Further into the Seventh Death Forest, Murai was hurrying under the premise of preserving strength, which may be a good idea or a terrible mistake. His running speed is faster than ever, which may be a good thing, but he was in no way faster than those 4 legged beasts for sure.
In the seventh hell... Those monsters are carefully taking their time and adjusting their speed according to me. They aren't catching me, but hunting me as Lisa said. They are bloody hounds, eyeing the prey for their master without catching it. How savage, Murai thought, hurrying forwards as long and fast as his tiny legs allowed him to.
Lisa floated above him, carelessly looking behind her as she flew ahead. “Maybe there would be some better things to do than this running? You aren't fast, Murai Hisagi. Maybe try hiding, or masking yourself better?” Lisa tried to help, but it was only met with Murai's disapproval shake of his beak.
“Fuck that. Those beasts are picking my scent which is impossible to shake, unless I would shed my skin... I can see that, but you can't. Those beasts are taking their positioning and careful placement. I can see their changing location to my former locations. I fear I need to do something more... drastic.” Murai quacked in annoyance.
“Or kill them instead,” Lisa said the obvious thing, which meant potential troubles, but depending on the strategy, it may be more effective than running while not being good at it. Lisa definitely wished to point out Murai's speed and Phantom Coyotes' strength in this regard, but she didn't want to mock his clear tries at running away. It wasn't a bad choice, but it went for 5 minutes without any success.
Kill? That is effective, but not passable either. They have a clear mastermind behind them that is waiting. Otherwise, they would catch me. They are like dogs, clearly trained with proper hunting skills to tire me out. Mentally, or physically, the foe behind them isn't stupid. Do they want to tire me, or do they await for the master that is still behind them? I wonder which is it. Murai wondered, feeling that the past minutes were all the same. 10 Phantom Coyotes were taking their time, with no larger or smaller number of them.
They stretched around the perimeter of his rough 30-meter radius behind him, sniffing his location out.
“I bet you guessed everything,” Lisa said.
“Yeah? Why in the world are you mentioning bets? Now, of all times? You must be kidding...” Murai scowled, but Lisa only chuckled instead. “Forget it, Lisa. I think you aren't wrong, so what other choices do you have? Do you think you can hinder them so I will escape further? Hm?” he asked while running nonstop through the forest, even though it was a bit uncomfortable for his tiny legs.
For a 30 or so centimeters tall duck to run in this matter was less than questionable, but surprisingly, Murai found his running pace quite fast under those circumstances. It was still slower than dogs running, but thanks to his Vitality, Strength, and Dexterity, he wasn't slow.
He wasn't fast, however. At least he wasn't slower than the Phantom Coyotes who followed hunting orders and adjusted their directions as they should. Many changes of direction that Murai did worked to his advantage, otherwise, they would long found him if he ran in a straight direction.
Doing something better than running would be better, but what it would be? This fleeting was only stalling the inevitable, and his stamina was also an issue. Murai was still feeling great, but his tiny legs were hiding some injury and straining pain. Sooner or later, his legs will give up on him and he knew it.
“Fine... Murai Hisagi.” Lisa clapped her hands all of a sudden, changing their physicality in her palms alone. Stretching, she still flew ahead but leaned her head to face Murai's. “I didn't want to tell it, but watching you struggle is my issue too, so it is time to do something about it. What are your thoughts?”
“Is it funny then? Having your own life at my hand?” Murai smirked. “You are joking... Any normal life companion would do one's damned best you damned succubus? Do you have a screw loosened in your damned seen-through head? I can't see it, nor the brain.”
Hearing his mocking tone, Lisa hesitation but knew he was only telling it to make himself feel better. That, and what she was about to tell him was something quite significant. “I am doing things my way and truth to be told, I was and am familiar with the Seventh Death Forest from my past life. But only a little, since this is a place I sought out before. I know where we are for quite some time already.”
Murai almost stopped running and got the urge to slap her down. “Are you fucking serious?”
“Yes. This place is known to change its shape a lot, so more than 50 years changed it for the worse. Though, the major natural regions should remain the same since the longevity of my living was longer than my dead. I saw the Battleworld change too, and this place is one kind of chaotic place. Canyons, rivers mountains, or lakes should have remained the same, and all major locations too.”
“Seeking, knowing, and being familiar with something are different things. You died 50 years ago, so what are you getting into, Lisa? Do you think knowledge of this location will help? Where are we even?”
“Midwest of the Cherry section,” Lisa revealed.
“And you telling me that now? Where I should run?” Murai barked at her, obvious that Lisa know how to deal with this situation much better than his lackluster fleeting. “Wait, how do you even know it? Did you know it all the while I struggled? Location means you know the way out!”
“Well, I was waiting for the situation to go desperate and it's not like getting out is something easy. After seeking your battle sparkling your much-needed mind, I figured waiting is better. Then, the messiahs appeared and now we are here, being hunted and fleeing.” Lisa argued, causing Murai to grumble and clutch his wings and beak in anger.
He wished to curse her to oblivion, but in a sense, she was right in her own bubble. It was an issue of their constant power dynamic, and Murai felt he can't do anything about it.
“No need to be angry, Murai Hisagi. It may not be fine, as I still hesitate over this decision because of certain reasons. As fine as it is, I know where to go, but daring to go there means some other issues, so unless you aren't afraid of Death, I wouldn't take you there. If you feel confident, let's go towards that direction” Lisa pointed with her hand back, but more so to the right.
“You... You know a way out of this forest?” Murai asked, hesitantly stopping his steps to think of something better.
“I do, in a sense, but were are far from that. We are closer to the middle part of this forest than the corners of this forest, which may be a long stretch of walking away. Hence, it isn't possible to remain fleeting if you aren't comfortable with your tiny legs or stamina.”
“That's fucking great...” Murai cursed and sighed. “But I will l take any chances. For now, will you lead me properly then? It should be to your advantage and since you've already mentioned that, you should carry out your own words.”
“I have my reasons to be hesitant... This place isn't easier than the Centralis Kingdom, you know?” Lisa said and straightened her floating position to position herself face-to-face with him.
“So?” Murai didn't care. “You aren't saying a lot of things as far as I see, but you aren't giving me choices either. Death? I long ago felt the uneasiness of this place. It's either cursed, or so old, a lot of mana, and things around the earth went to shit. Maybe even a past Holy War was in this place, or a straight-up Divine War? That's my guess, among many deaths. This place is full of Death, seeping Chaos, and undead energy.” Murai guessed and before seeking a surprising expression on Lisa's face, he turned behind him and ran according to Lisa's direction.
This time, he ran way back, but he kept the direction that Lisa told him in his mind. First, he had to outrun the coyotes behind his back, and hopefully, she will be a good GPS and won't half-ass her usefulness as with many things.
Murai was yet to reach any different section of the Seventh Death Forest, meaning that this place was fairly large. Everything seemed the same all the time, with dead trees, and soil that wasn't fertile any longer, yet the bushes still remained. It was an eerie place, where the sun wasn't bright, but dull over the dark and cloudy sky.
Murai ran for a couple of hours in such a way after he successfully emerged after outmaneuvering the pair of coyotes by hiding in the trees. In this way, he reached the proper position that Lisa mentioned. He ended up overrunning the coyotes quite a bit right now, but then other coyotes emerged next. He almost ended up being caught, but he found a pool of mud, where he swiped his beak and body as fast as he could.
Acting like a proper assassin, he stealthily moved and moved past the enemy's line toward Lisa's direction.
Now, an hour later, the Phantom Coyotes were in utmost reach of his Mana Detection, and some of the 10 Coyotes were even behind his reach.
Murai's Mana Pool was still fine at this time since he wasn't using anything else but his Mana Detection which seemed to have more or less the same cost as his Mana Replenishment. However, constant running and mindful connection to the Mana Detection was taking some toll on his spirit.
He didn't have infinite stamina, and he felt his tiny legs were giving up on him for the past half an hour. Yet, he prevailed and kept running for the sake of it. Doing so with much more vigor or care, he would fall into a disadvantage if a battle would start, so he kept his mind sharp.
Either of these issues annoyed him, but before he wanted to do something with that, a change occurred. In front of him, 4 Phantom Coyots emerged along with more behind him, ready to strike. It was a clever ambush from all directions.
Fuck... Those beasts went out of my Mana Detection radius and went further in to trap me? I bet they got some sense of my proper direction after picking on mz movements for the past hour, even though I am trying to constantly shift it. How clever are these bastards? Murai scowled and did what was best in the situation. He prepared for the battle by Conjuring and Shaping a pair of Mana Blades around him.
They went side by side with his body, indicating his willingness to dive right into the Phantom Coyotes who were running fast as if they expected him. They were no longer hesitant and bared their fangs and claws instead.
“I... feared this would happen,” Lisa said. “Those Phantom Coyotes aren't normal ones... See that? They have rune shackles around their necks and are carnivorous like crazed beasts to fuck a female.” Lisa deducted, pointing with her finger ahead, where the 4 coyotes appeared out of the bushes, right in the middle of the many trees, close to the Murai's location.
Something strange was about them indeed. They were agitated, growling, and looking different than the past ones. Their aura was wilder, full of ferocity and intent to kill.
“Don't tell me they are something like the messiahs? Numbers are stronger? Right? Can they use some enchantments and other party tricks? Give me a fucking break already...” Murai scowled, yet the first coyote went out of this pack, pouncing right before Murai's face without much further stalling. It was more agile than Murai expected, with an open jaw that seeped Mana as if it wanted to clutch his soul. A flame was around its baring teeth, wanting to clutch him like a piece of meat.
“Hm, you mealy beast! Fuck off!” Murai swiped the left mana blade, eyeing the jaw with indifference and calmness. Stopping the jaw with the blade a dozen centimeters from his beak, he also stopped the pouncing Phantom Coyote's whole body which was quite a bit larger than Murai's. It was at least 70 centimeters tall and more than a meter long. Its head was quite big, with tall frontal limbs and a rather thin-looking torso. Thankfully, he didn't use his physicality, since his legs wouldn't take this attack lightly.
Within the pounce, the Phantom Coyote stumbled mid-air, as the mana blade was firm and not limited to Murai's physicality. It also led to the halt of the momentum, welcoming an opportunity and the right call. The second blade was coming faster than the coyote's stumbling reflex after meeting rather strong magic.
Swiping fast and steady, the glowing blade went right toward its neck. Murai sliced the head off cleanly, letting a flow of blood emerge from the rest of the body, seeping it into the soil and coloring the dry bark of the surrounding trees. Murai was filthy more than usual because of the mud, so this blood didn't change his appearance much.
With one coyote dead, the rest may or may not follow. Right as the head of the first Phantom Coyote fell to the ground, the 2 other, similar-looking coyotes emerged beside the dead one. They glared at Murai but didn't pounce at him directly. They position themselves side by side and decided to attack from the far.
Murai watched the opening jaws, that led out azure flames and warm waves. They rushed forward, engulfing the dead coyote and himself in the flames. It was like a flash of a sudden explosion and suddenly, the world turned bright.
Once again, Murai didn't feel the heat, nor a danger rising in his mind. Only his vision was a bit abnormal, filled with azure flames yet his mind felt an absolute calmness.
A flame huh? What is Anatidae anyway? Murai thought, and before thinking of any other changes, he Conjured his own flames amidst the flames of others.
A pair of flaming vortexes was under his command in a couple of moments, floating before his beak. Two Flaming Shots emerged with colors of orange and red, and quite a hefty amount of heat. It was stronger in this department than those azure flames and it was obvious why. Murai held better Flame than these Phantom Coyotes, or the reasons were completely different.
Reason for what? Murai didn't know what the hell happened, but suddenly, something strange fell thoughts his mana. The surrounding azure flames shook and started merging and coming into the Flaming Shots, turning them into two whirlpools that ate up the azure flames, which wasn't the strangest thing.
What was strange was the mana under Murai's control and his Beast Core. Everything moved fine, and the azure flame wasn't overpowering his own control, nor did it eat a lot of his own mana. It was, as if the azure flames moved on their own violation, turning to something better. This strange happening didn't take any mana from his core. That was an unexpected thing.
The azure flame led to a surprising turn of events, creating 2 vortexes of Flames that were unlike the Flame Shots form before. They were larger, bigger, and more firm in their physicality. It was also right to assume that the Flame Shots acted on their own as well, gulping down the azure flame while Murai wasn't creating or doing anything apart from the previous start of Shaping.
After all, it was still his Flaming Shots, so he felt his own control over them, yet it was changing within his own grasp, which was unnatural at this sort of level.
Murai didn't see a thing, but he didn't need to. His Mana Detection saw the heat and brightness of the azure flames, but he also saw his Flame in these strange vortexes. So he moved past the obstacles in his mind and gritted his teeth while standing on the ground. Flames surrounded him still, forming a small storm with those two Flame Shots before his face.
He Shaped the changed Flame Shots according to his will, deciding to make weapons out of them. He had to be fast since each was destabilizing quite fast. It was a higher degree of mana and flame that he shouldn't be able to Shape, or Conjure at the moment. Making weapons out of them proved to be difficult, but manageable with some force.
Murai was barely able to change the shape from the revolving balls to a flatter kind of discs that he then shot toward each Phantom Coyote. The condensed flames should make much better explosives that the ones without any pressure.
The discs flew fast as Murai wanted, not giving the coyotes much time. They should be unable to dodge the wide area of effects of these discs because they seemed preoccupied with the bright flames, but their instincts kicked in fast. They jumped away from the discs, dodging almost 3 meters away.
Unfortunately for them, they backed away, and not the side, which proved to be a fatal mistake. The revolving discs hit the ground, turning into a wide range of revolving shards that exploded and traveled far and wide, obliterating the two coyotes to pieces.
Murai was a bit more away, but his body was lighter, so the shockwave of this explosion wasn't fatal to him. He flew away instead without any injuries apart from some shock that hit his face.
In a bit of time, his vision calmed down, watching a dull soil. When he went back to his feet, he saw the degree of flame that he created. It was dancing wildly, traveling around the trees and obliterating smaller bushes. No shards were around, and the azure flame also disappear, leaving his normal Flames instead.
A small crater was there, around 3 meters wide.
“What the hell was that?” Murai asked Lisa, who saw it all without any need to be worried about her physicality. She was like a spectator so she noticed Murai's glance. But she was also surprised. With what exactly? By Murai's creation and his seeming unawareness of doing it.
What he did wasn't right. Lisa may have not been a mage, but she used to have a Mana Core too. He used what was offered outside of his own core, using the coyotes' ability of some inner flame affinity to create something new. That was the wrong sort of magic. Flame affinity and mana were peculiar things. Lisa wasn't sure of everything under the heaves, and so was Murai, but the rules of magic were there to provide some sense.
“Hmm...” Murai straightened his head, looking ahead. Using the flame of other kinds of flames to touch them and create a stronger one? That reminds me of many things, but not the flames of shaped properties. That isn't how affinities of one's shaping work, but it resembles how elements can evolve. I don't think this falls under the knowledge that even Rudolf knows about. Is this what an Anatidae can do, or it is more profound than some flaming affinity? My Flame Shots sucked those azure flames into them, but the flames went in as well, turning into a higher state of flame on their own. Which? Was this Annihilation, Destruction, or Heat?
Murai wondered and watched the flaming area along with the last coyote of this pack. The remaining ones were yet to come, probably because of the situation of his smell that he tried to hide.
The last coyote was much bigger, with over a meter and a half in height, and quite a ferocious look. Some scraps from the explosion traveled to him, causing some damage to its face, and sides. It was bleeding, but it wasn't enough to damage it. Instead, it was a mild inconvenience or a small bother.
Lisa was floating above the ground, out of Murai's way. 10 or so meters above the ground, she watched everything with calmness. She had her own thoughts about what just occurred. She will enjoy the last fight against this Alpha Coyote. This was an evolution above the Phantom Coyote within the Coyote species.
Watching the Alpha emerge from the flame as it walked forward, it was unhindered, and in its jaw was a regular-looking flame, unlike the azure one, which was a bit colder and lower ranked in power and quality.
So those things can evolve too? Murai wondered and shaped another 2 Blades that he previously discarded back to mana to use them on the flaming shots. Each probably cost him a few dozen points of his Mana Pool, but that was his guess.
I am kidding... Of course, I know things can evolve, He snickered and stood straight.
He could tell his mana pool was less than 10% full, which wasn't a lot, but not a small amount either because of the large base. Running around with the Mana Detection was the cause for this much loss of it. It would be quite a large expenditure for any ordinary mage, but for him, it was also much needed.
The fight against the 3 messiahs wasn't up to his mana at all. He killed them with his beak since it was the most likely the easiest route, even though his Beak's Peak did take some of the mana toward the peak.
As for this Alpha, Murai was inclined to try his beak as well, but his mana was an issue and his legs wouldn't take any sort of strike all that well. That was at least what he thought, so he did what he considered to be the best of what he was capable of. It was his confidence, yet he forgot about the back, where other Phantom Coyotes will come soon.
He had at least a minute, so he was itching to gain some sudden idea to solve this situation.
“Let's get this over with, beast.” Murai quacked and did as he said, Shaping the Mana Blades around his beak.
Then, another shocking thing happened, or so he thought. He heard a voice. An unexpected one, but hearable within his head.
“You... a Blessed?”
It was a faint voice that carried meanings of the Will, sounding sorry, weak, and on the verge of doom.