After having dealt with the giant vulture, Henry picked up Alani and Rayne from his pocket dimension.

“Never do that again,” Alani shot Henry a glare.

“I know. I’m sorry.”

“Do you know how scary it was to be thrown to the ground while falling through the air? I thought I would go splat there.”

“But you didn’t.”

“Thank god, I didn’t.”

Henry chuckled wryly. Alani was not wrong to thank god. After all, this was something given by a divine. It was by Nadea’s will that such a stretch of physical logic was possible. Alani would have been turned into a gory pancake if the physics involved had been normal.

Nevertheless, Henry got a few things out of this minor ordeal. The versatility of his pocket dimension and a good harvest that was the giant vulture with metal feathers.

“Incredible,” Rayne gasped as she approached the carcass of the giant vulture while the lovebirds continued to bicker like an old couple. “There’s no other wounds aside from the one that killed it,” she observed.

“Are you hurt anywhere, Henry?” Alani asked while touching him all over.

“I am not. If I am, we won’t be standing around so leisurely.”

“I supposed we won’t. So, what now?”

“She found us. She knows where we are. Knowing her, she would keep throwing everything at us until god knows when.”

“She’s that persistent?”

“Desperate, I say. Afraid too, I dare say. For so long she has waited. Thousands of years. Now, her vengeance is finally at hand and I am the only one who poses a threat to her vengeance. I am the only one who has the capacity to stop her.”

“I see…” Alani looked down.

“What’s wrong?” Henry asked.

“...Should we even be stopping her?”

“Do you not want to?”

“I know my country well. They shouldn’t be blamed for their ancestors’ crimes but… they themselves had committed quite a lot of sins of their own accord. I’m a monster hunter. I have been to many places and more than half of those places are plagued by the greed of the upper echelons.”

“I don't know what kind of effect she would have on this country but I don’t trust her ambitions. She’s a conqueror by nature. She would not stop just because she got her vengeance.”

“I just… I don’t wish to see you get hurt, Henry. If the two of you fought, it won’t end until one of you is dead. The collateral will also be immense. I don’t want that.”

“Neither do I, Alani, but we both made our choice.”

“Master!” Rayne shouted as she ran up to Henry with a clump of dark reddish crystal in her hands. “Look at this.”

“What is that?” Alani inquired.

“A Murux Core,” Henry answered.

“But it’s red, blood red.”

“Tainted by Vishara’s power.” Henry took the crystal clump into his hand from Rayne. “But stronger than the normal ones. Way stronger.”

“Do you plan to consume it, Henry?” Alani asked.

Henry shrugged and tossed the Murux Core into his mouth.

Alani widened her eyes.

Rayne rolled her eyes.

“Spit it out!” Alani yelled.

“Why?” Henry asked after swallowing the core.

“You just said it’s tainted by her power!”

“And once I swallow it, it will become tainted by me. If a mere Murux Core can harm me, then my fight with Vishara is already decided with my loss.”

“Do you feel anything?”

“...I feel something,” Henry said after a brief silence. He splayed out his hand. His skin turned into a dark silverish gleam. “Huh. Iron skin… or is it steel?”

“Whoa…” Alani gasped.

Rayne was less impressed. She peered closer and flicked on Henry’s metallic skin. “This is no iron or any steel that I know of. I don’t think it’s even metal.” She pressed down on his skin and it undulated slightly. “Feels like your skin is coated in some metallic substance.”

“Wait. Henry, your skin is already nigh-impenetrable, no?”

“As far as I know, it is so.”

“Then, does this… weaken you or strengthen you?”

Henry went and scratched himself using his own claws. Not the slightest blemish was made. “I can’t tell. It’s not weaker, that I’m sure. There’s only one way to be certain.”

“Which is?”

“The claws of those… giant centipedes. So far, they are the only ones who had the means to cut through my skin. Do you know where we can find a giant centipede?”

Alani grimaced in response to Henry’s question. “Y-you can’t be serious.”

“Which part? The giant centipedes are the only ones that can cut through my—”

“No, not that part. The other part!”

“Where can we find them?”

“Yes.”

“What’s so unbelievable about that?”

“The giant centipedes you are referring to, are called Ekars. They are only found in the deepest and darkest pits of chasms or ravines.”

Henry arched an eyebrow. He distinctly remembered encountering one or two under broad daylight but he didn’t correct her and decided to let her finish.

“Their claws can slice through the toughest metal. They can even slice through your skin. Not to mention, they are faster than their sizes would suggest. They live in groups, some thousands of them. I hope you realise how absurd your request is.”

“Well… if you put it like that, my question does sound absurd.”

“It’s no different than disturbing a hornet’s nest.”

“...But is there an Ekar nest nearby?”

Alani frowned. “No. There is not.”

“Ah… Well, that’s too bad. Perhaps we will encounter one on our way.”

“I hope not.”

“Come on. Let us continue our journey,” Henry said and took Alani and Rayne into his arms.

“Umm…. what are you doing?” Alani asked.

Rayne was too busy suppressing her memories from last night to give any comment. She had tried her damndest to rid it from her mind but Henry’s touch had brought them back.

“I’m going to fly?”

“But aren’t you worried about being seen?”

“Too late for that. Also, we might encounter more opposition if we continue to take our time.”

“Speaking of opposition, there’s one coming to us,” Rayne said.

“The Braveheart party…”

“Damn it,” Henry tutted. He sighed and let the two off from his arms. He strode in the direction of where the Braveheart party was coming from.

“Henry, what are you doing?” Alani asked, chasing after Henry. It was the same question just seconds before but the words were heavy this time.

“I am going to tell them to lay it off.”

“Meaning?”

“Leave me alone or else.”

“You’re going to hurt them?”

“If it comes to that. I can’t afford to be lenient anymore now that Vishara has a track on us.”

The path led them into the woods where the vegetation was dense, before spreading into a forked road with clear paths. On the right, the Braveheart party was marching down the path. Their pace and gait could only be described as such due to the stiffness in their movements. When they saw Henry approaching, they stiffened completely.

The boy, who was the leader of the party, signalled for his companions to be ready for combat. They assumed their positions and stances just as Henry got within a few yards from them.

“You have stalked me long enough,” Henry said. He made no attempt to hide his displeasure. “Why?” he asked.

“I saw you…”

“And what did you see?”

“You were flying… You had wings. You were fighting that giant bird. And you… spat out air.”

Henry chuckled. “Good thing that you become a hunter instead of a bard.”

The boy put his hand on his sword as his face twisted in anger. “Mock me all you want. I said only the truth.”

“You have yet to say anything, boy. Let us be all honest here. Tell me, why are you following me?”

“...To make sure that my instincts aren’t wrong.”

“And what are your instincts telling you?”

“You’re dangerous. You are a threat to this world.”

“Are you sure that’s your instincts and not the divine watching over you?”

The boy didn’t seem surprised. “She’s never wrong.”

“Perhaps. But I’m only a danger and a threat to those who wish to harm me or my loved ones.”

“You’re not a human.”

Henry groaned with a sigh. “So what if I’m not a human? What does that have to do with our conversation?”

“Why do you pretend to be one? If you’re not a threat, then why hide your true identity?”

“Because if I don’t, people like you will give me a reason to become a threat.”

The boy drew his sword. “So you confessed that you’re evil.”

Henry groaned even louder and buried his face in his palm. “How did you even arrive at that conclusion? Are you the kind of people who hears only what they want to hear?”

“Enough,” the boy shouted. “I will not just stand by and have my intelligence questioned!”

“Suppose that you have intelligence in the first place.”

The boy’s face contorted into a grimace. Though he drew his sword, his companions only looked on anxiously. Reluctance was clearly written on each of their faces.

Alani tugged on Henry’s sleeves. “Henry, this won’t—”

“Don’t. Just don’t.” He shook his head. “I had enough. Words won’t get through to people like this. They do not care about the truth. They cared only about the narrative that suits their convenience.”

“I can hear you!” the boy screamed as he stepped forward. His companions appeared to be against his decisions but none had the guts to stop him.

Seeing such a sight, Henry could only scoff in his head. “At least, he’s not involving his companions.”

“Are you not going to fight after all that talk!?”

Henry suppressed a sigh and stepped forward. “Since I’m short on time, I’ll make this quick. I am going to make sure that you will not be able to keep following me.”

“Die, monster!” the boy cried as he lunged with his sword raised.

Henry lazily raised his hand and splayed open his palm, letting the sword swing into his hand.

However, the boy changed his trajectory. He stopped to redirect his momentum before swinging his sword horizontally.

“Fast,” Alani gasped in a whisper but Henry caught it.

“Is it fast?” he wondered. In his eyes, the swing seemed to be trudging, as if something was weighing down the boy’s movements. Even though he wouldn’t get cut, Henry chose to dodge the blade as it would still hurt.

“What?” the boy exclaimed upon seeing his attack miss. Gritting his teeth, he thrust forward but his blade was not even close to grazing Henry’s skin.

“Slow.”

The boy yelled incoherently. A burst of aura enveloped him. He lunged at Henry again with twice the speed from before. Still, his blade didn’t come close to touching Henry.

“Well, this is disappointing,” Henry remarked inwardly. He had not gone on the offence due to him being cautious as he didn’t have much experience in fighting humans. He was also curious about the boy’s ability considering this reputation but all he discovered was disappointment. The boy was certainly faster and stronger than Alani but it couldn’t be compared to Ulrum’s standards.

After missing his attacks repeatedly, the boy began throwing aura projectiles produced by his swings.

Henry simply put up a translucent barrier and it absorbed all of the aura projectiles.

“Impossible! Not even an Earth Drake could come out unscathed from my Aura Blades. How is your barrier still standing?!”

Henry was starting to feel sorry for the boy. This simple and short fight alone made Henry realise even more about the gap between his strength and others.

“Damn it! Don’t think this will discourage me! I will not surrender!”

Henry raised an eyebrow. “What deluded nonsense is this boy spouting now?”

“Monster, I will fell you today if it’s the last thing that I—”

The boy’s words were left unfinished as Rayne appeared out of nowhere and drove her foot into his face, instantly knocking him unconscious.

“Josh!” shouted the boy’s companions as they all rushed over to him immediately after seeing him getting knocked out.

“Rayne, what are you doing?”

“Enough of this farce, Master. We have a problem.”

Only then did Henry feel the group of presence approaching them at a great speed. The blood scent in the air made the faction of the unknown group all too apparent. “She’s quick, I’ll give her that.”