention, but those that walked with more than two people were questioned. Apparently the search was due to the fact that the witch that was scheduled to be executed a few days ago has disappeared from her cell. While sitting inside a tavern, they heard that knights were apprehending anyone who looked even remotely suspicious, largely due to the rumors that demons have managed to infiltrate the city and have most likely been the ones responsible for freeing the witch. They weren’t wrong, not completely anyways, but Nur knew that they were referring to the demons that he ended up encountering outside the city, not him. Anyone walking in groups would be tailed by knights and then backed into an alley before being beaten and searched to confirm if the person was truly human.

Nur wanted to avoid being found out. As he found out from previous loops, the knights were relentless killing machines. They would stop at nothing until he and his companions were dead.

Luckily, Aida had a small consolation to offer.

“I can hide my presence and of one other, but if I do so, it would make me unable to fight for the duration of the spell. I can hide you with it, but I cannot do more than one living being other than myself.”

“In that case, you can hide Sariu under your spell. Both of you head towards the west gates of the city. I will meet with the thief at the town square at midnight and head there myself. Wait for me there and make sure to keep your presence concealed. If I do not come back by morning, exit the city and don’t look back.”

“Nur, but that plan places you in maximum danger! I can’t allow you to go alone. When I said I would use the concealment spell, I meant I would use it for you…”

“I understand, but under these circumstances, we need to have Sariu alive, otherwise…” I would die. With the contract, Nur’s body became invulnerable to non-magical damage, but it also tied his life to Sariu’s. If she were to die, he would die as well. It wasn’t a matter of saving someone else, it was looking out for saving one’s own skin.

“Hhhhrggggg….” Aida growled at me.

“Please Aida, I beseech you.”

“Fine. If you insist. But please come back safely. I am only protecting this fool just because you asked me, ok.”

“That fool is right here, miss Aida.” Sariu said with visible displeasure. “Mr. Finnerman, do you really think this is a good idea? I mean the premise of exiting the city itself is dangerous, why to go this far?”

“In that case, would you like to stay in the city where you are guaranteed to be captured and burned on stake, if you didn’t know; it doesn’t feel too good, to be burned that is? Or if you get lucky, you will just be beheaded by a crazy knight and that would be the end of it. Or you can run as far as you can from this nightmare city. Face it, this city is for humans, not demons, not witches, and certainly not dragons.”

“Oh, I suppose I cannot argue with that logic, but you have aided me more than anyone else in this city, I just don’t understand, why?”

“I have my reasons. Now, both of you go on. I will meet up with you, I hope.” Nur proceeded to head towards the town square.

He arrived there just a few minutes before midnight.

When the clock struck, a shadow covered in dust appeared on the ground nearby, with the familiar form of the thief appearing within it.

“I got what you asked for.” The thief proceeded to put the scroll on the ground. “My payment?”

“Here you go.” Nur tossed him a bag with ten silver coins inside of it. “Hope that covers it.”

“It indeed does. I trust you will keep this a secret. I cannot have you telling the guild masters about this transaction.”

“You have my word.” Nur picked up the scroll and opened it. Yep, it was the map alright. He got just what he needed. Internally he thought ‘If I knew the thieves were so useful I would have hired one ages ago!’

The thief used a dust ball attached to his belt and threw it on the ground. Now with a puff of smoke he was gone. It looked rather cool from Nur’s perspective. He could guess it was to make it easy to escape so that none could follow him.

Now Nur proceeded to walk towards the western gates of the city, located on the opposite side of the city where he initially entered.

Yet, before he even took ten steps, he heard a voice behind him.

“YOU SHALL GO NO FURTHER, THIEF!”

Nur turned around and was greeted with a sight of a knight. For a second, Nur was afraid that he was facing the Knight of Night again, but to his surprise the knight was wearing snow white armor that reflected well under the moonlight.

“I found you by using tracking spell on that scroll. I never expected myself to be this lucky, to find you red handed, this must be my lucky day.” The knight in white armor said in a confident voice.

“And who are you supposed to be?” Nur couldn’t help but feel as if he had seen this knight before. He looked unbearably familiar.

“I am the Knight of Light, Leon Revilles; remember it well, thief, for it is the last name you shall hear.”

“Wait, wait, wait. You just assumed I was a thief, but I paid for this map, so I did nothing wrong.”

“That map was stolen from the nobleman’s house a few hours ago, I was tasked with finding it, and now I find it in your hands, you are obviously the culprit.” The knight of light threw a dagger at Nur, most likely in order to get Nur to drop the map, but Nur’s body just phased to dust for a moment and the dagger harmlessly passed through him.

“I see, not just a thief, but a demon as well. It seems I have made quiet a catch.” The knight of light now brandished his sword, coated with shining light that seemed to resonate with the calm light of the moon.

That was when Nur finally remembered. This knight, he was the knight that Nur saw in his previous loop, fighting and killing dragons. Nur felt a sensation of terror in his spine.

He ended up crossing paths with a terrifying foe.