Chapter 127 – The Reunion
Arthur Clayton.
After Lochter uttered that na, Karl remained silent for a while.
Monts later, Karl finally spoke.
“What did that guy say to you before parting ways?”
“He told to go to Etor.”
“…Etor? Are you sure he ntioned Etor?”
“That’s what he said.”
Karl’s face instantly hardened into a frown.
It was that place—the one that had given him such a bad feeling. Yet, because it was Arthur’s advice, Karl found himself considering it again despite his unease.
‘A disciple of the Master, they say? But also a Finger of Blyer? What exactly was that guy involved in?’
Karl recalled the story he had heard.
Arthur had attempted to assassinate Kal but failed and escaped, eventually ending up in the experintal prison.
If that was true, then it ant he had not only encountered Lochter after being captured but also provided information about the traitor’s identity and a place to go after escaping—all while being a prisoner.
But how had Arthur known he wouldn’t be executed on the spot?
And more importantly, where had he obtained all that information?
‘This guy is full of mysteries. Just full of them.’
However, one thing was clear.
Following Arthur’s advice had never led to any loss so far. Thanks to Arthur’s information, Lochter had successfully eliminated the traitor right after escaping, and Karl had managed to join forces with Lochter and fulfill his long-standing revenge.
Everything had gone according to Arthur’s advice. Naturally, this left Karl torn.
‘Should we really go to Etor?’
Yet, the ominous feeling persisted.
Ever since ascending to four stars, Karl’s senses had grown sharper, and that clarity only made the decision more difficult.
As Karl wore a grim expression, Lochter asked,
“Do you know him?”
“I do. eting you was all thanks to him.”
“So, he sent you to help ?”
“No. That wasn’t the reason. Or… should I start doubting even that now?”
Karl had thought he understood Arthur after spending ti talking to him in the forest, but it seed he had been entirely wrong.
The man, who moved like a prophet, always leaking critical information.
He even seed to know a lot about the experintal prison.
Just what kind of person was he?
Karl didn’t know.
He quickly shook off his distracting thoughts.
This wasn’t the ti to waste thinking about such things.
The pressure around them was slowly tightening.
Another encirclent was forming.
“For now, let’s head to Etor.”
“You said it was dangerous.”
“It is. Even now, my instincts are screaming not to go there. The worst part is that my senses are sharper than ever since I reached four stars, which ans this feeling is likely accurate.”
“Yet you’re still going?”
“There must be a reason why he told us to go there.”
“That was months ago. The situation might’ve changed.”
“Want to be honest?”
“About what?”
“Etor feels exceptionally bad, yes, but no matter where we go, I have the sa gut feeling—like we’re heading straight toward death. I still don’t know what they did to your body, but our position keeps getting exposed. The only thing we can do now is keep moving. While on the move, we’ll search for any gaps to exploit.”
“I understand.”
“As I said before, my intuition isn’t always right. We’ll have to adapt as we go.”
Lochter nodded and imdiately began preparing to move.
He knew that if he moved first, Karl’s group could keep a safe distance while matching his pace and providing support.
Etor was located in the 5 o’clock direction. If they followed the downstream path of the Korun River, they would likely reach it.
Lochter checked his equipnt.
Two swords in good condition.
Three sturdy-looking sheaths.
He attached everything to his belt and checked his physical condition. Clenching his fists, he frowned slightly, then finished his preparations and approached Karl’s group.
Seeing Lochter’s face, Karl asked cautiously,
“How’s your condition?”
“Not bad.”
“Don’t give vague answers. Be precise—how bad is it?”
After a brief mont of thought, Lochter slowly opened his mouth.
“My stamina recovery and muscle response are slowing down.”
“In other words, your body is getting heavier?”
“Yes.”
“It must be the curse from the bolts. Potions couldn’t fully treat it.”
Lochter gave a heavy nod.
He had been hit by multiple bolts imbued with a shaman’s curse.
It was definitely a curse, but Karl’s group had no expertise in magic or curses. There was currently no way to lift it.
In short, if Lochter overexerted himself like before, he was likely to collapse.
Having assessed Lochter’s condition, Karl quickly made a decision.
“We can’t move too fast, but we also can’t move too slowly. Keep a steady pace without stopping. That way, I can gauge your position and move accordingly.”
“Understood.”
“Avoid the river whenever possible. And if I send a signal, run straight to . It could get dangerous.”
“Dangerous for whom?”
“For .”
“Dangerous for you?”
“If the hunters regroup, it’ll beco troubleso. We need to keep them off balance. I’ve already spread the word that reinforcents from Hunt have arrived. I plan to use that. Things might get rough.”
“I have nothing to do with Hunt.”
“I know. Just shut up and start running.”
At Karl’s dismissive wave, Lochter gave a faint smile and turned away.
Since their first encounter in Blyer, where they had shared life-and-death battles, the two had built a bond of absolute trust following Crux’s death.
They had beco more than just comrades who could watch each other’s backs—they were now people who could entrust their lives to one another.
“If anything goes wrong, call for at once.”
“The mont I call for you will be our most dangerous.”
“I’ll make sure you survive.”
Leaving those words behind, Lochter disappeared swiftly into the depths of the forest.
Watching Lochter vanish into the distance, Karl scratched his nose and led his group in search of the hunters.
As always, the encirclent would form around Lochter, who was on the run.
By maintaining a distance and moving around that area, they would inevitably run into groups of hunters.
While on the move, Karl checked Elton’s condition.
“How’s your wound?”
“I can manage.”
“Did the hunters do it?”
“Yes. There were many of them, and they were stronger than the ones we faced before.”
“Damn it. Looks like the real ones are starting to show up.”
Experienced hunters never jumped in first. They preferred to assess the target’s condition before acting.
Such hunters valued their lives, so they were cautious. And since their target was Lochter Felice, they wouldn’t fight alone. They would have definitely grouped up tightly.
“Check your disguises again.”
Karl’s group rechecked their hunter disguises. Elton changed into a different set of clothes, and Karl concealed his noticeable belt and daggers beneath his clothing.
Unlike with low-level hunters, blending in with the seasoned ones required utmost caution.
Most importantly, they had to figure out who was leading the hunters.
‘Who’s the boss here?’
To that question, Elton provided an entirely unexpected answer.
“They seem to be under the command of the twin brothers.”
“…What? Jack and Howell?”
“Yes. I clearly heard the hunters ntion their nas. It appears they’re moving with the hunters.”
“……”
Hearing that, Karl’s expression hardened, and he abruptly stopped in his tracks.
He looked around, frowning in thought.
Elton, recognizing this as a telltale sign that sothing had gone wrong, cautiously asked,
“Is there a problem?”
“No. Not exactly…”
Hearing the nas Jack and Howell caused a suffocating tension in Karl’s chest.
Sothing felt off. Sothing felt wrong.
Turning in the direction where Lochter had disappeared, Karl felt a rising sense of anxiety.
Normally, the farther he was from Lochter, the less pressure he felt.
Distance from Lochter usually ant safety. But for so reason, despite the growing distance, the pressure was only intensifying.
“What’s going on?”
Karl’s danger-sense wasn’t perfect, but it was generally accurate.
And right now, that sense was telling him he was in extre danger.
Sothing was happening—sothing he wasn’t aware of yet.
What could it be?
Or… was it that his heightened senses, now more sensitive after ascending to four stars, were reacting too strongly?
He could feel an eerie sensation, as if a blade was pressing against his neck.
This vivid sensation…
It reminded him of when he had almost died after losing his left arm to an explosion from a Boom.
Sothing…
Was terribly wrong.
***
Kwaaaang!
A massive fist shattered the boulder before it, continuing its path of destruction without stopping.
It didn’t halt for a mont. It smashed through the boulder, crushed trees, and aid directly to pulverize the man standing before it.
Just as Alex tilted his head back to dodge the fist and prepared a counterattack, a voice urgently called out from behind.
“Alex, behind you! It’s dangerous!”
“Damn it!”
At Nella’s warning, Alex rolled to the ground in a hurry.
A shadow lood over him as a massive impact struck the spot where he had been standing, leaving a deep crater behind.
Kwaaang! Thud!
The relentless blows of the giant fists ca down like a runaway locomotive, crushing everything in their path.
Alex’s crimson eyes glead sharply as he drew his bow and glared at the charging shamanic constructs.
Golden-glowing arrows shimred on the taut string.
Thwang!
The arrows, imbued with sacred power, shot forward, pressuring the advancing Van Dykes. However, the arrows rely bounced off their bodies, uselessly ricocheting away.
Sacred power wasn’t working.
Or rather, the arrows weren’t even managing to penetrate the bodies of the shamanic constructs.
“Clever bastards. They’ve already prepared counterasures.”
No matter how many arrows he fired or how many daggers he threw, breaking through the crude, iron-reinforced defense of the Van Dykes was proving nearly impossible.
Their weakness had been compensated with brute defense, making them far harder to destroy than before. What had once been an easy task now demanded far greater effort.
If there had been only one, Alex could have dealt with it given enough ti. But with three, no, four of them advancing together, threatening to rip him apart, he was left with no choice but to focus solely on dodging.
He barely managed to create so distance by springing backward, but then—
Flash!
“...!”
A chilling red light burst forth from the far side. Alex quickly turned and aid his bow at the source of the glow.
Black magic.
The Van Dykes were pinning him down while the shamans launched long-range spells toward him. The dark energy emanating from the magic was too dangerous to ignore.
As his sacred-imbued arrow pierced through the dark light, he could feel the ominous energy weakening. At the sa ti, he caught sight of a few shamans staggering in the distance.
‘If I can just kill the shamans, this will be over.’
That had been his initial plan. However, after clashing with the shield-bearing knights, he hadn’t been able to get close enough to them.
Blue epaulets.
They marked Kal’s personal guard, who were standing at the front, protecting the shamans.
‘Five Van Dykes, two of the personal guard, and several shamans.’
With a single glance, it was clear this was one of Blyer’s elite shamanic units.
The reason they were here was because, half a day earlier, Kal had ordered Blyer’s forces to station themselves near the Beneta border.
After hearing that shamanic units were heading down toward the Korun River from the direction of Beneta, Alex had altered his plans. He began luring any visible shamanic units toward Etor.
Fortunately, after spotting him, the shamanic units had made Alex their primary target.
Kwaaaang!
Hearing the sound of a tree being destroyed, Alex turned to see the Van Dykes clashing with Banri. Banri was doing his best to hold off the remaining constructs, but it was clear he was only buying ti.
With his ambush having failed and even his sacred power proving ineffective, it was too dangerous to engage them in a prolonged battle.
The shamanic unit wasn’t the only group present—there were likely reinforcents nearby.
Retreat.
Once the decision was made, Alex fired a volley of blue-glowing arrows toward the shamans.
Seeing the arrows imbued with piercing energy, the knights quickly raised their shields.
As all attention was focused on the arrows, Alex spun around and dashed toward the forest.
“Nella!”
At his call, Nella, who had been crouched in hiding, quickly ran up to his side.
Banri, who had been keeping the constructs at bay, swiftly leapt into her shadow and perched on her shoulder.
Panting heavily, she seed visibly worn out from the battle.
“How is it?”
With an urgent expression, Nella handed Alex a communication orb.
It was a device linked to Blyer’s network, allowing them to monitor the current situation.
“The target has split into two!”
“Don’t tell … is it because a newly awakened one was added as a target?”
“Yes!”
“Where is he? Which direction is he in?”
Frowning slightly, Nella pointed in one direction. Without hesitation, Alex turned toward that direction.
“Are you going to save him?”
“He’s different from Lochter. If we don’t go, he’s as good as dead.”
“What about Lochter?”
“He’s safer than Karl for now. We’ve already lost the ability to track his location, haven’t we?”
“Yes, we can no longer read his position.”
As ti passed, Nella was no longer able to pinpoint Lochter Felice’s whereabouts.
In other words, Lochter’s awakening as a divine being had nullified their ability to track him.
However, an entirely unexpected problem had arisen from another source.
A newly awakened bearer of divine power.
[“It’s Karl Bastain. Find him.”]
Karl had awakened at the worst possible ti.
Now, the primary target had shifted from Lochter Felice to Karl Bastain.
“Huh? Banri, what’s wrong?”
At that mont, Banri detected sothing and signaled to Nella.
Another shamanic unit?
Gripping his Ring of Blood tightly, Alex prepared for battle once again. He drew his bowstring taut, but then he noticed sothing.
A single silhouette entered his field of vision.
It was a man holding a crude, heavy sword in one hand and an old, worn-out sword hilt in the other.
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