Chapter 17: Pursuit

A group had been walking for two minutes before they suddenly stopped.

"What's taking him so long?" Victor said in an annoyed tone.

Howden should have caught up to them by now, yet he hadn't arrived.

The bald boy wildly laughed.

"I bet he's still scared sh*tless after being exposed to a Dragon's killing intent, Kuhahahah!"

However, as the bald boy glanced at the girl, he immediately shut up. He felt like if he continued laughing, the same scene would play out like a few minutes ago.

Kiana had a thoughtful expression as she said, "Let's go back. Although he's rather useless, his sense of smell would still be useful."

The entire group agreed. Even if they had a different opinion, they would force themselves to simply listen and agree. That was just the sheer difference in strength. The weak had no room to disobey.

As they walked back, the smell of blood suddenly became thick. 

Kiana immediately felt the same foreboding feeling. Ever since she arrived near the juncture, she was always on edge as if an invisible dagger was constantly placed against her neck.

Arriving back at the cavern, the entire group had terrified expressions. Even Kiana felt a bead of sweat roll down her forehead.

Howden was dead!

Despite him in a kneeled position, with his back hunched over, he was definitely dead! A pool of blood was formed around him and his skin looked very pale.

"I-impossible! How did he die, he was only alone for a few minutes?!" Victor exclaimed.

With his death, it had proved one thing. Howden's senses were accurate! There had actually been someone hiding somewhere in the cavern, carefully watching and waiting for the perfect chance to strike!

Such skill in stealth was unfathomable!

Not only did he go undetected by a tracker, but even one of the Dragons hadn't found anything strange!

"D-do we still search for him?" A tall boy spoke. His name was Jarin. The thought of pursuing such a target made him feel very nervous.

Victor pondered slightly before resolutely saying, "Yes! Only a few minutes had passed since Howden's death, so he must be near!

"Since he is so skilled at stealth, it can be guessed that he doesn't like direct confrontations. As long as we find him and do not isolate each other, we can still pass this trial!

"Since Howden had been killed so swiftly, the boy should be at the gold stage. Currently, of the 6, no one at the diamond stage specialises in stealth, so he must be at the gold stage!"

The group nodded.

Seeing a small trail of blood leading in one direction, Victor exclaimed, "Let's go this way. There are traces of blood here!"

However, Kiana shook her head and interjected, "No. Our target wouldn't be so careless as to leave such obvious trails. Among the four paths, this one is the least likely."

Victor helplessly nodded, realising his initial decision would have played right into his enemy's hands!

"What do you suggest?" he asked.

Kiana scanned their surroundings before speaking decisively. 

"I'll go west. The rest of you head south. The Sanctuary is like a maze, but most routes are interconnected. Even if the target goes north at where the blood trails are, the paths will eventually converge south. If you catch him heading south, try and corner him at a dead end. I'll be there soon.

"Otherwise, you should be able to intercept him as he would take less common paths to avoid other hunter groups."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

Victor, impressed by the plan, asked, "What if he goes west?"

Kiana's cold smile made him uneasy. 

"Then he's as good as dead..."

...

Luck was carefully making his way through the countless paths in the Sanctuary. He was trying not to run into any other hunter groups.

He had left a small trail leading to the north path at the juncture. It was an obvious scheme, so it didn't matter if it was seen through. He just needed to buy some time so he could safely find another spot to hide.

After a few minutes of running, he eventually stopped as he took cover.

With his life essence directed on his bare feet, he could vaguely feel vibrations.

'They've already caught up...' 

Luck was slightly surprised. He was taking very uncommon routes, yet they seemed to have predicted it and managed to intercept him. 

'They still haven't noticed me... I might as well give them a surprise.' Luck thought, suppressing all of his killing and fighting intent. 

Hiding himself in the dark, he had completely submerged himself within it. He had become the shadow itself.

Even how he breathed was almost imperceptible.

As the footsteps got closer, he eventually heard a few voices.

"He must've gone here!"

"It seems Kiana hadn't found anything at the west path. She already caught up to us!"

"There's a few paths left. Let's hurry! He can't be far."

As the group nearly arrived at another intersection, a figure suddenly leapt out of the shadows before pouncing on one of them.

Luck tensed the muscles in his fingers as he attempted to pierce the throat of his target.

Victor's eyes constricted. He felt the looming threat of death. 

He was going to die!

But suddenly, a figure had suddenly appeared in front of him, unleashing a formidable strike to divert the attack to the side.

Luck had missed the kill.

Kiana gazed at the boy who had tried to kill Victor — his expression was cold, and his eyes shone with a ruthless and ominous glint. 

"Were you the one that killed Howden?" She coldly asked.

"Perhaps..."

Getting the answer she expected, she took a stance, her killing intent overflowing.

However, it had no effect on Luck.

'Good reactions... One of the Dragons...' Luck contemplated. She had managed to block his attack. 

Unfortunately, he couldn't assassinate another person, making it a four-on-one. 

The girl's emerald eyes shone as she gazed at the pale boy with dark hair curiously. "Coming out of hiding was foolish. You might have lived a little longer if you kept running."

Luck lightly chuckled. "Haha. Whether it was foolish or not, you'll have to find out."

Kiana frowned. She didn't know where his confidence was coming from. Not only was she one of the Dragons, there were three others at the gold stage. 

Luck's eyes suddenly flashed as he lunged at the girl.

"Hmph!"

Kiana jabbed at Luck's shoulder with deadly precision.

Sensing the attack, Luck bent down and swept her legs.

Kiana quickly evaded before suddenly launching a devastating kick.

Bang!

Luck raised his arms as the kick impacted against his hands, sending him a few steps back.

Seeing the swift exchange between the two, the three other boys quickly ran to help.

'She's not to be underestimated. The title of Dragon isn't for show.' 

Suddenly, Victor and Jarin launched a consecutive attack. 

"Die!" They roared fiercely.

However, as the two's attacks were much slower than Kiana's, Luck managed to grab Victor's wrist as he pulled it towards him.

"Ah-"

Victor lost his balance. He suddenly felt his vision turn upside down as a terrifying amount of force suddenly struck his back.

Boom!

Luck had flipped one of his opponents, throwing him on the ground with great force. Shortly after, he swiftly dodged Jarin's punch, evading it with a hair's breadth.

Victor immediately became breathless as his thoughts were chaotic. 'Keuk! This bastard is simply a monster! What kind of strength was this? Wasn't he an assassin specialising in stealth?!'

Victor's thoughts were suddenly interrupted as he saw Luck's foot plummeting down towards his neck. 'Crap! I need to evade!'

However, his body was still in shock, unable to move.

As Victor was about to get his neck snapped, Kiana suddenly appeared in front of Luck with a precise punch aimed at his jugular.

Tilting his head slightly, the attack missed by a small margin. Luck immediately countered by swinging his left foot at her gut. 

Seeing the attack coming, like a snake, she bent her body with extreme flexibility, nimbly dodging the kick.

But as she was about to counter-attack, another kick had already been launched by Luck.

"Bastard! It was a feint!"

Realising she couldn't dodge it in time, she raised her arms as the kick impacted against her forearm.

Crack!

Her shoulder felt as if it was about to fall off as a sharp pain enveloped her. Her body wasn't the best in terms of durability. Her fighting style was to evade and deal precise and deadly attacks. This made her defences rather weak.

But still, what kind of power was this? She was a diamond stage practitioner, so her defences were still tough compared to lower-rank opponents.

Yet that attack had directly hit her, causing her bones to slightly crack.

Gritting her teeth, Kiana continued fighting.

As Luck exchanged more moves with Kiana, the bald boy suddenly threw a punch at him from behind.

Sensing the vibration on the floor, Luck jumped to the side before making a blade with his hand and counter-attacking.

Slice!

The bald boy couldn't react in time as his right eye had a vertical cut going down, nearly severing his face into two. Blood spurted out as he screamed in agony.

"Arghh!"

Fortunately, he had managed to move slightly back, barely escaping with his life.

However, Luck's sudden attack had left his defences slightly open and Kiana immediately capitalised on the opportunity.

Pop!

Using her knuckles, she had precisely struck Luck's shoulder, dislocating his right arm. His right arm immediately went limp.

Luck slightly trembled from the pain as he took a few steps back to create some distance between them.

'Her attacks are similar to mine. She uses very precise attacks aimed at the nerves, or to dislocate body parts like my arm. How troublesome...'

Luck decided not to heal his arm in front of them. He was still cautious of the cloaked man. Although Luck was sure he wasn't omniscient within the Sanctuary, he was certain he was paying close attention to all the children in the Trials.

Thus, seeing his unfavourable circumstances, he dashed into one of the paths.

"Bastard! He's running away!"

"Chase him!"

The group of four immediately pursued the boy.

Luck took the uncommon paths in the Sanctuary, swiftly navigating. However, as he glanced behind him, he realised the four were relentlessly pursuing him.

"Tch." 

Luck clicked his tongue as he made a sudden move.

Whoosh!

Seeing the torches that revealed his position, Luck swung his left arm, extinguishing a flame as darkness enveloped him at a section of the path.

As he ran, he extinguished more torches, completely making one of the paths of the Sanctuary as dark as the abyss.

"Damn! He's extinguishing all the flames!"

Kiana mumbled, "He has great stealth skills. Such an environment would be his playground...

"Someone, grab one of the torches and continue following him." She decisively said.

The bald boy nodded as he grabbed a torch with flames emitting light.

They quickly chased after him.

As she saw Luck's figure in the distance, she slightly curled her lips. Although his sudden extinguishing of the flames was unexpected, she felt that victory was near. 'You're playing right into my hands...'

Throughout the fight, she had already predicted that he'd run away. Because of this, she had always been in front of Luck, blocking a potential path he could run to. 

With Luck going that way, he'd eventually arrive at a dead end. 

No place to escape. An open space to battle. It would be an advantageous fight for them.

But she didn't expect that someone at the gold stage could be this difficult to kill. She was even injured!

As Luck was running, he suddenly grabbed his right arm. He had been struck precisely at the shoulder and nerve, making his right arm go limp. 

While still running, he focused on the structure of his shoulder joint — the spot where his upper arm bone connects with the shoulder blade. He could tell the bone had been forced out of its socket.

With a determined breath, Luck used his left hand to feel his dislocated shoulder. Applying steady pressure, he began pushing the bone back into place. He rotated his arm outward, feeling for the right alignment, and with a firm but controlled push, he forced the bone back into its socket.

Pop!

A sharp pain shot through his shoulder, but he kept running, gritting his teeth as he endured the discomfort.

As the joint snapped back, he flexed his fingers and rotated his shoulder to ensure everything was properly positioned.

Despite the throbbing pain, his arm was quickly regaining mobility. 

Luck flexed his fingers again and rotated his shoulder a few more times, confirming that his arm was functional again.

Many minutes swiftly passed.

Soon, after turning to another path, Luck eventually saw a wall in front of him. 

It was a dead end.

"Hoh?" Luck's eyes briefly flashed with understanding.

"Haha, it seems I've been caught in someone's scheme..." 

Now, Luck had realised why they kept intercepting him but not directly engaging. They were leading him to a dead end!

As he was trying to avoid other hunter groups, they had always managed to catch up with him. Despite not having a tracker, Luck guessed that a diamond stage practitioner would still have good tracking skills based off instincts alone.

As Luck reached the dead end, he extinguished the last flame that emitted light, casting the world into complete darkness...