Chapter 44: Scarlet Waters III

Leo reeled his arm back and bolted forwards with the aid of [Sprint], dagger poised and aimed at the Hounds leader standing in front of him. He could hear the wind rushing past his ears, his own heartbeat racing with adrenaline as he rapidly approached Sonia.

His fingers tightened, but just as he readied to throw the dagger, a notification flashed in front of his eyes.

[Sonia has activated the [Lifeline] skill]

Leo cursed and dove out of the way just as Sonia flicked her finger.

Behind him, the sharp crack of splintering wood rang throughout the clearing. Snapped branches and stray pieces of bark exploded out, a few cutting into Leo’s skin as the tree behind him was roughly yanked from the earth.

The [Fragmentholder] shuddered. He hoped that Ivan had gotten far enough away by now, because at this rate, he wouldn’t put it past Sonia to clear out the entire forest if that’s what it took to find the fragment.

The Hounds leader raised an eyebrow as Leo scrambled up, expression faintly amused. Hazel eyes focused on her outstretched hand, watching. Waiting.

The moment her finger moved, Leo surged forward. He swerved to the side as the notification appeared again and the earth behind him burst.

He skidded on dirt, circling around the path of [Lifeline], and hurled his dagger. The blade gleamed in the diffused light, flying straight towards Sonia.

Before it could hit its target, the Hound jerked her head.

[Sonia has activated the [Lifeline] skill]

The trajectory of the dagger suddenly shifted, pulled by an invisible force, and curved at the last second. Sonia caught it harmlessly in her hand. She twirled the weapon and raised an eyebrow, sheathing the blade as though to say that she wouldn’t need it to defeat the former [Thief].

The notification flashed again. Leo barely managed to leap out of the way in time. He felt the skill brush against his arm, a ghostly tugging sensation that sent a chill up his spine.

Leo coughed as he landed hard on the ground, spitting out dirt. He didn’t let himself stay still, jumping back to his feet and bolting away from the clearing in a zigzagging pattern.

Sonia’s footsteps sounded behind him, and his fingers pulled out his last dagger—the one he’d taken from the prison warden.

His mind raced as he leapt over a boulder and veered around a fallen tree. Projectiles clearly didn’t work against the Hound, meaning he had to get into melee to attack.

[Sonia has activated the [Lifeline] skill]

A cold sensation gripped Leo and wrenched him backwards. He yelped, struggling against that consuming force. An image of Fergus impaled on Sonia’s arm flashed through his mind. If he let himself get pulled back, it was over.

Leo’s shoes slipped, his own resistance stat still not high enough to hold out long against the skill. Gritting his teeth, Leo grabbed onto the nearest tree. His arm shook with exertion, the skill insistently tugging back, but he managed to force through with a final push.

He felt the skill’s hold disappear from his arm now that it was out of range of [Lifeline]. He gripped onto the tree tighter, the bark cutting into his hands.

Leo yelled. A flood of sharp pain burst from his shoulder. It felt like his arm was being torn off, and he barely managed to hang on until the end of the skill’s duration.

All at once the pulling sensation vanished and Leo fell forward, gasping for air. His shoulder burned, but adrenaline kept his legs moving.

His feet pounded against the earth, right arm hanging limply at his side while his left maintained a vice grip around the dagger. His vision was blurred with pain. When he chanced a glance behind him, he could barely make out Sonia following at a steady pace without a hint of exhaustion on her features.

Leo pushed himself to move faster, to get out of range. He activated [Renewal], and he could feel his mana reserves depleting as a soothing wave washed over him.

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It wasn’t nearly enough to fix things, but it provided enough relief to at least temporarily quell some of the pain.

Up ahead, Leo could see the fog thickening, meaning he must be getting close to the shore. He ducked beneath a low branch and skidded down a grassy slope.

Through the silvery mist, he could just barely make out the clear waters of the lake. A boat sat along the rocks that he didn’t recognize. It must be Sonia’s.

A branch snapped close behind and Leo cursed, turning and running along the perimeter of the small island. He made sure to keep within the forest itself even as he scanned the shore for any sign of Ivan. Had the Hound gotten away with the fragment?

[Sonia has activated the [Lifeline] skill]

Leo activated [Sprint] and dove forward. Trees lined him on both sides; there was no space to veer out of the way, so instead he prayed he was far away enough to pass the skill’s maximum range.

The [Fragmentholder] braced himself for another pull, another wave of pain, but there was nothing but the cracking of more wood as another tree was uprooted.

He glanced back, taking only a moment to gauge the distance, then kept running. If he could keep the current gap, he thought, then he’d be out of range of [Lifeline].

But that, Leo knew, was only a temporary solution. He couldn’t keep running forever, especially not with the shore rapidly approaching, and he didn’t want to chance the skill across the lake’s waters. He doubted he’d be able to row fast enough.

Sonia’s own steady pace and lack of hurry was likely because she, too, knew that he would eventually run out of places to go.

Through the mist, Leo could just barely make out the shadowed silhouette of the boat he’d left on the shore. The spot where Ivan’s boat had been was now empty. The Hound must have made it off the island with the fragment.

Leo burst out of the trees, feet sliding on the rocky shore. He jerked around to face Sonia, muscles tensed, the Glass Lake’s surface shining behind him.

[Sonia has activated the [Lifeline] skill]

Leo ducked behind a large boulder jutting out from the earth. Its surface cracked, the stone and surrounding rocks yanked violently towards the Hounds leader in a cloud of debris. Leo ran forward just behind it.

As the stone and smaller rubble flew towards Sonia, the former [Thief] used it as a cover, fingers squeezing around the dagger and waiting until the last second.

Sonia stepped out of the way of the boulder. Just as she did so, Leo jumped out and lunged.

The blade came slamming down, but before it could hit, a rough grip stopped his arm in place. Sonia’s fingers tightened, and Leo couldn’t jerk out of the hold, his own hand shaking around the dagger as he tried to wrench himself free.

Shifting forward, Sonia wound back her other arm. The next thing Leo knew, his head had snapped to the side and his jaw burst in pain.

Leo reeled back from the force of the punch, attempting to put more distance between them. His head throbbed, vision blurry, but he forced himself to stay focused on the Hound.

Sonia, however, wasn’t even looking at him. Instead, the woman’s icy blue eyes honed in on the little indent in the earth where Ivan’s boat had been.

“It seems,” she said in that eerily calm voice of hers, “that the fragment has gotten away.”

Leo watched her warily. He wiped his mouth, and the back of his hand came away bloody.

“Are you gonna go after him?” His voice came out strained, his lungs heaving for air. The temporary relief from [Renewal] was starting to fade, and the pain in his shoulder was returning full force.

Those pale eyes turned, so sharp they seemed to pierce straight through him.

“Of course.” And yet, despite her words, the Hounds leader didn’t move.

Leo slowly edged backwards only to feel the spray of the lake’s waves against his back. Any further and he would end up in the water itself. He used the brief lull to activate [Mana Recovery] while he had the chance.

Sonia kept studying him, and the longer the silence went on, the more nervous Leo got.

“You’re searching for fragments as well,” she finally stated in a matter-of-fact tone. Leo blinked, taken off guard by the comment. He didn’t respond, but it didn’t seem like Sonia had expected him to.

Instead, a slow smile spread across her face. She stepped forward.

“I did find it curious that you seemed so knowledgeable about fragments. That notification was quite recent, wasn’t it?” Her eyes seemed to gleam under the faint light filtering through the fog. The sun would set soon, if it hadn’t already begun.

Leo’s fingers tightened around the dagger. Hazel eyes scanned his surroundings. There were no trees or boulders nearby to hide behind, just the rocky shore and the vast expanse of the Glass Lake behind him.

The Hounds leader came to a stop. She cocked her head.

“I suppose firsthand experience is the best teacher.”

Leo froze for a fraction of a second before he managed to school his features again, but it was too late. Sonia’s smile widened. She might’ve suspected it before, but now he’d all but confirmed that he had a fragment.

The next moment seemed to pass by in slow motion. There was Sonia raising her hand, the familiar notification flashing across his vision as she activated [Lifeline] again.

There was the spray of water behind him, his own position cornered at the edge of the shore. No place to run, no time to dodge.

There was the memory of the Hound he’d pushed into the water, the way the waves had dragged him under.

There was the sharp pull beckoning him forward.

Nothing that falls into the lake comes back out.

He didn’t think. As Sonia jerked her finger and the force of her skill coiled around him, Leo threw himself backwards and plunged into the waters.