*BOOM!*

The loud explosion surprised Jude Cephie. He wasn\'t even aware that someone else is around them! Was it because he was already too weak? He silently clenched his teeth as he used his arm to cover his face and avoid the pebbles and twigs flying towards them. The smell of flesh lingered around them.

"Who— "

"If you want to live, follow us." Cassandra\'s voice startled him. He stared at the woman who was standing next to the body of the burnt Lion. With Lion\'s three-meter tall body, Cassandra looked like a little girl next to it. "Tsk… good thing the eyes didn\'t burn," Cassandra uttered.

"What — What are you doing?" Jude stuttered while watching Cassandra expertly remove the eyes of the Lion.

"Killing demons?" Cassandra uttered. "Ah, your highness, you are awake?"

"What was that all about?" Hunter walked towards Cassandra. Seeing that no one actually notice him approached them until now, Jude couldn\'t help but feel a little nervous. Right now, they are practically useless in a fight. Even if there are four of them, they might not be able to beat Hunter in a sword fight — not when they are actually this weak.

"Who are these people?" Since it was a little dark, it was reasonable for someone like Hunter who already lost his ability to use elements, not to recognize their pitiful appearance.

"Your highness, greetings. I am Jude Cephie from the Cephie clan. This is Lord Catlin Ymir from the Earth Clan and Lord Armando Cygnus from the Wind Clan. This is Lord Armando\'s partner, Austin Cygnus. We were ambushed by an assassin earlier. We decided to run here in an attempt to find shelter."

"So, you run towards her in that state of the body because you thought you could hide from the assassins. What about the demons? You reeked of blood and you still dared come out of the Zone?" Hunter asked. He stood next to Cassandra, his brows furrowed. "If Cassandra didn\'t help you, you would have been dead by now."

"Your highness, it is better to die from the demons and beasts than to be slaughtered by some assassins." Lord Catlin said before letting out a series of coughs.

"Let\'s leave. The smell is going to attract more demons." Cassandra opened her palms and release another ball of dark flames. This time, the attack didn\'t look flashy. It didn\'t explode or had any sound. However, everyone saw how the flames slowly consumed the body of the gigantic beast.

"Lady Cassandra… you didn\'t have to destroy the body like that."

"And what? Reveal that she was with you?" Hunter retorted. "We are leaving. If you want to live, follow us."

The four other men looked at each other before they nodded and followed Cassandra and Hunter towards another part of the mountain.

Just as they disappeared from the area, the black flames that were still consuming the Lion slowly became larger, its fire slowly spread around the space surrounding the body of the Lion. Soon, it also consumed the tree that Cassandra and Hunter were occupying earlier, removing all traces of blood from the other four members.

"Lady Cassandra, if I may ask, how do you know this place?"

"No need to act respectful, Jude," Cassandra said. "It doesn\'t suit you."

"…"

"But if you really want to act nice, then you should pay the La Roche Clan for saving you. Money is good enough."

"…"

"My, I didn\'t know that my fiance needed money."

"It\'s not for me," Cassandra uttered. She needed money to build a better camp. That\'s all. "And who would dare try to assassinate you?" She looked at the other people\'s pitiful state. "Three young lords from the four great clans struggled to defeat an assassin? That sounded like it\'s too good to be true."

However, her questions only met with silence.

\'Must have hurt their pride, huh.\' She uttered inwardly. Three of the men following them were heirs to their families. They are considered strong for their age. If they combined their abilities, it would be hard to win against them. However, it seems that they are fighting against people who were really skilled this time.

Cassandra recalled the vision that she had earlier about Jude dying. It seems that he survived, after all.

"It\'s not that far away. I can sense a cave a few hundred meters away from us. We should hurry." Cassandra uttered. Right now, she needed to make it look like she was the one leading them and not Hunter.

"How did you know that?" Jude asked.

"It\'s because I\'m stronger than you." Cassandra confidently answered. Of course, she isn\'t going to tell them that it was actually Hunter who told her about this cave inside her head. Right now, she found it convenient that Hunter could communicate silently.

"I— "

"Of course, if you don\'t trust me, then please feel free to leave," Cassandra added. "I have no time to explain to ungrateful people like you."

As expected, Jude and the others continued following them. After all, they really didn\'t have any other choice. If they wanted to survive, they needed to follow Cassandra and Hunter. And just as Hunter said, there was indeed a cave that was hidden in the middle of the roots of two large trees.

At first glance, it is impossible to spot the location of the cave.

"Let me see your wounds," Cassandra uttered. "I don\'t have any healing capabilities but… I could burn your sword wounds and stop the bleeding. However, it would be too painful. It\'s either that or you wait for Jude to recover so he could heal you." Jude\'s family are experts in controlling water. They could use it to attack and defend themselves. But most importantly, they could use it to heal people. Or at least, that\'s what the head of the Cephie family could do.

"It seems that he couldn\'t do it yet," Hunter, who was leaning by the entrance of the cave, said. "He isn\'t the head yet."

"Oh? So… only the heads could use that ability?"

"Yes."

Cassandra snorted when she saw Jude\'s dark expression. "Eh? It seems that Young Lord Cephie had a large wound on his right arm. How about I heal you first? After all, we are considered really… really close. What do you think, young master Jude?"

"What are you talking about?" Jude flinched. Everyone knew that the La Roche Family would sometimes use their own fire to heal their wounds. Since it is their own ability, the burns would automatically heal. However, unlike her, he is a water elemental.

How could he endure such burns?