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 damned does the world sound, no?"

  " . . . you seem rather passionate 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 flushing 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, flashing 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 space opened, black as night, through which two figures appeared . Both donned shimmering, silver-plated armor stacked with layers of grandeur, lined with golden patterns and shimmering 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 cannonballs, 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 massive 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 . "Damn, this ought to be fun . "