"KILL THAT BITCH! SHE'S GETTING AWAY!"
The roar echoed through the darkened streets, followed by the thunder of boots against stone. Now, you might be wondering why half of Gunlag's personal guard were currently hellbent on turning me into a pincushion.
Long story short?
I might have made a slight miscalculation.
Me. Rin Lunar, illustrious daughter of the most noble Clan… well, formerly noble, now very much dead Clan making a mistake? Unheard of. Absurd. And yet… here we were.
The plan had been simple: join Nephis on her little expedition through the Forgotten Shore, help her retrieve whatever mysterious
doohickey she needed, and cause a bit of silliness like overthrowing a standing king.
Of course, things went sideways the moment Gunlag sent his Butcher to carve us all into neat little pieces. And explaining that the monster they'd been fearing all along was actually My spy? Well… that had been an awkward conversation.
She sighed, pressing a hand to her temple as she ran.
Definitely should have planned that reveal better.
*****
Harus. It was Harus. The murderous butcher who had torn Jubei apart with his bare hands, Gunalug's cruel executioner and hidden blade.
Walking through the cursed ruins with the same bored expression that he had in the grand hall of the Bright Castle on the day of Jubei's execution, Harus was following in their footsteps.
Gunlaug did not send dozens of Hunters to ambush Changing Star. Instead, he sent just one man.
"It's that… that damn hunchback. He's following us."
A sudden tension permeated the air. Without having to look, Rin knew that everyone's faces grew dark.
Harus was a mystery. No one knew what his Aspect Ability was, let alone his Flaw. All that was known about this terrifying man was that he was very powerful, and that not a single victim of his had survived.
But this was a man on Rins side she needed to stop their worrying but she spoke a bit to quietly
"Guys"
Neph frowned not at rin but at the man who was coming to kill them.
"Is he alone?"
Sunny nodded.
"Yeah."
She spoke again a little louder
"Guys
To his right, Caster quietly scoffed.
"What is Gunlaug thinking, sending one man against us six?"
However, Neph did not share his disdain. Turning to her left, she glanced at Effie. There was a grim expression on her face.
"What do you think?"
The huntress hesitated for a few moments. Then, looking down from her considerable height, she simply said:
"I think we need to run."
Caster scowled.
"Run? Why? Surely, no matter how strong Harus is, we can take him down. None of us are weak, either. Even if we can't defeat him one on one…"
Rin finally spoke up so everyone could hear her
"Hes on my side!"
The room went silent Sunny looked at her
"You know the point of a joke is that it has a punch line… it's not funny"
Rin threw up her hands in exasperation. "Oh for—Sunny, when have I ever joked about something this important?"
Caster's grip tightened on his sword. "You expect us to believe Harus, of all people, is working for you?" His voice dripped with disbelief. "The man doesn't even blink unless Gunlaug tells him to."
Rin rolled her eyes. "Yeah, well, turns out he blinks real nice when I tell him to."
Effie's massive frame shifted uneasily. "Rin. That's Harus." She said the name like it was a curse. "The guy who once killed six Awakened in the time it took one of them to scream."
"And yet here I am, not screaming," Rin shot back, crossing her arms. "Because shocking I know what I'm doing."
Nephis studied her with that unnerving, unreadable gaze. "Explain."
Rin waved a hand dismissively. "Trade secret. But trust me, the moment he gets close enough, he's going to—"
Sunny cut in, voice flat. "Betray us in the most creatively violent way possible?"
"Help us, you paranoid gremlin!"
Cassie, who had been silent until now, tilted her head. "You're asking for a lot of blind faith here, Rin."
Rin groaned. "Oh come on. If I was going to get you all killed, I'd at least make it interesting. This? This is just lazy." She jabbed a finger toward the approaching figure. "That walking nightmare is mine. So can we please stop acting like I just declared war on gravity?"
A beat of silence. Then, from Sunny:
"...I still think we should stab him. Just in case."
Rin's eye twitched. "No one, is stabbing my murderous hunchback!"
Nephis exhaled sharply through her nose—the closest thing to amusement she ever showed. "This," she said dryly, "is the most absurd conversation we've ever had."
Rin grinned. "Stick with me, Neph. I'll make a comedian out of you yet."
Somewhere in the distance, Harus took another step closer. Unhurried. Unconcerned.
And entirely, infuriatingly obedient.
Rin held up a hand, her voice dropping into something deadly serious. "Wait. Just... wait until he's here. Trust me."
The group tensed, weapons half-drawn, muscles coiled—ready to fight or flee at the slightest provocation. Every instinct screamed at them to move, to strike before Harus could close the distance. But Rin stood firm, her gaze locked onto the approaching figure.
Step.
Step.
Then—
Harus stopped.
And knelt.
A collective breath hitched in six throats.
For a long, agonizing moment, no one spoke. No one moved. The world itself seemed to freeze in disbelief.
Then Sunny, ever the voice of reason, broke the silence with all the grace of a hammer to glass:
"...What the fuck."
Caster's sword slipped slightly in his grip. "This is a trick." His voice was raw, disbelieving. "It has to be."
Effie took an unconscious step back. "I don't... how?"
Nephis's eyes flicked from Harus to Rin, sharp as daggers. "Explain. Now."
Rin grinned, all teeth. "Told you he was mine."
Sunny made a noise like a dying steam engine. "HOW?!"
Rin waved a hand airily. "Trade secret~"
Cassie, pale as a ghost, whispered, "Rin... no one controls Harus."
Rin arched a brow. "I do."
Harus remained motionless, head bowed, like a beast waiting for its master's command. The sight was wrong—unnatural. This was the man who had torn through Awakened like paper, who had never shown hesitation, never shown obedience to anyone but Gunlaug.
And now he knelt for Rin.
Sunny's eye twitched. "Okay, new rule: no more surprises. Ever. My heart can't take it."
Rin snorted. "Oh please, you love my surprises."
Nephis hadn't taken her eyes off Harus. "Can he be trusted?"
Rin smirked and spoke with a bit of venom. "More than you can."
A beat. Then—
Nephis exhaled, long and slow. "Good he'll be useful"
Sunny choked. "WHAT?!"
Rin clapped her hands together. "Great! Now that we're all in agreement—"
Sunny threw his hands up. "We are NOT in agreement!"
Harus, still kneeling, said nothing.
The world had officially gone mad.
He spoke
"I wasn't the only one sent ma'am hes sent those fanatics too"
*****
But I suppose that still doesn't explain why I'm currently sprinting for my life, does it?
Her fingers closed around the hilt of an unsuspecting guard's sword, wrenching it free in one fluid motion before burying it in his throat. The second man barely had time to react before her boot cracked against the back of his knee, sending him crashing down. A surge of essence, a flash of steel his head tumbled free before his body even hit the ground.
The horde of guards behind her didn't slow.
Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck.
The castle's labyrinthine corridors twisted in every direction, a nightmare of stone and shadow. Could anyone blame her for getting lost? She'd been dragged here unconscious, after all. Her heart hammered against her ribs as she skidded around corners, shoulder slamming into walls to keep her momentum.
She barreled through door after door until
The throne room.
Hundreds of wide-eyed froze mid-bite, their feast forgotten as a ragged, wild-eyed woman burst into their midst. She didn't waste time. A wooden plank wedged under the door handle just as the first guard moved from inside the room, drawn by the commotion.
He barely had time to register her before her stolen blade punched through his gut. A kick sent his body crashing into another, buying her half a second.
Then crack.
The door splintered.
They flooded in like a tide.
A spear lanced toward her ribs she caught it, snapped it in half with her knee, and drove the splintered end straight into its owner's eye.
Not bad for a woman who was supposedly screwing up.
Steel flashed in her hands as she spun into a whirlwind of blades ambidextrous, a skill hard-earned from chunin and brutally efficient. She leapt onto one of the lavish banquet tables, sending platters of food scattering beneath her boots. A spear jabbed toward her; she trapped it under her foot, then snapped her leg up, cracking the shaft against its wielder's jaw. A stomp, a twist, the spear was hers, and in the next breath, it was airborne, impaling a guard mid-climb, his body jerking before he crumpled.
She dropped low as a sword hissed over her head, snatched up the blade she'd discarded, and slashed outward in one vicious arc. Blood sprayed. The corpse became a battering ram she drove her shoulder into it, sending the dead weight crashing into the press of bodies, clearing a path down the table's length. Enemies toppled like dominions, some skewered on her blades, others flung aside like discarded refuse.
Then empty air. The table ended.
She didn't hesitate.
Bouncing off the last guard's collapsing body, she hit the ground sprinting and exploded through the doors into the courtyard. The gates loomed ahead, locked and barred. Her gaze flicked to the stone wall beside them.
Brilliant plan, Rin.
A guard turned at the commotion too late. Her sword left her hand, a silver streak that punched through his throat and buried itself in the mortar behind him. The second blade followed, thudding into the wall a few meters higher. She moved before the body hit the ground leaping, boot finding the first hilt, then the second, scaling the stone like a shadow. An arrow hissed past her cheek, embedding itself in the stone as she vaulted over the parapet.
The sentry on the battlement barely had time to open his mouth before she yanked him into the path of the next volley. Arrows thudded into his chest, his gasp cut short as she let him slump, already gone vanished into the night before the shouts could even begin.
She spared one glance at the drop below.
This is going to hurt.
Then she jumped.
The impact rattled her bones as she hit the slope, skidding, rolling, boots tearing through grass and dirt. Pain lanced up her ankles; her muscles shrieked in protest. Behind her, arrows hissed through the air, thudding into the earth just inches from her heels.
Almost there.
The cluster of abandoned houses loomed ahead crumbling roofs, shattered windows, a maze of shadows where she could vanish.
thunk.
White-hot fire erupted between her shoulder blades as something buried itself deep. She gasped, staggering, but didn't stop. Couldn't.
By the time most of the guards reached the edge of the wall, panting, scanning the darkness below
She was already gone.
*thanks for leaving me to go on you're little adventure Sunny*
Disbelief came from the other side of the line
*Rin…RIN.. you're awake, Holy shit I though you died, also we didn't exactly have a choice dragging your body across the Forgotten shore isn't exactly full proof*