Elvis whipped his head left and right, scanning his surroundings as if expecting a thief might come to snatch the book. To his relief, they were alone in the forest.
"We need to leave here now!" Elvis said as he stood up, pulling her along with the connected handcuff.
"Leave? Why?" Caelithia arched an eyebrow as she stood up, surveying her surroundings, having noticed the urgency in Elvis’s voice.
Elvis, unable to predict her reaction—and assuming the worst given her nutcase behavior—knew better than to tell her he had lost control of the situation or that some gigantic, huge-eyed monster might be spying on them from the darkness. Instead, he decided to rely on his conman’s intelligence.
Quickly pulling her along as they hurried away, Elvis explained, his head swiveling around like a thief fleeing after being caught on a police wanted notice.
"In this Arcane realm, there are ominous monsters far more vile and dangerous than the lions and tigers on Earth. They could tear you apart with a single attack. As for the most precarious ones, you wouldn’t even be able to fit between the gaps of their teeth.
"So, we need to get to the anchor point—a place away from this forest. Then we can spin the Arcanic Codex of Destiny."
"Okay," said Caelithia.
"Does that mean my plague of misfortune is gone?" she asked hopefully.
"Yes." Elvis lied, his eyes never leaving his surroundings.
There was no time for any complicated mess due to unchecked emotions.
That was how the duo swiftly made their way through the forest in silence.
About five minutes later, both of them suddenly halted.
"You hear that?" Elvis scanned his surroundings twice but saw only trees.
"Distressed animal roars... with some people shouting?" Caelithia asked uncertainly.
Elvis nodded.
Elvis calmly pondered for a few minutes, battling internally over whether to approach them or not.
Finally, he made up his mind to take the high-risk approach, as he couldn’t tell which direction would lead them out of the forest. Wandering blindly in cuffs was already dangerous. They might stumble upon a monster that could end them before they ever made it out.
Dipping his free left hand into his pocket, he withdrew two pairs of eyeglasses—a pair with transparent lenses and dark frames, and another pair with black lenses.
He mused for a moment before returning the dark glasses to his pocket. Then, he put on the transparent glasses.
"What are you doing?" Caelithia asked, but Elvis ignored her.
Elvis then ripped his now-dusty robe in several places, even tearing off the entire lower portion and revealing the white trousers beneath.
After that, he squatted down, scooped up handfuls of dirt, and smeared it all over his robe, face, and hair. When he was done, he looked like a refugee who had crawled out of the slums.
Turning to Caelithia, Elvis found her already looking haggard.
Her black tracksuit was ripped in several places, her hair disheveled and dusty, and dark bags hung beneath her grimy eyes.
Elvis nodded in satisfaction.
"Okay, Caelithia. This might be our way out. We’ll approach them, and all you need to do is act shy and scared of people. Don’t speak. I repeat—do not speak a word! I’ll do the talking. The story is that we were kidnapped but managed to escape when a fire explosion occurred," Elvis explained in a low tone.
"The only issue is that they might speak a foreign language we don’t understand. This Arcane realm might have its own language. So, I’ll claim to be mute, while you pretend to be deaf and mute."
"Why not just mute for me?" Caelithia retorted.
"So they won’t expect you to understand spoken words."
"Isn’t that too much exaggeration? Two mutes handcuffed together, and one of them also happens to be deaf. Overacting might give us away."
"We’re siblings. Simple. Some genetically transmitted something-something. Just play your role so we can get back to Earth. In the worst-case scenario, we can just zoom off," Elvis replied.
The duo then made their way in the direction of the noises. The further they went, the louder the roars and explosions became.
Just a few minutes later, they finally caught sight of where all the chaotic noises were coming from, and what Elvis saw gave him the shock of his life.
In the middle of the forest, surrounded by smashed trees and churned earth, was a massive bull towering nearly four meters tall. Its body was covered in charred patches, while blood oozed from numerous cuts and stab wounds.
With a maw filled with jagged teeth and bloodthirsty red eyes, the beast charged left and right, only to repeatedly ram into elegant yet sturdy tower shields wielded by armored men.
Yes. Surrounding the huge, raging monstrous bull were four humans bearing shields, using them to ram the beast back and halt its momentum. Two others dashed around it at superhuman speeds, their swords flashing in silver arcs as they hacked at the bull’s legs.
From a distance, three more humans continuously loosed volley after volley of arrows.
But what truly made Elvis gawk was a dashing young man with blonde hair, dressed in a form-fitting black battle suit, who stood calmly in the distance, hollering instructions and launching bolts of lightning from his bare palm every few seconds.
"Zeus?!" he unconsciously blurted.
"You know him?" Caelithia asked.
"No."
"But you sound like you know him," she continued.
"You don’t know Zeus?" Elvis arched an eyebrow at her.
"Nope. Never met him." She shook her head.
"I haven’t met him either," Elvis countered.
"So how do you know him? Through the mysteries of fate?" Caelithia questioned, genuine interest in her eyes.
"Everybody has heard of the Greek god Zeus," Elvis growled, trying his best not to snap and alert the superhumans ahead.
"Oh! I thought it was a Zeus from this Arcane realm. You know... you seem familiar with this place." Caelithia gestured with her free hand holding the book.
One loud, thunderous roar echoed, pulling their attention back to the intense fight. They saw the battered bull dropping dead on the floor.
"Come out!" the blonde guy with lightning abilities called out, his eyes locked onto Elvis’s and Caelithia’s position despite them hiding behind a huge tree.
’He saw us? But good thing we speak the same language.’
"If you don’t come out, don’t blame me for attacking," he called out again.
Elvis could see this ’Arcane Realm Zeus’ stretching out his hand, ready to lightning-roast them.
He quickly gave Caelithia a warning hard glare not to mess up her role.
Then Elvis hunched his shoulders, his body trembling as he cautiously stepped out from behind the tree, with Caelithia in tow, her head bowed as she followed half a step behind him.
They soon timidly approached the small crowd watching them, the people keeping their weapons at the ready in case they attacked the duo.
The closer they got, the lower Elvis’s head dropped until they finally got close to the crowd. His eyes were now glued to their feet.
"Stop!" the blonde guy ordered before asking in a measured voice, "Why are you peeking and sneaking around like a rat? Who are you?"
"S-sir, I-I’m Brandon, and this is my sis-sister, Cassia. We were kidnapped," Elvis explained in a trembling voice, his head never leaving their shoes.
"The Abyssal Reavers?!" A girl beside the blonde guy blurted.
The blonde guy threw her a glare that made her shut her mouth.
"I-I don’t know," Elvis replied in a low, quivering voice.
"So, how did you escape?" the blonde guy asked.
"T-there was a sudden battle between our captors and some masked people. Then, an explosion blew out the gate of our prison, so we decided to take the chance and escape. Fortunately, we made it out. We’re sorry for spying on you," Elvis explained, his voice trembling with nervousness as he bowed even lower in apology.
"Okay, Brandon. I’ll give you directions to Vinegard City. I’m not going back just yet; I still need to hunt, and staying with me would put your life at risk. Don’t worry, we’re already on the outskirts of the forest, so the city is nearby," the blonde boy offered.
Raising his head, Elvis happened to catch the girl behind the blonde guy midway through withdrawing her odd gaze from him, leading him to deduce that something might be wrong with either his statement or perhaps his actions. Or maybe he was just overthinking.
He changed the answer that was already on his lips.
"S-s-sir, can we please come with you? I’m sorry for bothering you." Elvis bowed as he insisted.
"The animal..." He threw the dead bull a fearful glance before turning to the blonde guy.
"Don’t worry. This is just an anomaly that ran from the deeper part of the forest. If you noticed, when you came out alone, there was no beast along the way," the blonde guy comforted.
"Okay, sir. Thank you, sir," Elvis answered. What other choice did he have but to agree?
That was how the handcuffed duo left the others behind, following the direction the blonde guy had pointed them toward.
After walking in silence for about ten minutes, Caelithia finally broke the tense silence.
"He doesn’t want us to come with him?"
"That wouldn’t have been a problem. What concerns me is that he might have given us a problematic direction." Elvis furrowed his brows.
Soon, they emerged from the forest and spotted a tall city gate surrounded by a high-fenced wall in the distance. A few groups of people wearing different kinds of battle suits were also entering the forest.
Just as Elvis was about to observe them more closely, eight people abruptly rushed in from all sides, accompanied by an abnormal gust of wind that whipped against their faces and made them squint.
When Elvis and Caelithia opened their eyes, they found themselves surrounded by eight people, each with a weapon pointed at them. There were others standing farther away, whom Elvis presumed to be ranged fighters.
The duo immediately became the focal point of everyone nearby.
"Devourers, you are under arrest by the White Order," a short lady declared authoritatively from behind one of the armed men, holding up a silver badge. "Any resistance will result in fatal retaliation."
Elvis’s heart thumped violently as a blade pressed against his throat.