The gem embedded in his right forearm throbbed again and started glowing. Arthur's mind raced in what could this be and decided to use his insignia to block it but he received another shocking message from his legacy.
[Synchronization with the Holy Crown failed.]
Arthur frowned as the gem shone brighter. He gritted his teeth and grabbed Rae's wrist. As he pulled her to go outside, she tried to pull away from him.
"They're going to catch us if we don't run!" Arthur said in a low voice and she looked scared enough to allow him to drag her outside.
As they walked through the top floor, Arthur found that it was deserted. Most of the cells were empty, with a few having people with an unknown fate. However, he didn't have the luxury of caring about freeing them at the moment.
As his gem throbbed harder, his worry increased more. He found the stairs after a while but there were guards walking downstairs. He hid on top of the stairs with a frown on his face.
"I... hungry." Rae suddenly said with a red face that Arthur wasn't used to. She used to snatch stuff from him or demand them by force.
He took out a hamburger from his subspace that was still warm and fresh. As he gave it to Rae, her eyes widened.
"This... is something I remember." She sniffed on it and before taking a bite, her eyes squinting in delight. Arthur enjoyed this scene for some reason, as a huge part of the reason that she ended up here was the help she gave him.
He heard footsteps below and pulled Rae into hiding. She kept nibbling away at the food without a care for her surroundings. Arthur mused that some things never change.
As the guards passed, Arthur noticed they looked tired. He took out a vial from his subspace that had a clear liquid. This was what remained from the potion called Aphrodisiac Aroma, a potion that worked by scent while giving immunity to whoever drank it.
There was barely enough for a small sip for both him and Rae. After eating his food, Rae became a lot more obedient. What remained from the potion was pathetic, but Arthur suspected the reason Larza gave an overreaction was that Demis had a higher sexual drive.
He splashed the potion on the ground and retreated backward, only peeking from the top floor. As the guards walked over the potion, their noses sniffed. They disappeared from Arthur's view before the heavy panting arrived.
He stealthily went downstairs and saw a door open before the two guards went inside. He smiled and gestured for Rae to come over as well.
As the two came downstairs, Arthur realized that he could seek such an option every time. He looked at the torches on the walls and had an idea.
The convoy should be downstairs, where the young man is. If Arthur could make all the guards go upstairs, he should have the leeway to slip below and talk to him.
He grabbed one of the torches and threw on a box. It caught flames and they started to spread around instantly. He pulled on Rae and ran toward the stairs. He hid behind a box over there with Rae in his embrace as the scream began.
"What is this smell? Help!" One of the slaves called out and the guards from earlier came rushing out. Arthur knew he was endangering the other slaves, but they were safer from the flames by being locked by that heavy metal door.
Guards started rushing from below after one of the guards on this floor blew a whistle. The weird thing that Arthur couldn't hear anything, assuming it was a higher frequency whistle like the ones used for dogs on earth.
As they poured in and tried to put out the raging fire, Arthur slipped downstairs after no guards came. He hid below the stairs as a few late guards arrived and headed straight toward the ground floor.
The chaos was immense and most people hurried with buckets upstairs, too distracted to notice them hiding. Through a miracle or simply sheer luck, they managed to reach the convoy who was guarded by a single guard at the moment.
They slipped behind the wagons and Arthur looked for the young man from earlier. As he was walking, a hand reached out from behind the bars and grabbed a hold of his.
Arthur turned with fright but found that it was the young man from earlier. He was looking at him with terrifying, piercing eyes. The man looked at Arthur as if he was his long-lost brother.
"You are like me." The young man spoke in a deep, hoarse, Yalveran language. "We're both favored. That's why you're here, you know it too."
"Who are you?" Arthur grabbed his wrist but it refused to let go of him. "Are you from Freda?" Arthur asked and the man grinned in response. His gem was throbbing harder, he needed to flee before he dragged Rae and this man down with him.
"I am." The man spoke with pride. "I see that you're a believer as well."
"A believer?"
"Of our king's vision." The man spoke with zeal. "Fear not, things will change. A storm is coming."
"Tell me more, avoid the riddles," Arthur said. "I want to go to Freda, but I need help." The man nodded in understanding. Light seeped out of his finger and entered Arthur's forearm.
"When the time comes, follow the light." The man said and let go of Arthur's hands. "You need to go now; your master is nearby." He whispered as he disappeared into the bodies.
Arthur felt it as well, Larza's powerful existence. He pulled Rae and darted away from the crowd. As he did, he struck one of the bars to make a deep sound.
"What's going on?!" The guard shouted and rushed toward the carriage, but Arthur had already slipped from behind the carriages and into the streets.
Soon, he was running on the main road while avoiding the crowd who were looking at the fire above. He looked back and saw that the upper floors have caught on fire. Guilt was a luxury he couldn't afford at the moment.
Rae seemed to be scared by so many Demi-humans around and she had every reason to. Humans weren't treated well by this kingdom. He slipped into another alley and broke the door of an abandoned building.
"Hide here, I'll come back to get you," Arthur said but Rae was the one refusing to let go of him now. She was more of a scared kitten than the tigress she was before. "If you stay with me, you'll be caught. See this?" He pointed at the gem in his forearm.
Rae looked at it before letting go of his hand with a pained expression. He knew that she was like this because she lost her memories, but he wasn't used to this attitude. He took out a bunch of wrapped-up meals and gave them to her before bolting out of the building.
The gem in his hand was sending signals visibly now. Giant waves spread from his forearm into the surroundings as Arthur ran as fast as he could.
He knew his capture was inevitable, he simply didn't want Larza to find Rae. She had an eye for people and would know that Rae was powerful if the curse was lifted from her body.
When he reached the end of the alley, he found an empty market that has been deserted. He ran through the shops as the mana exploded in the sky.
"Caught you~" A voice sang from above and Arthur realized Larza was here. He gritted his teeth and kept his best act as he felt the pressure descending from above.
"Agh!" He coughed blood as a leg kicked him from behind. Arthur rolled on the ground and Larza descended to hold him down with her foot.
"You betrayed me the first chance I gave you." Larza smiled in contempt. "You should have built a trust before that, I guess you're not that bright."
"I... didn't run away..." Arthur said weekly but she kicked him to roll him over. All the recovery his body went through was being taken away again.
"Just because we slept together, you think you worth something to me?" She grabbed him by the neck. "I own you. You're nothing more than a toy to me. I can play with my toy," She tightened her grip and Arthur couldn't breathe anymore. "and I can crush it just as easily. Understood?"
Arthur nodded weakly with every strength he had and she loosened her grip enough for him to breath. Nodding in approval, she threw him away as he began breathing heavily on the ground.
"I need you to remember this lesson." Mana gathered in her hand, forming a sharp blade as she looked at him with her beastly eyes. "This way, you won't ever think about running away." She said as she slashed.
Before he could do anything, the mana blade slashed at the base of his left shoulder and through his arm cleanly. He screamed until his voice went hoarse as his arm detached itself from his body.
