9 Chapter 9

Everyone was preoccupied with finding the missing Venti, while the apparent leader of the group, the one with a punchable face, was healing his wound with mana. He's currently out of commission.

"Where did that fucker go? Find him!"

"Where's Cyra and Lura?!"

"Are they in pursuit? Tracer, track them now!"

Slowly, without anyone actually noticing, panic rose within them as they realized they had lost sight of two of their comrades in the blink of an eye.

The elves refused to believe the two were beaten. Although they were surprised to see Venti get stronger after hunting that many monsters over the course of months, it's still not enough to kill two elves in such a short time frame.

"North! I can sense someone in stealth while running at full speed."

The Tracer shouted as he pulled the string of his bow and sent an arrow to the target as some kind of guide so they could track his possible whereabouts.

"How about the two? Can you sense where the fuck they are?"

"No, I can only sense one person in that area. And by the way he's running, I suspect it's Venti."

Their minds were in turmoil between chasing that bastard of an elf or looking for their now missing comrades. After not-so-thorough deliberation, they decided to chase after Venti.

"Will you be okay by yourself?"

One of the elves asked the hunting group leader who's basically gripping his own throat to prevent any more blood loss while at the same time healing it.

As his vocal cords were damaged, he didn't speak and just gave a quick nod, urging them to leave and bring that bastard Venti here.

"Yes, of course. We'll bring him here."

With that, all of them dashed towards the north where Venti ran. Their speed was faster than Venti's as they knew the area more than anyone else and helped each other to lessen wind resistance as they ran in a single line.

At this rate, they'll close the gap on Venti pretty easily. But that is exactly what he (AI) wants. All of them deciding to pursue him is a mistake.

A grave mistake.

...

The elves' pursuit came to a sudden halt as the elf in question, whom they were pursuing, also stopped. He was seen sitting on a lone protruding rock, head down, heaving, covered in sweat.

"Is he tired?"

It was normal for them to think that way; he had run a considerable distance, after all. However, that train of thought also sounded a bit silly since even the elf who was at the forefront, breaking the wind resistance, didn't even break a sweat.

There's something they don't know is happening. Whether this thing is advantageous or not for them does not matter. What matters is they've cornered him now.

They'll disregard the Chief's order to bring him unharmed now, knowing how strong he became after the days he's been missing. If not careful, they might be the ones getting in trouble.

"Hey, am I the only one noticing this?"

But before they proceeded to gang up on Venti, one of the elves voiced out his concern.

"Noticing what? Spit it out. We don't have time to waste!"

"Okay, chill. His body. Doesn't he look taller, and his limbs a bit more muscular?"

"Chill?! This fucker..."

Now that the elf said this, all their eyes scanned Venti. Not all of them noticed the change due to them not caring to remember how he looks in the first place.

But for those with keen eyes, for example, the elf Tracer, noticed these changes.

"Yeah. His body changed. How is that even possible? In a short time, to boot?"

As far as they know, there's no magic to changing body structures. No monster in this place has that kind of skill for him to get.

Before everyone got consumed by their curiosity, Venti slowly stood up from his spot. A small ice knife materialized on his palm as he eyed each and every elf that came to hunt him down. Six to be exact.

Venti's foot was lifted from the ground, about to take one step forward. But before his heel even made contact on the ground, his entire body disappeared.

"Everyone, eyes in front. That guy must've lost his mind thinking he can take us—"

It was so fast. No one could've possibly reacted to that even if they were ready. The moment their eyes moved to the elf who was just talking, they saw Venti standing face to face with him.

They saw Venti's hands on the elf's chest. A knife was embedded in it. The elf's eyes could not comprehend what was happening. He kept on looking around figuring out why the others were looking at him in horror.

It's surprising he hadn't noticed Venti who was standing right in front of him.

"What's wrong with you all— Huff, huff! It's hard to breathe. My vision's blurry."

Ice started to spread from his chest; it covered his upper body in a blink of an eye. And then it was at his last moment he caught Venti.

"Ah, no..."

As if waiting for him to realize, only then did Venti deal the final blow by slitting his throat.

No one was able to move. It's not like there's some kind of spell preventing them; they just couldn't. Was it because of fear? No one wanted to admit it, but maybe. Highly likely.

Venti looked behind him with his oh so lifeless gaze.

...

'Where are they? Why aren't they back?'

The leader of the hunting group wondered as he followed the path where his comrades took earlier to catch Venti. His throat was now more or less healed from the first aid he did.

As he followed the path, he felt chill for some reason. A feeling that an ice elf like him shouldn't be feeling. He felt uncomfortable about it, so he increased his pace.

But as soon as he reached the destination, his eyes widened. He took a step back and kept shaking his head, unable to comprehend the sight before him.

Everyone in his hunting party was now dead, laying lifeless in the crimson-red snow dyed from their own blood.

'What the hell is happening—'

As he continued to step back, he felt his back hit something. Was it a tree bark? But it doesn't feel rough. He half-turned his head and peeked to check what it was.

All that met his sight was a blurred silhouette seizing his head and swiftly snapping it.

'No—!'