By Zephyria “…What, where did he go?”
The tails following Leonardo suddenly panicked. The figure of the person they were chasing, who had turned behind the tree, had disappeared without a trace. It had happened in just a few seconds.
“Was it Teleport?”
“What are you talking about, there was no sign at all.”
“Stop making a fuss and split up and look for him!”
The leader shouted in a frustrated tone, suppressing his voice. The pursuers, who had been spaced out for a moment, listened to the order and quickly dispersed.
One of the people who had been tailing him from the front kept looking around the tree, unable to believe it. He had been constantly maintaining a distance of 15m from the target until just now. If that guy had used Teleport, he would have definitely felt Magic Power.
‘But I didn’t feel anything….’
The tailors cursed and began to turn around to look for signs of life. Most of the 3km near the Gate were subject to ability restrictions equivalent to Magic Power Control Zone 1 due to the influence of the barrier. Therefore, even if the person they were chasing had secretly used Teleport, he wouldn’t have gone far. They had to believe that.
They had come all the way here to chase him, and if they missed him like this, they might have to lie in ambush in front of the Gate all night.
‘Damn… When did they notice?’
Considering who the opponent is, it’s uncertain whether they could even recognize the target even if they luckily encountered him. The Legion Commander, who had instantly moved about 50 meters, gripped his daggers in both hands and began to push through the bushes.
They were experts at tracking, so even in the dark shadows where no light penetrated, their steps were unwavering. Sometimes, even they themselves would mistake each other for nimble wild animals.
That was the problem.
“Ugh―!”
A short scream echoed from somewhere. Those who were spread out quickly stopped walking.
“What was that?”
Tense eyes scanned the pitch-black scenery left and right. In the meantime, a dull thud and a scraping sound like dragging a sack of grain came from another direction.
At first, they thought it was a wild animal attack, but it was clearly a sound of someone being knocked down in one blow and then dragged away. Sensing that something was happening in the dark, the trackers lowered their bodies and took out their throwing weapons and daggers.
When they received the order, they were told never to attack or injure the target, but in the face of primal fear, the will to protect themselves came first.
“Agh!”
No sooner had they prepared themselves than another scream of pain tore through the bushes. That was already the fifth one. The pursuing Legion Commander, sensing the situation, shouted loudly.
“Everyone, gather! Being scattered makes us vulnerable to attack!”
At that moment, an eerie shadow fell behind him. Turning around, he saw a pale hand reaching out in front of him.
Thud, a heavy collision sound was followed by the bushes shaking wildly from a fierce struggle. Even the small groans of exertion sounded very loud in the middle of the quiet forest.
The scattered pursuers sensed the strangeness and quickly gathered near the sound. Six or seven of them, holding blue weapons, approached the bushes where the battle was taking place, one step at a time.
They exchanged glances and jumped into the scene at the same time.
“Wait!”
An familiar voice stopped their charge, and the pursuers hesitated with pale faces.
In their view, the pursuing Legion Commander was kneeling with his face pressed against a tree. Behind him, a blond man was stepping on his back, holding his arms as if he were about to break them at any moment.
Leonardo, with a blank face and gleaming eyes, scanned the rats that had rushed in with such vigor.
“If you guys move, he won’t be able to use his arms.”
It was a calm tone, but it was enough to stop the pursuers in their tracks. Watching their eyes darting around busily, he added one more word.
“Put it down, that.”
It was an order to drop their weapons. As if to show what would happen if they resisted, his bloodied hand twisted the two arms he was holding halfway.
The muscle fibers surrounding the shoulder tore, and as the sensation of dislocation occurred, a thick, phlegmy sound burst from the man’s mouth.
“Pu, put it down! Put it down―!!”
The Legion Commander screamed in a voice close to a shriek, even drooling as he shouted. The pursuers’ eyes were filled with agitation.
Leonardo, frowning, pressed down on the man’s shoulder blade and the trapezius muscle connected to it. As his mouth and nose were crushed into the carved tree bark, a muffled scream leaked out.
His convulsing limbs struggled at the crossroads of life and death. Perhaps realizing that someone was about to die, the group, now pale with fear, put down their weapons.
“Go back and stand there with your hands up. I’ll ask you slowly why you were following me.”
Leonardo, who had kindly given them a chance, gestured with his chin, and at that moment, he sensed movement from behind.
“Uwaaaaa!”
Five hidden men rushed out with blades. Leonardo immediately grabbed the Legion Commander by the back of the neck and used his body as a shield.
The unstoppable blades made a rustling sound as they pierced the outstretched limbs of the Legion Commander. He deliberately avoided hitting vital points, but the man flopped around like a fish dying on land.
“Keuek, aaaaagh―!”
‘Such drama.’
Leonardo threw away the shield and moved behind the stunned men. He twisted one of their arms to drop his weapon and strangled his neck with his entire forearm.
He kicked the solar plexus of the man trying to stab him in the side from the right, causing him to gasp for breath, and used the rotational force to strike the nose bone of the man ambushing him from behind with his elbow.
He grabbed the jaw of the guy falling from above, crushed it, and pulled his arm, gifting him to the guys in front with a throw.
“Hey, you son of a bitch―!”
“Catch that bastard!”
Soon, a scream filled with resentment rang out. As six men tumbled in an instant, the remaining seven also rushed in as a group.
Leonardo kicked the dropped dagger into the air and caught it with his hand. He threw sand in the eyes of the nearest man to block his vision and cut the tendons on the back of his hand to make him drop his weapon.
As someone behind him swung down with a long sword, calling him a coward, he deflected the blade with the dagger, saying, “Aren’t eighteen people not being cowardly?” Then, he lowered his body to avoid a kick that whistled past, making a whooshing sound.
He immediately stepped on the ground and shattered the opponent’s ankle bone with a spinning kick. Beyond the collapsing body, a sharp spear flew towards his head. He pulled on the spear shaft and smashed the head of the man who came along with it with his knee.
“Aish… There’s so many, really.”
After briefly lamenting to himself, he grabbed the elbow of the man wielding a butcher knife among the remaining three and twisted it.
“Uwaaagh!”
He shoved the back of the knife into the mouth that was about to scream, smashing his teeth, and struck the back of his neck to knock him unconscious. Then, he threw the knife at the collar of one of the men who was slowly retreating, pinning him to a tree.
As the man looked back in bewilderment, he struck the top of his head with his heel, saying, “Is that what you call a head?”
The man, unable to even utter a death cry, collapsed, and now there was only one man left.
“Hoo….”
He thought his condition had fully recovered, but his lung capacity had decreased, and he was quite breathless.
‘The Dark Silver is a mess.’
Instead of his blood-soaked hand, he raised his forearm and wiped the sweat from his temple. He was reminded of the Captain’s repeated reminders to always be mindful of his health and take care of his body, even though he seemed to be fully recovered.
Perhaps it was because he had collapsed so often in front of that person. He understood, but the Captain was too worried.
What he should be worried about now was not himself, but that guy trembling in the bushes. The rustling of the rat, too hurried to properly hide his footsteps, easily caught his ear.
“Hey, if you come out now, I won’t knock you out. Come on out.”
Leonardo took a breath and gently coaxed his opponent. At the same time, his wildly gleaming Gold Eyes searched around for the unstable breathing.
“Just come out for a second? I just want to ask you something. If you answer well, I won’t do anything―.”
At that moment, a shadow darted out of the bushes at a rapid pace. What stimulated Leonardo’s dynamic visual acuity was running away with the single-minded determination to survive.
‘If I get caught, I’ll die.’
He had heard about the target, but the movement he actually saw in front of him was on a different level. He couldn’t just rush in with his mediocre skills. How could a mere pursuit team subdue a killing machine that had flown and crawled on the battlefield?
It didn’t take more than 2 seconds per person to stab vital points and knock them unconscious without unnecessary movements. That was an extremely trained assassin.
‘I can’t win in a one-on-one fight. I have to run.’
He had come to catch him, but now he was a fugitive. He took out a Teleport tool while running. Just as he was setting the coordinates with trembling fingers, something fell from above with a thud.
“Ugh!”
The fleeing body felt terrible pain and momentarily lost its balance. He fell heavily on the dirt floor and rolled around in the middle of the forest, clutching his leg.
The dagger that the killer had been wielding earlier had pierced his kneecap exactly.
Leonardo, who had jumped down from the tree, pulled out a handful of weeds and carefully gagged the man’s mouth.
“You know what?”
After personally pulling out the embedded dagger, he turned the body over and laid it face down for easy handling. As if operating a shutdown lever, he lightly twisted the left shoulder of the sobbing man.
“The prey is more stimulating when it moves.”
“――!”
The chilling sound of a wooden doll breaking echoed. Perhaps momentarily shocked, the fugitive rolled his eyes and fainted with a death cry.
Leonardo, who had neatly dealt with the eighteen-year-old prey, grabbed the man’s neck and massaged his carotid artery. Only after confirming that he was still alive did he roughly rub his bloodied hand on the clothes of the fallen pursuer.
They were the ones who started it with weapons, but it would be a big problem if they died. After confirming their survival, he dusted off his hands as if relieved and got up from his seat.
It seemed that these guys were looking down on him because he had been quietly captured by the Council all this time. He was amused that they had thought of suppressing him with force, no matter what their purpose was.
It felt refreshing to use his body after a long time, though.
“Hoo….”
Leonardo, who was looking around with a satisfied face, suddenly frowned.
His gaze fell on the weeds stuffed into the mouth of the last man who had fallen.
“Ah―.”
He hurriedly pulled out the tightly stuffed weeds and slapped the fainted man’s cheeks.
“Hey, hey, wake up.”
He should have asked who sent them, but somehow he had ended up getting rid of the guy who would give him information.
Leonardo, having secured his airway, continued to slap his face and shake his arm. But the body with the dislocated shoulder dangled like a broken bone, limp as a corpse.
“Aish….”
Leonardo quickly got up and looked around for where the other guys were sprawled out. But unfortunately, it didn’t seem like their situation was much different from this guy’s.
‘I’m screwed.’
He couldn’t wait until they woke up… He scratched his cheek with a troubled expression.