Chapter 384: Long Gone
(45 Minutes Ago, Fredrick’s POV, Outside Leo’s Apartment)
After being assigned the mission to eliminate Leo Skyshard by the Vice-Guildmaster, Fredrick quickly traced his trail from the Guild Headquarters back to his apartment, completely unaware that Leo had already slipped away nearly ten minutes ago.
Upon reaching the apartment, he was about to take his usual position in the corridor just outside Leo’s door, intending to wait till nightfall to break in and kill the boy, when he was suddenly alarmed by the fact that there was no trace of life inside Leo’s apartment.
Leo wasn’t inside his room, and that made Fredrick’s brow twitch, as he couldn’t understand what was going on.
‘I clearly traced his trail from the headquarters to here…. If he went back out of this door after returning, there should be a second trail running back out from here, but there isn’t one….’ he noted, as he searched around for signs of faded mana signature, but found nothing.
‘Hmmm… Weird,’ he thought, as he stepped forward and retrieved a thin pair of runic gloves from his coat pocket, sliding them on as he crouched before the door.
*Tap*
*Tap*
Tapping one finger against the lock in a practiced rhythm, Fredrick snuck a piece of molded wire into the lock, as he picked it open with ease.
“The kid used a double lock today…” he muttered under his breath, as he stood up and pushed the door open to enter, only to be shocked when the door did not hinge open completely but was stopped midway by a chain.
It was at this moment that Fredrick froze from the implications of this, as he realized that there was something horrible that was afoot.
‘No… it’s chained. From inside?’ he wondered, as his stomach dropped.
“Well shit.”
He instantly backed away and glanced to the left.
The apartment had one entry point and one exit.
If the door was chained from the inside, then it meant that after entering his apartment, Leo didn’t walk back out but had rather escaped through the window.
‘Only thieves… or spies run out of windows,’ Fredrick thought, as he did not waste another second.
*CRASH!*
He slammed his shoulder into the door with a burst of mana, as he broke the chain and burst into the apartment with both hands raised, before casting an area sweep spell.
[Reverberation Echo].
Waves of mana pulsed outward, mapping the interior instantly.
The bed was bare.
The cabinet half-empty.
And there were no food utilities left lying around, as he seemed to have packed everything.
Fredrick’s eyes narrowed as he scanned the wardrobe, from where Leo’s daggers were now all gone, alongside his spare robes.
Only the guild-issued uniform remained, hanging limply like a husk.
“He’s on the run.”
The words escaped before his brain fully processed them, but they felt true, absolute.
Fredrick spun around and lunged toward the open window, leaping out as his body vanished mid-air in a blur of speed.
His boots barely touched the rooftop as he activated the [Thermal Residue Tracker], a specialized hunter’s technique that allowed him to follow faint aura traces through residual heat signatures and mana trails.
‘There,’ he thought, as he spotted a faint trail that was fresh and moving eastbound with haste.
He chased it without pause, dashing across rooftops like a starving hound on a blood trail, his breath steady, mind sharp, footsteps landing one after another in a rhythm built for pursuit.
Ten minutes passed.
Then twenty.
Until finally—
Hangar Bay 3.
Fredrick skidded to a stop on the overlook of the launch platform, his head snapping up just in time to watch the tail-end glow of an engine vanish into the clouds.
Not even two minutes gone.
“No. No. NO! NOO! NOOOO!”
He leapt down and sprinted across the platform, eyes locking onto the command center, where two startled employees turned toward the screaming man storming their booth.
“LOGS! I NEED LOGS! SOMEONE GIVE ME THE MOTHERFUCKING LOGS!” Fredrick bellowed, his voice raw with urgency as he slammed both palms against the desk, making their holopanels flicker.
One of the staff stepped forward, firm but apologetic.
“I’m sorry sir, no matter how much you scream at me, I cannot give you the log details. Unless you can present me with the necessary security clearance, I cannot break protocol—”
Fredrick slapped his own face with both hands, dragging them down slowly, his nostrils flaring as rage curled into a snarl.
“Are you kidding me right now?”
“I’m acting under direct orders from the Vice-Guildmaster of the Black Serpents, and you’re worried about clearance?” Fredrick spoke with anger, however, the employee did not budge.
“I understand, but without authorization from—” he began, as Fredrick put a finger to his lip and did not wait for him to end.
*Beep*
He opened his inter-comm.
“Boss. It’s me. He’s gone. Escaped. Took a ship.”
“…What?”
“They won’t give me the logs. Putting you on speaker now, give the employee a good shout for me…”
A moment of silence.
Then—
“GIVE HIM THE MOTHERFUCKING LOGS!”
The voice of Vice-Guildmaster Antonio exploded from the speaker, sharp enough to make both employees jump.
“Yes sir!” the lead tech stammered, immediately pulling up the manifest as his fingers flew across the console.
“One private departure. Hangar Bay 3. No crew listed except one freelance pilot. Destination: Planet Rodova.”
Fredrick’s fists clenched.
Planet Rodova.
He was headed straight back to the Academy.
The window was closing fast.
“I need one of the fastest Galaxy-Class interceptors in our fleet. Right now. Use Vice Guildmaster Antonio’s authorization.”
The technician hesitated only for a heartbeat before nodding.
Fredrick turned on his heel, storming toward the launch pad with his coat billowing behind him.
‘You’re not getting away that easily, Skyshard. I don’t care if I have to chase you across a dozen star systems. I will gut you mid-flight if I have to. But I am completing this mission….’ Fredrick resolved, as he quickly went searching for the fastest plane and a competent pilot.
As within twenty minutes of Leo departing, he took a ship to chase after him as well.