Zephyr flew out of Hanaan with Cyneah. He did not stop even when they were already a hundred kilometers away.
“W-Where are we going?” Cyneah finally asked after remaining silent for some time.
She did not want to be burdened; thus, he refrained from talking after Zephyr assured her of Kyran’s situation.
“As far away as possible,” Zephyr replied.
Truthfully, he was unsure as well. He just wanted to get away from Hanaan. The reason was simple, he was a beast, and once they had a sense of danger, that feeling would remain until they were entirely sure they were safe. Right now, he did not feel safe even after leaving the range of the enemy’s magic arrays. He did not even feel safe even when they were already a hundred kilometers outside of Hanaan. It felt as if danger was still following them.
“T-Then h-how about Nar?” Cyneah asked again.
Zephyr furrowed his brows. He was unsure how to answer that. A few minutes ago, he lost the connection he had with Kyran. To be precise, it had gotten weaker. One thing he was sure of, the weakened state, was not because Kyran was injured but because he appeared to be too far from him. It was as if there was an invisible veil that blocked their connection.
“Just remember what he told you,” Zephyr replied after hesitating for a few seconds.
Cyneah tightened her hold on the last two items Kyran gave her. Because of the sudden turn of events, she had no time to put them in her bag.
“Okay,” she answered in a small voice.
When Kyran told her he had to do something and gave her the potion and the jade disc while instructing her to use it if she was in danger, Cyneah already sensed something was wrong. She even thought that the danger they were in was because of her. But while listening in Zephyr’s words, the tone of his voice gave her some understanding that the danger was linked to Kyran.
Cyneah did not resent them for getting involved, though. On the contrary, she was happy that someone was willing to take her with them. But it was precisely because of this that she feared for Kyran’s safety.
BANG!
Four large boulders suddenly appeared in four different directions, with Zephyr and Cyneah at the center.
“What!” Zephyr exclaimed in surprise as the boulders flew at them as if to crush them.
“Zephy?” Cyneah also reacted.
“Tsk,” he gritted his teeth. “Hold ont!”
Cyneah nodded and cautiously wrapped her arms around Zephyr’s neck while Zephyr unleashed his air magic and rotated it around them like a mini-cyclone.
The moment the boulders hit the mini-cyclone, it acted as a giant grinder and blasted the boulders into bits.
Zephyr did not stop and flew higher. Tightening his hold around Cyneah.
However, a light-yellow magic array appeared above as a figure in a black coat descended in the center.
“Wind magic?” The voice that spoke under the coat was a woman. “I suppose it is not really surprising, seeing how you can ‘fly’.”
The woman was none other than Cora. She had used her ability to close the distance between herself and these two people. Contrary to what others understood, her magic was not space. However, because she could tap into it and with the use of her object manipulation ability, she was able to perform spatial manipulation.
“How rude!” Zephyr could not help but retort after the woman mistook his magic as ‘Wind’.
His magic was not as weak as the wind. It was Air.
Cyneah looked up and found a ‘light’ with a black swirling mist above and could not help but shiver in fear.
“Z-Zephy! She’s o-one of them!” She warned Zephyr.
Zephyr glowered after hearing her warning. He did not need her to tell him that because he already recognized that the woman was the one who was casting the huge magic arrays in town.
‘How did she manage to catch up on us? What happened to master?’
Cora saw the expression on the boy in black’s face. She sneered while saying, “We already captured your friend. It is futile to run.”
Hearing the woman’s words, Cyneah’s and Zephyr’s hearts skipped a beat.
“Liar!” Zephyr roared as he roused his magic and sent shockwaves over the woman.
“Humph,” Cora only sneered and avoided his attack by jumping back.
Just when she thought, he would follow up an attack, the boy suddenly turned to his left and continued to fly away.
Cora gaped in surprise for a few seconds, before she ground her teeth in annoyance and followed them.
“I already said it is futile to run!” She shouted while stretching her arms on each side.
Light-yellow magic arrays appeared horizontally on multiple trees as one after another disappeared and reappeared flying toward Zephyr and Cyneah in different directions.
“Annoying,” Zephyr muttered as he roused his magic and let it rotate around them.
All the trees that came into contact with his magic were shredded into pieces.
Cora’s eyes narrowed. She found the boy a little strange. Because, right from the start, he had not used any magic arrays.
‘This…’ She frowned. ‘No, impossible. There is no way he is at that level.’
She created more magic arrays and targetted not only the trees but also nearby boulders. Then she used spatial manipulation to throw all of them at the two.
“Let’s see if you can keep on using your magic!” Cora shouted.
Zephyr ignored her and focused on rousing his magic to counter the things she threw at them. He was already annoyed by it and wished he could revert to his real form. However, after becoming Kyran’s Sigil, without his consent, he would not be able to use his real form.
‘If I could return to my real form, escaping would be easier,’ he thought bitterly.
Of course, he did not plan on having a showdown with this woman because he could not ‘kill’ her since she was still a human. If she was a different species, then that was a different story.
“Z-Zephy,” Cyneah called. “I-Is what she said true? About capturing Nar?”
Zephyr looked at her with a thoughtful expression. “I don’t know. But my master will not be caught that easily. If they really did, it may be because he willed it.”
“Why?”
“Sometimes, it is easier to deal with enemies if they believe they had already won.”
“I see.”
Cyneah did not say anything anymore. She understood what Zephyr meant. Her mother once told her that striking someone who had their guard down was a good move. The concept behind that was similar to what Zephyr told her.
Seeing that her attack was not effective, Cora was starting to get annoyed. Her attack was never that good in the first place. In their team, she was responsible for crowd control while Sen do sneak or back attacks, after which, Muto would deal the finishing strike.
‘Let’s use that,’ Cora finally made a decision as she took out several small knives.
Light-yellow magic arrays circled the small knives as she threw them toward the two.
Before the small knives could reach the range of the boy’s attack, Cora’s eyes flashed red as small light-yellow magic arrays appeared in closer proximity inside the boy’s attack.
The small knives disappeared and shot out from the small magic arrays hitting Zephyr and Cyneah.
“Argh!” Zephyr gasped as one of the knives hit his back and leg.
“Zephy!”
One small knife also pierced Cyneah’s arm. But since she had been exposed to pain for almost all her life, she only gritted her teeth and endured.
A smile appeared on Cora’s face as she saw some of her knives pierce the two.
At this moment, they had reached a part of the forest where there was a small ravine with a river flowing. Each side of the river had a small pathway filled with stones.
The magic arrays on the two small knives on Zephyr glowed as his blood seeped inside.
Cora abruptly stopped as she raised her right hand and a small light-yellow magic array appeared above her palm.
Her spatial manipulation could only affect ‘inactive’ objects unless she used the cube that the Royal Army’s Research Division had made specifically for her. However, she could still affect ‘active’ objects if she take their essence. Humans were considered ‘active’ objects, thus, their essence was their ‘blood’.
A deep red liquid appeared on the magic array in Cora’s palm. She sneered and controlled the liquid, sweeping it to her mouth. She opened her mouth and drank the blood, before turning her gaze on a big boulder at the side of the ravine.
Cora raised her hand creating a light-yellow magic array on the side of the boulder. The magic array went inside the boulder as she turned her attention back at the two.
“Let’s see how you deal with this now,” she said with a sneer as her eyes flashed red and a light-yellow magic array appeared on the boy’s back.
“This—!”
Before Zephyr could fully react, he felt a sudden pull and felt his body blur.
“Be a good boy and stay put for now. Assimilate!” Cora shouted at the same time as Zephyr’s body disappeared.
“Zephy!” Cyneah gasped as soon as she lost hold of Zephyr and started to fall. She stretched out her arms and tried to grab anything to stop her fall. However, all she could grasp was air.
Cora saw the other person who was covered in a cloak fall toward the river. She merely watched indifferently and had no plans to move. However, Cora’s blood ran cold as the person’s cloak shifted from the fall and revealed her face.
She recognized the person’s face!
Muto’s words flashed in Cora’s mind when he told her that one of the people with Kyran had a familiar ‘scent.’
Without wasting any time, Cora used her magic and shortened her distance toward the falling girl.
“Princess!” She shouted.