After the Villainess Failed to Overthrow the Gods

Chapter 10

The body I occupied was a sorceress of some kind, I could still sense the power around me, even though it's not as easy as before. When the god of order realized I had escaped, he would start searching for me in the woods. Wandering alone here was like a sore thumb, waiting to be found. I had covered my trails when I left and wounded back in a huge circle after my initial escape. But this still would not do. 

I closed my eyes to try to sense my surrounding. I could feel a faint scent of a group of people to my far east. Biting my lips, I set out that way. While I was trekking through the woods as fast as I could, I pulled strands of hair from the tight ponytail and rubbing my elbows and knees on tree barks or small rocks on purpose. When I burst out of the trees running, I was the perfect image of a girl running from creatures of the woods. 

"Help me, a huge... wolf..." I collapsed onto the ground. 

The group of people believed my words, after they made sure the wolf was no longer in sight, they carried me to a place near a fire and tended to my wounds. After some time, I began to flutter my eyebrows and came to the concerned look of a girl with brown hair. 

"Oh you have woken up! Don't worry, you're safe here. We have shooed away the wolf," the girl in brown hair comforted. 

I pretended to sigh in relief and looked around as if trying to find something. 

"You are safe now," she comforted me again. "Are you finding something?" 

"My... my team members. Have you seen my team members?"

"Your team members?"

"A group of wolves suddenly chased after us after the earthquakes. We're separated along the way." 

"Maybe they're simply lost in the woods." 

I nodded dejectedly. "Where are your team heading?"

"We decided to head back. We have a member who studied in the temple of goddess of hope, she had done a reading of the cards. She said it's best we headed back now, the cards were not in our favor."

Reading cards? Wasn't the goddess of hope a staunch supporter of reading stars? 

"Can... Can I go with you? I don't want to wander in the woods alone again."

"Of course." 

Thus, I settled into their group. It's a group of four members. The girl with brown hair, Alice, the girl who studied in the temple of hope, Emily, a boy who studied in the temple of fire, Kris, and another boy who studied in the temple of light, Ralph. I nearly crackled after hearing the name god of light. There's still someone following the pathetic god of light? I hoped he was not as pathetic as him. 

"What about you? Lilith? Where did you study?" one asked. 

"I..." I was interrupted by a noise behind me. 

Someone walked out of the woods just like I did a moment ago. I turned around to find a guy in jet black hair standing there. He was gasping for air as if something was chasing after him. His face was scratched, blood was dripping down his face. 

"Is this your team member, Lilith?" 

"No..." I shook my head. 

Who's this guy? He gave me a weird feeling. He gave me a faint scent of god of order, but not really. Not as pure and powerful. I had to keep my guard up. 

"I am separated from my team members after the earthquakes. Is it possible that I join you?" He offered them a bag of coins. 

"Of course," said Kris as he slapped him on the shoulder. "I'm Kris, from fire temple."

"I'm Archer, from the temple of order."

Is that the reason why his scent is so close to god of order but much fainter? I thought. No matter what I needed to keep my guards up.

"The temple of order!" exclaimed the four members of the team. 

"Why Lilith, aren't you surprised? It's the temple of order!" Alice clasped my arm.

Should I be surprised? 

"Of course! Don't you see the shock in my eyes? I can't even say anything!" I clasped her hand with my own and then said with a voice filled with reverence. 

Why should I be surprised someone was from the temple of order? Unlike the god of darkness who had only one family following him, as far as I knew, the god of order never lacked in followers. 

"You passed all the strict exams! The tests to enter the temple of order are deemed the most impossible tests in the empire!"

Archer only nodded silently and took his seat on the log next to me. That's the only empty place. He placed the backpack he had with him between his knees. When he sat down next to me, I felt a jolt in my soul. The same searing pain appeared again. 

I clenched my teeth to avoid showing anything on my face. This blasted scent of the god of order. Why even after my escape, his follower was still following me like a ghost? But was he really only the follower of the god of order, not the god himself? 

"Lilith, what about you? Which temple do you study under?"

"The temple of water." I lied. There were some simple water controlling spells I remembered. 

"I wonder if someone had discovered a huge treasure, the earthquakes seemed like a powerful ward had been destroyed," Kris exclaimed. 

"I know right! It must be one huge treasure! The earthquake just now was so strong! I'm so envious!" Alice cried. 

Of course it's strong, it's from the god of order. I wonder if he was angry at the disappearance of his wine or the disappearance of me. I chuckled internally. 

"Archer, don't be so tense! You're safe now, you can put down your bag! Place it together with ours!" said Kris. That's when I noticed Archer was still holding onto his backpack. It's a bag made of leather. It's surprisingly small when compared to the baggage the group of people who took us in had. 

Archer's hand ran over the smooth leather bag in his hand gently and said solemnly, "It's alright, I'll keep it."

I bet there's a charm on the bag, it should be able to hold more things than it looked. Furthermore, Archer was hiding something in that bag of his. 

But that had nothing to do with me. I just had to follow them out of the woods. They would cover for me. That's what mattered. 

I stayed silent on this matter, but that's when I caught Archer eyeing me. When I stared back, he simply turned away nonchalantly. 

Something seemed off, that's what my instinct told me. 

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Author's note

Lorelei is free! Or is she? Stay tuned!

I may start updating twice per week again ;)