“Fascinating. Let's see if you are worthy of being my next master.”

 

RE:volt! Chapter 48: Hunted

 

“Ughk!”

“Damn it!” Ark spat, removing his sword from the chest of a black-clad rider and kicking off the deerling. Ark spun mid-air, slashing the throat of the nearest rider to him as cries denoting his location broke out.

“He’s over here!”

“Get him!” 

 

Bastards! What the hell do you want with me?! Ark screamed internally before raising his hand and unleashing a smokebomb spell from his SPELLBOOK.

 

“What?!”

“Where’d all this smoke come from!?”

“I can’t see! We nee-”

 

Liberation Series Form One Burst Step!

Flying through the smoke, Ark slashed an unarmored man’s throat, ending his sentence before spinning his body to plant his feet on the trunk of a tree, kicking off it with enough force the bark cracked and sent Ark flying, shooting back into the smoke from above where he cut down another deerling rider before they could react.  

[Kill Quest Completed!]

[Exterminate Monsters: 30/30]

[SPELLBOOK FEATURE UNLOCKED: Spell Recovery(Killing enough monsters will recharge a spell use.]

[Quest Log Updated!]

[Recover Spells Three Times: 0/3]

 

Distracted by the blue box suddenly filling his vision, Ark failed to land a killing blow on the last deerling rider who escaped the smoke. His blade slashed too shallow, nicking the warrior on the abdomen and allowing the rider to counterattack with his spear, splitting Ark’s cheek and drawing blood

Suddenly the deerling raised itself on its hind legs, the rider attempting to flatten Ark using the large and muscular hooves of his mount. 

Ark wouldn’t allow that, he backstepped, dodging the massive stomp of the creature and flinging his sword, the weapon burying itself into the chest of the rider who was caught off guard by a teen willing to lose his weapon to land a decisive blow.

“Damn… bas… tards…” Ark huffed, wiping his brow and catching his breath as the rider fell off his mount with a thud. 

Since entering the woods Ark had begun to be pursued, the black clad raiders hunting him down in the woods with this latest batch of riders bringing his kill count to thirty-one. Nineteen lives total he’d taken today.

With the coast clear, Ark grabbed the reins of a nearby deerling, a brown and muscular four-legged furry creature that resembled a horse but one that sported white spots on its hind and no mane. Ark didn’t particularly like riding, but right now he was exhausted, the continuous use of the Liberation Series Burst Step technique making his ankles pop and his legs jittery.

Ark walked over and retrieved his bloody sword from the chest of the raider before he crouched low and reached down, removing the face wear of the rider. 

 

Blank. 

 

That was all Ark could see as he undid the wrappings. The man had no face. No eyes, no mouth, no nose. All telltale signs of who he was and what he looked liked were wiped away, leaving no traces behind besides a smooth slab of rounded skin. 

Same as the rest. Ark grimaced. He had tried keeping a couple of others alive, but the moment he undid their face wrappings, his prisoners expired.

Interesting. Irelix said, commenting once more without elaborating. 

“You want to be helpful or are you just going to sit in the back of my mind commenting interesting and fascinating over and over again?” Ark asked in annoyance as he frisked the body, looking for anything of use. However, just like the others, the man possessed nothing. 

Very interesting. Irelix replied, making Ark close his eyes and sigh before mounting the deerling and doubling back to where he left Seventeen and Ninety-Nine.

“It's safe! Come out.” Ark yelled into the darkness, summoning Ninety-Nine who approached from out of nearby shrubbery. 

“Boy, you’re limping.” Ninety-Nine said, the man eyeing Ark leading a deerling behind him.

“You’re one to talk.” Ark replied, the old man limping towards him with a slight hunch and a dagger in his hand. “Is Seventeen awake yet?”

“No, the brat could sleep through a tornado.” Ninety-Nine said, gesturing towards the girl curled up with leaves placed on top of her as a form of camouflage. “You need to rest.”

“No. Not until we’re clear.” Ark said, brushing past Ninety-Nine to pick up the sleeping teen. “Do you know how to ride?”

“Of course.” Ninety-Nine said. “Every half-wit with a brain knows how.”

“Good, then take Ninety-Nine and get to the river.” Ark said, lifting the girl in the maid dress and placing her on the back of the deerling.

“...What?” 

“You heard me.” Ark replied.

“You must be have hit your head too hard if-”

“I’m not asking. I’m telling you to go.” Ark said before he shifted his gaze out into the distance. He could feel it, that wet blanket feeling that caressed his skin, the reason the raiders had been able to find him. 

 

Someone was tracking him.

 

If Ark had to guess, it was that mysterious butler, the man obviously a mana user judging from his movements and skill.

“Boy, don’t try and bite off more than you can chew. It’s best we hurry while we can.” Ninety-Nine argued, placing a hand on Ark’s shoulder.

“Sorry. But I can’t. Someone is tracking me using a spell.” Ark replied, his gaze scanning the treetops and the horizon.

 “What? Who would want to track a runt like you?” Ninety-Nine asked, his eyes wide.

“I don’t know. It's not safe for anyone until I eliminate the tracker.” Ark replied, letting out a breath that seemed to sap his energy. Ark could feel his chest aching, his muscles constricting as his heart pounded in his ear. If he had tried to do any of what he was doing now in his previous life, at this same age, Ark would have already dropped dead. 

“Loyd. You’re running yourself ragged. Best we gain distance, gather our strength, and try a different approach.” 

“No.” Ark said. Soon he’d be out of commission. It had to be now. Ninety-Nine was just an old man, bogged down with carrying an unconscious girl. He wouldn’t stand a chance against an armed raider with Ark in tow too. 

In the deep recesses of Ark’s mind, he could feel Irelix’s disdain, the dragon woefully unhappy with Ark’s decision.

“Just get to the river.” Ark said as his ears twitched, his eyes picking up movement in the treeline. 

Ninety-Nine perked up, the man unable to see the assailants with the darkness, but he could feel them. Like prey being stalked, every hair on the old man’s body stood on end. 

“A-a-alright. But you best come out of this alive brat!” Ninety-Nine said before mounting the deerling, grabbing its reins and taking off as a man wearing a butler’s uniform with glowing purple eyes stepped out of the darkness with a wicked smile on his face.

Shit.