CHAPTER 207: CHAPTER 207: BURIED

Lake followed the tracks deep into the eastern woods.

He was only able to barely find it thanks to his advanced senses that picked up their lingering scent heading this way, and only after following it further into the woods did he discover the trail of light footsteps leading further east.

Since the trail started so far away from camp, it made sense why the other hunters weren’t able to find anything.

As for why he didn’t report his finding when the other hunters were around, that was because of the feedback he got when he initially tried to track their position through the Web of Fate.

Of the missing 11 hunters, 8 of their fates had disappeared, signaling their death. The remaining 3 hunters’ fates were still readable up until 6 hours ago, but after that, they became distorted.

Once Lake saw the familiar distorted view, he immediately knew who was behind the incident.

Prestige.

For two days, he’d searched in vain. Now, they’d finally revealed themselves. Thinking of this, Lake’s footsteps sped up in a hurry to arrive at the target location faster.

The wind gathered around him and propelled him forward, yet strangely, even as he ran, no sound or visual disturbances were seen, almost as if he had never run there in the first place.

After half an hour, he arrived at a clearing where the trail had stopped. Lake frowned as he noticed several anomalies in the clearing.

The clearing was fairly wide, with no grass growing on the soil beneath him. The fresh smell of damp earth clung to the air as the ground beneath him sank under his weight as he stepped on it.

Lake took a step back and silently cast a spell that caused the earth beneath him to split apart, revealing the sight buried beneath.

Eight corpses were revealed, dozens of roots wrapping around their bodies and digging into their flesh. Their blood had been completely sucked dry, and their muscles and flesh had shrunk to just a thin layer of skin covering their bones. They looked almost as if they had been mummified.

At that moment, Lake noticed the roots surrounding them squirm as they ripped into more of the hunters’ flesh, as if trying to search for even the smallest drop of moisture.

Lake’s frown deepened at the sight. He knew that the hunters had long been killed, but seeing the state they had been left in caused him to ponder.

’Why would Prestige feed them to the forest?’

He was staring at the corpses when he noticed something strange. Aside from the wounds left on them from the roots, no other physical injuries were visible.

Curious, he cast another two spells—one that cut the roots around a corpse and another to raise it into the air.

Controlling the corpse, he spun it around as he observed it closely.

’There really are no physical wounds or signs of struggle.’

Seeing this, Lake started to doubt whether Prestige had anything to do with this at all.

Did the group of hunters really walk here on their own?

And if they did, why did they bury themselves beneath the earth?

’I guess I should ask him for answers.’

At that point, Lake finally paid attention to the person hiding nearby.

He had noticed him way earlier through his sixth sense but didn’t react immediately.

The man had been watching since Lake arrived and hadn’t made a move yet so Lake didn’t feel the need to expose him before he finished his investigation.

’Hmm, judging by the mana density, a Peak Martial Warrior.’

Lake quickly identified his opponent’s strength as he lowered the corpse back into the pit.

’I’m currently at 90% capacity. It should be enough to deal with him.’

Lake checked his mana reserves, which he was now able to track with greater ease thanks to his seventh sense.

Seeing the hidden warrior maintain his position, Lake decided to force the confrontation. He wouldn’t wait for his enemy to strike first.

Mana coalesced around Lake’s form, condensing into a thick, swirling mist that rapidly expanded through the clearing. Within the obscuring veil, Lake’s figure shimmered briefly before vanishing completely—not just from sight, but from all sensory detection.

The reaction was instantaneous.

BOOM!

The forest shook as the warrior exploded into motion. Where Lake had stood moments before, a crater now yawned in the earth, blasted apart by the sheer force of the attack. The mist dispersed from the shockwave, revealing the hooded man standing at the impact point, longsword in hand. His eyes darted wildly, searching for any sign of his target.

The man had reacted almost instantly once he realized that his position had been revealed. With the speed of a Peak Martial Warrior, his burst speed was enough to break the sound barrier, yet Lake somehow managed to evade his attack.

Spreading his senses, he tried to track Lake’s position but wasn’t finding anything. It was almost as if Lake was never there in the first place.

Just then, a sharp sting pierced his left ankle. The warrior whirled, his blade slicing through the space behind him in a deadly arc. Yet steel met only emptiness, even as an identical pain flared in his right ankle.

"Shit, he threw it..." The realization came too late. The warrior’s legs gave out as he looked down to see two daggers embedded in the ground, their edges wet with his blood. He didn’t have to look to realize what had happened, the searing pain a clear indicator. His opponent had severed his Achilles tendons.

Gritting his teeth, the warrior drove his sword into the earth, using it as support to haul himself upright on his knees. His eyes scanned the clearing desperately, but his attacker remained invisible.

"ARGHH!!"

The man’s shocked scream echoed out as he collapsed forward, his body involuntarily twitching. Foam came out of his mouth as he struggled to turn his head to finally catch a glimpse of Lake, who had just canceled his invisibility spell, lightning still sparking at the tips of his fingers.

Lake looked down with expressionless eyes, the cold gaze of a predator examining its prey. The sight of the warrior’s corrupted fate immediately sending him into a foul mood as he suppressed the rising urge to just kill the man.

Seeing that he was still conscious, Lake placed a foot on the man’s back, sending another jolt of electricity through his nervous system as he began to manually drain him of mana.

"Ah—" The man tried to scream, but the sporadic shocks coursing through his system prevented him from even breathing as all he did was release a breathless gasp.

In seconds, he felt his mana rapidly leaving his body, the paralyzing effect of the shock preventing him from any form of resistance.

Lake continued to drain the mana from him until the mana he had expended was fully replenished. Sensing that the man still had more than half his mana remaining, Lake directed the excess mana into the atmosphere. The entire procedure took under two minutes, leaving the warrior completely depleted.

After removing his foot, he kicked the man over onto his back with a sharp kick.

The warrior glared up at Lake, foam and spit still dribbling from his mouth as he fought to keep from choking. Fear and rage twisted his expression into something wild.

"Prestige, right?"

Lake’s voice was calm, but the warrior’s face darkened instantly at the name.

"Care to explain how those hunters ended up like that?"

The warrior stayed silent, limbs twitching as he struggled to move. His body had mostly recovered from the electric shock, but his empty mana reserves left him even more helpless than before.

Whack!

Lake’s foot snapped forward, cracking against the warrior’s jaw. Foam, blood, and a few teeth sprayed from his mouth.

"There. Now you can talk."

"Y’bitch—"

Whack!

The warrior’s slurred curse was cut short as another kick smashed into his mouth, sending more teeth skittering across the ground.

"You’re running out of teeth. Start talking."

Cough!

The warrior spat out a glob of blood and another tooth, his eyes burning with hate. Still, he said nothing.

Lake raised his foot again—then paused as the warrior suddenly burst into laughter.

"Hahaha! C’mon, fuckface! Kill me!"

Lake frowned at the man’s unhinged response. Then, his foot, still hovering midair, snapped down without hesitation.

Whack!

"Kehahaha!"

The warrior kept laughing, even as blood pooled in his mouth.

Lake rubbed his temple, watching the deranged man. He needed to gather information from him, but it didn’t seem like an easy task. He could try torture, but he felt that it wouldn’t be effective.

’If only I could read his shitty fate.’

Lake’s gaze shifted to the disgusting mess of filth and muck covering the warrior’s fate, preventing his gaze from reading his fate.

As Lake stared at the corrupted fate, his expression suddenly shifted.

"Fine."

"Hahaha—huh?" The warrior’s laughter stuttered to a stop.

"...What?"

"You want death? I’ll give it to you."

Lake flicked his wrist. A hidden blade slid from his sleeve.

The warrior’s grin faltered—just for a second—as he registered the killing intent. But before he could react, the knife punched through his skull, burying itself in his brain.

Instant death. His frozen smile lingered on his lifeless face.

Lake turned his attention to the strand of corrupted fate hovering above the corpse. The blackened energy bubbled, popped, then dissolved into a swirling mist that streaked into the distance—leaving behind only the now purified fate.

He caught it in a net of mana before it could also escape, studying the fragmented memories within.

Distorted glimpses of the warrior’s past flickered through the haze—tainted by the karmic ties of Prestige, but still legible in fragments.

’This’ll take a while.’

Lake sighed knowing he had hours of decoding ahead of him.

Still, at the end of it all, he smiled.

He had finally found a way to gather information on Prestige.