World Online

"But sword master, this isn't everyone is it?" Jake asked.

Ganshin looked around once more. Indeed, they were missing a lot of people. The people that Father Joseph had come with, that was not everyone.

The ones who did not yet leave the path of saints, or the people who had fallen within, no one knew how many were left who weren't here.

"If it is god's will, then they will be able to return. But the package that lies in my hands is not something that can be delayed in returning." Ganshin solemnly said.

"In the hands of the evil god, this can once again bring ruin to another holy ground, and will weaken the god of light even further. We cannot let this vile object stay in the evil lands for even a day more than it should." Ganshin said.

"The moment we leave the holy grounds though, we can just return using a return crystal." Jake supposed.

"A return crystal will allow you to return. But this devilish rock here is stubborn. It has a will of its own, and it will not follow you to Diffast. We will have to take the road." Ganshin shook his head.

"Priests. Is there any way that you can take control of the holy grounds once more? I do not need you to purify the whole place. That will kill you. I just want to make sure that we can pass through the normal route this time." Ganshin said.

"We can do that, sword master. But do you think it wise to just leave the others? They will not be able to fend for themselves. Not in this place, so deep into the enemy territory." One of the priests said.

"With the majority of the focus being on us, even if there are those who survived, their passage back to Loviel will be swift and much easier than the path that we are going to take." Ganshin shook his head and said.

Everyone knew that Ganshin's mind could not be swayed anymore. They nodded and slowly came into the consensus that they were going to have to leave their comrades and run away like cowards.

But in this decisive time, everyone suddenly looked up at the shadow that covered the sun that had been revealed by the god of light.

A shadow so large that it blot the entire sky, and gave them a small fright that the evil lands had taken over once more.

But this shadow slowly descended to the ground, revealing its true form.

"Guardian Beast! It is an honor to see you again." Ganshin bent his head slightly at the tiger with wings that had just arrived.

"No king must bow his head, unless it is to god himself." The tiger spoke, its voice quite familiar to everyone who had just gone through the path of saints.

And as the tiger touched onto the ground, Jake saw something.

On the tiger's back, there were maybe half a dozen who were crouching, hanging on to the tiger's back.

"You have done us a favor that we simply cannot repay. Thank you for reuniting us with our entire party, guardian beast." Ganshin also noticed this, and he bowed down to thank it.

"You have done a lot, young sword master. It is a pity that I could not hear the eternal melody being played in person, but the the beautiful song could be heard even from the path of the saints." The tiger said.

The people on the back were already getting off by now. What the tiger had done was a favor. Staying on its back would be rude and tantamount to arrogance.

"It seems like the Father blessed by god has sacrificed his life to seal away the terrifying presences that I felt." The tiger said, sighing.

"But now, the world has one less follower of the evil god, and the saint of these holy grounds shall forever rest in peace."

"Indeed. That is an ending that all of us wished for, did we not?" Ganshin nodded.

"Then this is the time when you must return. Return to the mortal kingdoms around so that you can escape the pursuit of the evil god who will certainly follow you around." The tiger looked meaningfully at Jake.

"You must all rush. In that, I will help you slightly. As I cannot let you pass through the path of saints without any trial, I can only show you the other path that you can take now that evil no longer resides here." The tiger said, waving its paws.

And as it did that, two streams of light, as thin as a silk thread, shot forward.

The walls behind the entire party suddenly shook, and slowly, the leaves that made up the walls started falling in one particular section.

It revealed what lay ahead: another wall.

But this wall also had one small section that had slowly fallen off.

With one wave of his hands, the guardian beast effectively made a path that cut straight through the labyrinth.

And beyond this path, everyone could see a similar path. One that they had decided not to take mere hours ago.

The run down stone, and the fallen trees that decorated this area they were in gave them no hope that this place had been claimed by the holy god once more.

The only difference between now and before the evil stone was taken away, was that the sun was shining down on them.

"I have already done too much. Interfering even more with mortal matters will get me in trouble. The rest of the path is yours to choose, and your to take." The guardian beast looked at Ganshin.

Then, its wings unfurled, and with a single flap, it shot up into the air, blotting the sky once more.

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