Zarek knew that he, at most, had half a minute. He didn't try to cut Eliz down because he knew that killing such an expert wouldn't be so easy. Plus, she had support.
That support wasn't just the archer. Using Eliz as a shield and stabbing her from the back would be enough to neutralize that threat. It wasn't the fatty either—it was clear he was mostly a defensive specialist, and considering the fact his greatest weakness had been speed, there was no way he could catch up to Zarek anyway.
The main problematic support was Urouge, who had fallen silent after having his location exposed. In fact, while Zarek was rushing toward the mountain range for cover and better terrain for him to take advantage of, it also happened to be the location of Urouge himself.
When Zarek triggered Unholy Beacon, he had actually ended up with not just one beacon returning, but four of them.
Urouge was clever indeed. He knew that he would likely be exposed and slip up at some point, so he was actually bouncing his summon's signal.
This was an extremely difficult thing to do—so difficult it was hard for Zarek to put it into proper words.
Essentially, Urouge, a necromancer himself, was using a lich as his proxy. He controlled the lich, and the lich in turn controlled several more summons for him. This diluted Urouge's control, but it also made it so Zarek had no way of easily telling exactly which of the signals was Urouge.
The direction of the mountain carried all four of them, which likely meant that Urouge was prepared for this.
But that much was fine. Zarek was growing tired of this cat-and-mouse game; he would end it today. Either he would take Urouge's head, or he would make sure the man scurried away with his tail tucked between his legs.
As much as Zarek wanted to get a kill, he knew that he couldn't be greedy. He would take what he could get, so long as he could get Urouge to leave him alone for long enough that he could reach the location on the map.
Only when that was done might he consider going back to hunt him.
Zarek's eyes flashed as he sensed his Lurker's Godsfall shatter. Eliz had broken free a bit earlier than he expected, but that much was still fine.
He had enough distance now, and she probably wouldn't be stupid enough to—
BANG!
Zarek should have felt incredulous at the sheer stupidity, but instead his sneer only deepened further.
He was moving so fast the terrain was already not the same. He had burned through three more \\[Angel Wing Flashes] while he was rushing out, putting him at four uses already.
Using up a use just to cross 12 or so meters didn't seem worth it, especially when, at his top speed, he could cross a distance like that in two steps—well, more like one and a half.
However, Zarek wasn't one to be wasteful.
When you used \\[Angel Wing Flash] in just the right way, you could carry some momentum forward.
Normally, having momentum at the end was the sign of someone with poor control. It was a wind technique masquerading as a space technique. So stopping instantly was the sign of a master.
But what if you purposely chose to activate it incorrectly? And what if you had an A Class treasure lance in your hand that was especially good at cutting through wind?
Suddenly, a distance that might take you five seconds to cross might only take you two.
And if you used those flash steps continuously without thought for cost…?
Then you just might leave a Demon-ranked genius in your dust.
\\[Angel Wing Flash].
Zarek used it again, and this time he really pushed it—activating \\[Sudden Drop] in front of him and \\[Wind Shield] to his back. He used Wind Godsfall Intent like a master of the craft, cutting a line through the air so fast he was practically a green laser beam cutting through it all.
BANG!
Eliz landed heavily, but not only did she once again find herself stuck—this time Zarek had left her in his dust, surging into the distance even faster. She seemed to have mistimed her jump and Zarek was long past her.
Standing there, the reality of being humiliated not just once, but twice, left her a bit shell-shocked. She didn't even try to remove the Lurker's Godsfall practically nailing her feet to the floor right now.
She felt a heaviness as she realized the same thing everyone else around her already had.
This Zarek… was a problem.
…
Zarek shot into the mountain range, not caring to look back again. He could sense four different threats in four different directions, but he had no easy way of knowing which was the true body.
The only surefire way was to find one and hope it was him. If it wasn't, a second use of \\[Unholy Beacon] should reveal the real one quite easily from that point.
But Urouge had likely calculated this. The moment Zarek chose one, there'd be a contingency plan and a trap would almost certainly spring.
However, Zarek wasn't the type to hesitate in his actions because of the plans others might have. He was used to others doing the same for him, and he often made them pay for it.
He knew that the best defense was offense, and the best cure for indecisiveness was action. Often wildly unpredictable action.
SHUUUUU!
An arrow cut toward Zarek's back. He didn't need to look to know who had sent it. He also didn't need to look to sidestep it either.Check My Virtual Library Empire (MV1LEMP1YR) for the latest updates.
The arrow exploded on impact, and Zarek's lip couldn't help but curl. It seemed this archer was very worried about him using the arrows against them.
What he didn't know was that Thalion had a weapon's treasury. If Zarek really wanted an arrow to use, he could find one through other means. But he didn't need to.
With a sidestep, he let the arrow choose a direction for him. Since it had biased to the left, he turned right, turning his dodge into a change of direction.
He threw the lance onto his back harness and then shot out two palms. His Lurker's Godsfall attached to two large stones on the edges of a narrow path up.
Pulling taut against them, he launched himself forward, his acceleration coming even faster than before—so much so, his face threatened to deform beneath the pressure.
He landed heavily at the edge of the path's curve, nearly sending himself flying off the mountain, but he had already struck out another path around the curve, catching a new stone and using it as an anchor to send himself in a wide, speeding semi-circle.
Zarek landed on the narrow path cleanly once again after looking like he would swerve off the entire mountain, already aiming toward his next target.
He moved up the mountain faster than probably even Urouge was expecting. In the days that the necromancer had been following Zarek, this movement style was something he had never used. In fact, Lurker's Godsfall had never seemed to be a large part of his combat prowess.
It wouldn't have even been inappropriate for Urouge to assume that Zarek had a Fire Godsfall Intent.
Unfortunately, he was wrong.
Zarek had a limited range of abilities, but a seemingly unlimited range in the number of ways he could use them.
He had only barely just dodged Edwin's arrow not even ten seconds ago. Yet, in an instant, he had landed heavily before a cloaked figure with billowing black fog coming out of the hems of their robes.
"Oh, you—."
Zarek attacked, not caring to have a conversation. Steam practically billowed out of his mouth beneath the frigid air, his movements sharp and decisive.
Moving like the wind, he activated another use of \\[Angel Wing Flash], crossing the distance between them instantly while his lance thrust through the air.
"Can't we—."
PUCHI.
The lance ripped through the cloak and into the chest of the cloaked figure. So much strength was behind it that the moment the lance seemed to fail to make it all the way through, the figure shot back at shocking speeds, his back slamming against the wall of the mountain.
Coughing up a mouthful of blood, the figure slumped, and Zarek's eyes sharpened.
Had he… accidentally stumbled onto the real Urouge? It was a 25% chance, which was decent enough. But he still hadn't been expecting it.
However, Zarek still felt that something was wrong. There was no way the real Urouge would be this weak.
Crinkle. Crack. Crack.
A sound began to ripple from the cloak. Soon, it stood again, but its aura was completely different.
Then there was a chuckle.
"Unfortunately for you, even if you chose right, it doesn't really matter, now does it? I can just swap out for one of my convenient little puppets. Now, shall we fight?"
The head tilted up, and a pair of flaming green flickers surrounded by darkness met Zarek's eyes.