The sharp, pearl-white teeth closed around Januar's thigh.

With its teeth buried inside Januar's leg, the wolf began to twist its head, trying to rip out a chunk of flesh.

Januar cried out in pain, but he had no time to deal with the beast.

Frederic continued his violent assault with a follow-up slash attack, which Januar again only barely deflected.

"Take one of your arrows and stab the wolf with it!"

Januar quickly followed the god-send advice and aimed the tip of an arrow at the wolf's neck, but before the attack could cause any harm, the wolf vanished into thin air. Finally releasing Januar's mangled thigh.

Unfortunately, the only thing that this development achieved was that Frederic's eyes gleamed with anger and his attacks became even more ferocious.

Blocking and dodging to the best of his abilities, Januar was searching for any opportunity to get away.

"Throw the shield at him and run left as fast as you can!"

Januar used the next small opening in Frederic's attacks and threw the shield with all his might.

It didn't do much except buy him a few seconds.

He ran as fast as he could, ignoring the injury on his leg.

Frederic pursued him closely.

Januar desperately wanted to enter the forest thicket to try and hide, but Cast continuously told him to keep running straight. Kay and Constantine also encouraged him to run just a bit further.

The sound of the river grew louder and louder the longer they ran, and Januar was afraid that his leg wouldn't be able to hold on for much longer.

Suddenly, Januar heard a voice almost right next to his ear.

"Jump!"

Before Januar's thoughts were able to catch up, he was already sailing through the air, free-falling down next to a waterfall.

Januar screamed in horror.

"Kick off that stone and grab the branch over there," Cast instructed.

This was really easier said than done.

But, what other choice did he have?

He reached the stone and used all the strength he could muster to kick it, interrupting his falling motion for but a moment. Distancing himself from the waterfall and, subsequently, sure death, while regaining some height.

But he hadn't escaped his impending doom just yet.

Frantically searching for the fore-mentioned branch with his eyes, Januar finally found the one with two people standing on top. He stretched out both his arms to catch the branch.

His hands came into contact with the wood, clinging onto it for dear life. 

As soon as his initial forward inertia disappeared, gravity tore at his body.

Januar let out a gasp because of pain, his arms felt as if they were about to be ripped off.

"Climb on the branch, you can do it!"

"We have trained so much, I know you can do it!"

"You wouldn't want to die in front of me a again, right? So..., climb!"

Januar gritted his teeth and tensed his muscles to swing his leg over the branch. He failed his first attempt and physiological tears were trickling from his tightly closed eyes.

He finally succeeded on his second try, but didn't dare to take a breather. Inching around the branch with his leg he slowly brought up his lower body.

Another gasp escaped his lips when his thigh injury touched the rough wooden surface.

He was so close!

Clamping the branch between his shaking legs, Januar also started moving his upper body to the top side of the branch.

The moment his safety was insured, Januar lost control of his muscles and lay limp on the tree.

Gasping for air as his entire body shook and ached, Januar listened to the cheering behind him and felt faint warm pats fall onto his back.

After a few minutes of resting though, a certain chill and itchiness started climbing up his thigh. Paired with the pulsing pain, it was almost unbearable.

Slowly raising his body and crawling from the thinner end of the branch to the base, Januar sat down and leaned against the tree trunk.

This was the first time he got a good look at the injury, and he instantly regretted.

The wound was badly mangled with a stream of blood flowing down his leg.

At this moment, he wished that the realism was tuned down just a little bit.

Januar carefully touched the blood-soaked uniform around the wound, his fingers trembled slightly.

"You have to stop the bleeding, or else you won't make it till the end of the duel."

Despite being shaken to his core and weakened, Januar didn't forget to give Constantine an angry glare.

"You!", Kay also started scolding the other again.

Constantine simply shrugged his shoulders, like saying he was just telling the truth.

Januar was aware of that and knew he was acting pretty childish. But he just needed a scapegoat to direct his chaotic emotions at, while he got to ripping off pieces of his uniform.

After he had crafted something similar to a bandage, Januar finally directed his attention to the injury and heavy bleeding.

Thankfully, the physique of post-apocalyptic humans was improved, otherwise, he probably would have already fainted from blood loss.

He carefully used one of the pieces to press down on the wound, hissing in pain. Unfortunately, it didn't take long for that first piece to be soaked with blood, so, Januar kept adding layers until no blood seeped through anymore.

He then finally bandaged the area and leaned back against the tree trunk while gasping for air.

Kay looked at Januar with pity in his eyes.

"Just how did that guy slip through our surveillance?  We had three more people on our side, godd*mmit!"

"Maybe he hid behind an illusion?", Constantine speculated, "He did enter a 'Realm' as well yesterday, who knows, his new card could have something to do with illusions?"

Januar listened to their speculations, but while pondering over Constantine's theory, he felt that something was off.

Suddenly, a thought flashed through his mind and he hastily took out a card from his card pouch.

"Has a 20% chance to see through hallucinations and illusions," Januar quoted. "That's the bonus on Co... a card skill."

The card summons became quiet for a moment until Constantine spoke up again.

"So, maybe he wasn't hiding behind an illusion, but something real?"

This added even more uncertainty to the situation.

"We should figure it out soon, Frederic has probably already started tracking Januar down."

This was the first time Cast said anything after the whole chase, his expression was serious as he pointed at Januar's injury and consequently the blood covering the branch.

***

With Elise in the lead, Fred jogged through the forest.

They had to take a big detour, as Fred wasn't suicidal enough to copy Januar.

Although he wouldn't admit it himself, Januar's move impressed him somewhat. He would have never thought of this bold solution, let alone acted on it.

He wasn't quite sure if the other was an idiot or just so courageous.

Either way, Januar had, at last, garnered some of Frederic's respect.

But now wasn't the time for this, he was sure they were about to enter the final phase of this duel.

 

17km   1:21:33

32%    74%