"Where are you going?" Olivia asked Gabriel, who was leaving the house after he finished eating.
"I'm going to the Beast Mountain. I'm getting bored waiting for his return. I'll go meet him on the mountain. In any case, there's no need for him to gather any herbs. I'm perfectly fine now."
Gabriel only gave a brief explanation before he left the house, leaving Olivia behind.
The more he stayed in this town, the more he felt as if he was wasting his time. He had to be on a journey to the Arecia Empire.
Half an hour after Gabriel left, Rong arrived at Olivia's house with Rong.
"That's the house!" The middle-aged man pointed toward the mediocre house. "I can't go any farther."
He didn't dare step closer to the house since he didn't want to be seen.
"You did your part. You can go back. I'll handle the rest." Rong didn't bother the middle-aged man either.
The man was weak, so it wasn't as if he could help in the fight. His only job was to show him the place, and now he was done.
The middle-aged man bowed respectfully before he started running back.
****
After the middle-aged man left, only Rong was left on the street, all alone, looking at the house ahead.
"I heard you Dark Mages love to light buildings on fire?" He muttered, raising his left hand. "As it happens, I also love the same. Let me play around too."
The Mark of Flames on the back of Rong's hands shone brightly in blazing red color as he started chanting a spell.
Inside the house, Olivia picked up the empty plates and was going to clean them up.
"Finally, they will leave. The Nobles will be safe now. Thank God, I won't need to worry. Now I just need to think about the aftermath for when the Church's main forces come..."
Olivia carried the empty plates in which she and Gabriel had eaten; however, for some reason, she felt as if her surroundings were getting hot... Really hot!
Before she could even think about what was happening or leave the house, she saw a wave of fire filling up the entire house.
****
The entire House started burning in flames, thanks to the spell of Rong.
Rong just stood outside the house with his hands behind his back like he was a surreal expert who didn't put anyone in his eyes.
Just as he expected, he heard screams coming out of the house, but the screams didn't belong to any man. Against all his expectations, the screams belonged to a woman.
Rong watched a figure run out of the house.
Fortunately, when the spell was cast, Olivia was already near the exit. Looking at the flames, she didn't have any choice but to rush outside. Fortunately, she reacted fast before the fire could spread too much.
Even though she reacted so fast, she still couldn't avoid being hurt. Her skin was burned all over, and so were her clothes. Her face was pale as if it lacked any blood.
The pain of having her skin burned was so much that she couldn't control her painful cries as she dropped to her knees. Her face was filled with years as she cried in pain.
"Uh, it's just you." Rong didn't even bother taking a second glance at the woman who was crying as if she was nothing. He was after the big fish.
He was waiting for Gabriel's scream, or the screams of the dark Mage who was supposedly hiding inside that house. Strangely enough, there were no screams.
Let alone screams; he couldn't even sense any movements inside the house.
"Don't tell me they burned to ashes right away from my flames? They couldn't be that weak, could they?" Rong wondered, frowning. "No, if the girl could come out alive, they should've at least made some movements! Could it be that they weren't in the...?"
Realizing that he had attacked without even making sure if the Dark Mages were inside or not, Rong's face twitched in frustration.
"I wasted my spell for no reason? What a waste!"
He stepped closer to Olivia, who was still in tears, trying to overcome the pain. She had never felt so much pain before. She couldn't even go to anyone else for treatment since hers was the only physician family in town.
"Stop crying! You're hurting my ears," Rong arrogantly stated as he swung his legs, kicking Olivia.
Even as he kicked a girl who didn't have any Magical Strength, he didn't hold back even the slightest. Just his kick alone was enough to send Olivia flying back.
Olivia's forehead also started bleeding as she crashed on the ground in the distance.
"Don't expect any mercy from me, you traitor! You think you can help the Dark Mages against humanity and get no consequences?" Rong scoffed arrogantly.
"Humanity?" Even though Olivia was in pain, she forced her body to sit up again. "Do you even know what humanity is…? After all I did to save you people...?"
"Save us?" Rong burst into laughter. He appeared before Olivia, grabbing her collars as he raised her in the air. "You, an ordinary human, thought you could help us? By helping dark mages? You think those excuses are enough to hide your crimes?"
Carrying Olivia by the collar, he walked closer to the burning house. "Hurry up and tell me where you hid them! Where are those so-called Dark Mages!"
Olivia was already in so much pain, and on top of that, the people she tried to save were repaying the favor like that? She had never felt so betrayed before. She wondered why she even stopped Gabriel from killing these people! Did they really deserve to live?
For a moment, her mind was covered in anger and hate as she thought about telling them where exactly Gabriel went so they could court death themselves. However, she also remembered that the town didn't just have her family.
Thousands of lives depended on the lives of these people. If anything happened to them, there was definitely going to be a war between the two Empires. Just how many lives were going to be lost then? Could she really be selfish?
Even as her eyes were covered in tears and her body in torment, she still thought about the people of this town and the Empire.
****
Gabriel had just reached the bottom of the Beast Mountain, but before he could even take one step, he heard some footsteps.
Before long, he also saw who those footsteps belonged to. The Infernal King was already back? He was walking with a man who looked to be in his late fifties. The old man was carrying a bag filled with herbs while the Infernal King was empty handed.
