Chapter 496: Temple Guardian Oni

Layla marched with the column heading toward the fort near the exit point. Cassandra and Peter would be leading the soldiers and mercenaries in an attempt to retake the base that controlled the portal.

They stopped to make camp near the edge of the forest. The group was huge, tents and fires scattered across the clearing like temporary stars in the dark.

Sitting on a fallen log, Layla stared at a healing potion in her hands. She had used up the last of the vials Eleanor had given her long ago. This one was different. This one had been given to her by that jerk. There was even a scrap of paper glued to the glass.

“Layla, don’t die. If you die, Eleanor might get in trouble, so if someone makes you choose between torture or death, pick the first option – Luke.”

Even from a distance, the idiot still found ways to get under her skin.

She moved from fire to fire. People were eating, talking in low voices, but no one was relaxed. She wasn’t good at socializing, never had been. Still, she kept walking until she noticed a smaller fire with only three soldiers sitting around it. Unlike the other groups, no one else seemed willing to sit near them.

Layla approached and took a breath.

“Mind if I sit by the fire too? It’s cold.”

“Sure…” one of them answered, sounding a little surprised.

She sat down. Three soldiers, all tired faces and worn armor. “I have military identification as well.”

“Don’t worry about that, girl. We don’t turn anyone away,” one of them said.

“Honestly, it’s nice someone came over. No one’s wanted to sit with us lately.”

“Why not?” Layla asked.

They exchanged uneasy looks. “You’re not making fun of us, are you?”

“What? No,” she replied, completely serious.

“Hm…” one scratched his head.

“A few days ago, the three of us… went through a bit of a humiliation.”

“Humiliation?”

“Yeah… some jerk attacked us and made us walk back to camp wearing nothing but our underwear.”

Layla had to fight hard not to laugh. “Wow… sounds like a really awful person.”

“He’s the worst,” one muttered.

“A truly evil man,” another added.

Silence settled between them.

“I understand exactly how you feel,” Layla said.

“You do?” they asked together.

“Yes. I know someone like that too. The worst person alive. Because of him, I always end up in trouble.” She could feel irritation rising again just thinking about it.

“Because of that idiot, we got punished and were locked down for days.”

“Really? Because of the person I mentioned, I’ve been arrested too. More than once,” Layla said.

“Damn,” one of them murmured. “Sounds pretty bad.”

“And that’s not even half of the horrible things he’s done to me. Once, when I got arrested with a plant, he only bothered to save me because of the plant.”

“That’s exactly the kind of thing a psychopath would do.”

“Yes, he’s a psychopath. A manipulative, lying womanizer.”

“What’s your name, girl?”

“Layla. And yours?”

“I’m Roland.”

“Hugo.”

“And I’m Ulric.”

They raised their mugs and handed one to her.

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“Layla, I hope someday we can get revenge on the people we hate,” Roland said.

The four of them toasted together beneath the cold night sky.

***

“At least you saved me the trouble of climbing those stairs to kill you,” Luke said.

[Temple Guardian Oni – Lvl 93]

The samurai oni snorted like an enraged bull, breath spilling out as steam before he roared. Moments later, other roars echoed across the area in response.

“Calling friends, huh?”

“You will pay for every one of my soldiers you slaughtered. You will die in the worst way, and all of us will take part,” the creature growled.

It took a single step, then lunged forward with frightening speed, its flaming katana carving streaks of fire through the air. Luke dodged aside, leaping away and landing on the roof of a nearby house. Throwing knives materialized around him, floating in the air.