Breathing heavily, Liohime Kitagami never stopped running.

He had escaped from the Killcount camp, and was now heading in a direction that he was not even sure of.

Why? Why? Why? Why the fuck is all of this happening!? he screamed internally, gnashing his teeth with annoyance as he sped further and further away.

He was now definitely wanted by several people who knew this place inside out like it was the back of their hands. Unlike them, he had absolutely no clue where he was going, only hoping to keep advancing forward until he found himself at the outer edge of the forest in order to get a glimpse of where he was currently at.

However, this wouldn't be so easy.

He was now at the heavy risk of encountering several rogue Magical Beasts, all with an intent to kill. Like Kaza said, they were most likely influenced by Kinen, who remained in its shell in the third layer.

Although they did not roam as much as the other areas in the second layer due to the civilization of both the Killcounts and the Dalquestis, he still needed to be on high alert, relying on both himself and his partner, Shihon.

Despite the wound of his left palm now slowly beginning to regenerate, he could tell that its healing rate was much slower that Shihon's, and he currently could not use the variety of her power now that he had temporarily received her magical powers.

Shihon could use magical energy beams, a flower-like tail with petal bullets, many forms of vines with only the snap of her finger, punches with infused magical energy, and more.

All Liohime could manage so far while using her power was vine spikes and walls, as well as a grappling, restraining move that he used on the watchtower guards in the first layer.

Still, despite all of these setbacks, he just could not give up now. He was closer than ever to the third layer, as part of a selected few who made it to the shortest distance there. All he had to do was find the Waterfall of Hell.

Nevertheless,what Kaza, the leader of the Killcount camp, said still stuck with him.

((

Men, women, hell, even children born here perished, and it took a good while until we were able to come together and rise up to counterattack while still fearing for our lives. But now, with Kanshido back, then we could….we could…."

))

He winced, trying to shake off those thoughts, but they wouldn't stop.

((

"I-I'm sorry, Liohime. It's just….it's just been really hard, fighting to survive here for nearly my entire life. I'm almost thirty now. Me and my people have remained here for so long that we don't even trust venturing to the surface to see the outside world, not when there's a chance that Kinen could also be taken away. I need to keep my people safe and ensure that I live a long life."

))

He stopped running, and took some time to catch his breath, gazing downwards.

In the end, I'm practically going to hurt them all with this mission, aren't I?

He certainly had a mission to finish, and he was still somewhat confident in wanting to get it done with the monetary reward in his sights, but…

It's going to negatively impact everyone who lives here.

He couldn't call it a dilemma just yet, but it certainly did make him think a bit more deeply on the matter.

He could certainly imagine lives being lost due to Shihon's absence. What would happen if Kinen were to be retrieved, though?

Liohime wiped the sweat off of his brows and proceeded to lightly jog forward.

Maybe Kinen also has a secret benefit to this vast land that Kaza didn't mention…wait, why am I so into morality all of a sudden?

He pursed his lips.

Liohime was a Shinigami Soldier, a member of an underground, secret criminal organization.

He was a criminal. Morality was out of the window here. He had a job in front of him, and he had to get that job done, no matter what.

Therefore…

That's enough of that. I need to keep going.

…Liohime Kitagami would keep running ahead towards his goal.

All of a sudden, he stopped once again, but this time, he tried to listen out for something that he thought had caught his ear.

With nothing but silence present, he slowly scanned the area around him, glancing over at the towering trees and the lush bushes.

….Huh.

He returned to a mild jog, hoping to make as little noise as possible.

And that's when he heard it.

He instantly went back to a standstill, and warily looked behind.

Liohime was almost positive that he heard footsteps.

Shit. Someone's stalking me.

His heart rate increased as he weighed his options on either fighting or fleeing, but he hastily decided that the latter was the better choice. There was a chance that this could be an ambush by many people, after all.

Thus, he decided that if he had heard more shuffling noises, he would break into top speed.

Wait, actually, I've been so stressed out that I haven't used Shihon as a method of transport. I'm so stupid.

Realizing that Shihon could be a faster way to escape, he decided to summon her-

--Then, a whistle.

A shrill whistle was blown several feet away, and he quickly turned to that direction, perfectly lured into the bait.

A whizzing sound through the air was the only thing Liohime could hear before something that felt like an oversized needle of iron stabbed through his left shoulder, cracking through muscle and bone without delay.

The recoil of the impact pulverized Liohime, sending him backwards with blazing speed as the back of his body slammed into the base of a nearby tree, almost knocking him out in one hit if not for the tremendous pain that followed.

--Liohime Kitagami had been stalked and sniped with an arrow from an unknown attacker.

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