1269 Pursuit 1 (1/2)

Garen flew at lightning speeds. The snowstorm ahead of and around him grew denser and thicker, but he felt as though there was an immense danger that he could not shake off approaching him.

”The Soul Rings don't lie, looks like serious trouble is brewing!” Garen had long since expected that the disharmony between his soul and his body would invite trouble, but he never thought that it would come so soon.

Panic began to rise in his heart.

But since he was carrying the Ice Stalagmite, he just could not increase his speed to its maximum limit. The only comfort he had was the massive amount of potential aura surging endlessly into his body from the Ice Stalagmite.

It had only been a short while, but he had another Attribute Point now.

Garen quickly added it to his Speed, and he instantly felt himself speed up. The anxiety in his heart eased up slightly.

Everything before him was a flurry of white snow, and he could not see anything at all, so he did not even know where he was flying toward. What he did know, however, was that if he did not fly and the danger behind him caught up, the results would not be as pleasant as he imagined.

The power level of this world was too high, and their research into the workings of the soul was too advanced. He could not hide himself well at all.

Whoosh…

Suddenly, Garen seemed to hear something ring out behind him.

He concentrated and listened carefully. Suddenly, his expression changed, and he sank downward fiercely, leaving his original position.

Psst!

Just as he sank down, a black light shot past the place in the sky where he had been just a moment ago, leaving a long trail of afterimages in its wake. After it broke past the snowstorm ahead, it vanished without a trace.

Garen's forehead began to sweat. He lifted his left claw and saw that the back of the claw -- the hardest part -- had a deep gash carved out of it. It had been sliced open by the snow scattered as a result of the black light bullet that he had just avoided.

”Well… This really is serious trouble…” He flapped his wings even faster.

Soon, he floated upward again, avoiding the bolt of black light as it came back.

Hugging the Ice Stalagmite carefully, Garen used all of his power to fly forward madly as fast as he could, unwilling to linger for even a moment. If he still had some doubts earlier, they had all been put to rest by now. That guy behind him was terrifyingly strong, and completely beyond his current capabilities to resist.

Thankfully, Garen's combat realm was too high, giving him a complete understanding and comprehension of the environment around him within a certain range. Otherwise, he never would have avoided that bolt of black light in time.

The unknown enemy behind him also seemed to have noticed that this attack was ineffective, so they stopped using it. Instead, they fell quiet.

However, Garen was not naive enough to think that they had given up.

Soon enough, the Ice Stalagmite gave him yet another Attribute Point. He quickly added it to his Speed as well. His speed was bumped up another notch.

The enemy behind him seemed to be slightly surprised and confused about how he kept increasing his speed.

***************

In the middle of the snowstorm, the pitch-black Suffering Knight shone with black light as it flew, weaving through the storm. It had vaguely locked onto a small thing flying in front of him. The snowstorm was too heavy, though, and it was quite far away. The first time the Suffering Knight attacked, he had missed, and as a result, the little thing was wary now. It had gotten even faster.

”This is no longer the speed of a regular Dragon Whelp…” The Suffering Knight was slightly surprised.

But since its master had ordered it, it gave chase determinedly, even though it could not match up to the target's speed.

Any living creature would eventually grow tired, but it was different…

It looked down at the red symbols on the Greatsword, hesitated for a moment, and still chose not to activate it yet.

That was an Undead Imprint. When it had hit the little Dragon Whelp's claw just now, it had already placed the imprint on the Dragon Whelp. Once it was activated, the Dragon Whelp would be instantly dragged into the Blinding Hell, forcing the Dragon Whelp into a one-on-one fight to the death with the Suffering Knight.

But this was the Suffering Knight's strongest ability. If it activated that now, it would take at least two or three hundred years to recover. The target was a mutated soul, so it would not activate that ability unless it had no other choice.

****************

The time ticked by slowly, and soon enough, a day had passed.

Garen had already absorbed all of the potential in the Ice Stalagmite and gained thirteen whole Attribute Points, but he did not add them all to his Speed. He was already fast enough to leave the enemy behind him in the dust, and Attribute Points were precious, so he could not use them up so carelessly. Besides, he had a feeling that even if he added them to his Speed, he might still be unable to shake off that enemy behind him.

There was no reasoning behind this feeling, but Garen subconsciously trusted this sort of premonition.

He had flown at high speeds for a full day, so Garen was already completely worn out. He desperately needed to rest.

Even though he was being nurtured by the Soul Energy, his body was still that of a normal Dragon Whelp. It was already quite impressive that he could stay on the run for so long.

The enemy behind him would occasionally take advantage of his weariness. When his speed decreased, the enemy would close the distance again, scaring Garen into picking up his speed again.

But as a result, he had also glimpsed the enemy pursuing him.

It was a suit of empty knight's armor, with a pair of green flames burning where its eyes should be. It was very similar to the Undead Knight in his Inherited Memories.

”I knew it! Dammit!” Garen had guessed that his soul's uniqueness would be discovered by a master researching the soul, but he did not predict that they would come for him so quickly.

It was just a simple trip out, and he was already being chased down by an Undead Creature.

He just could not shake off the thing behind him, and for a moment there, Garen was stumped as well. He had completely lost his way around here, flying around everywhere in this snowstorm meant that he could not find any location markers whatsoever. Luckily, he had not encountered any high-level Elder Giant Iguanas even after flying around for so long, otherwise he would be just as dead.

Rawrr…!

Suddenly, there was a violent woman's scream from behind him.

A green wave instantly scattered the snowstorm all around him, completely revealing the distance between the Knight and Garen.

The wave hit Garen's body directly without any obstruction whatsoever.

Garen's whole body stiffened, and he paused in mid-air for just an instant.

Pff!

Tiny wounds opened up all over his body, and white blood sprayed out of the gashes.