Free Web NovelChapter 565: 565-We Meet An Old Crusader
Haiden:
I had to remind Yorick time and time again that he was not supposed to put so much strain on himself.
Sure, he had made a mistake, but his parents were equally to blame.
He was taking too much stress upon himself, and honestly, it worried me.
Finally, I convinced him that I would go up with him.
But the moment we reached the top and started punching the heart of the tower, we realized it was not easy. freёwebnoѵel.com
We kept going hard. My knuckles were bloodied, and so were his.
I knew I had to save my strength because we still had five hours.
If I fell from here, transitioning would draw attention, and I knew Fauna would be terrified if I accidentally drew monsters toward us.
As I kept thinking about it, I noticed a small crack in the heart of the tower. freeweɓnøvel.com
I kept going with Yorick, who was groaning as blood dripped from our hands while we tried to break it.
Finally, it shattered. The stone slipped down, and Yorick caught it.
Our eyes met, and we smiled in victory.
Then my gaze shifted to the side, and I saw Fauna outside a mall.
She reached the door, and suddenly a hand came from inside, grabbed her by the neck, and pulled her in.
It all happened in a second, almost like a dream. Almost a nightmare.
"Fauna!" I screamed at the top of my lungs as I let go of the bar and dropped to the lowest level.
I held onto it and moved quickly, jumping from one bar to another until I reached the ground.
Yorick was right behind me. Mariana started to cross the road, but I knew it was not safe for her.
"No, Mariana, stay back," I shouted, stopping her from taking another step forward.
We did not know what was inside, and I did not want her, my sister-in-law, to get into trouble too.
As soon as I landed on the road, I bolted toward the mall. Yorick was right beside me.
He reached Mariana first and stopped her from moving forward.
"My sister is in there," I heard Mariana cry, protesting as we held her back.
"Then wait here and wait for our signal, okay?" Yorick told her.
They argued back and forth, but in the end, she rushed forward beside him. I realized she was safer with Yorick.
As soon as I pushed the mall doors open, I stopped.
There she was. A knife was pressed to her throat, a silver blade against her skin.
Standing behind her was a familiar face. A face I had not seen in months.
"I knew you would come," Mathias uttered, a broken smile on his lips.
Quite frankly, seeing him after so long was a shock.
We remembered him in the first few weeks, thinking he would appear out of nowhere and attack us. But then we forgot about him.
I think all of us believed he was dead. So seeing him again, standing there, hit us hard.
He had lost weight. Even though food lingered on the shelves around him, I noticed it had not expired.
"And you are still bitter?" I commented, my fists clenching.
"She took everything from me. How could I not be bitter?" Mathias muttered, referring to Clementine.
Yorick and I exchanged a glance. He gestured for Mariana to stay behind him.
It seemed Mathias had reached a point where he believed that if he did not get a happy ending with his mate, no one else should either.
"It was not her fault. But I guess there is no point," Yorick said, shaking his head.
"You are right. We have seen people accuse Clementine when it was never her fault. Even when there was enough proof that she did nothing wrong, no one believed her. So we are not going to waste our breath on you," I added, my eyes fixed on the knife pressed against Fauna’s fragile neck.
"Well, say that to someone who has been trapped here, waiting desperately to catch a glimpse of that bitch," Mathias replied.
As he spoke, his grip tightened on the dagger, pressing it harder against Fauna’s neck. She flinched in pain.
"But do you not think you are taking your anger out on the wrong person?" Mariana said, unable to hold back.
She stepped forward, standing beside Yorick.
Mathias’s eyes lingered on her. Then he looked at Yorick and began to chuckle, as if putting everything together.
"So you losers moved on. I have always watched you run around Clementine. Good. Good for you. She is not worth it," he said, still chuckling.
"As for taking my anger out on the wrong person, fine. Tell me where Clementine is, and I will take it out on her."
As soon as he said that, Mariana hissed.
"Tell me. Is she here too?" Mathias demanded.
Mariana bit her tongue, refusing to answer.
"Fucking idiots. You think I will not get my hands on her? One day, I will find her alone."
As he said that, I realized he was a coward.
He would not dare attack her in front of others. He was waiting for a moment when she was alone.
It made sense why he had waited so long.
From the scars and scratches on him, I could tell he had been attacked many times during his stay here.
But he had not explored the dark side. That much was clear.
"You’re just a loser, Mathias, taking your anger out because you cannot be with your mate. You need to understand that none of us wanted anyone dead, apart from you, Oriana, and Suki, who always saw others as trouble. Unless you want to end up like them, let her go."
As soon as Yorick said that, I saw a sour expression form on Mathias’s face. He ignored Yorick and turned to me instead.
"Fine. I will see if you can forgive someone for killing your mate."
The moment he said that, the hair on the back of my neck stood up. My eyes shifted to Fauna.
"No, do not harm her," I whispered.
Mathias chuckled.
"I will not. But if you do not want me to harm her, you have to harm Yorick’s mate."
He let out another chuckle as he gestured toward Mariana, giving me one final option to save my mate.
