Chapter 231: 015: Pursuit and Chase

At the same time, in another area of this forest, a crisis was quietly unfolding under the cover of night.

The night was deep, and the wind howled eerily.

In the center of a clearing, bloodied corpses lay strewn about, and Lilith and Harak stood in the middle of the grass. Harak blocked Lilith behind him, shielding her.

Surrounding the two were more than twenty men with fierce, murderous expressions. They wielded axes and scythe-like blades in their hands, and both sides were caught in a fierce battle.

This was a notorious gang known as the Blood Alliance, active in Lorent. On the surface, they seemed to operate as mercenaries and bodyguards, but in truth, they were involved in heinous activities such as robbery and human trafficking.

Not long after leaving the Lion Heart Capital, Lilith and Harak encountered this band of thugs. To be precise, they had been targeted while still in the city.

Armor and weapons were extraordinarily expensive, and Lilith’s full-body armor was clearly the kind of premium equipment only the wealthy could afford. Her presence on the arena stage had already made various factions thoroughly investigate her identity and origins.

Two young outsiders, carrying vast wealth, with no connections in Lorent—what else could they be if not ideal prey?

Though Lilith showcased exceptional swordsmanship on the arena stage, swordsmanship without the backing of true strength was like a tree without roots. Especially once they discovered she was a young woman, she became even less of a concern to them.

The only unexpected factor for these bandits was that Harak, who accompanied Lilith, turned out to possess Knight Level strength. This crucial oversight disrupted their initial assault and caused heavy casualties.

Still, the young knight’s advancement was clearly recent, and the bandits quickly adapted their strategies, stabilizing their offensive line.

“Block him! Don’t let that boy get close!”

“Shoot him dead with arrows!”

“Leave the girl! Damn it, tonight I’m going to deal with her properly!”

“Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!”

The leader’s curses mingled with the sound of arrows slicing through the air, shattering the stillness. A stream of arrows streaked through the darkness, flying swiftly toward Harak at the clearing’s edge.

Harak’s Fighting Spirit flared fully, the silver glow radiating brightly in the dark night.

However, there were simply too many enemies, and their coordination was skilled, their battle experience plentiful—they knew better than to confront him head-on, instead opting to fire arrows from concealed positions.

He had to simultaneously fight his attackers, guard against hidden arrows, and protect Lilith. Even though Harak was giving his all, at this moment he was visibly struggling.

His Fighting Spirit drained rapidly. Within moments, several arrows had pierced his body, and blood splashed, soaking his hair and streaming down his face, turning his entire vision into a scene of crimson.

Harak knew it was impossible to escape unscathed tonight. The only thing he could do now was to protect Lilith while fighting and retreating, praying for a miracle.

Lilith.

This young lady, raised in comfort and shielded from hardship, was now weeping uncontrollably. Only when faced with real danger did she realize how worthless her novice swordsmanship truly was, and she finally grasped the true meaning behind the brief “narrow escape from death” phrases in the knight novels she used to read.

The bloody battlefield in front of her, with corpses falling one after another, was terrifying enough to make Lilith want to cry out loud. But she forcibly held it back, knowing she couldn’t risk distracting Harak.

As the battle dragged on, and Harak’s injuries grew more severe while his Fighting Spirit dimmed further, Lilith found her mental state teetering on the brink of collapse.

No one knew when the tightly-strung thread inside her would snap…

…

“Crack!” The sound of wood snapping echoed in the dead of night, painfully clear, as sparks leaped skyward continuously.

The bonfire burned more fiercely, flames roaring and sweeping through the wooden logs with a rampant intensity that seemed ready to consume the entire world.

A chilling aura suddenly swept across, making Lynch shiver involuntarily.

’What the hell? Did I run into a lunatic?’

’Even for a Second Tier Life, this level of recklessness is absurd. Are they planning to start a war with the Shadow Tower—or, no, with all of the Ancient Ruins?’

Reaching Wizard Level status meant attaining absolute dominance in this land, protected by rules established by the combined Wizard Families. No matter the faction, whether White Wizard or Black Wizard.

Attacking a Wizard recklessly, or even attempting to kill one, was an outright unforgivable atrocity in this land!

His mind racing with questions, Lynch immediately went on high alert, preparing to use the Teleportation Scroll given to him by Wizard Somda to escape at any moment.

The vast world was full of unpredictable dangers, especially in the wizarding profession. Long lifespans often bred madmen and lunatics. Who knew whether he’d be unlucky enough to encounter one?

Fortunately, at this moment, the elder smiled and spoke, “Do not misunderstand. If I truly intended harm, I wouldn’t be sitting here conversing with you.”

Lynch: “…….”

What the hell did you mean by that earlier, then?

A joke?

The elder seemed completely unaware of his own rudeness or, perhaps, didn’t care about the perspective of someone like Lynch, who existed on a lower plane of life.

He casually fed wind elements gathering nearby with Lynch’s wine, while explaining indifferently, “I’m a wizard from the Truth Church. You may call me ’Swordsman’ Philis. I’ve been tasked with hunting down a Black Wizard known as the Fear Reaper.”

The Truth Church, one of the few Five-Ring Wizard Organizations in the Wizard World, was the true ruler of this realm.

After a brief pause, he continued, “That man is evil, reckless, and relentless in pursuing his goals. He has slaughtered multiple Wizard Organizations, wreaked havoc in several Witch Domains, and gravely violated the Supreme Treaty.”

The Supreme Treaty, established by the Supreme Wizard Council comprised of various Witch Domains, formed the foundational rule system governing this world.

All Witch Domain rules derived from this core framework, which represented the highest order sustaining the world’s balance.

Oh.

Lynch finally understood the situation. But what did this have to do with him? How blind must one be to mistake him for a criminal?

Could the culprit have the same face as him?

Were these wind elements blind too?

Seeing Lynch’s confusion, the elder explained, “Your features are remarkably similar, almost identical in age. Both of you emerged from the West Ruins, and both belong to a new generation of wizards.”

“Most importantly…”

The elder raised his hand, pointing at his eyes, and continued, “You both possess an identical pair of eyes.”

“Eyes belonging to the Reaper.”

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