"Knowing who I am is not important; all you have to know is I am searching for something." Said the masked stranger in an emotionless voice.
"Oh? You are searching for something? Can you let me know what you are searching for? Maybe I can be of help to you," said Maria with a very tense voice, while she didn't have any change in her expression; it was evident that the situation was not good. Maria tightened her grip on her halberd as she was starting to feel very uneasy with where the situation was heading. Maria wasn't the only one who was uneasy; most of the nuns who were watching from the sidelines were prepared to fight as well.
"There is no need for you to know what I am searching for; instead, you can help me by opening the shield that is blocking my way," said the masked man as he had no interest in satisfying Maria's curiosity.
"Why do you need the shield to be taken down? This is just an orphanage, nothing more. I am sure you will not find what you are looking for here," said sister Maria in a very stern voice as she slammed her weapon on the ground. She was directly giving a warning to the masked man, seeing the sight made the man sigh as he shook his head gently.
"Well, I did try to give you a chance, who knew you would be so stubborn. You give me no choice...." Before the man managed to finish the sentence, he was attacked by Maria. Maria knew that confrontation was now inevitable; that is why she didn't want the enemy to strike first.
BANG
The surroundings went silent; it was as if everyone lost their will to speak. They were all shocked by the attack that Maria launched towards the masked man. Suddenly, all everyone could see in the spot where the man stood was smoke and dust; the man was nowhere to be seen. For a few seconds, people thought the man had run away.
"Why are you so impatient, Miss Maria? I thought you would understand me if I were polite. Shouldn't you Nuns be more understanding?" said the man in a mocking tone. It seemed that the attack that Maria had launched had no real effect on the masked man as he stood there completely unscratched.
"You know that you don't have to do this; we can forget everything that has happened until now if you just walk away from here. I give you my word that you will not be pursued, nor will I try to find your identity if you walk away right this moment. If you tell me what you are looking for, I might even give it to you." Said sister Maria as she was becoming reluctant to fight the man right now, as there were just too many lives at stake. She was unwilling to take the risk, as after trading blows, she knew that either the man was stronger than her or he was equally matched with her. Either way, none of the scenarios seemed ideal.
"That is impossible to do, Maria. I cannot leave without finding what I came here to look for. I wish I were able to tell you what I was looking for; trust me, I would have loved to see you join our cause, but I cannot do that, unfortunately. However, if you really wanna know, just move aside and you will be able to find out soon enough," said the man with a somewhat sad voice. It seemed as if he really wanted Maria to join him.
"Oh, you want me to step aside? Why have you come with so many people? You plan to massacre everyone here, don't you?" asked Sister Maria as she looked around her. She was suddenly feeling the presence of many people hiding as if they were waiting for the signal.
'This is bad, I can feel many presences nearby, we don't have much time left until the shield breaks. I need to think of something fast.' Maria was left out of options as it seemed a fight was inevitable.
"Well, if you had just listened to me earlier, things might not have gone so far out of hand. This is all fate, I suppose. Now, everyone will have to pay the price for your foolishness. As this was a very remote town, on top of also a slum. I thought the monsters would be enough for such a small town to be destroyed, who would have thought that there was someone like you who was protecting the town? These pests were lucky to be protected by someone so great." Before finishing his sentence, he was interrupted once more.
"How is that possible? How can you control so many wyverns at once?" Maria had her mouth open wide with astonishment; she couldn't believe what the masked man was saying, as what he said seemed impossible. But deep down, she was able to join all the dots regarding the monster attack earlier.
"If you really want to know how, join our cause. I am sure Master will be extremely happy seeing you join us," said the masked man as he was still hoping that Maria would join them despite what had happened until now.
"Over my dead body," said Maria as he scoffed.
"Well, if that is what you wish for, then fine, have it your way. I will see how long you can keep that attitude of yours," said the masked man as he waved his hand, following his signal, all of the people who were hiding came out. There were about 50 people, everyone of whom wore black clothes while a mask covered their faces. Seeing them, it was even hard to tell if they were a man or a woman, let alone recognize who they were.
"Everyone, pick up your weapons. Protect the civilians at all costs," ordered Maria.
"This should be interesting. I have never fought someone as strong as you before. Let's have fun," said the masked man as he unsheathed his sword. The sword he was holding was pitch black; however, the weapon looked very dangerous for some reason.
Rudra, who was looking at the fight that was taking place from the bell tower, shuddered in fear as he felt something he had never felt before after looking at the sword the man was holding. For some reason, when Rudra's eyes fell on the sword, he started seeing visions of himself being killed by that sword. In just mere few seconds, Rudra had experienced death more than a thousand times.
Rudra's eyes became teary as his eyes started turning red; he felt as if his head was going to burst any second. Rudra wanted to say something, but when he tried to open his mouth to speak, no sound came out of his mouth.
"May the blessing of the Radiant Goddess be with you, High HEAL." Just when Rudra felt his head was going to split into two, that is exactly when he heard his sister Maria use a skill.
"SIGH SIGH SIGH SIGH...." Rudra was finally able to take a breath after Sister Maria used her skill. He felt as if she were even a little late; he would have died.