CHAPTER 284: THE CHASE IN THE DESERT NIGHT

Jaren was so stunned that he couldn’t even scream.

His armor crumpled and tore like wet paper, his right ribs shattered, and his internal organs were crushed by the impact.

And yet, he survived, barely avoiding capture.

As long as he was alive, a Master could always rise again and fight.

"Fucking Master!"

Siana cursed, glaring at Jaren as he flew across the sky.

Jaren’s Mana Blade shone like a meteor in the night.

Even after all of that, he still had his wits about him—still capable of fighting.

Despite everything, he had defended himself, albeit narrowly.

Masters were a group of people who only caused trouble and provided no help.

Seid started running towards Carl without caring whether Siana cursed or not.

Siana had just exhausted most of the book’s power with her attack, leaving only the power of the Black Tongue to captivate Archduke Carl. There was truly no turning back now.

If Jaren returned and interfered, it would be over.

They had to catch up with Archduke Carl as soon as possible and make him their slave.

"Stop it!"

"Where are you?!"

The knights rushed to stop Siana, but they could not find her in the arms of Seid, who had turned into a shadow.

The situation became even more ominous as pitch-black darkness had just fallen.

Torches rose here and there, but Shadow Master Seid remained unseen.

"Disband and get moving!"

Carl’s reaction to the commotion was swift.

He ran without stopping and immediately scattered the light cavalry.

The battle was over anyway, and now only Siana remained.

Doo doo doo doo!

The light cavalry split into groups of tens or hundreds, each beginning to run.

Carl immediately discarded the flag and took a new hood from his waistband to cover his head and face.

Hidden among the scattering cavalry, Carl hesitated for a moment before easily concealing himself in the sand and dust of the night desert, moving towards the southeastern part of the battlefield.

Finding Carl among the thousands of cavalry scattering in all directions—like ants pouring out of a trampled anthill—would be nearly impossible.

Usually.

But darkness had no effect on Seid.

He watched Carl’s dimly visible figure beyond the swirling sand dust until the very end. Then, the moment Carl escaped the massive crowd, Seid ran towards him in a single breath.

"Coming."

Before any actual attack or threat was made, Carl sensed the enemy’s presence through his keen intuition.

Carl could now clearly feel that his fate was barely hanging by a thread.

Oddly enough, Carl no longer felt threatened by Siana’s presence.

No, it had felt very threatening just moments ago, but not anymore.

The real threat was not Siana—it was Master Seid, who was protecting her.

There will be no slavery.

Although he didn’t know why, Carl was sure of it.

He considered this intuition to be the greatest of all his powers.

Thanks to it, he had avoided countless deaths up until now.

"Stop it."

Carl’s soft voice carried clearly over the dizzying sound of horse hooves.

Immediately after, the three cavalrymen following him began running in the direction Carl pointed.

Catherine, Billford, and Diline were there to protect Carl in case of an emergency.

"Where...!"

As Billford spoke in an urgent voice, a loud shout came from behind.

"Frontal!"

The moment he heard Carl’s voice, Billford suddenly saw a shadow moving in the darkness with startling clarity.

"Huh!"

He hadn’t noticed it, even though it was right in front of him!

Billford leaped from the saddle in an instant.

Joaaaah!

Boooow!

He planted his feet firmly on the ground, scraping the dirt beneath him, and wildly swung the flagpole in his hand.

Kwajik!

The flagpole caught on something for a moment—then was cut cleanly by the mana blade.

Billford spotted the faint flicker of a mana blade, but instead of backing down, he swung his remaining flagpole.

Puck!

Sreung!

The flagpole in his left hand snapped instantly.

And the sword drawn in his right hand clashed with the mana blade.

Crap!

He poured as much mana into it as he could, but against the mana blade, Billford’s mana-infused sword was nothing more than a rotting piece of wood.

In a direct sword clash, Billford couldn’t even attempt another attack.

When facing a Master’s power, if your sword was being cut by the mana blade, making a wrong move could mean getting sliced in half.

"Hmm!"

Teeing—!

Kwaaang!

Just as Billford’s sword snapped and his body was about to be split in half, Diline cut in from Seid’s right side.

Diline, in his prime, charged forward, circulating mana at full output.

Although he was disguised as a light cavalryman and carried only a short one-handed sword, his demeanor was that of a ferocious bear.

At the same time, on Seid’s left, Catherine rushed forward with brisk, silent steps.

The one or two seconds Billford had bought were enough for the two knights to exploit the opening.

But their opponent was on a different level.

Boooow!

The mana blade, which had been faintly glowing, suddenly erupted with explosive light, slicing through the knights’ swords.

The weapons were abruptly pushed away and shattered.

Despite this, Catherine and Diline still aimed their broken swords at Seid, while Billford pulled out his dagger and lunged at him.

They would protect Carl, even if it meant dying.

Pubbuck!

However, after slashing his sword, Seid spun fiercely and followed up with a kick, sending all three knights flying helplessly.

Ordinary mana users wouldn’t dare to fight against a Master’s overwhelming power.

Before it even came down to skill, the difference between the mana blade and physical ability was simply too vast.

Seid made a sharp turn, kicked off the ground, and soared over Billford’s head, heading straight for Carl.

Billford desperately reached out, swinging his dagger and attempting to grab Seid’s ankle.

Shh...

The tip of the dagger barely grazed Seid’s foot, and his hand grasped only air.

"No!"

Billford, already suffering from a broken arm due to Seid’s kick, let out a pained scream.

Meanwhile, Seid jumped down from his horse and started chasing the fleeing Carl.

Seid quickly scanned the battlefield from his high vantage point before landing on the ground.

When he looked towards Carl’s path, he was surprised to see that Carl was running straight toward Jaren.

How had Carl found Jaren’s location in all this chaos?

Hook!

Seid exhaled sharply and ran with all his might.

For the assassin Seid, a fight against Jaren was somewhat burdensome, and he had already exhausted much of his strength.

On top of that, Carl’s speed was much, much faster than expected.

It was hard to believe he was just an ordinary mana user.

Carl ran with his upper body leaning forward, almost as if he would fall over. He focused solely on sprinting with his bare hands, his arms swinging backward with full force.

Due to the overwhelming angular force, if he ran in a normal posture, his body would lift slightly, slowing him down—so he ran like that.

Even though he wasn’t a Master, he was running like one.

He fled so effortlessly without even looking back.

"Seid! Catch up!"

Siana shouted excitedly as Carl’s back came into view.

Just a little closer, and he would be within range of the Black Tongue’s curse.

Seid calculated the speeds of Jaren and Carl—and to his surprise, he realized it was impossible to catch up in time.

Shhh!

Holding Siana in his left arm, Seid gripped his knife with his mouth, then pulled it out with his right hand and threw it.

The black-finished blade was nearly invisible in the darkness, and the sound was so faint that it could be mistaken for an illusion, even in silence.

The dagger flew like a swallow with the power of a Master and reached Carl.

Kaaaaang!

"What...?"

Seid’s eyes widened.

Even the assassin and Shadow Master Seid, who always remained calm, couldn’t believe what he had just seen.

Carl, still sprinting with his arms and legs outstretched, had turned at the exact moment of contact and struck the dagger aside with his drawn sword!

In this chaotic battlefield, there was no way he could have sensed Seid’s presence.

And yet, he had deflected the dagger thrown from behind with perfect timing and precision!

Carl’s green eyes locked onto Seid’s from across the battlefield.

No, they clashed directly.

Perfectly.

At that moment, Seid realized.

Camilla.

Carl could see through the blurry shadows—shapes no ordinary person should ever perceive.

No.

Seid tried to stop himself, but Siana’s curse kept him running forward.

And in that brief delay—before Jaren could reach him—Carl came within range of the Black Tongue.

Even in his final moments, Seid’s face, which had never changed, twisted in pain.

The face of the daughter he had never been able to embrace flashed before his eyes.

"Carl Feldhardion! Obey me!"

And then, Siana’s triumphant declaration of victory rang out.

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