The lights on the city square began to flicker.

While Ann was expecting to see the face of the man who had pushed her off the cliff of Mount Zion, the peculiar combo of light blonde hair and hazel-colored eyes in front of her proved otherwise.

What was more baffling was that the man was none other than the priest belonging to the Temple of Theodore, who had greeted the Nero mercenaries at Lorem a few weeks back.

'What is going on? Why is he here? Why is he trying to kill me?' Ann's brain was overloaded with unanswered questions.

Priest Hansom was the last person she could have guessed to be underneath the snake mask, much less the leader of an assassin group.

The sweet and kind persona he had shown in the past was in stark contrast with the present reality.

In his hands was the necklace Maria had gifted Angelica as a good luck charm when she was a kid. During the struggle between the two, he had ripped off the necklace she was wearing while she removed his mask.

'Handsome?'

Hearing Ann's surprised voice, Noah and Oliver dropped the men they were holding and walked towards her with equally confused expressions.

The entirety of the masked assassins was wiped out by the trio and the only one standing was their leader.

"I mean Hansom!"

Ann corrected herself in a fluster. In the moment of heat, she had blurted out the first name that came to her mind.

"Not handsome, Hansom. Of course, you ARE handsome. So that's not entirely wrong either"

"You are going off-topic" Noah whispered into Ann's ear, before taking his place behind her.

"What I was trying to say is... ahem" Ann took a deep breath to clear her head and bellowed,

"Why the hell are you here!?"

"..."

"Since when were you a part of the snaky boys?! And their leader at that!"

"..."

"If you are after that..." Ann pointed at the abandoned relic that was lodged into the wall and added,

"Why are you trying to kill me?!"

"..."

"I have nothing to do with it. Or the people I probably think it belongs to"

"..."

Priest Hansom didn't answer but simply stared at Ann as she bombarded him with a truckload of questions.

Seeing him act like a lifeless statue, the crease between her brows deepened.

The situation was getting more and more complicated as time went by to the point that she feared what more was headed her way.

Though the assassins could have snatched the relic back when they first arrived at Lorem, they waited until the entourage reached the destination to attack.

Thus, as Ann had speculated, they were tracking her movements all along and quite possibly wanted to expose her identity to finish the job.

'There's no way the universe would let me have a peaceful life. I should've seen this coming!' Ann wanted to scream but held herself back so as to not appear like a crazy person.

To make matters worse, the necklace in Priest Hansom's hand turned black, emitting a slight sizzling sound. The bright golden coat it had for years disappeared, leaving its rusty counterpart.

Ann held out her hand.

Watching her grandmother's most cherished momentum wither away was enough for the last string of reason within her head to snap.

"Loki!"

*fling*

The moment his name was summoned, the sword flew into Ann's hands as if he was a part of her.

Ann tightened her grip on Loki.

The solution to all the mysteries surrounding them was held on by one person. And that person was unwilling to talk.

"You! Open your mouth and say something" Ann said coldly, turning her sword against the man in front of her.

"..."

Priest Hansom stood frozen like a statue and blankly stared at Ann as if he was possessed. Following a long silence, he muttered under his breath,

"The work of mercuries will not be left undone"

"Mary curie what?" Ann snapped back.

His words were unclear as he was talking in a low tone that was barely recognizable. After everything he put them through, the least courtesy he should show was to talk clearly.

When Ann glanced behind her, the twins shrugged and shook their heads since they too couldn't make sense of his speech.

Priest Hansom on the other hand was muttering in a loop like a broken record. Though his words were still unclear, he seemed to be repeating the same phrase again and again.

'Is he broken?' Ann tilted her head to check if he was still breathing.

Other than the gibberish he was muttering, there was no other movement by Priest Hansom. He didn't even blink since Ann revealed his face.

It was not usual for a Priest affiliated with the church to excel in hand-to-hand combat the way he fought. There was also another thing that kept bugging her.

For a person to become a Priest of Theodore, they must have a considerable amount of holy power that was affirmed by the Pope.

Mana and holy power were polar opposite entities. It is impossible for them to co-exist in a medium without destroying the source.

The way he used magic to attack them meant that he was never a Priest in the first place and was just masquerading as one.

'Thank god! I didn't go to the flower distribution event'

For the first time in her life, Ann felt happy for having passed out after getting dead drunk.

At that moment, Priest Hansom's face distorted into that of a crazed man who lost his mind. He tossed the necklace in his hand into the darkness.

"The work of Mercuries will not be left undone!" He yelled at the top of his lungs and formed a giant orb of fire that morphed into a bird.

"Rise to Mercuries!"

The bird shrieked at his command and flew towards Ann at full speed.

Noah and Oliver squinted their eyes blinded by the bright light emitted by the bird, yet neither of them did as much as a light flinch.

Because no matter how powerful the opponent was, the person defending on their side was stronger.

"Yet another day I'm grateful she's on our side" Oliver confessed, grateful for being on the safer side of the battle.

"You just read my mind brother" Noah nodded in affirmation.

God knows the danger they would've been in with Ann as an opponent. Sometimes, the way she acted was as if she was a different person altogether.

Ann slid back as she blocked the bird from advancing further. Regaining her stance, she cut her way through the bird, slicing it into two.

*slash*

"How... How..."

Priest Hansom trembled, having not expected her to survive the attack. He gasped as Ann charged at him, aiming her sword at his neck.

"..."

Priest Hansom closed his eyes, awaiting impact. He had failed the word of God that was bestowed on him, and now the only path that remained was death.

But no matter how long he waited, there was no pain.

"!"

Priest Hansom opened his eyes to find that the blade had stopped right before slicing his head. A drop of blood ran down his throat from the small cut made by the blade.

"Not so fast"

Ann withdrew her sword and turned her back to him. Then immediately turned around and knocked him down with a punch.

For all the lives he had endangered and the damage caused, death would be an easy way out. Besides, they had a lot to discuss before parting ways.

They could not let the real perpetrators escape unharmed while the puppets face their demise. The people responsible should face the repercussions for their actions.

"Your existence is a sin!" Priest Hansom screamed at Ann, hoisting his body up with an injured face.

"You shouldn't exist. You're nothing but a sin that needs to be purged in the fires of hell!"

His beautiful face was swollen with bruises and cuts, he was no longer the man he once was.

"You are an anomaly to reality!"

*thud*

With another punch to the face, Priest Hansom collapsed to the ground unconscious.

"What am I then? Just pick on" Ann clicked her tongue.

The city square was scattered with bodies of masked men and debris from the battle. Now that everything was over, it was time to regroup with the rest of the members and leave the city before the guards show up.

"Guys, we need to..."

*BA-DUMP*

Ann clenched her chest.

"Finally some peace and quiet" Noah sighed, placing a hand on his head.

The simple night of leisure they had hoped for before departing to Velven had taken an unexpected number of twists and turns. Now that they are done with the day, they could finally get the rest they deserve.

Right then, the sound of metal clashing against one other was heard as an army of armored Knights surrounded the square from all directions.

"Now what?" Oliver uttered dejectedly and stepped forward to take a proper look.

The crest on the knight's uniform was that of a majestic silver wolf.

'Frost'

Oliver recalled the name from when they interrogated Ezra. As far as he could surmise, the name 'Frost' had something to do with Ann's past for when she lived in Orion.

While the twins stood puzzled by the sudden appearance of the army, Ann however was in no state to see anything.

Maybe it was due to her overexerting herself or because of the adrenaline rushing through her head, Ann felt heart beat fast as if it was about to burst.

*BA-DUMP* *BA-DUMP*

Ann kneeled down holding her chest using the sword to stand her ground. For unknown reasons, the pain in her chest had worsened after she dealt with Priest Hansom.

"Hey! You alright?" Noah asked worriedly, noticing her slumped on the ground.

In all the years they have known each other, the twins had never seen Ann in such a state.

Ann's face was as pale as a ghost and her breathing was shallow as she tried to stay afoot. Beads of sweat ran down her head and her body shivered as if she was having a seizure.

"I'm good...*huff* *huff* I'm perfectly fine..."

Ann faked a laugh and tried to stand up, only to fall down when her legs gave out. She shuddered as her heart started to beat like it would die if it were to stop.

"No, you're not fine" Loki said as a matter of fact.

"You are not even close to fine"

From the beginning of the battle, he had noticed the strangeness in her constitution which only declined over time. By now any normal person would have succumbed to their pain, but since Ann was stubborn she held to the end until her body was forced to break.

"I felt it earlier and even now. You wouldn't be able to hold for long"

"Hold on any longer?"

"Why? What's wrong with her?"

Noah and Oliver kneeled beside Ann and checked her temperature, worried as her complex became worse. Ann's body was burning as if it was on fire.

"Nothing's wrong" Ann groaned in pain, but still denied her obvious state.

Through her hazy vision, she was able to make out the army of men surrounding them.

A little more.

Just a little more.

They have come too close to victory to give up now. All she had to do was hold on a little more and she would be about to fight again.

"Stop fighting it. You can't win" Loki's voice reverberated in her ears as Ann started to lose consciousness.

"You're having a mana outbreak"