"Just leave me," Leah pleaded. "It is me that they are after."
"No," Matthew replied as he held her hand firmly. "You are my wife. How can I possibly let anyone take you from me?"
The two were currently hiding inside a small house in order to lose their pursuers. An hour ago, they used a teleportation gate that would connect them to the town called Westwend.
This town was still many miles away from Lont, but this was as far as the teleportation gate could take them. Earlier, they noticed several black-robed men following behind them, just before they entered the teleportation gate.
The two didn't pay them attention because they were the Special Forces of the Hellan Kingdom. At least, that was what Prince Lionel told everyone in the conference room.
Matthew thought that they were just going to inspect the other towns to see how the survivors were doing. It never crossed his mind that those same men would try to snatch his wife away from him, after arriving at Westwend.
An intense battle ensued and the two were immediately pushed back. Not only did their enemies have the advantage in numbers, they were also quite strong. The majority of the people among the black-robed men were in the Platinum Ranks, but four of them were in the Mithril Ranks.
(A/N: Platinum Ranks are equivalent to Class B Beasts, while Mithril Ranks are equivalent to Class A Beasts.)
Matthew and Leah were only at the middle stages of the Platinum Rank, so they were easily overpowered by their enemies.
During the battle, the two noticed that the black-robed men were just focusing their attacks on Matthew and ignoring Leah. In order to protect her lover, Leah decided to take a gamble and block a fatal attack that was meant for Matthew.
The black-robed man hastily pulled back his attack, but Leah was still injured in the process. Fortunately, she only received minor injuries because she was wearing special armor under her clothes.
In a desperate attempt to escape from their attackers, Leah used the same skill she had used during the Dungeon Outbreak to escape from the Lamias. She and Matthew appeared inside a public bathhouse because Leah's ability allowed her to teleport to nearby places with bodies of water.
Matthew carried his exhausted lover out of the bathhouse and hid inside the nearest house in the vicinity. Fortunately, the house was empty, so the two didn't have to worry about having strangers get hurt because of them.
'Just why are they doing this?' Matthew thought. He tried to think of a reason for why the Special Forces of the Kingdom hunted them down as if they were escaped criminals.
After pondering for a while, Matthew still couldn't think of any reason why the black-robed men wanted to capture Leah. It was at that moment when a possibility appeared inside his head. Although it was absurd, it was the only thing that Matthew could think of.
'Could it be the Prince…' Matthew gritted his teeth in anger. Although he didn't want to believe it, and wanted to toss this idea aside, his instincts were telling him that he was spot on.
'Bastard.' Matthew cursed the Crown Prince who acted like a benevolent ruler in front of them, but was secretly planning something vile behind their backs.
Matthew looked at his beautiful wife who was sleeping in his embrace and held her tighter. He wouldn't allow anyone, not even a Prince, a King, or an Emperor, to touch his wife.
While he was thinking of a way to escape from their predicament, a gaseous substance entered the sole window of the room.
Matthew caught a whiff of it and was immediately alarmed. It was a gas that could paralyze a person if they were to inhale it for an extended period. He had learned about this gas during a laboratory lesson inside the Royal Academy and was very familiar with it.
He channeled his magical energy into his leg and foot before kicking the wall beside him. A big hole appeared soon after, and he jumped out of the house without looking back. Leah woke up at that exact moment and was disoriented by what was happening around her.
Matthew didn't have time to explain as he channeled his magical energy into his feet to run as fast as he could from their pursuers.
Just as they were about to reach the gate of the town, several black-robed men appeared before them.
"Stop running," one of the black-robed men said in a teasing manner. "If you cooperate, you will not get hurt."
"Why are you doing this?" Matthew asked. "Why are you targeting us?"
"You don't need to know," the black-robed man answered. "Your only choice is to obediently cooperate, or we will beat you up until you cooperate. I'm sure that the young missy in your arms doesn't want you to get hurt."
Leah bit her lip as she stared at Matthew then turned to the black-robed man who seemed to be the leader of the group that was tasked to catch them.
"If I go with you, will you let him go?" Leah asked.
"Oh?" the black-robed man grinned. "Very well. Come with us obediently and we will let him go unharmed."
"No!" Matthew rejected Leah's proposal. "I will not leave you with these scums!"
The black-robed man chuckled, but he didn't do anything else. He had no intention of letting Matthew go because the Prince wanted him to be brought back as well. The only reason he agreed to Leah's proposal was to prevent the girl from getting hurt further.
Once she is in their hands, they would immediately capture the boy and bring the two of them to the Crown Prince's chambers in the capital of Gladiolus.
"Matthew, this is the only way. I don't want you to get hurt," Leah looked at her lover pleadingly. "Please, just go."
"Never! I'd rather die!" Matthew was adamant.
Clearly, he had no intention of letting Leah go alone.
"I'll count to three," the black-robed man said with a smile. "If the young lady doesn't turn herself in then we will have no choice but to do it the hard way."
Matthew glared at the man as he held Leah close to his chest. He channeled his magic powers around his body to create mage armor. Clearly, he planned to fight to the death to protect his wife.
Leah knew that Matthew had made up his mind, so she decided to respect his decision. Although she couldn't move right now due to exhaustion, she still had enough magic power to shoot a few spells to protect the young man she loved the most.
The black-robed man narrowed his eyes and began counting.
"One."
"Two."
"Three."
"Times up." the leader of the group made a gesture and the encirclement closed in on the two lovers. "Get them, but do your best not to damage the girl."
""Yes!""
Ever since the Continental spell was activated, thick gray clouds covered the continent, preventing the light of the sun from coming in. Not only that, a powerful barrier enclosed the entire Southern Continent.
This move was done to prevent any outside influences from reaching the Southern Continent. And disrupting The Organization's plan for a one-sided conquest.
Of course, this barrier also extended up to the sea.
The fleets of the Kraetor Empire and the Elves were already within the territorial waters of the Southern Continent, since they had anticipated that something like this to happen. They used powerful artifacts to allow their ships to pass through the barrier while it was still not fully formed.
Aside from the Elven fleet and the Kraetor Army, no other forces would be able to enter the Southern Lands unless they used extraordinary means to do so. The moment the Continental Spell was activated, the Southern Continent had been closed off from the rest of the world.
Suddenly, the sky darkened as thunder rumbled in the heavens. The black-robed men paused for a bit before continuing their mission. Although the sudden change in the weather caught them by surprise, they didn't think much of it.
Just as they were about to close in on the two teenagers, several lightning bolts descended from the heavens and struck all the black-robed men. Only the leader of the group was able to dodge in time and escape getting seriously injured.
"Not bad."
A teasing voice praised the leader of the black-robed men.
Matthew's and Leah's eyes widened in shock as they stared at the young man that was standing in front of them.
He had his back turned on them, but his blazing red-hair and his voice had already given away his identity.
"Who are you?" the black-robed man asked as he raised the weapon in his hand.
The red-headed boy smirked as he summoned a wooden staff into his hand.
"Just a Shepherd," William answered. "Now, I will count up to three. If you haven't knelt down and apologized to my Big Brother and Big Sister by the time I'm done counting then I will have no choice but to do it the hard way."
Thunder rumbled in the heavens, and lightning snaked down from the sky. Sparks streaked out of William's eyes as an evil smile spread across his handsome face.
"One… Two…"
"W-Wait!"
"Three."
"Please! Have mercy!"
William chuckled and pointed at his face. "Tell me, does this look like the face of Mercy to you?"
Before the man could even give out a reply, a flash of bright light streaked across the sky followed by a roar of thunder.
William had no intention of showing any mercy to those who tried to hurt the people that were important to him.
Soon a blood curdling scream reverberated in the town of Westwend. This served as the prelude to the war that would be written in the history books.
A war which would still be talked about for thousands of years in the future.
A war that many historians would fondly refer to as "The Wrath of the Righteous".