[Raul PoV]
Thanks to the blindness in my left eye, I have to adapt to a significantly reduced field of vision. It will be difficult if I encounter powerful people like Siena during my escape.
Currently, I am sneaking through the basement where I was previously held. People are passing by, either pushing carts filled with food supplies or bundles of weapons. It seems they've turned this place into a temporary warehouse for the duration of the war.
Spotting an official pushing a cart alone, I follow him using the Featherstep technique to erase the sound of my footsteps.
"Sigh... because of this war, I haven't been able to see my family in the capital," the man pushing the cart grumbled. "Judging by the way the war is going, there's no sign of either side losing anytime soon."
"I am sorry for your misfortune, Officer."
Hearing my voice, the man suddenly spun around, shocked to see me right behind him.
"Wh-who are y—"
— Bammm!!
I punched him unconscious before he could finish his sentence. I dragged him into a container, stripped him of his clothes, and took his hat to use as a disguise. After that, I placed my palm on the man's forehead and uttered a spell.
"Neutralize..."
This ability is the second stage of the Profound Codex: Phantom Thief that I obtained from The Masquerade. It allows me to erase a person's short-term memory up to one minute.
Once finished, I loaded the items from the cart into the container and closed it back up. I then pushed the cart toward the basement exit with one hand. Of the many people watching, not a single one suspected me. I hope the guards at the entrance will be just as oblivious as I head out.
"Has the Alliance army departed?"
"They started moving this morning toward Ebro Village, the western Tuscan Forest, and Bitola Village."
"I hope we get another victory like before."
I overheard the conversations of the officials in the basement.
"This means the fighting will resume soon, huh?" I muttered.
Shortly after, I reached the guard post at the basement entrance. I tried to act as naturally as possible, though some of the guards had been watching me for a while.
"Hey, you."
One of them called out, causing me to halt. Two guards approached me, each holding a drink.
"Why is your hat tilted like that?" one of them asked.
"I had an incident a few days ago..." I tried to improvise as best I could. "I don't want others to see it... you know what I mean?"
I then lifted my hat to show them my face.
"Why is your face so battered?"
"And your eye looks like it was poked by something? A workplace accident?"
Both questioned my injuries. Naturally, I responded calmly.
"With injuries like those, I think it's better if you rest first," one guard said.
"If I'm not mistaken, there's a Priest treating war victims in the city square."
After thanking them, I walked out of the area. Phew... I think I got lucky there. After leaving the cart in its place, I navigated the city streets looking for a way out. The city was still heavily populated, even though the war was almost at their doorstep. Some children were playing happily, unaware of the disaster looming before them.
After walking for a few minutes, I reached a crowded market. The streets were filled with merchants showcasing their wares. I shed the warehouse official's clothes and tossed them into a trash bin.
"Buy here! New clothes from the Weimar Kingdom!"
"Cheap shawls! Cheap shawls! Only 20 Silver!"
I scanned my surroundings. When the merchants weren't looking, I began to steal their items covertly. A tie, a top hat, a cloak, a scarf, tobacco, a pipe, a wig, a magic wand, and an eyepatch—I took them all to mask my identity.
— Brak!
"Hey, watch your step, freak!"
I bumped into someone; he looked annoyed and immediately scolded me. After he left, I opened my right palm. I had pocketed several Silver coins from the man I just bumped into. I exited the market area and hailed a horse carriage.
"Can I help you, sir?" the driver asked.
"Can you take me outside the city limits?" I asked, handing him one of the stolen Silver coins.
"Hop in, sir. I'll get you there quickly."
After climbing up and sitting beside the driver, he snapped the reins, prompting the two horses to pull the carriage forward.
— Teng! Teng! Teng!
Suddenly, I heard a bell ringing. I saw many soldiers running back and forth through the city streets.
"Attention! A prisoner has escaped!"
"Everyone! Guard all city exits tightly!"
"Find the man matching the description, quickly!"
Seeing the City Guards busy searching everywhere, I took out the pipe and filled it with tobacco.
"Sir, do you have a lighter?" I asked the driver.
He reached into his pocket and handed me a gas lighter.
"Thank you."
After lighting the tobacco, I began to puff on it and enjoyed the ride through the Venetian Republic city.
— Pah!
"Cough! Cough! Cough!"
I choked after taking a puff. I had intended to mask the scent of my breath with tobacco, but I wasn't used to it.
"Escaped prisoner? Did those Imperial prisoners we caught recently start a riot in the cells?" the driver wondered aloud.
"Perhaps," I replied. "But they shouldn't do something so useless. Their resistance only gives our soldiers an excuse to kill or torture them."
I didn't expect them to notice my escape so soon. Guard shifts weren't supposed to change for another two hours. However, it seems someone else visited the place where I was held.
Before long, I saw the guard post guarding the exit from the Inner City. There were about a dozen soldiers on watch.
"Hold! Stop right there!"
One of them ordered the driver to stop. Two men approached the carriage, likely to ask questions.
"Where are you going?" one soldier asked me.
"Oh, I'm heading home after a date with my girlfriend, sir," I replied.
"Get down first," the other guard ordered.
I had no choice but to comply. I stepped down from the carriage and approached them. One guard scrutinized me while the other began reading from a piece of paper.
"Eye injury, black hair, and a face full of wounds," the guard muttered.
His partner looked at my face closely, making me quite nervous.
"Hey, what happened to your eye and your face?"
I glanced around. The man reading the paper signaled the other guards to come over. It was only a matter of time before they realized my true identity.
"Workplace accident," I answered.
"Oh, and what is your job, Mr...?"
"Houdini!" I gave a fake name. "I am a magician!"
They looked confused by the word "magician." It made sense—in a world full of actual magic, a stage magician wouldn't be very popular.
"And what does a magician like you do to end up with a face and eye like that?" they asked, growing more suspicious.
If I wasn't wearing this wig, my cover would have been blown instantly. Responding to the two guards, I took off my hat and handed it to them.
"Can you hold my hat for a second? I'll show you why my face and eye are injured."
One of the guards took the hat. Next, I extended my right hand forward and made a fist.
"Place the hat on top of my fist and watch closely," I commanded.
They nodded and followed my instructions, looking curious.
"Simsalabim! Abracadabra!" I recited the incantation like a magician from my original world. "Now, lift the hat and look closely!"
The two guards leaned in and lifted the hat covering my wrist.
"..."
"..."
They looked shocked to find my fist suddenly extending a middle finger right in front of their faces.
— Baamm!!!
Catching them off guard, I punched both guards with an Uppercut, sending them flying backward. I rushed back to the carriage, shoved the driver off, and grabbed the reins.
"Dammit! Attack him!"
"Report to headquarters, we found the escaped prisoner!"
I whipped the reins and hurried away from the guard post. Several guards began mounting their horses to pursue me from behind. I had just cleared the Inner City and was now in the Outer City. If I remembered correctly, the distance to the city limits was only 3 km. That meant I only needed to survive for 3 to 5 minutes.
"Stop, you bastard!"
"We won't let you get away!"
Two men were already gaining on me, riding horses on my left and right. Both drew their swords and moved toward the horses pulling my carriage. I grabbed a whip from the driver's seat. They tried to slash at my horses, but I lashed their hands with the whip.
— Splat! Splat!
"Arrgghhh!"
"Dammit! That hurts!"
They screamed and dropped their swords. I didn't stop there; I stood up and swung the whip until it coiled around the neck of one of the pursuers.
"Let go! You're choking me!" the man screamed.
He tried to struggle, but I activated Temper magic and yanked him, slamming his body into the guard on the other side.
"Hooo~ turns out a whip is quite useful in combat," I thought.
In the game, there was a character who used a whip as her primary weapon. However, I didn't want to meet that Dominatrix woman. She was the female version of Vlad's character in the game.
"Chase him!"
"Catch the escapee!"
Tch, more guards were joining the chase from behind. I whipped the reins harder to make the horses run faster. The city exit was within sight. However, the path ahead was blocked by crowds of people.
I jumped from the carriage, reached for a pulley, and cut the rope holding a crate above a building. As the weight fell, the rope I held pulled me up onto the roof. Below, the guards jumped off their horses to climb up after me. I didn't wait; I began leaping across the rooftops toward the city outskirts.
I was only about a kilometer away from freedom when I ran out of buildings to jump to. Looking down, I saw dozens of mounted guards searching the area.
"Quick, to the city gates!"
"Right! He'll definitely head there! Form a barricade!"
I had to be fast. If I stayed here too long, the number of pursuers would only grow.
"There he is! On top of the theater building!"
One guard spotted me. The Musketeers with him aimed their rifles upward.
"Fire!"
— Bang! Bang! Bang!
I had no choice but to jump back to the previous building. In this situation, I had to be patient and find the perfect opening to escape.
"Tch, he vanished across the rooftops again!"
"Quickly, call the Knights of the Greco Republic and the Draconia Kingdom to help us!"
I continued leaping from one building to another, searching for a way past the crowd of guards blocking the exit. Finally, I found a way. I saw a rope hanging from a building 100 meters ahead. I sprinted toward it to gain momentum.
"Look! He's up there!"
"Shoot him, quick!"
I leaped, grabbed the rope, and swung over the guards filling the street.
— Bang! Bang! Bang!
Gunshots rang out, but not a single bullet hit. After clearing the crowd, I let go and landed on the street with a forward roll. This time, there were no troops ahead to block me.
"Chase him!"
Glancing back, dozens of guards were in pursuit. I quickly activated Asphalt magic and sprinted out of the city at high speed. The guards couldn't keep up once I activated this spell. However, I couldn't celebrate yet; I had to put as much distance as possible between us before the magic wore off.
.
.
.
After 10 minutes of running with Asphalt, the effect began to fade, and I switched to the inferior Acceleration magic to conserve Mana. Half an hour later, I spotted a forest and entered it. Feeling safe, I deactivated my magic and climbed a tree.
I sat leaning against the trunk, resting after running non-stop for 40 minutes.
"Huff... huff... huff... due to the continuous magic use, my Mana is almost depleted."
At least I was far from the city. I was now in the Tuscan Forest. If I recall correctly, the main Alliance force will pass through the eastern side of this forest tomorrow morning. I hope I can reach Regium Fortress City, where the Imperial troops are, before nightfall.
Honestly, I was exhausted. My left hand was broken, my left eye was blind—being in this condition in the heart of enemy territory was incredibly dangerous. I hope I don't choose to get captured again in the future just to achieve my goals.
Currently, my objectives in this war are half-achieved. First, I confirmed Siena's true identity. I previously thought she might be a reincarnation of Liana—my ex-girlfriend. It turns out she only experienced dreams or visions of my previous world. However, the fact that she dreamed of Liana's life is likely no coincidence. There must be a specific event that caused this, similar to my own experience.
The second objective was giving Siena the matching artifact. I'm certain she will merge them. My reason for doing this is a safeguard; if the Empire tries to attack the Venetian capital, she will surely rise and go on a rampage. No one can stop her except another Demigod.
When Siena's artifact is joined with its counterpart, it forms a new artifact capable of sealing any creature—including a Demigod—and absorbing all its magic to be used by the artifact's owner. If my plan works, both sides will likely end the war through negotiation.
But as I was thinking about the war, I heard footsteps and voices.
"Cassandra, are you sure he's around here?"
"Of course, my magic can track a person's Mana usage."
Four male Knights and one female mage were walking toward me. I slowly drew my sword and prepared to ambush them.
"Stop here, his Mana trail suddenly vanished," the mage said.
She looked up toward where I was. I had already leaped toward her, swinging my sword at her neck.
— Slash!
The woman's head was severed and rolled across the ground.
"No, Cassandra!"
"Kill the bastard!"
The four knights attacked simultaneously. Because I had used magic for so long during my escape, I couldn't activate a single speed spell.
— Tang! Tang! Tang!
I tried to parry their strikes, but one of their blades managed to graze my left arm. At a disadvantage, I ran deeper into the forest.
"Accel!"
"Accel!"
Glancing back, the four Knights' legs glowed as they pursued me quickly. Without magic, they were far more agile than me. To counter this, I didn't run straight but zig-zagged between the trees.
"Lightning Shoot!"
"Myriad Wind!"
— Brak! Brak!
They fired elemental sword magic at me, shattering the trees I passed. I climbed up and began leaping from tree to tree to confuse them. They followed suit, landing on the branches.
"Dammit, he's so agile even without magic!"
"He must be behind one of these trees!"
The knights looked frustrated. I tried to catch my breath and prepared to ambush one of them.
"Let's search one by one," one Knight suggested.
The others nodded and began leaping through the canopy. One of them approached the tree where I was hiding. When he was just a few meters away and looking elsewhere, I threw my sword in the opposite direction, drawing their focus to where it landed.
While they were distracted, I emerged, activated Temper magic in my legs, and launched a flying kick at one Knight's head.
— Crack!
I heard a snapping sound as my foot hit his neck. My attack broke his neck, killing him instantly.
"No, Romulus!"
"Attack him, fast!"
The remaining three jumped to my tree, launching dangerous slashes. I dodged, though not perfectly. I kicked the heel of one Knight, causing him to tumble and fall from the height.
— Slash!
Another Knight slashed my left leg, but I quickly struck his face with a fist reinforced by Temper magic.
— Bamm!!
He was sent flying, crashing through trees until they collapsed.
"Urrghhh..." I groaned in pain.
The last Knight standing stabbed my left abdomen with his sword. I grabbed his neck and lifted him, attempting to choke him. He struggled, kicking my body, but it was futile. Re-activating Temper, I crushed his throat and threw him down from the tree.
"Huff... huff... huff..."
Tired... in pain...
My entire body was difficult to move after the torture from Vlad and the fight with the pursuers. I climbed down the tree and walked slowly, my right hand pressing against the stab wound on my left side.
My vision began to blur, and I grew weak from blood loss... But I can't give up here. I have to... prevent the destruction of this world...
But my body was spent, and my legs could no longer take another step. Closing my eyes, I let myself fall forward.
Yet, instead of hard ground, I felt a softness and warmth that brought comfort.
"I didn't expect to find you here, Raul..."
The voice was so familiar... the scent of her perfume reached my nose, clearing my consciousness slightly. I realized my head was resting on a woman's shoulder.
"Elena..." I murmured.
"Long time no see, Raul," she said, giving me a smile as beautiful as a Goddess.