CHAPTER 144: CHAPTER 144: PURSUIT

William woke with a deep sigh. The familiar ceiling of the dormitory in the nightmare world loomed above him, dark and silent. His body was completely bandaged; he could barely move his neck, while his whole body burned from the ointments that had been applied.

Remembering his state was what motivated him to endure and not give up. He had lost half his skin, been stabbed more times than he could count, and most of his bones were broken; on the verge of death, only revenge motivated him.

As he recalled what had happened, the door burst open.

"What happened to you?!" Little Star shouted, entering with wide eyes. "Are you okay?! You’re all hurt! You look like a corpse!"

William just turned his head slightly and offered a tired smile.

"An accident... but I’ll be fine. Don’t worry."

Little Star frowned, crossing her arms firmly.

"Accident?! I’ve seen you get run through by swords and spears and get hit in training, and you’ve never been completely bandaged! And you call that an accident!"

He raised a bandaged finger.

"Shh... I’m alive, aren’t I? That counts. More importantly, how’s your search going?"

The young girl hesitated for a few seconds, then replied as she sat beside him.

"We’ve asked everyone around here. No one has seen a human like the one I described... but if one does appear, they’ll bring him to me to verify. One of Anubis’s maids always accompanies me, but since he’s not here, we don’t dare go far. They don’t want to cause trouble with the other rulers."

William nodded slowly.

"Alright. You can continue with that... I need to rest a bit."

And with those words, he closed his eyes, falling once more into sleep, while the girl carefully covered him.

Battlefield: Border between the Alliance of the Sacred Spear and Black Rock

"Lia, are you okay?" Dixon asked, frowning as he saw Lia’s depressed face.

She took out her necklace and showed the last message she had received.

"William sent me this. It just said: ’You must survive.’"

"That was all?" Cedric asked. "Sounds like he’s in trouble."

"Maybe he’s hurt," Theo suggested, "but with how strict security is at the academy, there’s no way to help him now; they’d accuse us of desertion, and the director said they’d execute us on the spot."

The five of them were sitting together behind the tents when suddenly the sound of heavy footsteps began to approach.

A tall, fully armored knight and a Level 1 official mage appeared.

"By this decree, Lia, Dixon, Cedric, Thom, and Theo are expelled from Black Rock Academy. You have five minutes to leave this camp or you will be treated as captured traitors," the mage announced loudly.

Having said that, the two turned and walked away without further ado.

Dixon didn’t hesitate.

"Run, now!"

The five left the camp without looking back; they didn’t dare run to their tents to grab their provisions. They ran for a full hour until exhaustion forced them to stop in a clearing with a hollow tree.

"Damn... whatever happened to the boss must be serious, or do you think things are just coincidences?" Cedric muttered, wiping his sweat.

"It doesn’t matter," Thom said. "He probably escaped... it’s William, after all."

"I’ve tried sending him messages," Lia added. "He’s not responding anymore."

"He might have thrown away the necklace," Theo suggested. "He’s very cautious... enough to avoid being tracked."

"It’s almost night, and we have no provisions. There wasn’t time to take anything, and even if we hunt something, it’ll be dangerous to start a fire; we could attract beasts."

"I have provisions. When William found out we were assigned to different battalions, he gave me his storage pouch. He told me it had mana stones, gold, and provisions, so supplies aren’t a problem," Lia said with a melancholy tone as she remembered that William might be in trouble right now.

"As expected of the boss, always cautious. But what do we do? We don’t know where we are," Cedric commented.

They all looked at each other, with blank and resigned faces.

"I do know a bit about geography. William always insisted I study everything, and he made me memorize the library map," Lia said suddenly, surprising everyone as she knelt and drew in the dirt.

"Look. We’re on the border between Black Rock and the Alliance of the Lance of Light. Nearby is the Shadow Forest, an area no one dares to cross. But if we do, we could reach the coast in a month. There are rumors of a kingdom there. If we get there, maybe we can contact William. We could also try to go around the forest by entering Black Rock territory, but that would take us more than 3 months."

"Do you think he’s going that way?" Cedric asked.

"Knowing him... he might stay near the academy to get revenge. Once I asked him what he’d do if he was expelled and hunted by nobles, and he laughed, saying: ’I’d run, and then I’d come back to tear them to pieces one by one,’" Lia replied.

Everyone fell silent. It was exactly something William would say.

"We must move along the outside of the forest. We’ll avoid the dangerous areas. Lia will be in charge of indicating directions and provisions; let’s be careful not to be ambushed."

"Okay, but first everyone give me your necklaces. We mustn’t leave a trace," Theo added as he collected them, burying them under the hollow tree. Then they all began marching towards the Shadow Forest.

After almost three hours of walking among branches and roots, Dixon raised his hand urgently.

"Shh... Quiet!"

They all stopped while hiding in the bushes. In a few seconds, metallic sounds resonated from the direction they had come from. Ten armed knights appeared, approaching rapidly, checking the terrain.

"They followed us...," Dixon murmured, tense.

"They caught us too fast," Theo whispered.

"Now what?" Cedric asked as he instinctively reached for the hilt of his sword.

The five were cornered by the knights who seemed to be looking for them.