The two armored men grabbed the woman by the throats and pushed her to the tree.

One man with a balded smooth head. The other with a scar on his left cheek.

"What are you doing here all alone, pretty little thing?" The bald man licked the woman's neck, tasting her sweat. "Ummm. Now that is sweet. I haven't tasted anything that sweet for a lo-o-o-ng time."

"Beat it quickly, will you. I can't wait for my turn." The scarred man said.

"Can't rush the happy hour, man. I need to take my time with this pretty thing."

"You can't do this! I am a noble of Avadine. The Royal Court will kill you all!" The women screamed.

"How can they do that when they know nothing?" The balded man grinned. "We're going to bury you right here after we're done. No witness. No trouble. Your rich daddy won't even know that you're dead"

The balded man laughed in a low tone.

"You are knights of Eldoria. You're better than this. Where is your honor? What about your oath?"

The balded man spat to the ground. "Fuck honor! We are nothing more than capable slaves in front of you nobles!"

The balded man pointed at his face where the mark of servitude laid. "See this. You know what it's called? The mark of servitude.

Knight is only a fancy term. It holds no meaning at all!"

The balded man pushed the woman on the ground. Dirt covered her white dress.

She screamed for help. Her face was covered with tears.

But God knew no one would ever be in the Foglight Forest. Not after that Chaos Beast had taken this place as its territory.

The female noble closed her eyes and bit her lips. She had accepted her fate. The only thing she could do now was not letting these savages receive any more satisfaction from raping her.

She held her hands together.

Nina had a secret. She did not worship the Mother Trees or the Mother Goddesses.

Instead, she prayed to the Outsider. The long lost god that had been abandoned by Eldoria.

She had read his tales, learned of his story. The Outsider might be a God of Darkness. But he had always been fascinated by the goodness of man. He was different from the Mother Goddesses that dived in their desire.

"Old Lord Heed Me! I pray that my mother won't be drowned in sorrow when I'm gone. I pray that my father can move on. I pray that I can see you, The Supreme Lord of All after my death.

And I pray that these violent men have a violent end."

Nina felt the cold rough hands of that balded knight on her thigh. Her body trembled. She bit her lips to brace herself.

An arrow pierced the air and penetrated the balded man's skull.

He fell lifelessly on the ground.

The scarred knight was watching and drinking water from his canteen when he saw his friend's death. He spat his water out and grabbed his sword.

Nina opened her eyes to see a man with white hair and gray armor dashed at the scarred knight. His sword burned like the sun as it pierced through the neck of the other knight.

The scarred knight didn't even have a chance. His grasp on the sword loosen as he fell to the ground. The fire spread to his entire body, burning fiercely.

The white hair knight looked back at her. He covered his face with a long black scarf, adding an even more mysterious vibe to the angelic facade.

He reached his hand to Nina.

She grabbed his hand and he pulled her up.

His eyes were a shade of gold and had vertical slits like a cat.

"Are you alright, my lady?" Siderius said.

Nina blushed and nodded. "Now this is what a knight should look like and how he should talk…"

"What is your name, my lady?"

"Nina… Nina Arist of Avadine."

"What happened here, my lady?"

"I… I…"

Nina slumped to the ground and she cried out. She was almost defiled and killed. Even though she was safe now, Nina still felt the dread in her heart.

Siderius sighed and reached his hand out to comfort her. "Ugh… This is what Rohan kept telling me about. The maiden crying after the fact."

Siderius wasn't exactly that kind of honorable knight in shining armor. But he despised senseless cruelty and men that let their desire control them.

The difference between humans and witches was desire. Humans could control themselves. Witches couldn't. That was why Siderius hated men who killed for no reason at all.

He killed for sustenance, for power, and for strategy. It might not be a good reason to justify it. But at least there was a purpose.

"Here. Here. There's nothing to worry about. Where's the nearest town? I can escort you there."

Nina wiped her face and tried to recompose. "The nearest town is 37 miles from here."

"Hmm… We won't be able to make it before night. I'm setting up a camp nearby. I have to ask you to stay in the forest for a night, my lady."

Nina lowered her head and nodded. "It's alright, knight. I trust you."

Siderius' brow furrowed. "This bothersome face. Snow got in trouble because of his handsomeness. I already cover my face and still catch strays here and there.

I need to make some kind of mask. Half of my face still attracts too much attention."

Men would kill to have his face. But he found it troublesome. It really served no purpose to his strength at all.

"Please get up, Nina. I will lead you to the camp."

Siderius led the woman back to his camp where Red was. He settled Nina and made a place for her to rest in.

After that, he returned to where the corpses were.

"Knights of Eldoria… I saw a few of them in the memories of other people. They are different from the knights of my Holy Order.

These knights don't take their oath that seriously and most of them only become a knight so that they can have the identity of a citizen. That also guarantees the Royal Court to protect them.

That mark on their face is called the mark of servitude. A type of witch spell.

I don't know much about it. The witches I read the memories of didn't know much about it either."

Siderius took out his hunter knife. "Now that I have the chance. Let me see what exactly this spell is."

The spell caught Siderius' curiosity. He knew witches had many enslaving spells. Living Puppet, Schizomancy, even Lyara's desire, which was Lust, could control other people.

He had met all of these powers in the past. The only thing he had never seen was this mark.

The curiosity of an Alchemist took over him as he examined the corpse for more knowledge.

No Alchemist could deny more knowledge.

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