CAUGHT

Lynne had quickly dressed up, his face turning grim. He should have expected them to search through the nearby towns with teleportation arrays, yet he didn’t; now, he was stuck in a town filled with people who want him dead. Luckily, though, he had changed his appearance completely. Even if someone was much more powerful than him, they’d have trouble seeing through his disguise.

He had cast simple magic and put Freya to sleep; his brief moment of forgetfulness of a world had come to abrupt end, causing him no small amount of heartache. He knew that the road he chose to tread is filled with boundless trappings, and now he wasn’t even given a few days to recharge his batteries before rushing towards the Holy Paradise to see whether he could somehow, through a miracle, save his father.

He was certain that the black-clad figures would wait at the teleportation array and inspect everyone closely. He was given two simple choices: either take a risk and go through the teleportation array, or spend a week traveling on foot to the another nearest town with the array without knowing whether black-clad figures were there as well. He simply discarded the second option, as it was impossible for him to waste another week on random travel. His father’s execution date was a month away, and he had no leeway in terms of time to go the roundabout ways.

Gritting his teeth, he exited the small inn and moved through the cobblestone streets, paying close attention to his surroundings. The buildings in the town were built simply, but were somewhat stacked atop of one another, impairing one’s vision. There were a lot of narrow alleyways and cut corners, making it nearly impossible to watch over the entire town – even if one was looking at it from an advantage point.

One kilometer… five hundred meters… about half an hour after leaving the inn, he was finally able to see teleportation array. As he suspected, it was crowded by about dozen black-clad figures who were rigorously inspecting every newcomer. Lynne took in a deep breath before joining the lengthy line; one by one, people were allowed to pass. He doubted that anyone amongst the escapees would be as ballsy as he was to go straight through the array to escape.

Finally, after about fifteen minutes of waiting, it was his turn. The figure that inspected him was youth his age, with rather average looks. He was scrutinized from top to bottom as the youth compared him to the list of portraits hung on the sign next to the array. Lynne immediately recognized his previous face, as it was placed at the very top.

Name: Unknown

Age: Unknown

Affiliation: Unknown

Rank: Celestial Magus

Priority: Top

Kill on sight!

As Lynne saw this, he nearly vomited blood. Celestial Magus my ass! Your mother is Celestial Magus! If I was one, you think I’d be running away like a donkey? Dammit!

I However, outwardly, Lynne remained expressionless. If he was discovered, there’s no doubt he’d be executed on the spot. He certainly wasn’t willing to undergo the same rhapsody of death by activating Gift of Infinity again. He was even forced to leave the monkey and the bird behind, as they’d travel by air to rejoin him later.

“Go on,” youth said at last. “Because we have stagnated the outflow, there’s no fee for travel.”

“Thank you.” Lynne said simply as he walked towards the centermost part of the array.

The array was much smaller than the one in the ancient city, and was able to hold two to three people at most. However, people were sent out one by one per orders of the black-clad figures. As he stopped, he saw six figures surround the array and begin pouring the Mana into the formation. The stones beneath him began turning clockwise; one could judge the distance of teleportation by the number of ‘rings’ it had. This one had six, indicating that it was long-distance array. It quickly began shimmering in silver, and Lynne felt cold overcome him, as space around him began tearing down.

“This aura…” he faintly heard a familiar voice of a woman in the distance; as he cast a glance, he saw a peerless beauty, relatively young one at that, with skin paler than snow. Her eyes bore the innate pride of a genius, and they appeared to be looking down on the rest of the world. “Stop the array!!!” she suddenly shouted as her eyes locked onto Lynne.

Alas, it was too late; the light flashed brightly and Lynne disappeared, traversing the spacial tunnel between two locations. Lady Fen’er immediately bolted towards the array, her face extremely ugly. A mere moment later, another youth joined her; if Lynne was here, he’d undoubtedly recognize this handsome youth. A year ago, during the invasion of Edgemaw, Lynne witnessed Princess Anna and the King be slaughtered by this very youth: Second Prince Irey of Elvernheimn Empire.

“Star the array!!” Lady Fen’er shouted nervously; it was him! That aura! It was definitely him! Why did it seem as if he’s just an ordinary Dao Archmage though? Impossible! He must have used some trick to cover up his real strength! Dammit, he was so close and we let him slip away!

On the other side, Lynne had finally left the tunnel, his eyes flashing with the glint of terror. Without saying a word to anyone around – and without even looking as to where he landed – he immediately cast Fiery Sweeps and began bolting through the sky. He had about thirty seconds before others arrived, and he needed to create as much separation as possible. Dammit, how the hell could I have forgotten about the aura?! What the hell’s happening to me? I’m usually much more careful than this!!

Lynne flashed through the sky, leaving behind dumbfounded people to stare at him from beneath. As he predicted, roughly half a minute later, the light of the array flashed yet again, and three figures appeared: Lady Fen’er, Prince Irey and another black-clad youth – Lymor, the one that accompanied Lady Fen’er into the Emperor’s Flame sect grounds.

After briefly questioning those around, they took to skies and sped in the direction Lynne left. On the other side, Lynne felt distant spacial tear and realized that they had arrived. He had merely traveled two kilometers in the space of thirty seconds. While, in ordinary times, that may seem like a lot, he knew that it was far from enough at the moment. He was much weaker in terms of speed, and there was no doubt they’d catch up to him within five minutes at most.

His mind was going through a solution after a solution, trying to find a way to get out of this alive. Yet, no matter how much he thought, he couldn’t come up with a feasible one. The monkey and the bird were at least a day away from him, so he couldn’t get their help either. He was completely unfamiliar with his surroundings; according to Elynal’s map, he wound up in roughly central area of the Kingdom, hundred or so kilometers away from the capital.

The land around him was filled to brim with forests and mountains; from time to time, he’d pass a river or a lake, but there was no way he could hide anywhere. He suddenly felt a cold feeling pierce his heart; he glanced backwards and spotted three dots above in the sky descending towards him. Crap, they caught up faster than I thought they would! Shit… one of them is Dominus Magus, one is Pius Magus and one is Dao Archmage like me. If it weren’t for the Dominus one, I might have stood some chance… but now… ugh, no, I can’t die here. I didn’t do half the shit I promised I would!

“Hello, hello, Emperor’s Flame command center please respond!” Lynne shouted inwardly at the small, bead-sized space in his soul. “I really, really need some assistance! I’m about to be freaking burned to a crisp!”

“…” there was no reply.

“Come one Eternal One, the Greatest of the Allkind, I’m in deep crappers here! Just send me two – no, just send me one helper who can tie down Dominus Magus, that’s all I’m asking!”

“For how long?” the Eternal Spirit replied at last in a rather calm voice.

“How the hell am I supposed to know? An hour? A day? A freaking year?!”

“… looks like I made a mistake.”

“F*ck! We didn’t know each other for two weeks, and you’re already regretting it? Just help me, come on!”

“Ah, fine,” the Spirit sighed softly as he spoke. “I’ll send out a Primal Beast. Note that he can, at most, stay outside for a few hours. He definitely won’t be able to kill the Magus, but he should be able to tie her down. For everything else, I’ll leave it in your hands.”

“Thanks old geezer! You’re awesome!”

“…”

Realizing that there was no way he could escape, Lynne came to abrupt halt, turning around and welcoming three figures. His heart suddenly froze as he spotted a youth to the left, as he immediately recognized him. That day, when the Edgemaw was falling apart, he was standing in the heart of the palace, and had killed both Anna and the King with a single move of his hand! Yet, what’s the most surprising thing, it appeared he was merely a Dao Archmage like himself!

“Careful!” Lady Fen’er spoke in a soft whisper to the other two. “I’ve already informed Uncle Ion, and he should be arriving within a few hours. If he really is just an Dao Archmage, though, then we’ll just kill him on the spot.”

“Understood.” Lymor nodded, licking his lips while snickering coldly. On the other hand, Prince Irey merely nodded in acknowledgment; after all, he wasn’t truly a part of the Lords of the Zen, so Lady Fen’er’s words had very little impact on him.

“He he, boy,” Lymor spoke out at Lynne. “You really gave us a scare back then. He he, to think you’d be dumb enough to actually use a teleportation array! Ha ha!”

“Hai, ugly beast, shut up for a moment!” Lynne said softly; Eternal Spirit had already given him full control over the Primal Beast, and he could summon it anytime he wished. The beast was tiger-shaped, but was two-headed and coated in blaze all throughout. “What are you guys chasing me for? I don’t remember offending any one of you!”

“Enough of the crap,” Lady Fen’er immediately interrupted the banter. “If you swear a Blood Oath to become Zen Slave, we’ll let you live. If not, you’ll die on this spot today.”

“Ai, what a vicious woman! No wonder neither of the two boys dare stand too close to you! I bet you even piss steel-sharpened thorns!” Lady Fen’er’s lips twitched slightly, while Prince Irey held back laughter.

“Go on, show us your Divine Arts,” Lymor taunted. “Otherwise, you’ll definitely die here. He he, maybe not; I’m quite interested in seeing how your body is made for you to be able to cast two Divine Arts in a row. He he.”

“Dude, stop with the creepy laughter, you suck at it,” Lynne said, completely calm – at least on the surface. “Anyway, I definitely can’t cast Divine Arts. What the hell are Divine Arts anyway? Did you mistake me for some awesome Magus who absolutely wrecked the living shit out of you guys a couple weeks back? If so, I totally had nothing to do with that! I was warming bed of my wife back then!”

“...”

“:..”

“...”

“Hai, see? Just a simple misunderstanding! So, let us part our ways here! I hope to be able to see you guys in the future. Bye then.”

“Stop!” Lynne truly wished he could just leave, but was immediately stopped; he grunted under his breath as he turned back around, realizing that the fight is imminent. “You truly are ballsy,” Prince Irey finally spoke coldly. “Looks like he’s many things, Lady Fen’er, but Celestial Magus is not one of them.”

“Indeed.” Lady Fen’er suspected the same.

“Hai, who are you boy?” Lynne pointed at the Prince. “How can I possibly be Celestial Magus? Do you think I’d be bickering with you kids if I could wipe my butt with you?” F*ck!!!

“You can’t even recognize Second Prince of Elvernheimn Empire? He he, you truly are a lost kid.” Lymor said.

“Ah? Second Prince? No wonder. I only know the First Prince, Elynal,” Lynne lit up the fuse without holding back. “Truly an awesome dude. I can see why you’re the Second one. Too bad you had to be born in the same generation as him, destined to forever lick his boots. Ah, how sad your fate must be.” Prince Irey’s eyebrows twitched as his face turned even colder; Elynal was one of the sore spots for him. Naturally, he was much stronger than him, but for the sake of keeping him a secret, Elynal is officially the First Prince of the Empire.

“Looks like I’ll have to skin you alive personally.” the Prince retorted, suddenly floating up. Wind roused around him as his robes flapped loudly behind him.

“He he, let me do the honors, Prince.” Lymor spread his arms apart whereupon two, black-colored daggers appeared.

“You will die here!” Lady Fen’er exclaimed as she gracefully extended her arm; a silver shortsword appeared suddenly, shimmering in beautiful, golden rays. Soul Weapon!! Lynne exclaimed inwardly, stunned a bit.

“Hai, looks like I’ll have to play with you kids for a bit…” Lynne flicked his sleeve slightly as space around him tore; a moment later, Primal Beast appeared next to him.

The beast was relatively large, towering to nearly three meters if it stood up on its hind legs. It had two identical heads, and eyes completely crimson. Its fur was silver, but due to the fact that it was burning throughout, it appeared golden and crimson. It roared lowly, fumes of smoke exiting its nostrils as it stared daggers at the group of three. They were taken aback by the sudden appearance of the beast neither of the three could recognize. It wasn’t strange for Mages to have beasts as companions – as the matter of fact, the higher one climbed on the path, the more necessary the strong beast became. However, they never saw such beast before. They also felt a faint sense of danger from it – much more so than from Lynne – causing their faces to turn solemn.

“Hah,” Lynne chuckled lightly as he summoned his Chakrams, swinging them roundly as he stood in place. “Let us dance then.”