Chapter 36 ‐ Fate of the Enforcers

During the night of the invasion, right after Izuku's death, Yuri ran with full speed, summoning every last bit of strength within him as she carried the twins with him.

Using the powers of the Umihebi (sea serpent), he held on to the twins with both arms as he ran into the thick forest to avoid getting detected by Shin Lin Soha of the Arutimetsu.

Unfortunately for them, Shin noticed this on time and flew straight to attack the runaways.

Enji, who was riding right behind Genta, looked behind to see Shin flying right towards them, with the distance between them shrinking every second.

"Yuri!" she called out, terrified.

"I know," he replied.

"Hold on tight," he instructed.

The twins braced themselves as he started accelerating. He was so fast that neither of the twins was brave enough to raise their heads due to the high speed, but instead covered their heads in fear.

"Impressive!" remarked Shin. "But for how long can you keep this up?"

Yuri was not in the mood for chit-chat, especially when the other person was trying to kill him, so he ignored him as he kept running.

"Guess I also have to up my game," Shin said to himself as he also accelerated in speed, getting closer to them from the air.

The twins didn't have to look back to know that things would end badly at this rate, but all they could do at the moment was hold on tight for dear life and hope a miracle happens.

Right then, Yuri got an idea, and even though it was a reckless one, she decided to go with it as she had no choice.

Master Drey had told him a lot about the forests that surrounded Langford City, about the dangerous monsters that lurked within them, and also about the safe path carved out for people to travel to avoid fabled encounters.

They had followed that safe path on their way to Langford, not willing to risk a confrontation with a fable on the way, even though following fable territories was like a shortcut to reaching the city.

He knew these woods were home to the most fearsome fabled beasts ever known to man, and they were very territorial and deadly.

Believing his pursuer would not follow him into the uncharted territories, Yuri ran off the safe paths of the forests and into the thick woods that were in the territory of the fables.

Immediately after Shin noticed this, he stopped immediately, not believing they were worth the risk, but instead decided to stick around, believing they would come out soon.

It turned out Yuri was right, as he ran deeper into the fable's territory, as far away from Shin as possible.

Eventually, he stopped, gently putting them down as he panted heavily, trying to catch his breath. That long run had taken a lot out of him, and even with the strength, speed, and agility of the Umihebi, this was a lot to take.

He sat on the ground, panting heavily, as the twins held on to him, comforting him.

A few minutes passed before Yuri finally got himself together and sat up to embrace the children, relieved to see that they were okay.

Another few minutes later, he was finally able to stand up, and looking around them, he noticed there was no straight path before or around them.

The grounds were full of thick grass, and it was difficult to trace his tracks back to where he came from with them.

Then came the painful realization that they were now lost in the fabled forest, deep into the dangerous territory of a fabled monster.

The twins were also aware of this, and Yuri knew that, expecting them to start whining and complaining any minute from now.

But instead, they looked back at him with a smile, comforting him instead—something he was expected to do for them.

Yuri's eye almost shed a tear as this happened, and he kneeled to embrace them.

"I'm so sorry," he said.

This move surprised even him. Although he certainly cared a lot for children, he was not the type to get all emotional over them, which he was doing now.

He was once a convict who had experienced the difficult life of a prisoner for over two years before getting recruited by General Senju and his Major Konami to become an enforcer.

Given his harsh upbringing and difficult past, he was one not to give in to emotions like this, but somehow these children were able to bring out the softer side of him without his awareness.

He brought forth two daggers and handed one to each of them while he held on to his sword.

"We have to keep moving," he said, pointing south.

"...before the fable in charge notices us."

The twins nodded as they walked with him.

He was able to tell which side was south from the signs in the sky hinting at where the sunrise would commence in about an hour or so.

He knew his prediction was not accurate but hoped it would at least be close enough.

If his prediction was correct, they would be heading back to Langford City or some territory close enough at best.

It wouldn't be safe either, but at least from there, they would be able to easily navigate and figure out what their next move would be.

Normally he would grab both of them and run as fast as he could in that direction, but he had lost a lot of strength from that initial run.

Even though he had more than enough power from which he could tap as a fabled man, his mortal body could only take so much at a time.

So he chose instead to walk with them for a while and only resort to using his abilities at the slightest hint of trouble. 

Little did they know that they had already been spotted by an angry territorial fable that was slowly coming by stealth towards them.