Chapter 48

Chapter 48

Rustle.

Four sets of footsteps moved outside the cabin.

Two in front.

One on each side.

Nobody behind.

So they didn't come here knowing exactly where I was.

They had probably been searching separately...

Then found signs that someone had come this way.

Once they confirmed Theron was inside...

The others would gather here.

"..."

Theron crouched beneath the window and held his breath.

The fireplace burned brightly.

His wet clothes lay carelessly on the floor.

From outside...

It would look as though the person inside was resting without any idea of the danger.

But the pursuers did not rush inside carelessly.

Creeeak.

The window moved slightly.

Someone was pushing the tip of a blade through the gap to lift the latch.

They're trained.

Ordinary thieves or hunters would have kicked down the door first.

Theron glanced at the sword in his hand.

It belonged to an instructor from Hell Island.

A little too long and heavy for his current body.

With his previous body...

He could have handled it like a branch.

Now...

Several heavy swings would already strain his arm.

He could not fight head-on.

Theron picked up the blanket from the floor.

Then carefully placed it over the old chair beside the fireplace.

Seen through the dark window...

It would look like someone crouching there.

Creeeak.

The latch finally lifted.

The window opened slightly.

A man wearing black cloth over his face peered inside.

His eyes moved toward the blanket.

At that moment...

SWISH!

A thin needle flew through the opening.

Thud!

It pierced the blanket and buried itself in the chair.

Theron's eyes cooled.

Poison needle.

They likely wanted to capture him alive.

So it was probably coated with sleeping poison or paralytic poison.

A moment later...

"We're going in."

A quiet voice came from outside.

The man at the door slowly grabbed the handle.

Creeeak.

The door opened.

A man in black entered.

He held a short sword in one hand...

And rope in the other.

He approached the blanket.

Creak. Creak.

Each step made the cabin floor complain.

Tension filled the room.

Then...

When he reached the back of the chair...

Tap!

Theron moved.

THUD!

His foot struck the back of the man's knee.

"Ghk!"

The man's leg folded.

At the same time...

Theron's sword pierced his neck.

STAB!

"Gugh..."

The man's eyes widened.

His body trembled.

Theron twisted the sword free.

Then shoved the collapsing body toward the door.

BOOM!

"What happened?!"

The man outside instinctively looked through the doorway.

That instant...

Theron kicked over the brazier beside the fireplace.

CRASH!

Red-hot coals and ash exploded through the doorway.

"Aaaaagh!"

The man screamed as burning ash covered his face.

Theron jumped over the corpse and shot outside.

His sword stabbed upward beneath the staggering man's jaw.

SLASH!

The blade passed through the inside of his mouth and buried itself deep into his head.

Two.

But there was no time to rest.

SWISH!

A sword came from the right.

Theron leaned back.

The blade passed directly in front of his nose...

Cutting several strands of hair.

Another man rushed in from the opposite side.

Professionals.

Most men would curse or shout after watching their comrades die.

But these men counterattacked immediately and silently despite the surprise.

Theron quickly examined them.

Both around Two-Star.

They were clearly skilled at tracking and assassination.

But their cultivation was not high.

Theron immediately moved toward the fireplace.

Inside the narrow cabin...

A chaotic close-range fight favored him more than open ground.

The moment Theron moved...

"Catch him!"

Both men rushed inside.

Theron looked at the one charging first.

SWISH!

He grabbed the leather water pouch from the floor and threw it.

THUD!

The man instinctively swung his sword.

The leather pouch split.

Water exploded everywhere.

HISSSSS!

The water struck the heated fireplace.

Hot steam burst upward.

"Ghk!"

The man's sight disappeared behind the steam.

At that moment...

Theron's body lowered.

HUMMMMM!

Mana moved violently through his body.

Then...

Slip.

Using Wandering Wind...

Theron surged through the steam.

"W-What?!"

His movement was completely different from the slower motions he had shown before.

The man hurriedly raised his sword.

But before he could cut Theron...

STAB!

"Argh!"

Theron's blade entered his side and drove upward.

Between the ribs.

The shortest path to the heart.

Blood poured from the man's mouth.

"Y-You little..."

He died before finishing.

"You damn brat!"

The last man lost control and swung furiously.

CRASH!

His sword struck only the floor.

Theron had rolled forward beneath it.

Grab.

He snatched the dead man's dagger from the ground.

Then slashed the attacker's calf.

Inside the dark cabin...

Illuminated only by faint moonlight...

The man could not follow Theron's movement.

SLASH!

"Argh!"

Blood sprayed from the deeply cut artery.

The man stumbled backward, desperately covering the wound.

Theron did not chase.

With an injury like that...

He was not going anywhere quickly.

Sure enough...

The man barely made it a few steps outside before falling to one knee.

"W-Wait..."

Theron slowly approached from behind.

"Do you even know who we are?"

"I don't need to."

"If you kill us..."

"You won't get away with it."

Theron stared at him.

"Whether I kill you or not, nothing changes, does it?"

He grabbed the man's hair.

"Who sent you?"

The man remained silent.

Without hesitation...

Theron pushed the dagger into his wounded calf.

"Aaaaaagh!"

Theron's voice stayed quiet.

"I'll ask one last time."

Cold enough that it hardly sounded like the voice of a twelve-year-old.

"Who sent you?"

"T-The port administration office..."

"Did Kren's order already arrive?"

The man's eyes shook.

That reaction was enough.

A carrier pigeon from Hell Island had already reached the coastal administration office.

Trackers operating nearby had immediately been mobilized.

"What about the others?"

"They're searching the coast..."

"And the villages..."

"How many?"

"I don't know."

"Our only order was..."

"To capture the trainees who escaped Hell Island..."

Theron frowned.

That meant trackers were already spread everywhere.

"...How do you signal when you find one of us?"

"A flare..."

The man pointed toward a small signal flare hanging from his belt.

Inject mana.

Pull the trigger.

A flare would shoot into the sky.

Theron nodded.

"Thanks."

"W-Wait!"

"I told you everything!"

"So..."

STAB!

The dagger entered his throat.

Theron searched the corpse.

A pouch of silver coins.

Dried food.

A map of the coastal region.

A small compass.

A case of poison needles.

Several bottles of medicine.

He would have liked to take the clothes and shoes too...

But they were too large for him.

This is already a good haul.

The money and map were especially valuable.

Theron attached the man's bag to his waist.

Then looked at the flare.

If pursuers had appeared this quickly...

The island must have sent an emergency carrier pigeon immediately after their escape.

The others are in danger.

Theron clenched his jaw.

They had not risked everything just to die here.

"...Haaah."

He exhaled deeply.

The others needed more time to get away.

Having made his decision...

Theron ran back toward the cabin.

Then...

FWOOSH!

He set it on fire.

He tightly gripped the flare.

If doing this could increase even slightly the chances of the others surviving...

FWEEEEEEET!

The signal flare shot into the sky.

Then Theron began running deeper into the forest.

"All of you..."

"Survive."

FWOOSH.

The burning cabin stained the night sky red.

More than ten shadows rapidly gathered beneath its light.

"The signal came from here."

The man at the front raised his hand.

Everyone stopped.

A middle-aged man with a scar running across his face.

The captain responsible for commanding trackers in the coastal region.

"Spread out."

His subordinates scattered around the burning cabin.

Reports soon came from several places.

"Corpse here!"

"Another one here!"

"There seem to be two more burning inside the cabin!"

The captain's eyes narrowed.

Four dead.

One full search team assigned to this region had been wiped out.

He knelt beside the corpse whose throat had been pierced.

"..."

The wound was decisive.

The attacker had gone straight for a vital point.

No unnecessary cuts.

No hesitation.

These men had not died after a desperate struggle.

They had been hunted from beginning to end.

They said the targets were trainees.

He already knew they were unusual children.

Even so...

They were still only twelve or thirteen.

Everyone had considered this job easy money.

Yet one of those children...

Had slaughtered four trained trackers.

"Captain."

One subordinate searched a corpse.

"The signal flares are missing."

"All of theirs."

The captain's gaze turned cold.

The dead trackers had not fired that signal.

The child who killed them...

Had taken their flare and fired it into the sky himself.

He had deliberately called his pursuers here.

He even set the cabin on fire.

There was no better beacon in the darkness.

The boy who should have been running...

Was waving toward them instead.

Then another subordinate ran back from the edge of the forest.

"Tracks continue this way."

He pointed deeper into the woods.

South.

The footprints were clearly visible.

No attempt had been made to hide them.

Follow me.

That was what they said.

The captain slowly stood.

Then glared into the darkness.

"Pursue him."

Cocky little brat.

He knew the boy was provoking and luring them.

It did not matter.

Whatever the trick...

All he had to do was catch the brat and force him to kneel.

He intended to collect the price of his four dead men from the boy's limbs.

"Take him alive."

"Breaking his arms and legs is fine."

"Yes!"

At his command...

More than ten shadows rushed into the forest.