"Princess, do you want to rest for a while?"

Silvanna looked up to Granger who was now staring at her and gently shook her head, "Resting a bit in between meals and sleep will only delay our travel time, Ger. We need to reach Cardia Riverlands as soon as possible."

Granger released a deep sigh, "Please do not push yourself too much, Princess."

Silvanna was touched by his concern but she raised one of her eyebrows nonetheless, "And please stop thinking I am weak just because I am a woman."

Panic could be seen in his eyes as he even accidentally let go of his guitar case to frantically waved his hands, "N-no, Princess. That's not what I mean—"

Seeing the emotionless Granger panicked, Silvanna let out a loud laugh which astonished Granger.

A smile appeared in his lips and he was glad that his clothing was covering up to his nose. He quickly composed himself before the Moniyan Princess noticed on how he looked at her.

"Thank you Ger, I needed that laugh." Silvanna said as she was wiping the sides of her eyes, "It's quite entertaining to see you panicked. The sight of demons can't even make you panic."

"I'm used to it." Granger answered softly.

Silvanna knew that Granger had been a demon hunter for a long time.

"Life has been pretty hard to us." She blurted.

Granger looked back at the Moniyan Princess who was now looking outside the window.

King Silver let Silvanna used a weapon but didn't even let to join the battle against the Dark Abyss even the princess wanted to. They were afraid that the princess could also be taken away by the Dark Abyss, but then they encaged her.

Absentmidedly, Granger reached for the princess' hand, holding it before giving it a gentle squeeze.

That made Silvanna looked at him with wide eyes but then she felt a comfortable warmth from the demon hunter's hand.

=====

Lesley was contemplating whether to walk towards the Lumina City where the Moniyan Castle was located or not. She was still not ready to face the Moniyan Warriors, not when she left them several months ago and hadn't save both Gusion and Harley.

Maybe when the right time comes. Lesley thought. But I wonder when is that?

Sighing, she decided to take the path to south since she needed to find a place to stay for this night because the sun would set in any moment right now.

I need to find a small town or other people, I don't like quiet places. It makes me overthink. Lesley thought while she continued to walk.

While walking, Lesley felt familiarity in the place.

Have I been here before? She frowned. But as far as she remembered, it was the first time she had taken this route.

She heard some rustles and even sensed that there were some individuals around her— at least seven of them.

She didn't stop walking as if she didn't know they were just around the corner but she could sense their movements.

Lesley was sure for one thing that they were not assassins since they were quite careless to be assassins. She was not a mage, but she knew that they were mages. Her adoptive parents trained her to sense mages, even with small amount of magic. But still, her ability to sense mages was still limited though. Some powerful mages could hide their presence with the use of their magic.

Lesley stopped for a jiffy when she felt an attack coming.

From the right. She thought and used her camouflage to dodge the attack before firing a bullet towards the direction where the attack came from.

She hit the mage attacker on his arm, not only his arm but she also managed to hit a vein, immobilizing his arm.

The rest of the mages went out and tried to corner her. Good thing she was a master of camouflage. Even though the mages had the ability to sense her, she had a lot more mobility than them.

Mages were just relying on their magic, as they could deal high damages but they lack of mobility. Hybrid mages could only have mobility, like Gusion and Harley.

Lesley managed to hit the mages on the critical points on their bodies, immobilizing them so they were unable to cast their magic anymore.

But she miscalculated the attack of one mage and even though she wasn't a mage, but her adoptive parents taught her some spells.

She used the flicker spell and managed to dodge the attack but unfortunately, she didn't notice the other mage that attacked her and he hit her; and a light-like rope tied around her so she couldn't move.

Lesley gritted her teeth; she couldn't use her camouflage when she was tied like this. She couldn't even throw her grenade to knock them back and she couldn't reach for her pistol.

The masked mages went near her and were about to kill her when they heard a voice.

"Stop!"

The masked mages looked up to who shouted and immediately kneeled on the ground, together with her since they pulled her down.

Lesley looked up to the newcomer— and somehow, he looked familiar.

She narrowed her eyes. His features are quite familiar.

The newcomer motioned his hand and the thing the was tied around her vanished. He also offered his hand to guide her to stand, which she accepted.

"Go back on patrolling." The newcomer ordered the masked mages who were still kneeling down.

"But she is a weapon user, Lord Gusset—"

That one masked mage was flown across the forest with just one simple hand gesture.

"Any more buts?" The man named Gusset asked coldly the mages.

"None, my Lord." The mages said before they left.

Gusset turned to her, "Did they hurt you?"

She shook her head lightly, "Thank you by the way."

Surprisingly, Gusset smiled to her. "It's been a while."

That line made Lesley confused, "What do you mean?"

Gusset just shook his head lightly and handed her the rifle, "They will be delighted to see you again, Lesley Hunter Cross— or should I say, Lesley Vance now?"

Lesley's eyes widened in shock, "You know me?"

The man didn't answer but gave her a mysterious smile.

=====

Lesley knew that it was too risky to come along with this Gusset man. He was a totally stranger— but he knew her original name before she became a Vance.

Who is he?

Based on his appearance, he looked like he was four-year older than her. His height was almost the same with Gusion, as well as his hair.

Wait, coincidence?

She was just following him. They actually entered an underground tunnel. And there were a lot of tunnel holes but the man in front of her walked like he knew where he was going.

She was about to touch the side of the tunnel, but Gusset stopped her.

"Don't touch anything." He said, "My father created a magic barrier inside this tunnel to make it hidden to other mages, even the Elders. You can die if you touch it."

Lesley immediately pulled her hand away and followed him silently.

At last, after a couple of minutes of walking, they finally reached the end of the tunnel. And they were now in a vast garden with luxurious garden displays, lights and beautiful flowers— even the grass looked like it was taken care really well.

At the middle of the garden, Lesley could see a little boy— maybe around four years old— and another boy that looked like around Harley's age. She also saw a girl that looked like four years younger than her and another two men that looked one and two years older than her.

And sitting on the table, on Lesley's hunch, were the parents— enjoying their tea.

"Father, Mother, I brought someone. I was thinking you'll be happy to see her." Gusset said, announcing their presence to them.

All of them looked at their direction. The woman dropped her cup of tea on the ground while her spouse looked surprise too upon seeing her.

Now that Lesley had a better look of them, she knew why Gusset looked familiar.

Upon seeing the woman he called mother, Lesley realized that it was Rita Paxley— Gusion's mother.

"Oh my— Lesley!" Rita Paxley exclaimed as she ran towards her and hugged her tight. "You might not remember me since you were very young back then, but I know your parents."

Lesley smiled and returned the hug, "I know Lady Paxley. My father gave me the locket that my mother owns." Lesley showed her the locket, "You are friends with my biological mother."

Rita became teary-eyed while looking at Lesley, "You've grown so well, Lesley. I'm sorry that I wasn't able to help you."

"How were you, Lesley?" The Paxley's patriarch asked her, "I'm Gregory, Rita's husband."

Lesley bowed her head a little as a greeting, "Please to meet you Lord Paxley. I've been through a lot of struggles, but I'm trying to be fine."

She was welcomed by the Paxleys and even invited her for a dinner. She got to know the Paxley siblings: Gusset, Geyser, Gust, Reign, Girder, and Gerard. Gusion was born after Gust.

They were all kind— and now she wondered why Gusion said he wasn't that close to them. They all knew she was a weapon user, but they didn't treat her so bad.

"Have you met my rebellious son?" Gregory asked while they were having dinner.

"Yes. They actually found me unconscious in the middle of the forest when someone took Harley." Lesley said sadly, remembering her little brother once again.

Worry was written in the Paxley family, "What happened?"

Lesley narrated what happened in a short manner since the topic was still sensitive for her.

"And where is my son? Why he isn't with you?" Rita asked her.

Lesley clamped her lips to stop herself from talking. She didn't know whether to tell the family his situation now or not.

But knowing Gusion, even though he wasn't that close to his family— he wouldn't want to drag them in this war— just like her how she didn't want her adoptive parents to be involved in this.

They were all adults now— they should be able to resolve this mess in their own.

She took a deep breath, "I think we should handle this on our own, Lady Paxley. This is our problem and we should solve this on our own. We shouldn't rely on the elders whenever there is a problem."

Lesley was nervous when she said that and was expecting that the Paxley family would still insist to ask her but they smiled to her.

"You are really Ainsley's daughter." Rita said while smiling, "And we believe in you that you can save them, Lesley. We believe in Gusion and Harley too. I raised my son well, and knowing him, I know he got something under his sleeves. And Harley too, knowing Kimberly she raised Harley well— his parents were from one of the strongest mage families in the Land of Dawn— her son is a Mage Genius."

Lesley felt relief upon hearing those words, "Thank you Lady Paxley."

"Gusion might already tell you that he wasn't close to us." Gusset said, "He just maybe misunderstood us. We only obeyed the Elders so that they wouldn't focus on Gusion anymore so he could use the daggers freely. All of us are supported of him, and we are willing to give up our wants just for him."

Lesley gaped, "He didn't know that."

Geyser smiled sadly, "And we intend not to. We just want to protect him from the Elders. And the Elders were the ones who banished him, not us. He is still a Paxley for us."

She was touched by their words. She knew Gusion would be happy if he heard those words.

"Please save my big brother, Big Sis Lesley." Reign said, "We all wanted to help you, but as you said earlier, you wanted to save them on your own. Just don't hesitate to ask for help if you need us." She held both of her hands firmly.

"You have the locket right, Lesley?" Rita asked her and she nodded, "Always keep that with you. You can actually use it in case of emergency."

She was curious with what Rita said, "What do you mean?"

Rita just smiled to her, not saying a thing. She thought she needed to figure it out on her own.

"You're not alone Lesley. We are here and the Vances. And they are always with you." Rita said finally, making her more curious.

=====

Emperor Scorpion was lying on top of the laboratory, staring at the full moon above him while he circled that certain necklace his finger.

He then brought the necklace in front of his face, aligned with the sight of the full moon.

He was staring at that black bullet when it slipped on his hand so it fell.

It slided down but before he caught it, someone else did.

It was Octopus.

Octopus frowned upon seeing the necklace, "Why do you have this?"

Emperor Scorpion was caught off guard.

Oh boy.

~~~~~

And finally finished this one. Hahahahahaha.

Sorry for the long just to read a trash. Hehe.