The visible stalemate lasted for a while. The two main sides faced each other, neither of them making any move.

At one end, a literal whirlwind of energy, with an ancient being standing at its center. Its golden eyes were brimming with a glorious luster, its light shining brightly under the dark shadows provided by the canopy of nearby trees.

Opposite of him, a strange, mysterious creature, once humanoid, now more of a hulking abomination of grotesque masses of muscle thrown together. An oversized head that though was still trapped inside the black leather sack, was stretched to its brim, showing its similarly hideous festering blister-covered head.

An ominous, eerie presence, a dreadful power was radiating from it. It was an abominable monstrous entity, a forbidden taboo that went against the very laws of life and nature. Its mere presence in the real world would most likely earn the wrath of the heavens and would be relentlessly struck until there would be nothing but ashes remaining.

Surrounding the draconic presence, 5 similarly-looking hulks were standing ready. Each looking almost exactly identical to the other, with a slightly lower level of power and energy pulsating from their monstrous, flesh heap frames.

Suddenly, as the seconds passed with tense silence, the surging storm at the center of the sprung trap made its move.

One moment he was standing still and fiercely gazing at the leader. A low-toned, guttural, deep, throat-filled growl was the only noise that could be heard. However, in the next instant, the boy's figure blurred and vanished.

Its vibrant, bright-colored clothing left a pale yellow and white mixture streak that swooshed towards the right side, aiming at one of the hulks standing guard. The flash was way too sudden and fast for any meaningful reaction or counter to be made.

Before the second passed, the streak have already collided with the creature, and without losing its momentum passed through it. It was as if there was nothing standing in the light streak's way at all, it phased through him with obvious, clear ease.

The streak didn't slow down, before any reaction could have been made, it was already far away. Going after it would have been a futile endeavor, which the leader and the rest of his team had clearly recognized. They could only look at the swiftly fading glimmering presence as it gradually shrunk as it got further and further away.

Their shocked silence, however, only lasted for an additional few seconds. Suddenly, their brethren, that had to suffer through the surprisingly agile boy's escape have suddenly groaned with a painful, bloodcurdling tone, and with a loud thud fell face first down on the ground.

As if his body just reacted to the fatal damage, a fountain of its dark oily blood sprinkled into the air with great volumes. By the time his mates and his leader got over to his lifeless body, a sizable pool of its blood covered him.

A shock-filled, muffled gasp escaped from under the leader's leather head sack as he looked at the body of his now-deceased team member. Though the action was very fast, barely taking a fraction of an instant, he did notice that inside the whirling tornado that surrounded the boy, he did reach out with his right hand. His fingers were contorted into a grabbing posture, the tip of his golden-colored fingers ended with sharp ebony claws.

Though he missed the action, now looking at the gaping hole that was left at the center of the deceased, he instantly understood what happened, which made him frown at the sight.

He realized that even with all the planning they have made, all the schemes they had already prepared with their boss, they have vastly underestimated the boy's strength. What should have been impossible just happened.

The boy actually killed one of them with one swift, sudden and decisive move. Even worse, he directly tore out the heart and the artificial core the master have injected into them.

This was something that he did not understand. Why would he need those? Does the boy intend to study it? The master has never mentioned any ability or skill that would be helpful in this scenario.

Or maybe, he just wanted to make sure that he would kill that man?

Thinking about it, the leader was more inclined to the latter of the ideas. He thought that it was probably just a sudden action made during a heated moment. A random action, that through the stroke of luck hit just at the only point that would make them instantly lose their terrifying abilities!

Coming to this conclusion, the leader snarled with a mixture of annoyance and anger as he turned his head towards the west where the boy had escaped to. A faint red glow escaped through the threading of the sack as its cold, penetrating gaze lingered at the direction.

Though the boy has won today, and has managed to escape with his life intact, their little game, this hunt is still just started. Who knows how this will end, and who will be the ultimate victor at the end?

Keeping his gaze on the distance for a while longer, he roared, mumbling something that would be seemingly unintelligible to most. Surprisingly, the rest of the group seemed to understand the command and surrounded their dead brethren's bodies in the next moment. With the leader taking the helm, they suddenly crouched down and with a feverish, disgusting hunger began to tear into the dead body to munch and gobble up its flesh, organs, and bones as well..

—

Meanwhile, somewhere southwest towards their direction, Aiden was resting under the shadow of a giant oakwood tree. Its trunk was so humongous, so towering, so wide that it could actually house a small family from the slums of the city.

Its roots have gone deep into the core of this realm. Most likely through the centuries of its existence, it has sucked even the ground around it away, causing that some of its body that was underground to be unveiled.

Its huge, wide roots have created a small little cover, a wooden 'cave', a hole so to speak, that could easily house the lean frame of Aiden.

His brazen escape has actually eaten away a considerable amount of his reserves. Enhanced with his Mystic Martial Arts, Aiden pooled everything he had at that moment towards his escape, enhancing his speed to newfound heights. historical

Though this way his speed has gained an unimaginable boost for a short while, the downside was that it actually consumed way too much of his energy, making him unable to keep the pace up for more than half a minute.

Still, in roughly 30 seconds, he covered a large amount of ground and created a good enough distance between him and those monstrosities. Even if he was still somewhere deep in this seemingly endless dark forest, there were now at least several miles between them.

He only needed a bit of rest and some safe place to recuperate the lost energy and also to take a look at his newly gained loot..

---

AN: Hey there Readers!

Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods!

For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation!

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/shaele