A sharp breath of air slipped from Nero's lips.

His eyes darted to the side suddenly as he felt a dark presence cutting the winds to reach him.

A stinger aimed from the cover of night.

CLANG!

The sharp sound of contact.

He grimaced, 'Its hard.'

Still, he was able to shear it right on two with the enchantments of the Silver Blade.

The Night Hornet fell to the ground in two halves, corrosive liquid spilling from its bisected body, hissing as it kissed the dirt.

Nero turned to Lucy,

"What are we going to do?"

Lucy snorted and swung one of her blades.

A shadow that started above her was instantly split in two.

"How the fuck should I know?"

Nero's eyes narrowed, 'She's strong.'

He looked around at the others cutting the black swarm descending on them.

'They are all strong.'

Despite his current volume of Seals of Sin, he was surprised to see that these Hunters could keep up with him. He even suspected a few were even more physically able than he was when he was in his human form, like Fallow and Garrick.

He had no idea how that was possible.

He swung the Silver Blade, slicing through a Night Hornet.

'Asking too many questions might make me look suspicious. Oracle...'

{These humans have been biologically enhanced by various Elixirs}.

Nero raised a brow, 'There are elixirs that can do that?'

Besides the Divine Elixir and the Essence Pill that could facilitate enhanced regeneration, the system had not offered him another type of elixir.

{These elixirs are created through alchemy from divine knowledge gotten from the Fallen Gryghori. However, due to their profane nature, consuming them comes with the risk of potential, rapid mutation, most of them being physical. However in some rare cases, there are cases of spirit mutations and depreciation}.

Nero grimaced, 'That sound... dangerous.'

{That is the reality of the earth. To survive requires bravery and foolishness in equal measures. With death always being in every shadow and turning point, danger is required to survive}.

Nero huffed. He couldn't help his newfound respect for these Hunters. They represented the pinnacle of human stubbornness and unwillingness to give up, from all he had seen so far.

"Everyone, group up!" A yell came from the other side of the fire. It was Garrick.

He yelled out with a frown,

"We can't beat back the swarm. The best we can do is to try throwing them off our tails. With me!"

His greatsword was like a blur of motion as he struck down dozens of Night Hornets from the air.

His eyes were filled with dark light as he picked up a burning branch from the fire pit,

"These things are attracted to heat. We'll throw them off by burning this fucking place to the ground."

The rest quickly grabbed flaming branches from the fire pit and began placing them to the leaves of the trees.

Nero frowned, 'This... Isn't this a bad idea?'

Sure, doing so could throw the Night Hornets off their backs.

But it could also attract the attention of even more terrible dangers from the depths of Malady's Garden.

A bad feeling suddenly settled over his heart.

He felt something terrible lock onto hiim.

He shivered and lifted his gaze.

Garrick's eyes, filled with the amber glow of fire, were trained squarely on him. In their depths, he could see the very ends of the abyss of wicked intentions and greed.

There was no hatred in his eyes. Only a deep-seated lust for his life— killing intent.

Nero trembled.

However, a moment later, the trembling stopped.

He was also surprised. The fear in him had vanished in just a moment.

Perhaps it was because he had seen through him since the beginning.

Or he simply wasn't frightened. After all, the horrors he had had to face. The terrible eyes of the Four Stone Demons...

Even the eyes of the Defiled Cherub.

Those were far more terrifying than anything he had seen in a long time.

In a few seconds, the entire campsite had turned into a boiling immolation.

The buzzing of the Night Hornets turned into a sound closer to screeching as they all began swarming to the flames, dying in the process.

Sweat and spot covering their faces, the humans, with Fallow and Garrick at the lead, began running in the predetermined direction.

They ran for what felt like eternity. Running through the darkness whilst cutting down the persistent Night Hornets that followed after them regardless.

Finally, after running for a while, they stopped.

Garrick huffed deeply then turned around,

"We'll rest here for a whi—"

He frowned.

The silence that drifted through the trees was like the below of a dying beast.

Fallow hunched over and heaved furiously before turning to Garrick.

Noticing the furious expression on his face, Fallow raised a brow,

"What in the seven Hells is it this time?!"

"They are gone."

Fallow grimaced, "What? What the hell are you talking—"

Suddenly, he froze.

His snapped around as his eyes darted around.

Then he spat out a curse,

"Fuck! They decided to run?! Are they idiots or something?!"

He turned to Lily, his eyes cold and filled with murder,

"Did you notice them slip away?"

Lucy snorted and sheathed her blades,

"That's asking rather much of me, don't you think?"

Garrick turned to Obed. Seeing the confused look on his face made him turn his glare away from him.

'Nero. I didn't think you'd have the balls to do it. I underestimated you.'

Not only, Nero, but Aisha and Geor had also vanished.

Fallow huffed then chuckled darkly,

"They couldn't have gotten far. If my guess is right, they must have circled back. I know where they are headed. Let's go we can make it there before then."

Garrick turned to him and shook his head,

"No. I know what this kid is planning."

A dark, dangerous smile appeared on his lips,

"This kid is more cunning than I gave him credit for. It was my mistake. It won't be happening again."

He turned into the darkness and yelled,

"I know you can hear me, Nero."

There was only silence.

Garrick's lips stretched into a sneer,

"You want to play this game or hide and seek? Okay. I'll humor you. I'll humor you real good. It's your funeral."

He turned to Obed and the others,

"Spread out. Whoever finds the kid first will be given three hundred gold coins."

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