Kanjori

Chapter 17: Old Friends

A loud "CLANG" filled the air, and the cloaked person with the Lazarus Dagger jumped back. When I looked up, it was none other than Gideon and Lily, who seem to have gotten a lot stronger in the past month.

"What is this, the second time I've had to swoop in and save you now?" Gideon said while grinning at me.

"Damn it Gideon, I'm glad you guys made it! Lord knows where we would've been if it weren't for you two!" I replied while jumping back from the mage.

"Rin, are you alright?" Lily asked while preparing her bow.

I quickly nodded and ran over to the other two, who were currently standing in between the cloaked person and Romeo. With the tables turned, the cloaked person simply walked over to the mage without showing any signs of anger or frustration. It was almost as if they expected this the entire time.

"That's Romeo right? These guys must be strong if they were able to do that much damage to Mr. Gregorio's son!" Gideon exclaimed. He readied his sword and almost immediately dashed forward, moving faster than I had ever seen him move.

As he swung his sword, the cloaked person ducked down and kicked Gideon's arm, causing his attack to miss the mage, who was charging up their aura.

Lily followed up Gideon's attack by firing a blazing arrow that split into multiple arrows that were all homing towards the mage.

The mage destroyed two of the arrows, but the other three connected, causing the mage to fly backwards into a tree.

Their coordination has improved a lot since I last saw them, but that's not much of a surprise. They spent all of their training time together running missions and getting stronger, so it only makes sense that their teamwork has gotten better.

Before I could continue being impressed by the progress my friends made over the month, I felt the impact of the cloaked person's fist on my face.

I tumbled back and realized their target was Romeo all along, as they slowly walked up to him with the dagger drawn. Without thinking, I drew my sword and sprung forward, cutting into the torso of the cloaked person.

I could feel my sword going deeper into their stomach as they shook in pain, but I wasn't able to finish the job because they pulled the sword out of them and dashed away.

Gideon jumped and smashed his sword into the ground, causing the cloaked person to lose their balance, and I followed up his attack with a quick kick to their stomach.

As they doubled over in pain, Lily fired an arrow, but it was cut in half by the cloaked person's Lazarus Dagger.

The cloaked person stood in a slumped position with their arms in front of them, forming an intense black aura. The aura originated from the Lazarus Dagger, so I'm assuming that this must be all the power it has stored up from all the people that have been attacked.

Gideon lunged at them but the cloaked person was too quick. They teleported behind him, piercing the dagger into his back and then kicked him away.

Gideon grimaced in pain as he dropped his sword and fell into a puddle of his own blood.

"RIN! GIDEON!" Lily yelled as she began to run towards us. Her face was red and full of tears, and her hands shook as she tried to aim while running.

A large ball of energy smashed into her back and she was propelled forward into a rock, knocking her out.

"Looks like this time nobody could save you, Rin." The mage said while dusting her hands.

My hands began to shake in rage as I realized who that voice belonged to.

The mage removed her cloak, revealing her long flowing red hair, and crimson eyes.

It was none other than Sophia.

"You know, getting that orb you guys got from Sunano would've been one hell of a task if it weren't for my buddy over there. It's hilarious how you really thought you could take him on."

I opened my mouth, but was unable to produce a single word. The rage and fear in my heart seemed to have caught my tongue, and I continued to shake uncontrollably.

"It's a shame though, it seemed like you were really having a nice time with the little lover boy Romeo over there. I thought you and Damian would've been cuter to be honest, I wonder what he'd say if he was here right now. He'd probably be disappointed in what a weak little bitch you are."

"Damn it Sophia... you piece of... shit..", Gideon mumbled under his breath.

The cloaked person stepped on Gideon's hand as he walked over to Sophia, and though I couldn't see his eyes, I could feel the resentment he had for us.

Despite the fact that his aura had calmed down significantly, his presence alone was enough to cause me to shake in fear.

The two of them looked over at me and my fallen team, and vanished without saying a single word.

For about an hour, I tended to Gideon and Lily's wounds while thinking about how big the gap in power was. Though it was evident that a lot of Sophia's strength came from the weapon she was using, I could tell that she too had improved a lot over the month.

However, what's more concerning is the cloaked person she was with. He said no words, and from the looks of it, barely got serious, yet I have no clue who he is or why he's paired up with Sophia of all people.

He was strong enough to almost single handedly take on the entire group, and he was the infamous criminal who stole the Lazarus Dagger, yet for some reason it seemed like he had business with myself and Romeo.

Whatever his reasoning was, he purposely left us all alive, perhaps as a warning for Mr. Gregorio. Things have gotten a lot more dangerous, and there's absolutely no time for me to slack off anymore.

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