As Circe and Vlad ran, they saw a blurry figure appear in the distance in front of them. They stopped.

It was Helial who, after a few leaps, joined them: "Where the fuck did they go?" he shouted to Circe, deeply nervous. At that moment the fact that the Goblin was the descendant of the Merchants' Guild or his girlfriend was worthless, what he had decided to do was not a prudent choice.

Helial did not like the turn their escape was taking. Frankenstein and Lulu had paid already dearly for the recklessness of Helial's actions, now four members of the group had disappeared, contravening the decisions that had been made.

"Francesca has something stinky in her hands, I sent the others to follow her to prevent her from getting hurt," Circe replied calmly. An unexpected seriousness was visible in her eyes. "I preferred not to tell you because we would have risked compromising our escape."

Helial already had a string of insults ready, but he took a deep breath and held himself. The escape had already been compromised.

"Francesca?" Vlad's voice broke the silence. “What does Francesca have in mind, where is she? Where have the others gone?”

Vlad had not been made aware of anything, and now that he heard that conversation between Helial and Circe and saw the Human backing off on his own, he began to worry.

Circe looked at her cousin with great compassion. He wondered how intensely the grip of worry was holding his heart. “Francesca went back to save some civilians, or at least that's what she said. I think he had some other ideas, so Zion, Lev and Sidra went to get it. They'll be back here soon.”

After thinking for a few seconds, Vlad whispered: “I'm going too.”

“Vlad, please! We need you, we need each of us to save our lives!”

Helial looked at Vlad with a sharp look. “We don't need the group to break apart again. Now you will stay here with us and proceed to the outer perimeter.”

A convulsive patter interrupted the conversation. Caliban had joined them with his awkward mount, which had a rather clumsy gait.

Helial sighed and paused to think for a moment, pondering carefully before answering. He and Caliban were left alone in the center of the formation, completely uncovered, and so they had decided to join the rear, also ordering Snowflake and Lumia to go back and join them. Erano vicini alla linea del perimetro e avrebbero dovuto sfondarla di forza, utilizzando ogni mezzo a loro disposizione. Once they got outside the perimeter, they would have to get to safety as soon as possible.

Circe was worried about Francesca and the others, Vlad threatened to follow them. The plan was falling apart and their chances of salvation were decreasing every minute. Whatever Francesca had in mind, Helial couldn't afford to indulge her. They should have just kept running.

Helial decided to trust Francesca and Circe's decision to have her follow her. He hoped that all four would return as soon as possible, so that they could continue their march all together, according to the original plan. But now they had to go ahead and get to safety. All of them were sensitive targets, as they had killed the Revenant, the greatest hope of the Undead. They had to save themselves at any cost.

Just then Snowflake and Lumia peeked out from around a corner and approached what was left of the group.

“Here we are,” Lumia said. Now that they were reunited, they could resume their run.

Helial used Perception to fathom a few miles ahead of them and check how many enemies were in the surrounding area.

Skill Activated:

Perception

Not too many, was the answer. Not too many and not too powerful. Most of them were at the Fifth Fase, so they could have cut through enemy lines without a problem.

Not long, and they would all be safe soon. There was another little effort left and it was done.

He checked behind them, then back in front of them. Something was wrong.

Within seconds, something had changed,

and Helial was struck by a feeling of sheer terror. Startled, he was confused only for a split second. What was in front of him threw him into a state of trepidation and prevented him from breathing.

A bright green energy, shining like a sun, and a bluish one were approaching at high speed behind them!

Judging by the intensity of the two Auras, they were both at least at the Late stage of the Seventh Phase. In fact, the bluish Aura seemed to be at the Eighth!

An ominous feeling flashed through his guts.

Something told him that those two were not friends.

Feeling a shiver down his spine, Helial foresaw a new obstacle to overcome, this time a truly enormous one. If they had needed the help of two legendary creatures to defeat the Revenant, now only a divine hand could save them.

A flash of concern appeared in Vlad's eyes. The scarlet-haired boy must have sensed something. "What's going on?"

"Enemies at least at the Late stage of the Seventh Phase approaching."

"What?"

"Get ready to fight."

Helial activated all the Skills he possessed.

Skill Activated:

Metamorphosis

Two huge black wings appeared behind his back. They unfolded for more than ten feet, giving the impression that he was the King of all living creatures. But even so, it wasn't enough.

Skill Activated:

Runes

A series of runes covered his forearms, giving him a sharp sensation of pain. If it weren't for the Perfect Foundation, Helial would not have been able to use both skills together, especially after consuming most of his Stamina during the fight with the Prince of Darkness.

He felt his meridians mechanically pumping energy into his muscles. They continuously expanded and contracted to stimulate the flow of Mana. However, the overload broke several muscle fibers. The pain he was subjected to at all times while using Polymorph, Runes, and Perception was boundless.

Helial's breathing quickly became labored. His body had already been subjected to a terrifying amount of stress that day.

The moment before the storm is always the calmest. Everyone looked around. Vlad, Snowflake, and Lumia activated their Skills.

“Snowflake and Lumia, take care of the guy in front; I will take care of the one behind. Vlad, you stay behind us. You too, Circe. Risking your life is useless. We will try in every way to stop them, then we will leave for the walls.

Snowflake's mustache trembled slightly, followed by his body.

SWOOOSH

Snowflake disappeared in a spiral beam of light, too fast even for Helial. As Lumia followed the cat with her eyes, she frowned.

The person flying towards them possessed terrifying speed, no second to that of Snowflake with Authority of the Tyrant.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOM

The two bodies impacted against each other, creating a deafening roar. The shock wave was so strong that several buildings suffered serious damage. Some lost only the upper storeys, others were completely razed to the ground.

Snowflake was thrown at full speed against a series of palaces, creating rubble everywhere it passed. He immediately spat out a mouthful of blood and the splutters stained his white coat. The cat looked up to see that an entire neighborhood had been destroyed by a single clash and thought with regret how much money Nelia would have to shell out to rebuild it, perhaps the same amount she had spent to feed Snowflake in two years.

Could he have been badly injured after just one direct confrontation?

The black shadow landed gracefully on the ground, carefully watching the kids in front of him.

"One, two, three, four, five and ... six?" he counted aloud, after seeing Snowflake standing up. "Is that weird cat still alive?"

The hooded figure laughed and the hood shifted, revealing his features. His robes did not do the job of hiding his face well enough.

Helial recognized him.

He felt the cold memory of a blade brush his neck and a motion of contempt and repugnance hit his body.

"It's been a while, kiddo," the shadow smiled, noticing that Helial had remembered him. “Where is the present I brought you last time? Maybe you didn't like it?”

Anger began to build in Helial's chest, his vision clouded by the image of a young man dressed in gaudy armor, a sad and hideous rainbow of hues.

Ades was able to put his fingers everywhere,

but Helial wasn't the only one who had a bad feeling. Beside him, Vlad and Circe looked at each other, utterly bewildered. Helial and the Human in black seemed to know each other.

The Assassin continued to look around, as if waiting for something to happen; then he commented very calmly: "I thought you were less, instead you will force me to pour a few more drops of sweat."

Vlad did not know why, but those words had made him fell an unusual restlessness. He thought of Francesca and hoped that she had not met the man.

His heart squeezed in a grip of anxiety and terror, which left him petrified on the spot, unable to think of anything other than the person he loved most in the world.