“MOVE!” Ludwig shouted as he yanked Minerva to the side.
The massive paw of the lion struck down with enough force that the whole lab seemed like it was rattling, the stone made floors caved in and broke apart. Both Ludwig and Minerva were almost blue faced from the sheer power behind that paw.
“Leg it!” Ludwig shouted and pulled Minerva form her hand as they rushed through the Stone Lion’s side.
The creature roared with enough power that Ludwig felt his undead bones rattle.
[As an undead you ignored the fear effect of [Beast Roar]]
Ludwig didn’t like the sound of that. If he was an undead and resisted it… he turned his face to see minerva’s eyes were about to roll back.
“God damn it,” he cursed as he grabbed her and placed her on his shoulder as he began sprinting forward.
The lion turned and began running after them, easily covering the distance that Ludwig painstakingly made.
At one point, the corridor he was in had a sideway entrance, the labyrinth hosted several passages, that Ludwig didn’t hesitate to take.
The sudden change of direction was too much for the lion to react to, and as it tried to stop, it slid across the ground, clawing at the floor that tore apart with utter ease, making the lion simply tumble over, and missing the turn.
Ludwig hurried through the corridors, without stopping, albeit with more roars and the loud ground shaking sprint of the lion, which was hot on his heels. That wasn’t his worst worry.
The sound of bells seemed to get closer and closer to him the more he ran.
Just as Ludwig arrived to an open path forward, two students wearing bells noticed him.
“A prey!” One of the students said as he rushed toward Ludwig with a hand extended forward.
“[Bounds of Latvia!]” Ludwig cast.
Instantly, several chains sprang up and wrapped around the closest student.
The other student shouted “It’s you!”
Ludwig realized who he was instantly, it was the same student he made victim of in the forest as he drove several raptors into him.
“Oh, you’re not gonna like this one!” Ludwig said as he flicked his hand instantly toward that student. “Vow of Silence!” Ludwig cast, which instantly broke the other student’s spell, which he had just begun readying.
The student felt helpless as he desperately clawed at the spell binding his mouth, but seeing Ludwig still rushing toward him, all he needed to do was touch Ludwig, so he ran forward to intercept.
Just as he felt close enough to take Ludwig’s beacon, something behind Ludwig burst out of the corridor behind him.
The student’s eyes turned wide as the lion jumped at the closest person to it, the unfortunate student bound by the Chains of Latvia.
The boy had the funniest, ‘Not again’ expression on his face.
Ludwig dodged to the side, easily sidestepping the mute’s hand, and ran forward with as much power as his undead feet could allow.
The bound student was immediately struck down with a vicious paw that instantly created a bubble around him and transported him to the waiting zone.
The mute student had no intention of staying there any longer as he turned tail and began running after Ludwig.
He realized that he couldn’t outrun this lion, but if he touched Ludwig, he would take his beacon and will be transported somewhere else.
So he ran, and ran, and ran?
But why wasn’t he able to catch up, the student thought? His mind reeling as the lion was closing up on them incredibly fast.
Why is the student in front of him, albeit carrying another person, creating more and more distance?
Sadly, he never got the answer to that question as the lion caught up to him, swatting him with a single paw to the nearest wall. The student was immediately transported to safety and elimination.
The lion, however, remained adamant on going after Ludwig.
“How long have I been out,” Minerva said, and then she realized that she was being carried by Ludwig.
Her face flushed, “Put me down, this is embaras—” it immediately went white when she saw the sprinting Lion behind them. “DON’T PUT ME DOWN!”
Ludwig couldn’t help but laugh at the absurd situation. He turned to the right, making the lion miss again.
“Is this the event you talked about?”
“I didn’t think it would be this serious,” Ludwig said. “But I guess professor Olim really wanted us to try hard. The risk far outweighs any potential reward, unless it’s instant clearing of this event, no one is stupid enough to fight something like that,” Ludwig said as he took several more turns.
Just then, they met one of the students who were with Vini earlier.
“Oh, it’s you guys,” he said but Ludwig didn’t even wait to reply as he flew forward.
“Why are you running?” the student asked, only to notice the ground under him shake.
Unlike the foolish Hunters, who were more focused on chasing prey, this guy was a Prey, so he immediately recognized danger and began sprinting after Ludwig.
“Something is chasing you?” he shouted as he desperately tried to keep up with Ludwig.
“Yep,” Ludwig replied, his breathing steady despite having run for several minutes now.
“I doubt it’s a hunter!” the student said as he huffed and puffed pushing his physique to the limit.
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“Nope,” Ludwig replied as he took a left turn, the guy moved immediately following him.
“Shouldn’t you not follow us!” Minerva said, “Because it just makes us a bigger target!”
“Not a chance!” the boy said, “This guy seems to know what he’s doing, I’m sticking to him!” the boy replied with a wide grin.
“Just keep up,” Ludwig said.
“Why are you helping him?” Minerva said.
Ludwig smiled, “You know, when you’re chased by a pack of wolves, the first rule of survival isn’t being the fastest of your group, it’s to be slightly faster than the slowest one of your group.”
“I heard that!” the boy said.
“Then you better keep running,” Ludwig grinned as the lion kept running after them.
This event, despite all the absurdities, seemed to grow a small smile on Ludwig’s face. Even he didn’t know it, but he was having fun.