Dawn came, the sound of the river woke Erlina up and she was surprised that they had arrived at the Riverband. It was because Serena used divine power to make the horses have unlimited stamina to pull the carriage. The journey should take them at least two days, but with Serena’s power, they arrived in less than a day.

"You need to hide because we are about to enter the town," Serena looked at Erlina, who was sitting across from her in the carriage.

"Right..." Erlina stood up and pulled up her seat, revealing a storage space that could fit her inside.

Erlina walked into the storage space and closed it while they were waiting outside the gate for the guards to check on the people that wanted to enter the town. She wasn’t worried that she would get caught or if they weren’t allowed to enter the town because they got a recommendation letter from King Sullivan himself. The Riverband was a town where it had five spring waters that went through dozens of towns, cities, villages, and even a few nations. Which was why, Serena’s presence was important and needed.

When guards stood beside the carriage, Serena opened the door for them, showing her pure white robe and a letter with the royal seal on it. The guards looked at each other for a moment before one of them took the letter. When they read that she was a Saint and had cleansed the capital city from corruption, the guards didn’t check the carriage and immediately guided the carriage into town, escorting them to meet the Marques family who ruled the territory.

"I need to see the spring first if that’s okay?" Serena asked the guards that were escorting the carriage.

"The spring? If that’s what Your Holiness want, then we will escort you there first," the guard nodded with understanding and guided the carriage around since they had already gone past the spring.

When they arrived at the spring, which was inside a building. However, corruption managed to reach the spring and tainted the whole spring, taking hundreds of lives from corruption and dozens more from casualties. The building was tightly guarded and the water was blocked so the city couldn’t access it. The reason it was tightly guarded was due to the townspeople were desperate to drink something and they didn’t care if they were going to die because they were going to die anyway from dehydration.

"Please this way, Your Holiness," the guard pointed at the gate that was heavily reinforced.

Serena followed the guards and she was being escorted by a few guards, leaving the carriage unguarded. The coachman purposely moved the carriage toward an area that wasn’t heavily guarded. The coachman looked around for a moment before he walked into the carriage and opened the storage space.

"My Lady, it’s safe now. You can come out, but be very careful," the coachman said and offered his hand to Erlina.

"Thank you," Erlina walked out of the storage space and put the hood on to cover her face.

The coachman walked out of the carriage first and signaled Erlina to come out when it was safe. Erlina hurriedly walked out of the carriage and went into a dark alley as fast as she could. It was thrilling and scary at the same time because she had forgotten how it felt to be sneaky, reminding her of the old time.

Erlina was trying to calm her heart when suddenly she heard footsteps from the dark alley. She held her breath and hugged the wall, panicking that her heart almost skipped a beat. She was terrified that it might be a patrolling guard, but then he saw a woman wearing a black robe.

"Lady Erlina, it’s me, Ayla," Ayla pulled down the hood and smiled at Erlina to assure her that she was an ally.

Erlina sighed in relief that she had almost collapsed from fear.

"Please don’t scare me like that, Miss Ayla. You scared the hell out of me," Erlina used the wall to support her body while she pressed her chest, trying to calm her heart.

"I apologize," Ayla chuckled softly and stood in front of Erlina. "Please, come with me. I’ll summon everyone and you can rest for a bit before we proceed with the plan," she said and pointed her hand toward the dark alley.

Ayla guided Erlina into a building that had been long abandoned due to the whole family that owned that property dying from dehydration. Erlina sat on the chair, alone in the house and waiting for Ayla to come back with the rest of the Blackhands.

It didn’t take ten minutes until 12 Blackhands entered the house without being noticed. Ayla was the one who ran the operation since she was one of the three leaders of the Blackhands.

"We have gathered all the information about the Borgia family, and it turns out that you’re not the only one, Lady Erlina. There were five mistresses that Marquess Borgia had and all of them were killed including all the children by the order of his wife," Ayla informed with a serious expression. "But all the funds were from Marquess Borgia himself. In short, it was his doing," she revealed.

Erlina scoffed and turned into laughter as she covered her mouth, shaking her head in disbelief.

"That bastard..." Erlina clenched her fist until her nails dug into her skin and began to bleed. "I want them all dead," she said without hesitation.

"All of them?" Ayla asked, trying to affirm it.

"Yes, all of them, all his children," Erlina nodded.

"As of now, there are three sorcerers that are currently staying in his mansion due to the people that have been protesting because the people are dying from dehydration while the Marquess family is living with an abundance of water supply that is enough for everyone," Ayla informed as she looked at the Blackhands. "We can use the townspeople to create chaos, making their deaths to be natural," she added.

"Good, when can we proceed with that plan? I want to personally kill him and his wife," Erlina asked, her expression cold with no shred of hesitation.

"We can go now, Lady Erlina. Just say the words and we will begin the operation," Ayla said as she stood among the Blackhands.

Erlina closed her eyes, unclenching her fists as she tried to calm herself down.

"Let’s do this," Erlina stood up and nodded her head.

"Let’s move," Ayla said and then all the Blackhands left the house one by one. "Please wait for a moment because we will gather the townspeople. By then, you can stand among them," she informed and then left the house.

Erlina looked out the window and she didn’t see any of them on the street as if they were ghosts.

It only took a few minutes until the street was filled with townspeople with forks and torches in their hands. Men and women, all of them went down to the street, walking together. Erlina then decided to join them, standing among them like she belonged there.

At the same time, Ayla and all the Blackhands observed the mansion’s wall which was heavily guarded. When the guards noticed the townspeople coming toward the mansion, most of the guards left the post to grab their weapons. That was when Ayla and the others began to climb the gate and removed the robe they wore, revealing the armor they wore that belonged to the Borgia’s family.

The Blackhands knew where weapon storage was, and they all blended in with the real knights. When they were inside the storage room, they assassinated the knights without making any noise. The Blackhands wore the helmet to cover their identity while carrying swords, bows, and shields for the knights.

Ayla noticed the Sorcerers coming out of the mansion, checking the situation out there to see if they were needed. Ayla looked at the Blackhands that had blended in with the knights, ready in their position. Ayla and the five Blackhands walked toward the Sorcerers without being suspicious.

"We might need your help, Sorcerers. The people seem to be trying to enter the mansion and burn everything down," Ayla said as she pulled up the visor of her helmet, showing her face.

"These people can’t wait for a bit longer? We are trying to bring rain into this town, and yet they don’t want to listen," one of the sorcerers said with annoyance in his words. "Let us talk to them one last time," he added.

Ayla and the five Blackhands moved aside and followed the sorcerers from behind. The moment the sorcerers showed their vulnerability, Ayla quietly unsheathed her sword, signaling all the Blackhands that were ready in their position. Ayla and the five Blackhands swung their swords toward the Sorcerers. Three Blackhands stabbed the Sorcerers in the hearts, and then Ayla and the other two Blackhands decapitated the Sorcerers before they could even react.

The Blackhands that were near the gate immediately unsheathed their swords and stabbed the knights right in the throats. Ayla and the others released their Aura and dashed toward the knights, killing them all while they were busy dealing with the Blackhands that were killing the knights.

"Open the gate!" Ayla shouted as she slashed the knight’s body in half.

The Blackhands opened the gate, letting the townspeople in. Ayla and the five Blackhands were the first one to enter the mansion, and there were strong knights that were ready to stop them. Ayla and the Blackhands casually removed their armor and dropped the swords, revealing their black attire and daggers on their waists.

The knights swung their swords, using Aura and didn’t care about their surroundings. Even with their experience, they couldn’t touch the Blackhands unit. They were too fast for them, and the moment they showed any opening, the Blackhands stabbed them on the back of their knees, inner thighs, and finally their throats or their eyes from the gap of the helmet.

Erlina walked into the mansion with a few Blackhands following her from behind while the townspeople threw rocks at the windows and then their torches. The remaining Blackhands were waiting on the exit of the hidden passage in case the Borgia family tried to run away.

"Eric, Sofia, Ludwig, the three of you search the mansion. If they’re still here, take them to our meeting point, we will go to the secret passage," Ayla ordered.

The three of them nodded and left while Ayla escorted Erlina to where the secret passage was.

The passage was hidden in the storage room where the Borgia family kept their money, gold, and documents. Erlina wanted to take them all, but she knew if she did, that would make it look suspicious. She ignored them and followed Ayla into the tunnel.

"Looks like they were leaving in a hurry," Ayla used the torch to track the footprints. "This is a good sign," she said and continued walking.

When they reached the end of the tunnel, they saw the Blackhands standing outside the tunnel with four people tied to the ground and five knight corpses on the ground. Erlina looked at the four people that were tied to the ground, and her expression turned cold and her gaze filled with hatred and disgust.

"Please! Spare us! We will give you whatever you want!" Marquess Borgia looked at the Blackhands, his voice trembling in fear.

"Spare you? Why would I spare you?" Erlina asked as she reached out to the dagger that Ayla offered.

"What? Why? Who are you?!" Marquess Borgia asked as he glared at Erlina in disbelief.

"You don’t remember me? Try to remember, who I resemble?" Erlina asked as she looked down at Marquess Borgia.

Marquess Borgia furrowed his brows, but then he realized that face, those eyes, a child that belonged to a woman that he impregnated, the child that he failed to kill.

"Erlina..." Marquess Borgia’s voice was barely above a whisper.

"Yes, that’s me. The child you didn’t want," Erlina grabbed Marquess Borgia’s children by the hair and didn’t hesitate to stab them in the heart in front of him and his wife. "You did this to yourself," she muttered as she walked toward his wife and stabbed her in the heart a dozen times, making her hair and hands covered in blood.

"Please! Spare me! I’m sorry!" Marquess Borgia screamed. "Help! Anyone! Help me!" He screamed his lungs out.

Erlina kicked Marquess Borgia down to the ground before she straddled on top of his body. She stabbed his face so many times that his face no longer recognized, his choked screams because of his own blood were weak. His body slowly became limp until he no longer moved a muscle.

"AHHH!!!" Erlina screamed as she threw the dagger and began to cry after the adrenaline disappeared. She realized she had just killed children and murdered four people.

Erlina was too weak to stand up, so Ayla approached her and helped her stand up, hugging her tightly and preventing her from seeing what she had done to those people. Ayla brought Erlina away and could feel the tremor of Erlina’s body.

"It’s done, it’s over, Lady Erlina," Ayla said, trying to calm Erlina, who was being hysterical.