38 Retaliation

“Damn it! When will he stop chasing me?”

Arias cursed angrily as he ran through the woods. He had been running away from Kyon for almost ten minutes now, but there was still no sign that he would be able to shake that guy off.

“How can the kid run so fast when he’s just an acolyte?”

Kyon was getting tired from chasing after Arias. It kind of stung his pride that he, an adept, was slower than the young man who was just an acolyte. He guessed that Arias was using some kind of magical gadget that enabled him to move this fast. If he managed to kill Arias, he would definitely take that gadget. The man had no idea that it was actually because the level of their movement skills was very different. Kyon’s movement skill was a mid-level skill that he received from his master a year ago. For Bernier City’s normal standards, that was already a precious skill. But it became nothing when compared to Arias’ terrestrial-level movement skill. If the two were same-level mages, Kyon would not even be able to catch a glimpse of Arias’ shadow.

Arias turned to look at Kyon who was still following behind him and decided to do something. The Cloud Stride technique was used at its full power. Flashes of lightning sparked at Arias’ feet before his body vanished from the spot.

“Where did he go?”

Kyon ran up to the spot where Arias used to be before he disappeared with a confused look. His eyes searched around the area to look for Arias. But even when he used magical power to inspect movements around, he could not find Arias at all.

All of a sudden, Arias’ form darted out from one of the bushes that were less than two meters away from Kyon. A flash of silver glinted from the blade of Shadow Demon Sword. Kyon realized it at the last second but it seemed like he was too late and a large slash wound was left on his leg. The sharpness of the Shadow Demon Sword cut him so deep that the white of his bone could be seen under the muscle that had been split open by the blade. Blood started to pour out and left a long trail of red at the same time Kyon let out a cry of pain. Arias’ intention was to slow down the movement of the opponent who was chasing him. He knew there was no way he could kill this man with a single blow of his sword, so he chose to target the leg instead

“Do you know what I hate? It’s weaklings who overestimate their own abilities. I’m going to teach you what it's like to feel like you’re better off dead!”

Kyon snarled angrily. A furious wind started to blow around his whole body. The painful sensation was making him so angry he almost lost his mind. It was very humiliating to be attacked by an acolyte over and over like this.

Arias was also preparing to defend against an attack from his opponent. Sparks of lightning darted all around his body while the Shadow Demon Sword was emitting some sort of sparkles, ready to attack as well.

ROARRR!

But suddenly, before the two of them could lunge at each other, they heard a roar of a beast coming from all around. It made them pause and turn to examine their surroundings and found that there were red eyes glimmering in the darkness of the shadow. It was unclear when this happened but right now, they were being surrounded by beasts. On one side, there was a huge pair of eyes that looked more terrifying than any others. There was something different about it, and when Arias looked deep into those eyes, he felt as if this beast had some level of intelligence even though it was very low. The owner of the eyes slowly moved its huge body and stepped out of the bush.

“A-a demon level!”

Kyon choked out with a trembling voice. He looked at the body of a white wolf that was almost three meters high in horror. The wolf walked out with its hind legs while its forelegs were kept off the ground. All its paws were burning with incessant red flame. The color of its eyes was dark red as if there was a fire burning inside while its fangs were razor sharp. There was also a palm-size flame burning constantly on its forehead, unlike all the other beasts which only had flames on their feet.

“Looks like demon-level beasts aren’t just a myth. It seems like this one is a pack of high-level beasts and the lowest among them are the mid-level ones. I didn’t think I would have such bad luck, all thanks to that idiot who didn’t know when to shut his mouth. I should’ve aimed for his windpipe so he would stop being so loud.”

Arias searched the area around him and analyzed his situation with a stressed expression. This situation was even worse than being chased by Kyon. It is already impossible to deal with one demon-level beast, let alone one that came with a whole pack full of high-level beasts.

All the beasts surrounding them were flamed-feet wolves. The strength of its pack must be the reason why not a single beast had attempted to interfere and steal the prey from them. The flamed-feet wolves and the pyro foxes were actually closely related species. The difference between the two was that the flamed-feet wolves were much more feral and barbaric. They did not tend to use their intellects to plan their attacks like the pyro foxes but were more prone to use their animal instinct. The reason that these wolves still refrained from making any attack was probably because of their pack leader. Beasts of demon level and higher would start to develop some level of intelligence and conscience, which was why they were more powerful and terrifying than other beasts.

The situation made Arias quite worried. Due to their animal instinct, beasts often chose to attack weaker prey first, which meant that Arias would become the target of this high-level wolf pack that had a demon beast as a pack leader, and that was not something that could be taken lightly. The concern was starting to make his body damp with cold sweat, but his mind was still working to find a way out of this. He took a glance at the lowest-level flamed-feet wolf which looked like it was not fully grown yet; it was only a mid-level beast. Luck seemed to be on Arias’ side this time since this one was standing closest to him.

Arias’ eyes flashed with a glimmer of hope. He prepared to escape by making his way toward the mid-level wolf’s direction. A mid-level beast was nothing he could not handle. He could even kill it easily, but it was not a good time to do so considering his situation.

But suddenly, Arias saw a gust of wind moving toward that mid-level wolf’s direction together with a figure of a man who quickly moved past Arias. Kyon seemed to have the same idea as him. To escape from the beasts' siege, one must choose to break through the weakest side of it.

“Damn it! I was too late!”

Arias cursed in annoyance, his expression becoming tense. He did not have a lot of time to ponder. His body quickly dashed toward the direction opposite of Kyon. Now, all he could do was try his luck. A streak of lightning appeared in a long line that followed Arias wherever he moved. He did not notice the flicker of light that appeared in the eyes of the flamed-feet wolf pack’s leader. It looked at the streak of lightning and Arias’ form with interest and bared its fangs as if it was sneering. The pack leader raised its head and howled, and all the flamed-feet wolves bowed their heads, obeying its order.

It was a surprise that the flamed-feet wolf pack had let Arias and Kyon out of the siege without attacking them. Though they were perplexed, neither of them had time to dwell on it. But it was not long before Arias found out the answer to that strange occurrence.

“Damn it! What is going on here? Why is that demon beast coming after me?”

He looked at the huge beast that was chasing him relentlessly with worry. The only one that was following him was the pack leader. When Arias looked into its eyes, it seemed almost like the beast was having fun. This wolf did not see him as its opponent at all. In its eyes, Arias was just a toy that it found intriguing. The sparks of lightning that came from Arias’ body had interested the beast greatly. Meanwhile, the rest of the wolf pack had been sent to chase after Kyon. The pack leader was the only one chasing after Arias.

CRASH!

A huge tree received a direct blow from the flamed-feet wolf’s claws. It immediately crashed down as the claw made contact and fire was left burning all over its trunk. That blow had missed Arias’ body by less than a meter. Arias looked behind him with the feeling that his pride had been wounded. He was being looked down on by the more powerful once again, though it was just a beast this time. He thought back to the time when Kyon insulted him and it made him grit his teeth angrily. From the moment he started running away from this wolf, he knew that it was capable of catching up with him but it just chose not to do so. The beast chose to have its fun and wait to find out what Arias’ lightning was.

But suddenly, Arias’ eyes caught sight of a cave not too far away. Its entrance was just big enough to allow humans or small beasts to pass through. If he could reach the inside of this cave, the flamed-feet wolf would not be able to pursue him further.

Arias made his way until he almost reached the cave, but the flamed-feet wolf did not appear to be a foolish beast. Once the wolf realized that its prey was about to escape somewhere that it could not follow, it immediately changed its goal from chasing to killing. With how fast it moved, it was almost like the wolf had just vanished and then reappeared in front of Arias. With this speed, even Arias could not get away from it. The wolf raised its big paw, its claws aimed at Arias’ back. Arias formed a Thunder shield around his body with all the power he had. It was a bet and he was putting everything he had into it.

Arias’ body was sent flying into the distance as a long mark of claws was left on his back. He seized the opportunity and used the impact of the flamed-feet wolf’s strike to send his body toward the direction of the cave. Arias used the last remnant of his magical power to push his tattered self straight into that cave.

ROARRR!

The sound of the flamed-feet wolf’s roar echoed throughout the wood. It was full of anger and madness. Though the beast might seem to possess some level of intelligence, its animal instinct remained. Its claws smashed a nearby tree until it broke into halves in an instant. As for Arias, though his body was heavily wounded, his face was adorned with a smile. Finally, he managed to escape from danger. Other flamed-feet wolves would not be able to follow him in here since the entrance was too small for them. No need to mention the pack leader.

“I finally made it...how pathetic, having to run away like this.”

Arias lifted the corner of his mouth. He smiled as if mocking his own weakness. His blood was pouring from his back to the ground in a stream of red. His face had turned as white as a sheet; it was full of fatigue and was awfully pale. Arias took out one Moon-Bathed Elixir and gulped it down before his sight began to blur as if he was about to pass out. He bit his tongue to stop himself from losing consciousness. ‘This is no time for me to sleep.’