A blinding silver light tore through the forest. It curved in an elegant arc, snaking past the thick trunk of several ancient trees as though a god had personally come down and drawn a line through the forest.
It appeared amidst the fighting group in an instant. The number who even noticed its appearance were too few. But by the end, everyone saw the result.
PENG!
PCHUUU!
It was as though some mysterious force had ripped the Titan out of the air. The arrow was far too fast to spot. To an outside observer, it really did seem like an invisible force had torn it away from its original flight path.
BANG!
The Titan Hyena smashed against a tree in the distance, its body hanging limply as though a stuffed animal. It hung pinned to the thick tree, its eyes steadily growing vacant amidst its whimpers.
At that moment, there wasn't a single person who wasn't shocked by the sudden change.
Balthorn, who thought her life was forfeit, brought a hand to her chest, her heart beating so erratically that it sent ripples throughout her ample breasts.
Jaelis was maybe the most stunned outside of Balthorn. That Titan Hyena was a bit weaker than the one Leonel and Aina battle previously, capping out at Tier 6 in strength. But, it still wasn't something they were able to casually face.
Not long after his surprise faded, it was filled with rage.
'What fool did this?! Does he not know the consequences of killing a Silver Clawed Titan Hyena?!'
Jaelis clenched his fists.
'Fuck! The smell. I need to leave this place quickly!'
Jaelis hesitated, gritting his teeth. Though he couldn't defeat the Titan Hyena, he hadn't been looking to in the first place. From the very beginning, he was looking for a covert way to slip away without exposing himself.
He was a sly man. Even if there was a small chance things would come back to bite him, he wouldn't take the risk. If not for fear that these brats would survive, he would have run away more blatantly.
It turned out that he was right to be cautious. Had he run away, this bastard would have still interfered in the end. By then, his name would have been dragged through the mud.
Still, calmly analyzing the situation, Jaelis realized that whoever this bowman was, he was an expert marksman. That strike only carried the strength of a Tier 5 existence going all out. In fact, it might have been just Tier 4 while infinitely close to Tier 5.
But, this person's marksmanship, not to mention the quality of their arrows made up for this weakness.
The instant the arrow shot through the Titan Hyena's eye, Jaelis sensed that its brain had been turned into minced meat.
Jaelis had a sensory ability as well. It was just that his family's Lineage Factor also gave him a strong body, so he wielded the spear to make use of it. But, he was much more fond of using his ability.
'There's more than one of them?'
Jaelis took a deep breath, turning toward a certain direction.
At that moment, Leonel and Aina, followed by Irolana, Moos and Ingkath entered the small clearing. Seeing Leonel, and especially noting the bow in his hand, Balthorn's eyes lit up with surprise.
However, not long later, everyone was shocked because there were actually more than 50 individuals following behind them.
Leonel looked at the carnage. He felt a bit of guilt looking toward the freshmen who had been sliced into six, but had he acted too soon, things wouldn't have ended so simply.
Things became more and more complex the more people he had to take care of. With that came many more variables. That said…
Leonel turned his attention toward Jaelis, ignoring Balthorn.
At that moment, Jaelis felt as though he was being locked onto by a beast. Even the stare of the Titan Hyena hadn't nearly been this uncomfortable.
According to Leonel's original simulation, the three freshman plus Jaelis would have struck at the snout of the Titan Hyena. Following this, the Titan Hyena would chase after Jaelis since he was the strongest and Leonel would then shoot at the perfect time to save him.
Yet, Jaelis pulled back at the last moment which eventually led to a death Leonel couldn't stop because he had to recalculate everything at that instant.
If Jaelis hadn't pulled back, they wouldn't have suffered anymore deaths in the slightest. How could Leonel not be infuriated?
But at this moment, Leonel knew that it was impossible to convey this matter properly. Jaelis' actions were so subtle and well calculated that Leonel was sure that he was the only one who noticed the change at all.
If Leonel tried to call him out now, the fragile trust he had built to now would crumble. He would come off as a man who wanted to get rid of a potential rival rather than someone indignant – rightly so – about the death of a fellow student.
Controlling his emotions, Leonel pulled his gaze from Jaelis and scanned everyone else. His look hadn't lasted more than a split second. But, for a sensory type like Jaelis, it felt like an eternity.
"I'm sure you all are aware of what's happening by now. The Oryx seem to be making a move and could be coming down at us any time now."
As Leonel spoke, he had already walked to the pinned corpse, stripping it clean. He doused the tree bark and surroundings in cleansing waters then sent Little Blackstar off with the remains again.
"We'll follow you." Balthorn spoke before Leonel could even ask.
Leonel nodded. "Alright. We're still about 40 kilometers away, so let's work together."
Balthorn was the reason so many of these freshmen had come together in the first place, so it wasn't much of a surprise that they all agreed. The only one who was hesitant was Jaelis.
Unlike Leonel, he didn't seem intent on being the vanguard in the slightest. At this moment, he just wanted to look out for himself.
In the end, though he decided to follow along. As much as he trusted his senses, he knew he wasn't infallible. In the case, wouldn't it be more convenient to escape if there were others blocking the way?
Jaelis made his decision.
**
An unknown distance away, a familiar large humanoid figure reached thick, dirty fingers forward. The Oryx's nails looked as though they had been bitten down to size before being caked in the foulest dirt.
However, a moment later, the Oryx's fingers were coated in a thick crimson.
It looked around, but soon realized it had come to the end of the trail.
It seemed that he had been following a false path.
The Oryx stood to his full height, wiping the line of crimson across his chest.
He rose his nose to the sky, taking a deep whiff. But after a while, he couldn't seem to sense anything.
In the end, he looked into the sky, watching the sun that was slowly setting. This didn't matter much.. Once night descended, they wouldn't be able to escape anyway.