Chapter 236 - Escape from the Tower

Zenia eliminated any trace that could tell that she had been in that room. Her mission was complete, and she did not intend to stay for another minute. She had a hunch that her presence had already been detected.

She was about to turn the knob when she heard noises from the outside. She got near the window of the room and heard the rushing footsteps of the soldiers. In her estimate, there were at least a hundred soldiers gathered below the tower.

"Men, someone infiltrated the camp and we need to search for that person. We don't know his current whereabouts, but Leader Azer told us that the protective shield surrounding us has been breached. Spread out and nab any suspicious person."

"Aye!"

The soldiers dispersed and none of them bothered checking the inside of the tower.

'Humph! I've been here for quite some time, and they become suspicious now? What kind of security system do they have?'

The spectators from the outside could see that more soldiers were dispersed and began searching for someone, and they knew that it was Zenia. They were confused by the soldiers' action because none of them went up the tower to search.

Vaughn sneered when he saw it. He guessed that the tower was secured tightly, and it was an impenetrable construction. The Dark Magic faction was confident that no one would be able to get past their security. 

Zenia had been in the tower for quite a long time already. Vaughn felt that she already found the piece of evidence that they needed to collect. In his estimate, his wife should be thinking of a way to get out of the tower.

"Why are the soldiers withdrawing from the tower and searching somewhere else?" Rodham blurted suddenly.

"Why? Do you want Zenzen to get caught? Isn't it better that they all left?" Jorick retorted angrily.

The veins in Vaughn's forehead began to bulge when he heard Jorick called his wife's pet name as if they had been friends forever.

'Zenzen? You dare call my wife by her pet name?'

Rodham looked at Jorick and realized that he said something ambiguous.

"It's not like that. I'm just curious why they are not searching in the tower. Aren't they supposed to search every place?"

"It's because the security of the tower is obscure. No one can enter it, not even the soldiers. Perhaps, only the Dark Magic Lord can enter that tower."

"If what you said is correct, the Young Madam is truly awesome. We clearly saw her climbed the tower and disappeared from our eyes. She did not alert anyone. If there's a mechanism that should sound off the alarm, she must've busted it already."

There was nothing but pure admiration for Zenia in Rodham's words. He did not expect that he would meet someone as amazing as Zenia.

"That's my great-granddaughter-in-law. Zenzen will sweep them off their feet." Wolstan tugged at Roy to boast.

"Yes, Zenzen is truly amazing," Jorick uttered with a smile.

"Don't call my wife by her pet name," Vaughn could no longer hold it in and reprimanded Jorick.

"Huh? But, grandpa calls her Zenzen. I thought her name is Zenzen." Jorick replied innocently.

Vaughn could not refute, and Wolstan let out a light chuckle. He learned another new thing about his great-grandson – his possessiveness toward his wife. 

"Call her Ze…"

"Ze?"

Vaughn glared at Jorick, "Call her Zenia!"

"Zenia? As in Zenia Anisen?" Jorick asked innocently.

Everyone felt that the temperature suddenly dropped, and no one uttered a single word again. Duke Gordon knew that Vaughn did not want anyone to know the real identity of the Young Madam, but it was quite too late. They already had a hunch and just kept mum about it. But, Jorick just couldn't hold his tongue and went on to ask.

Vaughn looked fiercely at Jorick who decided to keep his mouth shut. He learned his lesson the hard way. He had decided to learn to keep his mouth shut and never say reckless things again.

Zenia could hear that the soldiers were still nearby. She decided to stay put and wait for the opportune time. She just hoped that the soldiers would not notice the hole in that dimension. 

She walked around the room and was impressed with the furnishings and decorations. The owner of the room must be a collector. The decorations came from different kingdoms in Maecaea. She recognized all of them, except for the two pieces. 

"Sir, you must be someone who enjoys traveling," she mumbled while running her fingers on a beautiful tapestry and added, "I think I want to meet you one day."

She continued exploring the room while waiting for the soldiers to go farther from the tower. When complete silence finally surrounded her, she knew that it was time to go.

She traced the path back whence she came, and she used her light-foot technique once more. Vaughn felt relieved when he finally saw her going out of the window that she came in. The tower was so tall that it was impossible for the others to see the window from their spot. But, Vaughn's eyes were sharper than anyone.

Zenia used her bare hands to climb down and jumped to the same tree. She did not notice that the guard who checked that tree earlier had decided to come back. 

She had no choice but draw her dagger and slashed the throat of the man to silence him quickly. Vaughn ran toward the portal when he saw that the other soldiers were running toward Zenia's direction. Duke Gordon and the others were not able to stop Vaughn.

The man was able to send a signal to his comrades before Zenia had slashed his throat. They were using a special type of whistle that only the soldiers of the secret base and the Dark Magic practitioners in that place could hear. 

Zenia heard the clacking of the soldiers' boots getting nearer and nearer. She ran as fast as she could to the opening, but she could not find it. Jorick could not remove the illusion that he created. The Orb was not responding to his command.

"Stop the illusion."

"Master, you should stay."

"Obey my command and stop the illusion now!"

"Master… As you wish."

Zenia finally saw the opening and ran swiftly toward it. She saw Vaughn running to her. Vaughn threw his sword past Zenia when he saw a soldier almost grabbed her hair. 

Zenia stopped on her tracks and pulled Vaughn's sword from the corpse. She saw the multitude of soldiers going their way. Fighting them was futile. Outrunning them was her only option.

She ran to Vaughn with his sword in her hand and grabbed his hand. She practically dragged her husband, but Vaughn felt that their feet were not touching the ground at all. They were actually running on air. 

He could not believe that Zenia's light-foot technique could do that. If she was not dragging him along, she could've flown to the opening already. He was beginning to regret his impulsiveness. But, he couldn't just wait there for her when he saw the number of soldiers running after her.

Zenia jumped through the opening along with Vaughn. A soldier jumped as well to reach the opening, and Jorick quickly commended the Orb.

"Close the portal now!"

The opening immediately disappeared, and the soldier's body was cut in half. It was a gruesome sight, and Jorick nearly vomited. They did not idle around, and everyone prepared to leave the place.

No one asked questions and just focused on escaping the place. Rodham nudged the horses to go faster. He knew that the soldiers would soon be on their tail. Vaughn and Zenia rode Thunderbolt and remained at close proximity to the carriage. 

They could leave the carriage behind and be the first to arrive at the port of Venetia. They already agreed on the port to take, and everyone would simply go there in case they got separated from each other. Vaughn smiled. He knew that Zenia wanted to protect the passengers of the carriage, especially his great-grandfather.

Willard and his men joined Zenia and the others. Soon enough, the secret soldiers and some members of the Dark Magic faction were already behind them. They were yet to cross the border between Prazia and Venetia. The guards of the gates were more formidable than the usual soldiers of Prazia.

"Willard!"

"We're at it Junior Commander."

Willard and his men gained speed and lead the pack to provide protection. Two of Willard's men remained at the back of the entourage.

Ten of the soldiers from the secret base finally caught on, and clashing sounds of swords reverberated in the air. Wolstan knew that it was inevitable to clash swords with the enemy. 

Vaughn changed his sitting position and turned his back on Zenia. She let go of the stirrup and told Vaughn to put his feet in them since he was riding the horse backward.

Vaughn met an opponent and began to sway his swords. Zenia could tell that more soldiers were coming their way. Willard and his men tried their best to quickly end the battle with the guards of the gates so they could have a safe passage.

Zenia reached in her big tummy and picked a rock bread. She threw it as hard as she could on the soldier that was about to reach the carriage. 

Thud!

The soldier fell off his horse and was knocked unconscious.

"Ha-ha," Zenia could not help but laugh.

Vaughn remained focus on the fight and did not notice anything, although he heard his wife's laughter. But, it was not the time to be asking why she laughed.

Wolstan saw what Zenia did and laughed hard, "Ha-ha-ha, did you all see that? My great-granddaughter-in-law is simply amazing."

Roy covered his ears because he knew that his old friend would start boasting again.