1 Chapter 1: The Hunt

"Here, here, here!" Three deep and resonant roars came from over a hundred meters outside the forest.

Almost simultaneously with the roar, three silver-yellow crossbow bolts formed a mysterious chain lock in a specific sequence and orientation, silently enveloping a nimble figure that was leaping into the air and about to dash into the forest.

The sliding arrow shafts suddenly emitted a strange whistling sound midway, as if even the air couldn't bear the eerie noise and began to shake violently.

Without warning, the arrow shafts burst apart, transforming into countless spikes flickering with faint phosphorescent light. The noise of them piercing the air was a piercing screech, forming a dense net that covered the entire area and fell down.

The agile figure in the air had already avoided the ambush of the three arrow shadows by twisting in a strange manner, but the sudden mutation seemed to leave him with little time to react.

"Dulling!" At this moment, any other defense seemed futile, the only wise choice was to delay and reduce the damage to his body from the opponent.

The shadow's body violently contracted from stretched to curled in midair, avoiding the frontal ferocious strike as much as possible.

Meanwhile, the burst wooden spikes rained down like a violent storm, and the spell was still tumbling in his throat when the shadow's skin began to transform silently, unknown to anyone.

As the sound of "pitter-patter" hitting came, a large number of spikes easily penetrated the thin armor on the shadow's body and embedded themselves directly into his flesh.

A painful groan emerged from the shadow's throat; after a slight tremble of his nimble body, he seemed to quickly recover to normal, not pausing for the slightest instant, and soared like a hawk into the sky, heading straight for the forest only a hundred meters away.

Once hidden in the forest, he would have another chance to evade the hunters on his tail, clinging to him like bone-eating maggots.

He dared not hope to escape, but entering the forest, his chances would be much greater. After all, being a former disciple of the Muxi Sect gave him a considerable advantage in the woods.

Knightss riding Thunderhorses dozens of meters away were stunned, unable to believe that someone could escape from their Chief's Thunder Sky Net, which had never failed before, and still flee in such a fashion—it simply defied belief.

The knight at the rear even rubbed his eyes in confusion, as if he couldn't accept this reality.

A flash of surprise crossed the face of the leading middle-aged knight, followed by an even darker expression, but he made no other move.

The knights beside him had already stopped in their tracks the moment he fired the three crossbow bolts, knowing the capabilities of their Chief. Once the Thunder Sky Net was deployed, not even a Holy Spirit Angel could escape, much less a thief, though indeed, this was a thief without equal.

However, unbelievably, those knights were at a loss for words, watching as the figure was about to dive into the forest, when suddenly it stiffened in mid-air and plummeted to the ground with a "thud," kicking up a spray of grass.

"Eh?" The knights, who had been on the verge of despair and ready to fire a signal to call for reinforcements from nearby regions, knew that no matter how large the forest was, they would have to block it separately. But the importance of their mission made them dare not slacken. Seeing this turn of events, they were overjoyed and turned their gazes back to their Chief, who had stayed silent all along.

Only then did a faint smile appear on the face of the Chief, whose somber expression had never wavered, though the blood trickling from the corner of his mouth also proved he was utterly exhausted.

"Sir!" The knight waiting by his side quickly dismounted and firmly supported the middle-aged knight, who seemed on the verge of collapsing.

"It's okay, I'm just a bit drained," he said casually, gesturing with his hand as he tried to sit upright,

The knights on Thunderhorses leaped out, gracefully jumping over the small hill and speeding towards where the shadow had fallen, while the middle-aged knight let out a light sigh and took out a pouch from his chest, removing a golden pill and putting it into his mouth.

"Sir, it seems like you have something on your mind?" asked the middle-aged knight who had been following without a word.

"It's nothing, just a shame to lose such a talent. A genius thief has perished at our hands. Who knows how many people will thank us for it, especially those living in the West Faner Palace who will probably be more than happy to applaud."

He shook his head regretfully, his voice filled with emotion and slightly hoarse, perhaps aggravating his injuries, as a trace of dark purple blood once again appeared at the corner of his mouth, and he had to take another pill from the pouch and pop it into his mouth.

Noticing the middle-aged knight's movement, the middle-aged knight behind him gently squeezed the horse's belly. The spiritual Thunderhorse silently moved forward two steps without making a sound, and his concerned gaze fell on the face of the middle-aged knight, "Sir, have you used the Saint Yuan Power?"

With a bitter smile, he nodded slightly. Wrinkles seemed to have increased a few more lines on the middle-aged knight's well-defined face, "This guy is by far the most astute thief I've ever seen. His supreme skills go without saying, and his ability to escape is second to none. However, what's even more formidable is his shrewdness. He actually managed to guess our identities and took corresponding measures. If I had not resorted to the Saint Yuan Power combined with the Sappan Divine Wood Arrow to deploy the Thunder Sky Net, he would have most likely escaped into this forest, and we would have had to expend much more effort."

"Sir, you've also used the Sappan Divine Wood Arrow?" Shocked, even the middle-aged knight behind him was slightly taken aback.

Saint Yuan Power combined with the Sappan Divine Wood Arrow and the Thunder Sky Net technique?

Acquired with great difficulty, items like the Sappan Divine Wood Arrow were crafted by Elf Artisans, and furthermore, the Archbishop had personally blessed them with considerable spiritual power. Blessed with divine aura, the arrows possessed added hardness and the capacity to penetrate armor and gold.

Granted only five arrows by the Archbishop as a reward for his distinguished service, and not having used a single one in ten years, the middle-aged knight had now used three arrows at once on an obscure thief. Was this not a waste of heavenly resources?

Seeing the regret clearly written on his confidant's face, the middle-aged knight also felt somewhat helpless. He, too, found using the Sappan Divine Wood Arrow on the pursuit of a mere thief somewhat wasteful, but he dared not disobey the words of the Archbishop's Special Envoy still ringing in his ears.

Although he did not know the mystery behind it, the fact that the Protector of the Faith, who had never left the holy church for decades, had personally come out to join him in the pursuit of this unidentified thief indicated the significance of the event.

"What else could I have done? It seemed like that guy had a special Magic protection. I was afraid ordinary arrows would not be able to penetrate his guarding spell, so I had to make the painful decision to use them," sighed the middle-aged knight once more, spurring his horse. The Thunderhorse leaped forward towards the front, where several knights had already dismounted to check the condition of the shadow that had fallen from the sky.

Following closely behind the middle-aged knight, the middle-aged knight behind him spoke in a low voice, "Why would they dispatch us and the Protector of the Faith to pursue this individual?"

Stiffening his body, the middle-aged knight turned back and cast a glance at his normally prudent subordinate, Old Chen, and said in just a few words, "Unknown and not to be questioned."

The middle-aged knight's light glance was like a spiritual heavy blow, almost knocking the knight behind him off his horse, and the once-bright sunshine in the sky suddenly seemed extremely cold and cheerless.

Breaking out in a cold sweat along his spine, he immediately huddled and kept silent. It was one of the rare instances in several years that his Corps Commander had looked at him with such a gaze. He knew he had gone too far.

The spot where the dark shadow had fallen turned out to be a shallow depression near the forest, with dry branches and fallen leaves slightly swelling up the indent.

At that moment, the unpredictable figure in the eyes of the knights lay on his back in the shallow pit, his face had turned a strange shade of golden yellow, and his lifeless eyes were dull. His mouth was slightly open as if he wanted to say something, but the strong toxicity of the Sappan Wood had taken his life the moment he opened his mouth, not even managing to close it as he wished.

The middle-aged knight, upon arriving nearby, just glanced at the corpse, shook his head, and then fell silent.

Following him closely, the middle-aged knight behind dismounted from his Thunderhorse, a sharp, thin-bladed sword quietly sliding out from behind the cloak. The surrounding knights had not even seen a glimpse of the blade before the chestplate of the corpse lying face-up on the ground had been cut open with a small incision. After close inspection, the knight solemnly said, "Sir, this guy was indeed protected by Wood Dulling Magic, and it has reached a considerably high level. If it weren't for the Sappan Wood Arrow, it would probably have been difficult to break through his guarding Magic."

Filled with admiration, the knight immediately swept away the earlier thought that his Corps Commander had used the Divine Sappan Wood Arrow somewhat frivolously. The thief lying on the ground was clearly deceased, yet his skin remained extremely tough against the knight's sword, indicating that the thief's Wood Dulling Magic had reached a profound mastery.

It was unfortunate that his fate was not on his side, encountering the Sappan Wood Arrow, and furthermore, it was one that the Corps Commander had imbued with Saint Yuan Power, capable of breaking through everything in its way, be it armor or Magic.

"Alright, Lord Gaya has arrived. Let him have a look; with that, our mission is considered complete." The middle-aged knight, appearing somewhat weary, looked at a group of riders approaching rapidly from a distance. He had signaled them the moment he could—he knew that these were people who had come to verify the results.

The majestic Thunderhorse had not yet reached them when the leader amongst them effortlessly flew from the horse's back. The impressive terrestrial flying spell wowed all the watching knights, almost causing them to drop their eyes in wonder, unable to help but praise loudly.

As if completely oblivious to the knights' praises, the figure who had flown in directly landed beside the shallow pit. With just a glance to confirm, he imperceptibly nodded to the middle-aged knight, and a strange noise seemingly coming from the nostrils was heard from the figure concealed beneath a large cloak, "Very good. That's him. Corps Commander Excellency, your mission is complete. I convey the Archbishop's most sincere thanks to you and your knights on his behalf."

"You're welcome, Lord Gaya. Please convey my regards to the Archbishop and forward our loyal blessings." The middle-aged knight had already dismounted, courteously placing a hand over his heart and bowing. Gone was the arrogance from his face, replaced instead with a warm smile.

The group of knights also dismounted and stood behind their Corps Commander respectfully, bowing politely. Faced with the holy church's Protector of the Faith, none dared to show irreverence or disrespect.