Under the moonlight, all five members of the team were making their way through the forest. They couldn’t stay near Notre Dame any longer, the city’s Temple was burnt down and its leader, the High Priestess, went down with her Temple. There was no way they could get away with it if they stayed there, Maria and Liam would be picked out immediately so they had to move before someone coming from the higher government came looking for them. However, even though they knew about the danger that might be right behind them, they could not run very far. The forest was tough terrain especially at night and they were too tired. They all hadn’t slept for three days by then and they physically and meantally could not take it any longer. After hours of running through the forest as the first beam of sunlight touched the earth, Maria and Liam, those who were affected the most could not hold on any longer.

“We have to stop and rest.” Allan said “ We have run far enough, at least for now. We need to rest your body.”

Though Kyle really did not fancy the idea, he knew that danger might be lurking and waiting for them. However, looking back at the rest of the team, he saw that they could not go on any longer, so he had to take the risk.

“Fine, let’s head a little deeper inside the forest and find a safe place to make camp, we shall rest there till noon” Kyle said. Kyle led the others to a safe spot deeper inside the forest and made camp there for the time being. He told the other to get some sleep first and he would take the first watch. Just seconds after they closed their eyes, everyone fell into a deep sleep.

However, it was clear that not everyone was having a sweet dream. Maria was clearly having a nightmare, she was visibly shaking and having cold sweat. Of course that could not escape Kyle’s eyes, however, he did not know what to do or how to help her in this situation, all he could do was to hope and pray that she would get better over time.

But at least she got some sleep. Kyle lied when he said he would take the first watch, he did not change shifts with anyone and stayed awake the whole time. Liam woke up from his slumber, noticing the sun was already directly above their head, he knew that it was well past noon and Kyle was still standing guard.

“Hey, catch some sleep while you still can, I will cover for you” Liam said as he walked to Kyle.

“There is not much time left, we will need to get a move on soon. Don’t worry, I’ll be fine, I don’t sleep that much anyway” Kyle replied.

“That’s not that much, that’s none existent …” Liam spoke “So what have you been thinking about this whole time ? I know you did not just stay awake for nothing.”

“I’m just planning ahead a little bit and looking back at what we have just been through” Kyle answered. “Liam, did you notice anything about Leona ?”

“Not really, we were too busy with other matters in hand” Liam replied “What did you see ?”.

“That girl shares a strong resemblance to the Goddess statue in the city center, does she not” Kyle spoke. Liam's eyes were wide open, he compared the two in his mind and just like what Kyle said, those two did look alike, though not to the point where they both looked like the same person.

“You’re right, those two do look alike, the biggest difference would only be the hair style” Liam replied. “So are you telling me that Leona is actually the …”

“I don’t know for sure about that. However, she does look that part and her healing magic is very powerful and similar to what the legend told.” Kyle spoke.

“ Well Holy fuck, those people there were trying to kill the same Goddess that they were so blindly worship. How ironic, `` Liam said.

“Like I said, that is just the worst case. For all we know, she just looks alike, things like that happen all the time.” Kyle replied. Then they heard some noise coming from the other, it was still Maria, she was clearly still having cold sweats and started to talk in her sleep.

“It does not look good for her, does it?” Kyle spoke.

“No one knows exactly what she has been through. But it was undoubtedly Hell, what have they done to her !?” Liam said.

“We can’t help her now, she has to overcome this on her own. This is a truly turning point for her, either she will push through and become a stronger person or she will fall deeper and deeper into her own nightmare” Kyle said.

“How did you do it Kyle ?” Liam said “Maybe you could teach her as well”.

Kyle looked back at Liam and answered “I didn’t”.

They both stared silently at the outer forest. “Hey Kyle, do you think we are really getting off track right now. I mean the goal was to get back home by killing the Devil, but all we have done had nothing to do with it.” Liam spoke.

“You still have a lot to learn” Kyle spoke out and looked back at Liam. At the moment Liam knew that he and the other had missed another key point again. “That guide lady did not just say kill the Devil and we will be sent back home. It was to follow the game and bring peace to the land once again.”

“Well that is impossible, how can we bring peace to this Hell hole” Liam spoke.

“We will, but it won’t happen today or tomorrow, it will take time and we will need to become a lot stronger than what we are now” Kyle spoke. “And I don’t think we have infinite time either”

“What do you mean ?” Liam said.

“This is a game, it’s just a matter of time before we are forced to face the final Boss, or in other words, the Devil that is said to be pushed back to Hell and he will find his way back sooner or later.” Kyle spoke.

“Fuck… you know sometime I really hope that you’re wrong…” Liam spoke. “ Let’s get back to the present for a second. What is our plan for now ? If what you said is true then we really have a lot of work to do, and time is running out”.

Kyle remained silent for a while, he seemed to be in deep thought, and in the end, it looked as though he had to make a tough decision. Liam knew very well that Kyle was a smart man and someone who always thought ahead, but what Kyle just did was really strange to him. It looked as if Kyle already knew what was going to happen, what their next move should be and even that the experience would be very comfortable by the look of him.

“How could he plan so far ahead, are the rest of us really that far behind compared to him” Liam spoke to himself. But he knew that it could not be, looking back, Kyle had also made mistakes and was genuinely surprised by this world.

“We need to head to Tolemac.” Kyle said.

“Tolemac ? You mean the country capital and the next door city to Notre Dame? Why are we heading to the heart of the Kingdom if we are trying to hide?” Liam asked

“We don’t really have much of a choice. Besides, we will be safeter there, no one would ever think we would hide under the nose of the Royal Kingdom like that. And somehow, I got a feeling that there will be something important for all of us to do there” Kyle replied.

“You have a hunch ?” Liam spoke “Then why do you look as if you also know that something bad is gonna happen there too?”.

“The time I spent in the library was not a total waste, I did manage to find out a lot about this country and how it’s run. Let's just say if it is what I imagine, then it will not be pleasant to say the least.” Kyle spoke.

Liam then gave a long sigh and said “So all we have to do now is follow the flow of the game, become Godlike heros, bring peace to this land and then defeat the final Boss before it is too late.” He then looked back to Kyle's eyes and said “Well let’s hope it’s easier than it’s sound”. The two then share a moment of laughter, what they had been talking about clearly was not that funny, however, it was the only thing they could do to lift themself up in a time like this.

“Come on, let’s wake the other up. We are heading to Tolemac” Kyle said.