Chapter 296 - The Great Escape

Series of heavy pants escaped Nathalie's lips as she scoured around the surroundings from running for some time now. She became barefooted all this time, and no pain bloomed on her soles other than numbness.

Propping her palms on her thighs, breathing for more air, she looked up, and the tangerine dapple lights gracing her face.

'I have to keep going…' 

She kept her items deemed unnecessary to her pouch, then brisked away.

Foremost, the patrols weren't her only problem as there were also magical beasts roaming around.

Also, there found traps and anomalies along the way when she became too vigilant of her surroundings that she had to take a detour, at least safe enough and not to catch her with ease.

Nathalie wanted to cry, not that she wasn't on a verge of gushing out with her glistening eyes but the constant fear behind her back lingered and she had to get away as fast as she could.

From the protruding roots on the loamy, moss-filled ground almost had her stumble, she still gained a foothold and moved from different directions.

Her gaze went left and right while gasping, and then went to the lush shrubs, her hands brushed away, rustling along the way.

"I sense her presence here!"

When a man's shout reverberated within the forest thicket, her heart thumped aloud against her chest when she realized how they were able to catch up with such quickness.

'Oh, bitch. This isn't good!'

With the presence she already put to conceal herself: taking some time and the ingredients she found along the way to prepare became all for naught. 

She never underestimated them, but she didn't lose hope as she kept it moving.

However, when her feet stepped onto some hollowed space, it was already too late for her to notice that she went for such a slope. From there, she rolled, covering her face from the impact as she rolled down with branches hitting her several times.

Not only the branches but also the stones grazed her skin; it wasn't as painful as she thought but a little move from it crept like a menthol sensation alongside her mundane body.

It was but a thud on her body, and the numbness coursed through her skin, inches deep. But then, she almost coughed hard when the bare trunk hit her stomach. 

Alas, the hurdle from it dropped her from the lower heights. With a tremble, she squirmed and anchored her arms on the ground and tried to stand.

Opening her eyes, she noticed her limbs had already some traces of blood, seeping out like tiny circles on her skin aside from the sudden splinters that stuck deep in her skin.

When everything around her seemed like it was dancing in different directions, she shut her eyes right away while moaning in silence. 

'This is such a nuisance… I'm glad I don't feel that much pain...'

More of her concern arises, if she left this untreated, then she'd have more complications, even blood loss wasn't an exception.

However, she didn't give up her goal as along the way, she wondered where she was then.

'Oh, wow! This place…'

It might've been her gut instinct crawling to her but with the open field that was in front of her, she became breathless.

'This is…'

It wasn't such an open field, but a verdant glade appeared in front of her. From there, a myriad of herbs and ingredients would be rather a handful to her.

'What beautiful orchard…'

Most of them she was familiar with, as enthusiastic as she was when it came to herbs, not one of them turned out poisonous as they were top-tier remedies for several wounds and infectious diseases.

For some time she had been in this forest, whom she did not know where and what name this was, brimming with such blissful flora.

Moreover, she couldn't afford to use her mana reserves not until she got past her safety gauge and intuition.

Especially with her wounds that posed problems later on, now that she was alone.

Nathalie didn't dilly-dally any further so she went for the brilliant viridescent sprout that was close to her. Plucking it, she then ate a few crushed varieties of herbs, tapped them on her wounds.

Along the way, until she reached the other end had never stopped her from foraging and then ran for her life between the woods that brushed past her sight. From the dapple lights showing the tangerine losing its hue to a mauve and lavender color, nightfall would come regardless however sooner it may be…

Until a few moments, her ears heard the burbling noise of the gushing stream, which was several yards away from her.

Despite the sudden muck that smothered her soles, she bore no mind and went through the arduous path in front of her.

A bright smile erupted her parted lips when she noticed the glistening water upfront with her throat starting to tingle from being too dry ever since.

She looked around, and noticed no malice lingered around her; a deep sigh escaped her lips as she scurried to the nearby river.

'Such pristine water; I love the reflection I see in it…' She cupped an ounce of water, breaking her image on the surface, then took a drink to her heart's content. 

Nothing topped it better than quenching her utmost thirst.

Nathalie went on for more until she noticed another reflection that appeared above.

For a moment, her body shut down as her mind went blank.

A face of a wrathful man no less…

His eyes gleamed alongside his wide grin with death. 

'How did he—?!"

She looked behind her but she stumbled, eyes shut when a glint of Charles's spear almost struck her. 

"I'd love to stab you to death right now; you fleeting feisty lamb…" Then pulled out the spear a few inches away from her bruised arm. He then let out a growl before laughing maniacally. "Be grateful at least; never thought you'd give me such an injury…"

'Oh no…'

His head got wrapped with a bandage, especially around his temples and ears. 

It wasn't the worst part when they found more of them emerging from the array of forests.

She was on her heels, gripping tight onto the grassy mound she was in while she looked up, facing his face with nothing but menacing countenance.

"You won't get away the second time. Best believe I'd torture you…"

Goosebumps overwhelmed her once more.

But it didn't linger any longer when a sudden rumble came on the ground and a terrifying roar came from the forest.