"Selena, we've been hiding in this village for quite some time. Don't you think it's time we moved somewhere else? I'm worried that Leomorth's people might manage to track us down here" a beautiful, slender girl said quietly to the well-built girl sitting across from her.
"I've been thinking the same thing, but where else can we go, Eos? We've already moved from one place to another so many times. I'm getting tired of living as a fugitive" The girl called Selena answered wearily, resting her chin on the wooden table in front of her.
Ever since the region had fallen under King Leomorth's control through his forced invasion, everyone associated with the former kingdom had become a fugitive, forced to live with limited resources and constant fear.
The powerful and formidable King Leomorth was already notorious for his cruelty. He would leave no safe haven for anyone who opposed him. The two girls looked worried and anxious. Judging from their conversation, they were clearly fugitives—or at the very least, somehow connected to the enemies of Leomorth's kingdom.
Eos was a young woman with fair, clear skin and long, wavy jet-black hair. She was tall and slender, with bright brown eyes that were remarkably clear, like the Eastern Star. Peeking through her hair was a pair of small ivory-yellow horns, each about the length of a pinky finger. She wore a simple gray dress, and around her wrist was a bluish, jade-like bracelet.
Selena, meanwhile, had a solid, well-built figure and shoulder-length golden-yellow hair. Her slightly tanned face was striking and attractive, complemented by her bluish eyes. She wore a gray long-sleeved shirt with matching long pants.
"All the families we knew have already been captured by Leomorth. They really intend to wipe out our entire royal bloodline. We've already escaped and blended in with ordinary people to erase our trail and avoid their pursuit. But even so, we still can't live in peace," Eos said sadly.
Now she and her sister Selena were forced to live with barely enough to get by, moving from place to place and living in poverty just to avoid Leomorth's people.
At present, the two of them had become residents of Asterion, a remote village at the edge of the continent.
"Eos, we're going to remain fugitives and targets of King Leomorth. He intends to eliminate every remnant of the former royal family so that no one will ever pose a threat to him again.
"As long as we remain in Saroya, we won't be able to live peacefully. Unless we manage to kill King Leomorth. Or..." Selena paused, suddenly uncertain.
"Or what, Selena? Do we still have any hope?" Eos asked, her eyes widening slightly. She desperately hoped her sister might have found a way out of their seemingly endless predicament.
"Or we could move to another world. Somewhere more peaceful, far away from the ifrit Leomorth," Selena replied hesitantly.
"Overthrowing his rule and killing him is almost impossible. We don't have the ability to do it, and even our kingdom couldn't stop him. Where would we get the army or the power needed to defeat him?
"As for leaving this world, we don't even know where we would go. And doing so would require an ultimate transportation portal. How could we possibly get one?" Eos responded to her sister's suggestion.
After Leomorth seized control of the region, anyone considered a threat was captured and eliminated. Meanwhile, Leomorth continued gathering power to secure his rule.
"I've been trying to gather information. I've sent several people to find alternative destinations as our last resort. We still don't know where we could go for now. All we can do is survive and try to obtain an ultimate transportation portal," Selena said.
She leaned back in her chair, tilting her head upward and folding both hands behind her head as a support.
"We only have expertise in technology. When it comes to military matters, we're severely lacking. We don't know how to fight. We should have developed weapons to protect ourselves back then," Eos said sadly, filled with regret as she remembered the past.
"Stop blaming yourself. There's no point in regretting it now. Besides, the ifrit possess far greater innate strength than we do. It's as if they were designed to be killing monsters, while we're nothing more than weak creatures who rely on technology," Selena said, trying to comfort the girl sitting across from her.
Their people were indeed far weaker than the ifrit, making them easy prey.
"They have plans to take control of this entire world. Right now, our people are their prey. Next, the others will be..." Eos didn't finish her sentence.
Suddenly, an enormous explosion erupted outside the house.
The deafening blast was followed by several more explosions. Both girls were startled and immediately jumped to their feet.
Before they could even recover from the shock, the door suddenly burst open. Without warning, a woman rushed inside. She wore a gray long-sleeved shirt and a long, wide black skirt. Her hair had been intricately braided down to her waist.
"My lady! Are you all right? We have to leave immediately!" The woman quickly grabbed both girls by the hands and pulled them along, as though desperate to get them out of the house as quickly as possible.
"This village is under attack! Hurry!"
"Shopia, what's happening? We heard explosions!" Eos asked anxiously, fear clearly visible on her face.
"The ifrit are attacking the village! Come with me, quickly! We'll go through the back door!" Shopia said as she hurried toward the rear of the house.
The three of them rushed outside and ran down a narrow road leading out of the village. Behind them, explosions continued to thunder. Several houses were already burning, sending thick black smoke into the sky. Terrified screams echoed throughout the village.
Above the rooftops, numerous black, humanoid creatures with bat-like wings flew through the air. Each stood approximately two meters tall and carried a cylindrical weapon about half a meter long.
The cylinders fired reddish beams of energy that caused violent explosions wherever they struck.
---
"Quick! Find those women! Don't let them escape!" a bat-like humanoid shouted in a deep, terrifying voice.
This creature was larger than the others. It wore dark-red armor covering its body and carried a strange weapon in one hand.
The weapon resembled a transparent tube with six claw-like prongs at its tip. On its handle was a glowing blue sphere. Judging by the way the others followed its commands, it was clearly their leader.
The creature spotted several villagers running in terror.
In an instant, it lunged forward and grabbed one of them by the neck, lifting the male villager off the ground.
"Where are those fugitive women hiding?" the bat-like ifrit leader demanded in a vicious voice.
The man trembled in terror.
"I-I... I don't know... Please, have mercy!"
"Wrong answer!" The creature thrust the clawed staff into the man's chest.
Suddenly, a white light seemed to be drawn out of the man's body through the weapon. The energy flowed along the staff and into the glowing blue sphere on its handle, causing it to shine even brighter
A few moments later, the man's body went limp. He was dead.
The bat-like creature threw his lifeless body to the ground.
With savage brutality, the creature began attacking anyone it encountered, leaving its victims dead in gruesome conditions.
The weapon was not merely a staff. It was a device designed to absorb the life energy of its victims and store it within the glowing blue sphere embedded in its handle.
"Ha ha ha! Destroy this village! Let's collect the souls of these worthless creatures as an offering to His Majesty, King Leomorth!" the creature shouted, laughing maniacally.
***