66 Pursuit(End)

On seeing that the quarry he was hunting was close, Aaron didn't ease up on the pace at all.

Instead, he sent a message through the Bond, and both he and Woof started to accelerate as this was the final burst.

Above, Anissa had been told to keep watching them so that she could adjust her speed according to their pace, and as she did so, Aaron kept a close watch on Max to make sure that he wouldn't get up to something again.

He had already prepared for most eventualities, and a sharp stone was gripped tightly in his hand. As soon as he got within range, it would be flung to disable Max so that there would be no chance of him running away again.

However, after controlling his shock, Max got a grimace on his face before he called upon his Boar again and jumped onto it in a smooth motion.

Aaron had been expecting this, so he didn't panic. The main difficulty had been in getting here, and now that he was in their sights, there was no chance at all of him managing to get away again.

The route so far had been tough, as Max had taken a lot of steps to ensure that he wouldn't be found. There had been a lot of instances where he would leap forward and then back to fool them into thinking that he had gone that way, but drawing on the wealth of experience in tracking prey that he had obtained by living in the jungle, Aaron had been able to spot which tracks were fake, and which were real. The trick here was to note the minute differences in the earth that would be there depending on what direction the leap had been made in. If it was fake, there would be a sign that a leap backward had occurred to reach the same spot as before, and unless someone was experienced, then there would be no way to spot this.

Now that the hard part was done, all that remained was a battle of endurance, and in this, Aaron was confident that almost no one could beat him. Besides, even if he got up to antics like using the smoke bomb again, Anissa was keeping a watch from above. He had told her not to close in even if she felt like doing so for this purpose. When she had objected, Aaron had shut her up by reminding her what had happened the last time she went close to him.

Hence, a cat and mouse game ensued, and the pace at which the Boar could travel seemed to be just a bit faster than what Aaron could muster. This was the speed that Aaron could maintain for a long time, so he was happy with the situation.

At first, it looked as if Max was just looking to escape them, but soon, it became clear that he had some destination in mind.

This was because he made specific turns even if they slowed him down a bit, and that was a dead giveaway.

Understanding the possibility that he might have help, Aaron shouted, "If there is a sign of an ambush up ahead, inform me beforehand."

From the air, everything would be visible, so this was the best thing to do.

After Anissa shouted back that she would do so, Aaron put his full focus on Max again and waited to see what would happen.

After 10 minutes, it started to become clear that the Boar wouldn't be able to take much more, as it had started to pant with each leap.

After 2 more minutes, froth even started to appear at its mouth, but Max kept pushing it.

Finally, as Anissa shouted a message, Aaron understood that they might be reaching the destination that Max had in mind. Yet, this information also puzzled him.

"We're reaching a Hamlet, but it's a recognized one! There's almost no chance of an ambush waiting for us here!"

Aaron wasn't prepared to take her word for it, so he prepared to do something that he had had the option to do until now.

He had refrained himself, as he didn't want to risk killing the prisoner.

At this range, there was a small probability that Aaron might hit a vital region of the Tera, which might result in Max dying from the Boar buckling under its weight and then tumbling on top of him. Yet…the man was leaving him no choice.

He had to take the risk, as he really didn't want to be greeted by a horde of enemies that might be waiting. If that was the case, this move would ensure that Aaron would be able to use Max as a hostage, and if worst came to worst, he could just flee.

Taking aim, he swung, and thankfully, the stone flew true.

The Boar was in the air when the stone hit its calf, and it became clear that it wouldn't be able to take another Leap.

Frustration appeared on Max's face as he saw this, but he acted decisively.

Recalling the Tera, he fell to the ground in a controlled manner and rolled before continuing to run in the direction of the Hamlet.

Already having expected this, Aaron aimed and swung again, targeting the same body part.

Years of skill made him succeed again, but the startling thing was that even though blood started to appear along with intense pain that could be seen on Max's face, he kept limping forward.

Yet, he was too slow, and Aaron put out a final burst of speed to reach him. Max, too, seemed to have reached the end of his endurance, as he collapsed even as Aaron arrived and put a foot on his back to stop him from moving.

They had arrived at the gate of the Hamlet, and Aaron cautiously looked around, waiting for any enemies that might arrive.

Sure enough, the guards who had already seen Max seemed to have shouted something, and the entire Hamlet started to rush outside.

Aaron wearily watched them while keeping a foot on Max, and seeing this, the over 100 people who reached the spot a few meters away from him stopped, and stared.

Aaron couldn't tell exactly what emotion it was that was on their face.

However…just as Anissa landed beside him, a little girl who wasn't even 10 years old strode out bravely from the group to stand in front of Aaron.

Putting her fists on her waist threateningly, she said, "Don't dare lay a hand on my Brother Max! He said he will only come back if he manages to avenge my parents! He managed to kill those powerful people who took them away, so he can definitely kill you too! Leave him and run away and we won't follow you!"