Book 4, Chapter 11

Escape

           The travel from the prison to the city gateis safe at least. Not surprising, cause I won"t be making the move at thismoment if I"m the robber. 

           I gave the bracelet to Hawk as soon as we left thecity range. "Be careful you two!"
　　
　　    "Ha!I won"t even sweat in the face of a dozen people or two. Any more and I"ll justflee. No one can catch Sunshine that easily."
 　　
　　    Elfyprotested: "Don"t forget about me! I"m not a decoration you know."
　　
　　    "Alright.Try your best. Oh wait, let me trying something first."

            I summoned all ofmy companions and the Phantom Knights.

           "I wonder if the NPCs will attackmy companions even if I don"t go in there myself. If they don"t, I"ll ask theseguys to protect you."
　　
　　    "Ohthey won"t attack. But your companions won"t help either."
 　　
　　    "Why?"
 　　
　　    "Oneof my friend did it before. The guards will only attack red named players andwill just ignore their companions, unless the pets do something first. But...companionscannot go outside their master"s view. In other words your companions can onlymove where you can see them."
　　
　　    "Thatcan"t be," I spoke in surprise. "When I was grinding outside the LostCity, I would ask Lucky to fly back to the city and bring me some potions. Ofcourse I can"t see through the city walls. There"s another time when I askedhim to find some trees to make a towing cart (when I was trying to get insidethe underground dungeon). He went towards a forest which was pretty far away."
　　
　　    "Waitwait wait, your companions buy potions for you?" Elfy is quite shocked.
　　
　　    "OnlyLucky. The other companions don"t have inventory so they can"t carry any items.But still, I can ask them to fight or do something simple outside my sight aslong as they can understand what I"m saying."
　　
　　    "...Theremust be something special on you! I"ve never heard of any companions so smartthat can help their master run errands!"

           Hawk nodded in agreement.
　　
　　    "Ican"t think of anything. Maybe it"s because they"re special? Or because that"show high-level companions act, since you never see any high level ones before."I pondered. "Never mind. I"m pretty sure they can help you get in theresafely. Let"s do it now. The enemies may be a.s.sembling, it"ll be more dangerousthe longer we take."
　　
　　    "Okaythen. We"re going in." There they go.

           I ordered the Phantom Knightsto follow them, and split into two groups if necessary. They"ll beacting as stand-out bodyguards. I believe five level 850 monsters are enough tokeep most people away.
　　
　　    Ican"t forget Rosa either, as he can conveniently hide underground. His job isnot to protect the couple, but to get the bracelet to safety ifanything went wrong.

           Phantom will be following Hawk and interfere with anypursuers using his mental attacks.

           Dart is to protect the bracelet as well. Noone can s.n.a.t.c.h the item faster then this little creature.

           As for Phiona, Loong"erand Lucky...they"ll stay outside since their size would probably cause troublein the city.
　　
　　    Ijust wait. I would like to be patient but those guards are making it very hardby staring at me and keep reaching for their quivers.

           Hawk isn"t having an easytime either. We were right, someone among those girls already spread themessage to someone. Well, more than just "someone". They raninto a whole band of highjackers not long after they entered the city. A crowdis standing in line across the main road, completely blocking it. The usualpa.s.sers-by are pretty annoyed by the sudden inconvenience but they can onlychoose another way since there"s nothing they can do against such a huge group.
　　
　　    Hawklooked at the scene. That"s at least a hundred people. As he considered about how to get past them, the Phantom Knight Leader moved in front of him.

           "We"ll clear the way. Follow us!" 

           They didn"t really wait for Hawk"sanswer between the knights formed up an arrow head array.

           "Phantom Knights!Onward!" 

           The other knights gave out a loud battle cry.
　　
　　    "Crushthem!"
　　
　　    Hawkwasn"t expecting them to be so aggressive. That"s how they were when I firstmet with them, and they haven"t tried to change that. 

           The people in the frontof the group were mostly knights and warriors. However, most of them don"t havemounts, since it"s not really easy to get one. 

           They still know what it meansto face someone charging on a horse though.
　　
　　    ThePhantom Knights approached the roadblock with alarming speed. Hawk grasped ontohis sword as well, ready to face anyone that might get past the knights" formation,which never happened. The first knights to contact with the enemies didn"t evenuse their weapons. They simply placed their shields in front of them to bashpeople away. The players standing in front are all fierce attackers like OrcBerserkers, however they still can"t withstand the charging horses just with theirbodies--they were knocked away like bowling pins. 

           The crowd scattered in aninstance. The knights at the tip of the formation didn"t slow down in one bit, theother knights readied their lances and started killing anyone who gets close. Hawkstayed in the middle of the formation. He feels like surrounded by a solidiron wall, no one managed to went through, not with that kind of level gap.
　　
　　    I"msitting outside the city, looking at my Evilness bar. I can"t see what"s goingon in there but I can pretty much imagine, since the digits are growing likewater meter running at full speed.
 　　
　　    Therobbers planned to keep Hawk and Elfy busy using their front-line berserkersand do damage with their wizards and archers. The plan is good on itself but...noone expected the Phantom Knights to break through their 27 Berserkers and 43 high-levelIron Knights like cutting a piece of paper. The Wizards and Archers in the backdidn"t get the chance to prepare their first attacks when they saw theirdefenders were all sent to the rooftops nearby, and were soon stomped to deathby the war horses.
　　
　　    Themost unfortunate one among those people is none other than my previous enemy, Mr.Loong. He was just dragged to death outside the city, now he went back to hisguild and heard the information about an anti-red name bracelet so he led somemen here to get the valuable treasure. Of course he joined the group himself for the merit. Now he becamethe first batch of wizard corpses.
　　
　　    Ahundred people can"t make a very thick defense so the Phantom Knights chargedall the way to the other side within 3 seconds. A b.l.o.o.d.y path was left behindthem, with several remaining warriors groaning on the ground. The weakercla.s.ses have already disappeared. The scene looks grim but the actual casualtyis not really big. Ten knights won"t cover a lot of area, those who died aremostly unlucky wizards.
　　
　　    Awounded guy jumped up and decided to call the others to retaliate. But thePhantom Knight leader re-a.s.sembled his team before the idiot have the chance togive any orders.

           "Fools! Your trophy looks pathetic! Do you not rememberthe codes for us Phantom Knights? Tell me, aloud!"
　　
　　    Theother knights roared in unite. 

           "Leave no one standing! Crush them!" 

           Thenthey charged back! 

           The remaining defenders panicked. They no longer have any standing defenses left, so the knights just killed the last of them like a pack of wolvesinto a sheep herd. Even some bystanders were involved inside the chaos.
　　
　　    Elfysent me the video feed in her private chat and told me to "admire theheroic deeds of my subordinate". I almost fell from Night Shade when I sawit.

           "Tell them to move NOW! It"s an order!" 

           G.o.d dammit. Leave no onestanding?? I need to give them some serious lectures after this.
　　
　　    "Let"s go! Your boss is angry with you guys!" Elfy yelled to the knights. 

            Woosh!An arrow pierced the air, towards Elfy"s heart with extreme speed. But a shadowblocked the arrow with even better speed.
　　
　　    Dartdid a back-flip and landed on Sunshine"s head, with the arrow still in hismouth. A masked man stood up on a rooftop across the road. 

           "But that"simpossible!" 

           He drew his bow and shot at Elfy again. Dart caught the arrow,with exact the same trick.
　　
　　    Elfylooked at Dart who"s now standing on the ground. "Nice move little one! NowI really regret cutting Ziri"s hand like that, or you"ll be mine already..."
　　
　　    Theman on the rooftop is obviously unable to accept what"s going on. He pulled onhis bow again. When Dart prepared to intercept the attack, the arrow suddenlyturned into three.

           "Multi-shot!" Elfy is an experienced Archer, ofcourse she recognized the skill. 

           Dart however, made a swift U-turn in the air. Hecaught all three arrows before he landed.
　　
　　    "What the fuc??" The Archer"s voice is shaking now. That"s too much shock in a day.
　　
　　    Hawkdecided to ignore the a.s.sailant and asked the Phantom Knights to ran towards the prison. I sighed in relief when I noticed my Evilness has stopped growing. 

           "b.a.s.t.a.r.ds. Five minutes away from my sight and they"re already causing metroubles."
　　
　　    Hawkand Elfy saw another group of people running towards them just after they cut acorner. Another wave of robbers, but they were too slow. Hawk dashed past theirintended point of defense before they can reach it. 

          One of the leading Fightersshouted towards Hawk: "Stop right--"

          An arrow shut him up by pinninginto his helmet. Elfy did that while sitting on Hawk"s shoulder, the arrow iswell-aimed at between the man"s eyebrows but it didn"t actually get in. For Elfydidn"t want to earn herself a red name just because this. That shot was merelya warning. 

　　
　　    Thewhole route is quite a mixed bag. Hawk and Elfy encountered 15 groups who triedto stop them before they reached the prison. Of course they reported it back tome. Now I can see people"s insane thirst for equipments.
　　
　　    "Wegot Rose. We"re on our way back now!" 
　　
　　    Rose contacted me as well. "Finally! Hey Ziri, you have to take me to washmy name! I don"t want to be in that place again!"
　　
　　    "Yousaid it. We should go shopping in cities later!"
 　　
　　    "Butaren"t you red yourself?" 　　
　　    

           "Thebracelet! I"ll take it back once you clean your name, then this No.1 criminalwill go for walks in those cities as he likes!"
　　
　　    "Ohoops. Let"s talk later. We have some more company here."
　　
　　    Hawkis stopped this time because...a group of beautiful girls are standing in frontof him. 

            "Hey Ziri! We got trouble! Can I have some airsupport?"
　　
　　    "What"sthe matter?" 
　　
　　    "Justlook!" Hawk opened his video feed and pointed at front.
　　
　　    "Huh?It"s Red Moon!"
　　
　　    "Youknow each other?" Hawk asked in surprise.
　　
　　    "Yeswe do. Get closer, lemme talk to her."

           Hawk unmounted and walked towardsRed Moon, with his hands raised. I spoke when they"re close enough. 

           "HeyRed Moon, do you have to do this?"
　　
　　    Sheseems angered. "I"ll ask you one last time, do you join G.o.ddess Alliance?"
　　
　　    Ifrowned. "Is that very important? I"ll help you get your members out, butI won"t join you. Don"t push me!"
　　
　　    "Ido hope you don"t push me into pushing you! You will join us at your own will!"
 　　
　　    "c.r.a.p.What"s that supposed to mean?"
　　
　　    "Imeant well!" 

           I"m seeing too much anger from her eyes as if I owe her amillion dollars. I almost owe that much money to Clark, and he never gaveme that look!
　　
　　    "...Isee. So we must settle this with a fight then?" I lost my patience. "Iknow girls tend to act up. But don"t take it too far!"
　　
　　    "You want me to kill Rose and your friends so I just take your bracelet by force?"Her brain is obviously heating up as well.
　　
　　    "THAT"SIT!" I cut the chat. "Lucky!" 

           I hopped on Lucky"s back. Gettingin by the ground is not an option. My wing blades can help me fly but there arerestrictions. I can"t avoid those archers with it. While Lucky can easily flyway higher than me. I"m not sure if that"s enough to get out of the archers" attackrange but it will be safer.
　　
　　    Itold Lucky to head to their location from above and asked Rose to hang on for awhile. The city is big in size but we can get there in a matter of a dozenseconds. We spent most of our time trying to climb high. With the help of StarGaze, I can already see Rose"s escort team fighting with Red Moon"s guildmembers. As a Paladin, Hawk is having a hard time dealing with the young ladies.His honor doesn"t allow him to use his full strength. On the other hand, Elfyand Red Moon don"t have that kind of problem. They don"t need to hold anything back in a girl"s fight. 

            As for those Phantom Knights...Well they"re just toogood at drawing attentions. Wherever they go, people will see screaming girlsrunning all over the place.
　　
　　    Theynever tried to control their damage in the least. Let"s say they don"t evenknow why you should go easy on girls--they simply charged around like how theydid to those berserkers and warriors. Of course those delicate la.s.ses don"thave any chance against them. Half of the females are lying on the ground afteronly one round of attacks. 

           The other on-lookers decided to help G.o.ddessAlliance for some reason.
　　
　　    Maybenot realizing what"s happening, or maybe just because he"s dumb, a playerwearing scholar suit walked in front of the leader knight and scolded: "Howcan you call yourself a man?? How can you do such a thing to those beautifulladies??" 

           Ugh. Apparently this guy saw Phantom Knights as some high levelplayers.
　　
　　    Theleader is surprised by the sudden intruder as well. He even believed that theguy must be someone really powerful so he can ignore the danger around him. 

           He pointed his lance at the scholar, who"s still giving out his moraltheories like a teacher lecturing a group of students.

           The scholar screamed when he finally saw the lance tip at hisown neck. "What-what-what are you doing??"
　　
　　    Theknight thrust his lance forward, turning the idiot into a white flash. "Ohlord. I though he was a Grand Priest from the G.o.d"s Altar or something." 
　　
　　    AnotherPhantom Knight moved over. "Maybe that was a reserve priest. He wasblabbering just like those heretics. But he was too weak!"
　　
　　    "Cutthe small talk." The leader held up his lance. "Our codes!"
　　
　　    "Leaveno one standing! Crush them!" 

            People began to flee when they hear thisline again.
　　
　　    "YOU"ALLCOME BACK NOW!" 

            Lucky almost crashed himself onto the ground. People closeto us all fell down. I don"t have time to explain so I just pulled Rose up, threwtwo recall scrolls to the Lost City to Hawk and un-summoned all othercompanions and servants.

           "Use the scroll! Let"s meet over there!" 

            Ipatted on Lucky"s neck to tell him to take off. Red Moon noticed my intentionsand charged towards me, with her female members following behind. 

            Lucky kickedat the ground and flapped his giant wings, causing a strong wind current whichhelped us up while causing the enemies to tumble away.
　　
　　    "We"resafe!" I hugged Rose in my arms. 

           We"re already at a safe distance when theNPCs arrived at the scene. Some still tried to shoot at us but those arrows don"thave any power left at such an alt.i.tude.
　　
　　    "...h...elp...!....ahhh....! ..."
　　
　　    Rosepushed my hands (close to her breast) away and asked: "Did you hear something?"
　　
　　    "Yeah.No idea what it is. The wind is too strong." I looked around, and lookedbelow us. "Well we can"t be hearing anything this high up. Must beimagination, or it"s just the wind. We never tried to fly this high before. HeyLucky, lower yourself a bit, and take it slow."
　　
　　    "...aaa...me...halp...!" 

           It came again. The wind is not so loud this time since we went a lot lower. Wecan hear the voice clearer.
　　
　　    "Ithink there is something..." I looked about again. I even used my StarGaze as a binocular but I still don"t see anything. "Strange. A ghostmaybe?"
　　
　　    Roseleaned into me again and looked around nervously. "Gho-ghost?? You"reright! That sounded like some woman is crying!"
　　
　　    "So,a woman ghost. Did you make someone hate you before, and now she came to getrevenge?" I joked.
　　
　　    "Heelp!...*sob* Somebody help me please!" 

            I heard it again. It"s very obvious thistime. Indeed a woman"s cry, trembling. Man, creepy.
　　
　　    "I"m sorry!!"Rose nudged her head against my chest and won"t get out.