Chapter 360: Guppy
Serena sprinted down the main street of Ashfallen City, uncaring of the mud she was kicking up as the ferocious storm roared in her ears and bombarded her with rain that felt like hail. If not for the fire Qi flowers growing on the demonic trees lining the road, letting off a subtle warm glow that pierced the mist, she would have no idea where she was going through the darkness.
Are they still following me?
She kept casting frantic glances over her shoulder at the Ashfallen Trading Company's building. It was impossible to miss even in the storm and darkness of night. It stood as a monolith of power that pierced the stormy sky with its sharp silhouette outlined by the ghostly glow of the hidden moon. Compared to the dull stone single-story huts all around her, the grandiose structure was a constant reminder of who ruled these lands.
The people she was currently desperately fleeing from—The Ashfallen Sect.
She had barely avoided capture by running out the backdoor when she heard a distant voice and headed down a back road to reach the portal without being found. She had vanished into the storm without even stopping to look at the man behind the counter of the Ashfallen Trading Company to whom she had given the abyssal egg that was no doubt close to hatching after absorbing the spirit stones in his ring.
Her only goal was to run nonstop from here to Darklight City and then lose her pursuers among the sprawling city and millions of people. Then, when the airships began operations again, she would take one as far away from here as possible.
With the twerp dead and the distraction that's about to happen from the abyssal creature's birth, I should have bought myself enough time to escape to Darklight City. I should be able to vanish there as I eliminated the people who knew anything about me. Well, everyone except that investigator, but I couldn't find them no matter where I looked.
The streets were thankfully empty this late at night, and the storm did a great job of covering her tracks further. The Redclaws who were chasing her used fire Qi, so the dense mist brought on by the downpour acted as a natural shroud for her escape.
I might have actually gotten away with it! Serena cheered as she kept running down the road and didn't encounter any troubles. Making it halfway to the gate that gave way to a dirt road between here and Darklight City, she noticed a tree that stuck out like a sore thumb into the road. It was shorter and thinner than all those surrounding it, but its presence was far more than an inconvenience in her way. Even in the storm's chaos and her desperation to escape, she found herself slowing down to glare at it. This tree... it had sprouted from that mortal she killed.