373 Uh Oh!
Skullius had thought that Bek was fast before but this time, as he felt and saw the surroundings flashing past him with incredible speed, he couldn’t help but be awed all the more.
He had tried using his guidance field on Bek but much like he had expected, he could not see his stats.
The difference between their strengths was too great, though Skullius thought he could probably see his stats if he was in his Penetrator form.
As they flashed through the snow covered road with rich vegetation that grew regardless of the cold, Skullius felt Bek stop, the man holding the Discount Human firmly so that he wouldn’t fly off or experience any internal damage.
“We are far from the town but I wager that these people won’t stop just because they have been caught. They won’t retreat for the night,” Bek said.
Near the two was a small woodland with tall pine-like trees that created a dark space underneath them regardless of their spaced arrangement.
Beyond this woodland was a small hill and then high ground on which a few clustered villages could be seen, smoke coming from the chimneys of the houses within these settlements while bright lights heavily pronounced the presence of civilised life.
Apart from this, Bek saw nothing else and even his senses didn’t tell him anything else.
For the past few weeks, he had two encounters with this strange group of people and on both occasions, they had managed to escape him.
These two events happened in two separate areas but both locations were near Harifrast, which is why Bek had been patrolling around the area, looking for clues.
One would ask why he bothered when he was no longer a Capital Order Knight.
Weren’t his duties unrecognised and unrewarded?
Well, it was true.
Bek had no reason to continue trying to solve problems everywhere he went, especially with something as complex as this.
However, what else was a Knight to do?
A Stray Knight was still a Knight.
A dream couldn’t be quelled so easily and even if it could be trampled on, Bek was willing to push through.
It wasn’t a matter of righteousness at this point, but one of finding a purpose.
After the incident that had occurred 7 years ago, he was more than willing to keep his mind occupied until he settled and found what he wanted to do with his life.
His new life.
And now, there seemed to be something…
“Do you have any OTHER means to scout ahead? Surely you don’t stupidly invest all your focus in healing, right?” Bek said as he turned to Skullius.
The Discount Human was annoyed, but when his eyes met Bek’s, he was surprised to see a sort of eagerness within the man’s eyes.
He seemed… desperate.
But why?
Skullius’ lack of knowledge on this man was allowing for this anxiety and curiosity but he didn’t intend on pursuing it.
“No,” Skullius said. “They are probably gone.”
The Discount Human really didn’t want to get mixed up in this anymore.
The dolls, the weird space warps…
He felt like it was probably not a good idea to see what was at the end of all this.
This whole situation had the word ‘danger’ written all over it.
If possible, Skullius wanted to dodge having to deal with it if he could.
Bek scoffed.
“Is that right? Let me ask properly then,” the former Knight said before he gave Skullius a sharp look, his mouth opening to ask again. “You have another way to scout around the area, don’t you?”
Skullius’ body trembled as he felt an authority shake him down, squeezing an honest answer out of him.
“Yes,” the Discount Human promptly said.
‘Shit!’ Skullius cursed inwardly.
This guy!
“Use it. Now,” Bek said with his dull eyes showing a weird mix of indifference and zeal.
Skullius gnashed his teeth, trying to resist but it was futile.
‘Damn it! Ferex was left behind in Harifrast! This would definitely be the best time to attack!’ Skullius thought recalling how Bek’s speedy departure from Harifrast had left him without his trusty Hound.
His body moved on its own, a certain skill being activated that he didn’t want to show as he feared it would definitely peak Bek’s interest.
[Crude World Projection!]
A dark image burst from Skullius under the gaze of Bek who showed mild surprise as he watched it ascend with all its humanoid glory and clear features.
It halted in mid-air and Skullius found himself free from Bek’s hold.
The Discount Human’s body slumped to the ground, laying motionless in the thickets of snow.
“I see,” Bek said as he stroked his beard. “You’re not a simple man after all.”
Skullius glared at Bek with furious eyes but the man didn’t seem intimidated.
He didn’t even show much interest in Skullius’ Projected form.
“Relax, idiot. I don’t care about your secrets. Hurry up and see what you can find up there,” Bek said as he noticed the hostile and anxious gaze of Skullius.
While he was a bit interested in how this form didn’t possess any traces of Skullius’ soul, it wasn’t anything he would be shocked by.
Hmm?
The Discount Human was surprised by this.
This man didn’t care?
He wasn’t interested his powers at all!
‘Seriously?’ Skullius thought with a sprinkles of apprehension.
He couldn’t quite see Bek’s expression clearly as his vision was just a mix of black, white and grey which obscured contours to the face, but this man seemed to legitimately not care about anything other than finding the people behind the dolls and kidnappings.
In that case…
Skullius shot up into the sky at high speed.
He stopped only when he was a bit over four hundred meters in the air and started to scout around.
The wider world was expressed in his eyes as he could see far beyond.
He looked around in all directions, wondering if he would find anything suspicious at all or if this was just a waste of time and mana.
The only thing that he could see was the white snow, the trees, the hill and…
Wait.
What was that?
Skullius’ vision honed in on a certain image.
Of all the things he had been looking at, this was the darkest around. So dark that it looked out of place, demanding attention for its appearance!
He hadn’t seen it at first because it was quite far, roughly 30 miles behind the cluster of villages and the hills.
This image… it also seemed to be moving!
Moving was an understatement actually.
It was speeding away at a ridiculous speed!
It was hard to tell what it was exactly but it was humanoid from what he could tell and behind it, it drew a large carriage that housed… human bodies!
The details weren’t clear but Skullius could tell a human shape when he saw it, especially with how it was clearly outlined with grey and black!
This visual image though…
‘This seems awfully familiar too. A moving dark image….kind of human…’ Skullius thought. ‘Bro, why do I feel like these exact circumstances have happened before….’
Once again, Skullius felt a relatively familiar feeling with this.
This adventure was just marred with things to recall, wasn’t it?!
‘Right! That time… back when I wanted to complete the 10th Task!’ Skullius realised when he had experienced this.
(A/N: Refer to Ch.233).
“Are these the same people?!”
Skullius started to descend as he saw that wasting time would only result in whatever he was seeing getting further away and thus, he had to hell Bek.
He was halfway in his descent down to the snowy ground when…
“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! FINALLY! FINALYYYYYY!”
A loud voice reverberated through the air, drawing Skullius and Bek’s attention.
…!
“You have got to be fleshing with me…” Skullius muttered in utter terror at what he was seeing.
He hadn’t expected it at all.
He thought dealing with Bek’s mission would be the only obstacle for him to face but now…
Bek also expressed mild surprise as he turned his head.
“TOMATO FLINGER! FORTUNE HAS DECIDED TO TURN TO ME AT LAST!”
The voice of Sila echoed out boisterously as it came from… the Discount Human body which now stood with billows of mana flaring from it!
The Grim Tower General had found his time to shine!