Chapter 153
The bandits from Onyxgrave Bastion had indeed disrupted Black Flag’s formation. Just as chaos broke out, Gilbert sent a few more assassins to keep Nolan occupied, then made a beeline for the carriage. He reached out, aiming to rescue Sophie.
But the moment he got close, with a sharp clang, a sword came slicing down, nearly taking his head clean off.
Gilbert barely managed to deflect the blow with one of his scimitars. Instinctively, he swung the other blade in retaliation, aiming to decapitate whoever had attacked him.
But Tina moved faster. With one swift kick, she sent Gilbert flying off the carriage and landed lightly on the roof, staring down at him from above.
Gilbert looked up at the dark figure cloaked in shadows. He had not expected to run into such a formidable opponent here, especially not one who had stayed completely hidden until now.
Judging by the way this person fought, he or she was likely a professionally trained shadow guard. And in Gilbert’s estimation, only one person in that carriage would have someone like that protecting her, the Holy Lady of Walden.
Inside the carriage, Sophie was starting to panic. She had known all along that Eliza had a shadow guard, but when she contacted Gilbert earlier, she had kept the message vague for fear of exposing her identity. She had only sent a coded signal, offering very little actual information.
Now, it was clear Gilbert had not been prepared for someone this skilled to be standing in his way.
‘What now? If they lose this chance tonight, Gilbert might not get another shot at rescuing me,‘ she wondered. Sophie’s heart raced as she struggled against her restraints on top of the carriage.
Inside, danger had crept in just as quietly toward Eliza. She sat perfectly still, listening to the noise outside, her left hand gripping a vial of poison, her right holding a sharp dagger. If anyone tried to break in, she was ready to strike first–poison first, blade second.
What she did not expect was for the intruder not to be a person but a thick black centipede, no wider than a finger. It had slipped through a tiny crack in the carriage wall. Silent and undetected, it had already climbed up onto Eliza’s leg.
Suddenly sensing movement along her pant leg, Eliza looked down. Her eyes widened in horror. Her face went pale, but her reaction was immediate. She twisted her dagger and brought the hilt crashing down toward the insect.
Clang! The centipede clung tightly to her fabric. The dagger missed, striking the wooden carriage instead. The noise echoed sharply.
Outside, Tina’s head snapped up. “Serenity, what was that?” Before she could leap to check, Gilbert lunged at her, forcing her into a fight.
Back inside the carriage, the centipede was about to sink its jaws into Eliza’s leg. She had no way of knowing if it was venomous, and she was not about to take that risk. Without hesitation, she reached down, and the moment her fingers brushed its slick body, she summoned it directly into her pocket farm.
At that exact moment, Gilbert, still locked in combat with Tina, stumbled back with a sudden gasp, his face turning deathly pale. Blood sprayed from his mouth.
Tina seized the opportunity and ran him through with her sword.
Wounded and bleeding, Gilbert staggered away, retreating into the shadows. But before vanishing, he cast one last stunned glance toward the carriage, his eyes filled with disbelief.
“Ross. My bow,” Nolan said grimly.
“Here, Your Highness.” Ross tossed the weapon to him without delay.
Nolan drove his blood–stained sword into the ground and caught the bow mid–air, his face dark with fury.
In one smooth motion, he notched an arrow and drew the bow to full tension. His aim locked on Gilbert’s fleeing figure.
