To Hell And Back | Granevere | Edited

Chapter Sixty-Eight

Guinevere had only noticed it now. Granger's hair was changing. The white Naturan Mark was spreading but at a sluggish speed.

What sorcery is this? Guinevere thought.

It must have hurt since Granger was gripping his hair. Concerned, Guinevere had sat him down on a waiting bench.

"Come on then, Kouna. Don't hurt him anymore, just face me already!" She cried out, holding her husband. He was in great suffering of preventing Kouna from taking control, by the looks of him. "I'm not afraid of you. I'm not afraid. I'm not!"

"Gwen, please," Granger croaked in the crook of her neck. "I-I don't want to hurt you."

"I just want a little talk with Kouna, all right?"

"N-No, you don't understand, she'll have me eat your heart! T-That's why she's been finding you all this time. Hrgh..." He jolted away from her once something in his brain starts twitching. "I've always been thinking about you, Gwen. That's why she's so desperate to kill you. You keep me from sufficing to her, it seems."

"Hello?" A voice erupted from above the atrium. It sounded like it belongs to a Knight. "Anybody alive down there?!"

An inhumane growl escapes Granger's throat. Guinevere cups his cheeks, forcing him to face her. "Do you know someone named Benedetta?"

Granger nodded shakily. "Yes. How do you know about her?"

"Well, I encountered this boy. He's a Naturan. Granger, you weren't the only one who survived after all! I think there are many of you out there as well. It could be possible that they and the Shadow Rangers are all the same," She paused in realization. "Granger, what if I bring you to them?"

He brings his hand up to her chest unexpectedly and he pulls it away reluctantly. "I may not be able to hold it for much longer, Gwen. I've gotten useless and I can't think of anything to stop it from wreaking anymore havoc."

"Don't talk like that! Believe in yourself, Granger. Now come on and get up, let's get moving."

"Are you kidding? Gwen, I can't risk it." He muttered.

"It's better to at least make an effort, Granger!" She said at the top of her voice, making him look away from her burning gaze. He hated it when they fight, but he hates it more when he's being a wuss. Guinevere stretches her hand out. "Come on now."

Scowling, he grabs it and stood back up. "Before we leave, you need to tie me up first to the point I can't move-"

Much to his dismay, Guinevere punched him. "I'm very sorry but I don't wanna break a sweat anymore!" She exclaimed, lifting his upper body up and stealing a long peck on his immobilized lips.

---

"Oh, man," Alucard groaned in disgust over the nearing stench. "What happened to him?"

Guinevere rejoins with the remaining Knights in the western gate, her husband staggering on her side as she acts as his crutch. "No time to waste." She turns to the Naturan boy. "You gotta take us to your village and meet Benedetta."

The boy shook his head in disbelief. "You should know that our tribe doesn't simply let outsiders into our village."

"Everyone needs to stay here then. Granger and I will be the only ones who shall go with you."

"All right then, come," the boy takes the lead, walking towards the open gate.

"Are you certain you can carry him all the way?" Alucard asked, worried.

Guinevere nodded in reassurance. "We'll be back!" she said. The Knights could only watch them leave, disappointed of still not knowing who was to blame of the massacre of their comrades.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" The Knight Captain asked Alucard, eyes dark and grudging to their departure. Alucard raised his eyebrows at him questionably. "The only one who survived must have been the one responsible for all of this and she's helping him get away!"

Some of the Knights draw their swords, causing the Hunters to stand in their way strategically. "Now, now, Captain. Do understand that he didn't do all of this in his own volition."

"He wasn't in his right mind," Eden joins in, causing the other Knights to do the same and scream in protest.

Patch runs off to the far side of the gate, slamming his hand into an emergency button. A siren screeches as the gates begin to roll down.

This fueled the Knight Captain's anger, causing him to raise his sword and signal for his troop.

"Attack!"

"I won't let the death of my brothers and sisters in arms gone to waste!"

"We should've known better not to trust Hunters! You're all demons yourselves for protecting him!"

Chaos soon erupted, giving Alucard no choice but to fight his own kind. "Alucard, what now?" Patch shouted over the screaming men.

Alucard gripped his sword with his demon hand. "We have no choice but to finish what Granger had started here."

"What?" Eden cracked. "Alucard, we can't take them all! They're bloody Knights, goddammit!"

A Knight sprinted for him to knock him off his feet. Unfortunately for the Knight, Patch was quick enough to dive between the man's feet.

Most of the Knights chose to battle Alucard. To win was to kill the strongest looking opponent first.

On the other side, Eden stumbled back as a female Knight aims for her throat. "Ede!" Patch finishes his next victim as quick as he could. He sneaks behind the Knight and plunged his dagger onto the woman's bared neck.

The Knight plops on the floor dead along with her sword.

"Eden, are you all right?" Eden was crying on the floor, mourning for the loss of her side braid. Hence her hair must have sacrificed itself for the life of its host.

She was speechless, forcing Patch to pick her up from the ground without warning. She whacked him on his chest. "Let go of me, you idiot!"

Patch puts her down in the corner. "Don't you dare move from here, okay?"

"Guys, can I get some help?!" Alucard asked, becoming strangled as all of his opponents have alarmingly piled on top of him.

Patch froze, realizing it was only his first Hunter mission yet he was already witnessing the death of another teammate. He only has a dagger. How could he possibly help his mentor?

Just before Alucard would be sent to his creator, Guinevere returns for his aid, leaping across the clearing and crashing like a bomb on the Knights.

"I. Am. Tired. Of. All. This!" She screeched, halting after a word to kill one person from the pile one by one and throwing them across the room afterwards.

When the pile had been obliterated, Alucard howled as he exhales heavily. He weakly smiled, his lower lip cut open. "Thank you, Gwen-"

Guinevere's hand flew. She slaps him, twice, on each side of his face. One slap is for a reason. "This is for the kiss! And this is for wasting my time, Alutard!"

"Well, no one told you to come back for us," Patch intervened. "But uh, what's this kiss all about?"

Guinevere stared heated daggers at him, sharper than his actual one. "This is between me and him so get off or I'm punishing you as well, kid!"

"T-Thank you for saving me... though," Alucard said lastly before dozing off, having been knocked out cold.

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I've been editing and publishing nonstop so do forgive me if the chapters seem fast-paced and faulty. :)