Chapter 42 Escape Catherine glanced down at her mechanical watch; it was just right…
The knight commander hesitated, glancing at Field beside him: "My lord... I'll send men to pursue them immediately. As for this man and his maid, let them go?"
Field paused, his fingers, which were twirling the plain ring, and said, "Do I need to teach you this?"
Upon hearing this, the knight commander choked for a moment, hesitated for a while, and still chose to handle it in this way.
Field watched as the knight commander gave out instructions one by one, then lowered his eyes and turned to leave.
Just before leaving, he seemed to glance unintentionally at the spot where Allen had just looked – it was still a row of dilapidated and abandoned houses, the interiors dark and without any light.
Catherine was unaware of Field's actions; in fact, she had already left before the knights ran over to report.
At this moment, she was standing outside the agreed meeting point, quietly waiting for Lucas to arrive.
The plan was to meet inside the Vatican. But given the current situation, the longer they stayed inside, the greater the danger. Taking advantage of Allen drawing the knights' attention and the guards being less vigilant, she left the Vatican ahead of them.
Catherine glanced at her mechanical watch; it was five minutes and sixteen seconds until their agreed-upon meeting time.
Although she never liked keeping promises, she could keep one this time, considering that Lucas had given her most of the potion and accompanied her from the Devil's Forest.
Well, the main reason lies in those potions.
Time ticked by, and five minutes passed in the blink of an eye. Catherine thought to herself that Lucas most likely wouldn't be able to arrive here within the agreed time.
The pebble she was idly tossing in her hand landed on the ground with a slight thud, undisturbed by anyone. Catherine brushed the dirt off her hands and decisively turned to leave.
Bang--
Ding ding—
However, she had only walked less than ten meters when she suddenly heard the sound of clashing swords behind her. Catherine turned around and saw Benson and Lucas leaping out from behind the wall in her direction.
Catherine glanced down at her mechanical watch; the second hand had just struck 16 seconds.
Alright, for the sake of the potion...
Catherine bent down, pulled out a short knife hidden in her boot, and used the momentum of standing up to throw it towards the wall.
Lucas was so startled by the sudden appearance of the knife that he screamed, but he saw it fly past his face and strike the guard behind him between the eyebrows.
The sharp blade reflected the cold moonlight, and the guard's eyes narrowed as he immediately leaned back to dodge. This simple movement tore a small opening in the encirclement.
Benson wielded his broadsword with great force, tearing the gash open further and successfully pulling Lucas off the wall.
The three of them immediately ran towards the route they had planned.
Once they successfully slip into the dense forest, it will be very difficult for the guards to catch them.
Catherine noticed that Benson's movements were not as smooth as when he was with Devil Benson, and guessed that he must have suffered some kind of torture at the Vatican.
This means that their only source of damage is not stable, and they don't have many potions left.
The three of them shared the same thought: they needed to finish this quickly.
However, the knights behind them kept in hot pursuit, clearly not intending to let them off so easily.
Benson gritted his teeth: "Damn it, why are these people chasing us so closely? As if we did something to them."
Catherine gave him a long, meaningful look: "...We kidnapped people and stole books."
It was practically humiliating the Vatican. If they weren't provoked by this, then... the Vatican has a pretty good temper.
Benson coughed lightly upon hearing this, but did not mention the Vatican's prolonged pursuit.
They were neither too far nor too close to the grove of trees; normally, it would only take them five or six minutes to run there. But now, with the papal pursuers constantly firing arrows at them from behind, those five or six minutes were exceptionally difficult.
With great difficulty, and with Benson shot in the left hand by an arrow, and Lucas and Catherine both injured, they finally managed to enter the dense forest.
The dense vegetation provided them with excellent hiding places. After entering the dense forest, Benson, having gained some experience surviving in the Devil's Forest, led them to quickly find suitable hiding spots.
At this moment, the three of them were finally able to take a short rest.
The arrow that had struck Benson was still lodged in his left arm. However, their current situation left them with no opportunity to remove it. They could only take advantage of the brief moment to trim the protruding arrow shaft slightly, so that Benson's movements wouldn't be too restricted.
Benson smirked, his tone utterly dismissive: "Actually, you didn't have to come to save me."
Catherine rolled her eyes: "Can't we just be honest? Would it hurt to just say 'we were touched'?"
If Field were here, he would be very surprised to see her like this.
While at the Papacy, although Catherine lived a more carefree life than the other nuns, she still outwardly maintained the appearance of a nun, exuding an elegance that blended the traits of a wandering knight and a nobleman.
However, after living in the Devil's Forest for so long, coupled with the "oppression" from the witch, many of the masks on her face had fallen off, and they looked like they were about to fall off.
Benson also turned to look at her, and began to think about what had happened after he was captured—after all, Catherine's current appearance was not quite the same as when she was at the camp.
As they spoke, the pursuers also entered the dense forest.
It was already night, and the dense vegetation filtered out most of the moonlight. The sudden darkness was clearly difficult for them to adjust to.
However, this won't stop them for long.
Soon, the knights' eyes adjusted to the dense forest environment.
They cautiously ventured into the dense forest, wary of any sudden attacks from hidden corners. The roles of attacker and defender, reversed just minutes before, were now reversed.
The Vatican has sent many men to hunt down the heretics, and Catherine and her group only have three people, so they need to find a good opportunity to ambush them.
Catherine glanced at the knights who were gradually approaching them, then turned her eyes and gently patted Lucas beside her.
Seeing that he looked up at her, she smiled and whispered something in his ear.
Then Lucas's eyes lit up, and he got up and tiptoed towards a tall tree. The little boy was small and agile, and climbed up easily. The small boy was hidden among the dense leaves, and from below, he was completely invisible.
By this time, the knights had gradually approached the large tree. Unaware, they had walked into a carefully laid trap. Lucas raised his slingshot, placed a vial of magic potion on it, and then—
With an extremely slight "whoosh," the potion was successfully shot into the crowd.
The potion bottle was falling very fast, and the people from the Holy See were all gathered together, so there was simply no time for them to disperse.
The potion exploded violently, affecting a large area. Several people who were nearby suffered extensive injuries from the blast, and some even died on the spot.
The scene suddenly descended into chaos.
Catherine and Benson hid behind the trees, waiting for an opportunity to launch a sneak attack, while Lucas stayed in the tree, occasionally launching a bottle of potion. Regardless of whether it hit or not, he would immediately move to another spot after launching it.
This tactic of using covert tactics against the enemy caused considerable trouble for the Papacy. For a time, Catherine's side gained the upper hand in the battle.
But before they could even rejoice at the outcome of the battle, suddenly, a large magic circle enveloped the area, and a soft white light rose from it, gently illuminating the entire dense forest. Catherine and her companions' movements were instantly exposed to the sight of the Vatican members.
They quickly distanced themselves from the knights and fled to other, more secluded and safe places.
However, how could the knights let them leave so easily? Before the light of the magic circle went out, the group immediately chased after Catherine and her companions, constantly seizing every opportunity to fire arrows.
The mix of the earlier kidnapping by the Papacy and the recent "teasing" thoroughly enraged the knights. Their arrows flew with incredible speed, leaving Catherine and her companions no time to dodge; three or four out of ten arrows hit their mark.
Soon, their bodies were covered in wounds. Benson kept swinging his greatsword, trying to deflect some of the arrows, while Catherine also threw potions behind her a few times during the gaps Benson was trying to create.
The light from the magic circle was slowly dimming, meaning it would soon go out completely. Taking advantage of this last bit of time, the Vatican's men fired arrows even more frantically at the fleeing group, while Catherine and the others tried to hide in the dense vegetation, letting the plants shield them from as much damage as possible.
Finally, the soft light flickered, then helplessly merged into the darkness, and the dense forest returned to its previous state.
With the attack from behind coming to an end, Catherine and the others breathed a deep sigh of relief.
If the magic circle had held up a little longer, they might not have been so sure of escaping alive.
They quickly hid in a thicket and began treating their wounds. Fortunately, Catherine had guessed from the beginning that they would likely not emerge unscathed from the Vatican, so she had prepared a full range of wound medicines.
Benson stared in the direction where the pursuers were hiding. Instead of rushing to capture them, they stood there motionless.
He stared at it for a while, then a hint of doubt flashed in his eyes: "What is that bright, dazzling bird?"
Catherine looked up and her lips twitched slightly.
That was Field, dressed in a platinum robe, who descended here through a magic circle... With his face, he looked like a holy angel, not a bird at all.
When Benson was rescued by Lucas, Field had already returned to his palace. So the two never met, and Benson naturally didn't know who he was or what his status was in the Papacy.
But… Catherine raised an eyebrow. Why was he here?
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