Chapter 123
CHAPTER 123
UNINTENDED INVITATION
"No way? Really? You never had a boyfriend?" Lino asked walking at a brisk pace, a faint smile hanging on his face, his eyes glistening . "That"s impossible! You"re way too cute!"
"It is forbidden . " Freya replied somewhat shyly, trying to avoid his gaze .
"Haii, how loathsome one is to forbid love?" Lino lamented flamboyantly, stringing his arm around Freya"s shoulder . "Can you imagine it? The world . . . the entire world forbidden to love . Children mourn on streets for their papas and mamas dumped them like garbage they are . . . beautiful, work-maidens ravaged in poverty . . . a hopeful, young man with blazing heart, unable to express it to his love . . . and his love, of equal disposition, forever wreathing in loneliness and silence of her small room . Aii, how lonely . . . how d.a.m.ned does the world sound, no?"
" . . . you seem rather pa.s.sionate about love, Mr . Lino . " Freya mumbled meekly as she fought off Lino"s arm around her shoulder .
""course I am!" Lino exclaimed, seemingly unaffected by Freya"s feeble attempts to free herself . "It is through loving one another that we also understand each other, don"t you agree?"
"Uh . . . "
"Of course you do! After all, I can hear your heart bleeding in desire to know more about me!"
" . . . that is because you are . . . rather odd . "
"Odd? Is love odd?"
" . . . "
"Then I am odd," Lino said . "Odd like a duck in chicken hen!"
" . . . "
Meanwhile, a few paces behind the two was another group of four with poor Felix currently being besieged by startlingly hostile gazes of three women . He could almost feel his skin being peeled off by those eyes, his entire soul being exposed and bared open for all to see . He hadn"t felt so uncomfortable since that day his young sister caught him naked in a bath .
" . . . uh . . . he . . . my Master means well . . . I promise . . . " he said meekly, hardly believing it himself; for the past four hours that they"ve been traveling with the ladies, Lino"s done nothing but talk about love and some other odd stuff .
"Our Lady is innocent in these matters," one of the women said . "Should anything happen to her, both you and him will be boiled alive . "
" . . . "
"I"ll go check on her . " another woman said, pulling away from the group and quickly reaching Lino and Freya, immediately piercing herself in-between the two, breaking away Lino"s lock on Freya"s shoulder in the process .
"Ah, Jane, why have you come here?" Freya asked, her cheeks flus.h.i.+ng red .
"Is everything alright, my Lady?" Jane was a rather young woman, perhaps not even twenty just yet, with long, red hair and red eyes and as much beauty as any of her sisters behind her .
"Y-yes . . . yes . . . everything is just fine . " Freya said, quickly hiding her expression .
"You . . . " Jane frowned, looking at Lino with fierceness of a lioness protecting her cub from a predator .
"Me . . . what?" Lino asked, smiling still .
"Stop feeding our Lady profanities . "
"Are you calling love profane?"
"We all know of what love you speak!"
" . . . oh? We do? Can you enlighten me, then?" Lino teased .
" . . . you would have a lady utter such perverse words? You, indeed, are corrupt!" Jane exclaimed, not backing down .
"Perverse words? What perverse words?" Lino asked, seeming confused . "Love of heart is the purest word of all, bearing no perverse tone or line . "
"How long will you keep up your sham?!" Jane exclaimed somewhat loudly, seemingly losing her patience .
" . . . don"t worry "bout your lady," Lino gave in and smiled widely . "I"ve no intention of sullying her, if that"s your worry . "
" . . . "
"I"m just trying to have fun . " he said . "If you knew my story, you"d understand . Trust me . " he added, flas.h.i.+ng a rather bitter smile .
"What? You think your tragic days excuse your actions in present?" Jane asked, looking at Lino with trace of disgust . "What a weak man you are . "
" . . . you"re right," Lino nodded faintly as he looked up . "I really am weak . . . "
" . . . huh?"
Lino, however, didn"t reply; rather, he had no time to reply as before them a gate in s.p.a.ce opened, black as night, through which two figures appeared . Both donned s.h.i.+mmering, silver-plated armor stacked with layers of grandeur, lined with golden patterns and s.h.i.+mmering crystals embedded across their greaves, chests and shoulder pads .
Both wore helmets cleaved above eyes under sharp angles, with spiked protrusions extending up like erect swords . Intimidating was the meekest word one could use to describe them, and that was without taking into account a pair of gigantic war axes hanging off their backs whose blades reached the size of four heads of grown adults in diameter . Felix wanted to jump forward immediately, but felt pressure descend against him - the sort he only felt when facing the Elder generations of his family .
The girls were no better, including Freya . All five were forced on their knees, shaking in silence of words, yet brittle of crackling jaw and creaking bones . Only Lino remained standing still and upright, his head faintly leaned up toward the men standing some ten meters above and fifteen meters ahead of him .
" . . . his Imperial Majesty has not expected your arrival for another few months . " one of the men broke the silence, ignoring everyone else except Lino .
"I"d concluded my business in the Capital, so I figured I"d get a head-start over there . " Lino said, smiling lightly .
"It is not safe . His Majesty asks if you could return and wait for a while; He shall summon you when things calm down . " the man said .
" . . . hey," Lino waved his hand gently, causing heavy air hanging over Freya"s head to disappear as though it was never there . She looked up with shocked and fearful expression, breathing heavily . "Sorry for that . Do you have an extra spear?"
" . . . h-huh?"
"Spear, a weapon, a stick with a pointy tip, whatever . Do you have it?"
"Ah . . . y-yes . . . "
"Can you lend it to me?"
"S-sure . . . " Freya raised her weak arm meekly and held it flat while taking out a spear she came across randomly at the Demonic Battlefield from her spatial ring . It was a relatively lengthy spear with a single tip made of solid steel . It didn"t seem all that special, but as a blacksmith, Lino immediately realized it was quite good . He grabbed it out of Freya"s hand and swung it around a few times, causing his blood to boil .
"Why are you arming yourself, Mr . Lyonel?" the man asked while both of them drew out their axes .
""Cause I don"t like being told what I can"t, can, should or shouldn"t do," Lino said . "So I"m arming myself in case you decided to chop my head off when I tell you I"m going there and there"s quite literally nothing you can do to stop me . " he finished with a wide smile .
" . . . must we do this?"
"No, of course not!" Lino said playfully . "Just go back and tell him you couldn"t find me . That ought to do it, no?"
" . . . we shan"t kill you . "
"Oh, how comforting . "
Two men descended from the sky in a quick burst, causing a shockwave to erupt behind them, one which quickly leveled trees to trunks and flatland . It took less than a flash of time before two men were right in front of Lino; neither Freya nor Felix were able to capture the speed with their eyes .
Two great axes paired in perfect rhythm, striking at Lino from two sides in full force of two mountains . Glancing casually left and right, Lino smiled widely before lifting up the spear in his hand and slicing in an upward, angled arc . It was a slice far quicker than the axes" strikes, far quicker than what two men, let alone Freya or Felix, could comprehend . Time seemed to have frozen for but a blink of an eye before an eruption of energy bounced two men backwards like cannonb.a.l.l.s, sending them spiraling through the air in blazing arrays of light . Tsunami of invisible strength pressed forward from Lino"s spear, catapulting large swath of earth before his feet forward, uprooting it and flinging it like rocks across what used to be a path through the forest .
As the dust slowly settled, a few meters in front of Lino appeared completely decimated; there was a ma.s.sive pit, seemingly dug out in flat perfection, bereft entirely of life . Lino swung the spear casually a few more times before handing it over to Freya who took it purely due to instinct, as she was still trying to understand what just happened - she, though, was hardly the exception .
" . . . he doesn"t want me there, eh?" Lino mumbled, briefly allowing a cunning smile to surface on his face . "Looks like they"ve almost opened up the ruins . Ah . . . my cheeky king . If you"d only just let me be . . . I would have never known . " Lino turned to Freya who was still on her knees, looking at him with a mix of respect, awe, dread, terror and a trace of curiosity in her eyes . "Looks like we"ll have to take a detour . Do you mind?"
" . . . " Freya said nothing, merely shaking her head .
"Hah, good!" Lino exclaimed, stretching his arms out as he took a deep breath . "d.a.m.n, this ought to be fun . "