"We need to take her to Atari City now. That demonic beast attacked us just a few minutes ago. The Dark Lord or wraith, whoever is behind this planned attack, might not even be aware that she survived. Even if they are, I think they didn't expect her to survive and likely haven't prepared any contingencies for it. We need to act quickly."
"Where will we treat her in Atari City? Surely we can't tell the city lord himself, right?" John asked.
"We'll do exactly that. If we tell the lord what happened here, he'll definitely try his best to save her. He is the only known human transcendent in existence. I believe he will help us—help her—if not out of kindness, then out of self-interest. Having a powerful subordinate, or even an ally, another human, is better than having none."
"Shouldn't we hide her bloodline potential from him?" William couldn't help but worry.
"No. There are too many problems with that. First, he could most likely sense her strangeness with his transcendental-level senses. Second, even if he can't, he'll find out what happened here if he investigates. There are too many witnesses, practically the whole village. Third, by telling him everything, we can earn his trust and support. We know nothing about training her, nor do we have the resources to raise a powerhouse. Fourth, and most importantly, our enemies will eventually find out, if they haven't already. Next time, we won't survive their attack. By telling the lord everything, we can gain his protection. At least our daughter would be safe from further harm. We won't say anything about Isaiah. If he finds out, so be it. If not, we'll know we can keep it hidden."
In a dark, hidden cave a hundred kilometers north of the village and beyond Cyrus Stronghold, just before the ethereal wraith attacked Isabella...
A human-like figure sat on a stone throne. His entire form was cloaked in darkness—his skin, hair, nails, even his clothes. A strange, eerie aura radiated from him. Despite his resemblance to a human, he looked utterly inhuman.
He sat cross-legged on the throne, seemingly meditating.
'I suppose I have no choice but to settle for just one of them. The awakened one will have to do. It's not like that young brat is guaranteed to awaken. Even if he does, I'll deal with him soon enough.'
He gave a mental command, and all the energy of the wraiths fused into the demonic beasts he controlled, coalescing into a single, focused strike. Ethereal energy took the form of a wraith and flew toward Isabella. It entered her body, and suddenly the Dark Lord opened his eyes, his concentration broken. His eyes were completely dark, with no whites at all. He had just lost contact with the part of his essence infused into that particular wraith.
He furrowed his brows.
'Strange. That has never happened before. How did I lose part of my essence? Now I can't confirm whether she's dead or not. I sensed her power wasn't much, so she's probably dead. Still, I should alert the other wraiths to keep an eye out, just in case.'
"My lord, is she really as dangerous as you say? She's just a weak human brat. Any one of our pawns could deal with her," said one of the nearby wraiths. He was the Dark Lord's favorite, so favored that he had been given a name: Ner. Most wraiths had no names, at least not anymore.
"It's not that she's strong now, Ner. She is one of the rarest humans to awaken at such a young age. Imagine if she survives and develops her full potential. She could become an obstacle in our path."
"I see. What should we do now?" Ner asked.
"Nothing. She's probably already dead. I had hoped to deal with both of them, but the others will die in the coming days anyway. For now, we'll maintain the siege of the settlement."
Hestia explained her strategy quickly. Now they had to sneak Isabella out of the village and reach Atari City without alerting the dark forces, or at least without getting completely blocked by them.
They discussed the plan for a few minutes. It was simple: they would try to sneak past the beasts' entanglement. Since it was nighttime, if they disguised themselves properly and moved cautiously, they might reach the edge of the forest without alerting the corrupted or the wraiths. Inside the forest, sneaking would be impossible with beasts everywhere. At that point, they would move as fast as they could and try to escape before being encircled. Once out of the beasts' range, only the wraiths could possibly catch up to them.
"So, we'll have to deal with the wraiths?"
"Not necessarily," Hestia replied, seeing the questioning looks.
"We'll deploy four teams of three members each. Three will act as decoys. I plan to send them a few seconds earlier so they can draw attention and pull most of the enemy forces toward themselves. If it's only about escaping, they should be able to evade pursuit. The dark forces aren't good at chasing and don't use long-range weapons. Siege has always been their M.O."
Even though Hestia spoke with confidence, she was deeply worried.
The siege a decade ago had led to a similar situation. They had no choice but to escape after losing hope of holding the fort. They fled in smaller groups, but most were caught in traps laid by the Dark Lord's forces. Only a fraction survived.
"I said we might be able to evade the wraiths only because I'm not sure whether they can sense Isabella or not. If they can, and if they know she's still alive, they'll give chase. You'll have to shake them off however you can. Only the wraiths could possibly catch up, and they're weak physically. So we must plan accordingly."
William and John nodded and began preparations immediately. They summoned a few of the most capable members of the Old Guard, explained their tasks as clearly as possible, and gave them five minutes to prepare. Each guard chose two teammates, gathered weapons and disguises according to the plan, and in five minutes, four teams stood at attention before William.
Each team was led by a veteran. They had covered themselves with black cloths from head to toe. In the darkness, away from any light, they were almost impossible to spot. One member of each team carried a large sack stuffed with straw, shaped like a child and dressed in Isabella's clothes.
Hestia was betting that some of the demonic beasts controlled by wraiths might recognize her scent. The moon had yet to rise. In the pitch-black forest, vision would be unreliable, making scent the more likely sense to be relied on. Their deception might just be enough.
To increase their chances, the teams first moved away from the lit parts of the village wall and quietly approached the forest's edge. Then all four teams rushed into the forest at once. They didn't head straight for the paths leading out of the village but stayed close to them, making it seem like they were aiming for the roads. That would force the dark beasts to focus on the pathways while the teams moved stealthily through the woods.
Generally, dark beasts were slower than initiates on roads, but initiates were slower in the woods. They did everything they could to make their deception as convincing as possible.