CHAPTER 49: AURORA ASHBORN

Max remembered the plot well and knew that Aurora would try to escape from the western side of Manor. So, he made that side his destination and ran at his full speed.

One of the reasons Godshine City was so important was because it was situated at the borders of the Corelhelm Kingdom and Kelar Kingdom.

It was also sided with the vast Tando Woodlands.

Aurora had used her escape Talisman to evade her pursuers, and that led her to the Kelar Kingdom, speficially to a small town on the borders.

Max just needed to meet her once and make her believe that he was different from the other Corelhelm clan people.

"I didn’t even want to be a Corelhelm, for fuck’s sake. This clan is doomed because of that old geezer."

Fortunately, Max didn’t encounter any more guards because he was running alongside the periphery of the major. Since he just needed to intercept Aurora, there was no point in engaging those powerful people.

A shout reached his ears, making them perk up as he spun and ran towards the source of that voice without a second thought.

A few hundred metres away from him, a young girl reaching her twenties was running with desperation in her eyes. There were several wounds and blood all over her body, making it hard to even recognise her face.

They slowed down her speed, yet she just gritted her teeth to suppress the groan of pain trying to escape her mouth and continued running. Her eyes filled with a strange hatred fueled by her resolve to run until her last breath.

However, her pursuers were fast and would soon catch up to her. She was growing slow and weak with every second, as only the searing pain of her wounds kept her going.

’What to do? I need some time to activate the Escape Talisman! Why did it come to this?’

"There she is! Kill her!"

She heard shouts behind her, making her blood run cold as she felt death getting closer and closer.

Aurora knew she couldn’t escape now, not from those strong Level 9 Silver Rank Hunters. She had barely managed to escape before, but now that they were actively pursuing her, she had no chance of success.

’There is also probably some Gold-Rank coming after me. There is no way they would allow someone to escape this massacre!’

Aurora bit her tongue, jolting herself awake from the dizziness she was feeling from the blood loss.

In that moment, she came to a decision. She would try her luck with the Escape Talisman by attempting to activate it while running.

It was tough and would take more time. There was also a chance that she would be transported to a random location, meaning she could even get back to the Main Keep of the clan.

But that was her only chance of success.

It was a Tier 3 Escape Talisman given to her by her father so she could potentially escape even from Gold-Rank Hunters.

"Fuck it! It’s do or die!"

Just when she was going to take out her Escape Talisman, she felt a chill run down her spine as the feeling of death suddenly grew stronger than ever.

She wanted to dodge, to jump or maybe even roll—anything to evade the danger—but it was already too late.

The Escape Talisman materialised in her hand, ready to be used, but the attack was almost upon her.

Just when she thought she would die, her vision blurred for a moment as a figure jumped between the attack and her.

Her eyes widened, and before she could react, the attack—which was an elongated whip—landed on the figure as he was sent flying from the impact.

Blood splattered on her face, but it wasn’t hers. It was that of her saviour, who had taken the blunt of that attack and saved her life.

Aurora finally snapped back to her senses and saw the whip retreating back to its owner, who was standing some distance away.

She ignored him and rushed towards her saviour, who was lying some distance away in his own blood.

Her mind told her to use the opportunity to escape, but her heart couldn’t bear to leave someone who had put his life on the line for her to die.

She quickly reached him and checked his vitals.

"He’s alive!" Aurora heaved a sigh of relief and asked, trying to suppress her emotions, "Who are you and why did you save me?"

Of course, her saviour was none other than Max, who had jumped in at the perfect time. He groaned in pain, held Aurora’s hand tightly, and said, "We don’t have time for all of that."

He took out a rectangular white paper filled with strange runes and said between his breaths, "This is a Tier 4 Escape Talisman. Leave before they catch up."

Aurora’s eyes widened in shock upon hearing that, and she quickly confirmed the authenticity of the talisman and thought, ’It’s real! But why is he giving me such a valuable item?’

"Don’t think so much! The one who caused this is the Corelhelm Clan and sadly, I’m a part of it," Max said, as he sat up while trying to ignore the huge gash on his back.

He looked at the three people who were slowly walking towards them. They must have sensed their weakness and thought they had nothing against them, so they were taking their time to come.

’Most idiotic characters,’ Max scoffed at them mentally and continued his explanation, "I overheard their conversation and found out about this disgusting thing they were about to do."

Aurora’s fist clenched upon hearing that it was the royal family who did all of this.

"I came to warn your clan. But I’m guessing I’m too late," Max said with a pained look on his face. "They had actually planned to do the attack a few days later...."

Aurora looked into his eyes and bit her lip, "They must have known there would be some people among them who wouldn’t agree to their arrangements and gave false information to everyone."

She shook her head and placed the talisman back in his hand and said, "I’m grateful for everything you’ve done, but you don’t need to sacrifice your life for me. Use it to escape. I have my own Talisman! You leave first and then I’ll follow!"