n

n

n“Stop right there!” The templar woman shouted, unwilling to let them go. She walks approaches the group.

nKnowing Jessie has something to hide from them, Viktor decided to go ahead and block her way before asking.

n“Anything I can help you with, lady?”

nWith an arrogant smirk, the beautiful templar woman said.

n“We decided that we need your help, after all. We will be willing to compensate you for your troubles.”

nThe word “compensation” made Viktor perk up, once again reminded of his embarrassing moment of almost being unable to pay up in the pillar. As long as his pockets are still light, anything that involves money was sure to perk his interest.

n“Alright, how much money are we talking?” Viktor looked at the woman from top to bottom, as if trying to test her.

nInside, he laughed at himself. This was beyond hilarious, who would have thought that the young master would sell himself for money in this world? It was such an irony.

nThe templar woman fell silent, unimpressed with Viktor’s attitude toward money. Then, she finally said, “10 yellow stones.”

nViktor gave her a cordial smile, but in his heart, he mocked them. If they are offering 100 stones, maybe, but 10? Hah, He would not even be willing to lend his bodyguard for such an amount.

nWithout even giving it much thought, Viktor said. “No, thank you.”-.

n“Hah, what an ungrateful swine!” The woman scowled at him, “We have helped your life twice, yet you won’t help us now?”

nViktor shrugged, he doesn’t even feel slightly troubled at her attempt to guilt-trip him. He turned to look at the previously wounded knight who has stood up, and said in the most mocking voice he could manage.

n“Aaah, look, he has fully healed! God bless him.”

nWhen she heard this, Elana felt her blood boil.

nAs if sensing there would soon be trouble brewing, the captain approached them and said calmly. “Young man, we really are in need of help. How about this? If we find any spirit stones during this task, we will share the loot with your group 50:50.”

nViktor gave it a little thought. Now, this deal seemed to be much more beneficial than the last. After all, it was a group of 10 highly trained templars compared to a group of 7 and one little mouse that is currently useless.

nViktor decided to risk giving them the benefit of the doubt and asked.

n“Alright, what is this task you’re talking about?”

nViktor will never accept doing anything without really knowing what the risk is.

n“We are here on a mission to chase after a witch. She is currently hiding inside the Abyssal Pit. In order to find her, we need more people to help search.”

nWhen Viktor first heard about the reason they came here two weeks ago, he dismissed it as them chasing after a fictional legend, but now he understood they were really serious. After all, they traveled from the Vatican to this desolate forest in Northern Russia to accomplish their objective.

nHe was a bit concerned about the Abyssal Pit they mentioned. It was the hole where the abyss creatures they fought came from. How scary would that place be?

n“Don’t worry, we will only go as far as the first layer. If that witch is going as far as the second layer, she will most likely die anyway.”

nThey kept mentioning a witch, and Viktor was suddenly reminded about the strange house she saw before.

n“Wait, are you hunting… the Baba Yaga!?”

nThe captain nodded and said, “Yes, I guess that is what the locals called her.”

n“… They were really serious about chasing a myth.” Viktor thought to himself.”

nSeeing Viktor’s doubtful expression, the templar said. “The witch is real, have you seen her?”

nViktor has heard teh story since he was small, hence the name somehow made him anxious and from a quick glance, he saw that his teammates were too, considering their fearful expression. This myth is one of the most well-known Russian urban legend.

nHe imagined himself chasing an old terrifying monster woman with a hooked nose and chicken legs.

nElena saw his expression and she argued. “Don’t worry about that, she’s just a powerful spirit enhancer in need of guidance.”

nThat certainly didn’t help. Did this templar woman just confess she wanted to try guiding a legendary witch to salvation? Now Viktor is questioning which one of them is the crazy one here.

nThe templar both the captain and the annoying female knight were waiting for his decision.

nOnce again, Viktor racked his brain. Going inside the Abyssal Pit would give him a lot of spirit stones, which certainly interested him. But on the other hand, he had to be careful not to get surrounded or killed by the creatures while chasing a witch. Now that is concerning.

nHe took a deep breath and decided to reject the offer, he can imagine a difficult fight up ahead and he believed the templars might have the strength to fight it. However, no matter how strong these templars are, the main issue was they cannot be trusted hence his decision to reject them.

nEven with the tempting offer, Viktor decided to try and find a much safer challenge.

n“Maybe next time, I am currently in a hurry, you see we have some other responsibility.”

nViktor’s answer once again annoyed the female templar, but he couldn’t care less, he was prepared to leave when the templar woman once again said

n“You all may go, but the girl has to stay!” Elena shouted while pointing at Jessie, who still has her face covered.”

nElena narrowed her eyes and said. “You did a good job hiding it, but I can tell you have a similar polearm fighting skill as I do. Show me your face!”

nThe templar group surrounded them, and Viktor tried to keep Jessie behind her. However, Jessie knew that there was no escape. A few tense seconds passed before she took off the cloth cover.

nSurprisingly Elena was startled seeing Jessie’s face. A moment later she beamed a strange smile.

n“Jessie… it’s you… good… you might be an outcast, but you are still sworn to always answer the call, you will come to help us now… or have you forgotten about your call?”

nThe disgust was evident in her face as Jessie wanted to do nothing but run and get away from the knights. However, she took a deep sigh and said. “Yes sister, I will answer the call.”

nFinally, Viktor knew that Jessie was once part of the Vatican knight templars and they must be the ones said to be chasing after her. Viktor was already wary of them, but now when he saw how disgusted Jessie was, he decided to be even more careful.

nJessie turned to look at Viktor and smiled, which only looked more like a grimace. “You all go ahead to the pillar first. When I’m done, I’ll meet you there.”

nHe had considered her as a part of his group, so Viktor was hesitant to leave the girl. The sentiment seems to be shared among his group, and Eva in particular gave her a look that said “be a gentleman and don’t leave her alone.”

nNow he is facing another dilemma. Not just that he needed Jessie to avoid any trouble on the way to the pillar, he was honestly worried about her safety.

nHe then took a deep sigh and said toward the templar knight; “Wait, if the deal still stands, I will- No, we will help”

nCaptain Landin gave him a triumphant smile and said “Good, then we are going now”

nThe aforementioned Abyssal Pit was just a few hundred meters away from their location. It appears they have decided whether to enter the pit beforehand, as they came charging without hesitation.

nA moment later, they arrived at a clearing in the middle of the dark forest. This place was devoid of living creatures, and even the nearby trees have dried. Viktor tried to touch the bark of a dried tree and it crumbled into ashes that scattered into the wind.

nThe ground was darkened and dried as if the place had suffered the aftermath of a terrible fire, but the feeling of dread that hung in the air told him otherwise. A terrible smell similar to a mix of rotting eggs, blood, and ash added into the dreadful atmosphere.

nIn the middle of the clearing there was a massive hole 30 meters in diameter. This was their destination, the Abyssal Pit.

n“Are you sure the witch entered the hole?” Viktor asked

n“Yes, we are pretty sure, I saw it myself,” Elena answered.

nThe group of 18 walked into the huge hole to pursue after the witch. The hole led into a steep path to a dark, wide tunnel about 200 meters below the ground. The group finally reached what the templars referred to as the gate of the abyss.

n———————————-

nWritten by Avans, Published exclusively by W.e.b.n.o.v..e.l,

n