The monster's enemy

"What the heck is that?!"

Jaden's wide-open eyes were fixed on the absurd scene unfolding within the reflection of the pond's crystal-clear water.

The log swung back and forth like a pendulum, right near the man with a cold gaze. His smooth black hair fluttered when the wind blew gently against it.

At the moment, Jaden and others who had followed Sierra ended up in a different dimension where there were many wild animals and a beautiful pond in the middle of it.

There existed a legend according to which the queen of the forest would be able to see what was happening throughout the forest. It was limited in some cases, but the present case was totally another issue.

Only Diona was aware that the pond was the relic often mentioned in legends. If the world tree wished to observe what was going on in a certain part of the forest, it would be possible.

Sometimes it did end up being a failure, though. That was when someone used their magic to interfere with other magic spells.

The pond was actually the last thing left behind by the World Tree Clan. It wasn't omnipotent, but it was more than enough to be used to check remote parts of the forest.

"That's what he meant by hunt?"

Blaise clicked his tongue after learning what the person in question had been up to all this time. He would've preferred to have joined him in the hunt.

Diona couldn't help but squint her eyes while trying to get a proper view of the face of the man in front of Adrienne. It wasn't helpful at all since his face still appeared blurry to her.

-"I told you. This is my hunting ground."

Everyone aside from Sierra flinched at the sudden voice that came from the pond. Usually, it would only show what's happening. This time was an exception.

They had no idea that Sierra was actually pouring in everything to make that possible. She could care less about the consequences. What she needed to know was the identity of the one trying to harm the forest.

Swish

Adrienne swung his blade at the man sitting against the tree. That one swoop would've been enough to make his heart stop beating had he not let his body touch the ground by rolling to the left.

Kuh

His body was in somewhat pain from getting hit by the log earlier. Still, was resting an option when a monster such as Adrienne was chasing after him? Ace smiled bitterly at himself.

-"There's no other way, I see. So be it."

He firmly said that while brushing off the dust on his black shirt and pants. He stood there without feeling any nervousness.

The black mist arose from the place where he was standing. It began spreading throughout that area before Adrienne got to realise it.

Fighting with Adrienne for real wasn't actually what Ace intended to do from the beginning. He braced himself to use the last option left. The blackened fog was interrupting Adrienne's field of view.

Even the three people watching this scene, along with Sierra, were hardly able to see a thing. That's how Ace had already planned to make it so. The mist he spread around was his unique origin magic.

If someone were to get in the middle of it, that person would need at least a few hours to get out. Or else wait for the next twelve hours for the mist to disappear.

He ran back in the direction he came from. If the two routes for escaping were not safe, then he thought that the third one was fine to approach. Again, was Adrienne that careless that he would leave that path open without any traps?

Puh-

Observing Ace's futile attempts to shake him off, Adrienne burst out into laughter. Even though they weren't present there, Jaden and Blaise were getting goosebumps. The cold, murderous laughter was something that they had never heard before.

-"Run all you want. The hunt won't stop."

His right eye, which glowed golden, wasn't visible to others thanks to the black fog. The figure of him standing amidst the black layer of mixed fog and mist vanished into the thin air.

"Where did he go now?"

Blaise couldn't comprehend what had just happened. That's just how suddenly Adrienne disappeared, right before their eyes. Actually, everyone else had the same question as him.

Sierra's body brushed past Diona, and she sat in front of the pond. She moved her hand above the pond with her eyes closed tightly.

"I will try to search for him."

She muttered while a blue light glowed out of her palm. Blaise and Jaden stared at the pond intently. Diona had sharp eyes, unlike the rest of the three.

She had clearly seen the golden glow that went unnoticed amidst the mist. And since Adrienne was hiding about it, she didn't mention a thing either.

The location where Adrienne and Ace were headed remained unknown, and hence the scene reflecting on the waters of the pond kept changing.

-"You think you caught up to me because you are strong?"

The man stood in front of Adrienne with no hints of fear or nervousness. The way he spoke sounded as if he had let Adrienne catch up with him on purpose.

Adrienne's eyebrows furrowed at those words. He had used his own abilities to chase after Ace. Had it not been for that, he would've believed what he claimed.

-"We will see about that once I behead that loudmouth of yours."

The unfriendly expression with no smile he had while pointing the sword at Ace made chills run down his spine. He was serious about what he just said.

Despite that situation, why was it that Ace had a cunning smile on his lips? Adrienne didn't care about that at all and only stepped forward to swing the sword at Ace.

Thnk

The blade stopped before touching Ace. Soon, those who were seeing this unfold heard a third person speak.

-"Good job buying time. Now then..."

KRRRRRRRRRRR

The heavy noise left them covering their ears tightly. The view displayed on the pond turned black. Sierra's magic was being interrupted. What even was going on there?

----------------

"You are damn late."

Hah

He let out a sigh of relief when he heard the voice of the person whose arrival he awaited. The blade that stopped in front of him assured Ace that the wait was worth it. A smile formed on his lips.

The silver-blue eyes glanced calmly at Ace once before looking down on Adrienne. The man who appeared out of nowhere was slightly taller than Adrienne.

His white hair glistened blue when strange sparks began forming in the air. A smile rose on his lips that made Adrienne fall back unconsciously.

"You made me wait long enough, Jack."

Unlike Ace, whose face was hidden, Jack's face was clearly visible to Adrienne. As he had used his magic, Sierra couldn't see what was happening there.

The man whom Ace called Jack seemed to be creepy to Adrienne for some reason. His instincts were shouting at him that this man was real bad news.

Maybe that was the truth, since Jack had already plotted a new plan as soon as he came across Adrienne. It was certain that Ace was far stronger than Jack, though.

Then what made Adrienne feel uneasy about this man? It was because Jack was a monster when it came to plotting ploys against someone.

If Ace had fought with Adrienne head-on, he would've been able to, at least, escape from the forest. Why did he not do so, you ask?

"Don't bother wasting your breath. You did great holding yourself back from fighting him."

Jack had advised Ace not to engage in fights with anyone who might find their hiding spot. To begin with, he wished that some high-ranking individual from the elven village to catch them.

It wouldn't hurt to say that it was kind of a trap. He had never imagined that a huge fish like Adrienne would reach there. Now there were two options in front of them.

One was to fight him head-on. And the other would be running with their tails tugged in between of their legs.

They were two, and Adrienne was all alone. They could simply outnumber him if they couldn't win in terms of strength. It was uncertain how strong Adrienne had grown in the past few years.

No matter how many assassins they sent after him, none of them returned alive to tell the tale of the monster that slayed them.

But regardless of that, there was no way that two people would lose against one another. At least, that's what Jack thought. Why was it that he was getting cold sweats, though?

"I see... You both are..."

That was a massive miscalculation on the part of Jack. The term 'outnumbered' never existed in the dictionary Adrienne possessed. And even if it did, the sword in his hand was more than enough to shatter it to pieces.

The black flames bustled around them with a red glow in Adrienne's eyes. All this while, he had been playing chase with Ace. The conclusion he reached was surely bad news for the two.

The unknown force that was blocking his blade in the middle of the air a while ago was helpless when he swung his blade again. He had judged who the two in front of him were.

"My enemy."

The red in his eyes intensified as the blood splattered because of the sword that cut lightly at Jack's chest. The white uniform-like outfit he wore got tainted with his own blood.

Kuh

He gritted his teeth while trying to dodge the swing of the blade that followed after the first one. A cold sweat formed on his forehead, all because of the odd pressure he was feeling.

The murderous intent Adrienne directed towards Ace and Jack was not to be made light of. They both could tell how serious he was about it.

Ace jumped backwards to create a gap between himself and the two clashing. That action of his was rendered useless when Adrienne changed the trajectory of his sword.

Leaving Jack alone for a moment, Adrienne vanished into the thin air. Ace threw his body backwards when the silver of the blade glistened in his field of view.

Adrienne wasn't using his unique origin magic when he switched between the two targets in a blink of an eye. It was pure speed that he displayed.

Swish

The strong winds began blowing from the swings of the sword Adrienne made. The wood of the trees surrounding them was getting cut apart with every swoop.

"What's wrong? Is this what you both amount to?"

The smile Jack had on his face faded away after witnessing the swordsmanship displayed by Adrienne. That wasn't something a swordmaster could do.

The reports they had about Adrienne said that he was a swordmaster. But was that really the truth? Jack had only gotten to understand it a split second ago.

Thud

His body went flying and hit hard into a tree as Adrienne kicked him in the stomach. Ace tried to gather his mana to cast a huge spell. A hundred pitch-black swords rose up from the ground.

Jack gritted his teeth, understanding exactly what the monster in front of them was. Even if Ace used his ultimate move on him, there was no way it would work.

He took a huge breath when he saw Ace pick one sword up. The words that fell on Ace's ears made his hands tremble.

"YOU FOOL! DON'T DO IT! HE IS ABOVE THE RANK OF A SWORDMASTER!"

BANGGGG

It was too late by the time Jack yelled, since Ace had already leaped towards Adrienne. His voice got buried under the loud sound of the two swords clashing.