A giant net woven from blood threads and bone spikes dropped over him with a piercing howl.
Every blood thread carried Sutherland's Divine Authority, enough to corrode a god's body in an instant and turn flesh into grotesque pustules.
Sutherland's voice echoed throughout the Flesh Garden, brimming with delight at the thought of capturing a prized specimen.
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"In my breeding ground, speed is the most useless thing of all."
"No matter how fast you run, you can't outrun the curse seeping into your body."
The instant the blood net tightened, Dawn vanished.
It wasn't an afterimage left by high-speed movement.
Nor was there any ripple from a spatial jump.
He simply faded where he stood, a heartbeat before the net touched him, until he was completely transparent.
As though he had never existed.
Crash!
The enormous blood net snapped shut around the spot where he had stood and cinched tight.
Countless blood threads and bone spikes scraped against one another, but touched nothing solid.
The net had caught nothing.
The next moment, Dawn reappeared on the other side of the net, unharmed.
He hadn't even drawn his blade.
In the rainforest, Sutherland's smug laughter stopped dead.
"...What happened?"
For the first time, her will held a confusion she couldn't resolve.
That net was an extension of her Divine Authority. It sealed space and bound the laws within it.
No living creature could pass through without touching a blood thread.
"I told you."
Dawn turned toward the enormous Flesh Altar downstream of the blood river.
"Your blood isn't as fast as my blade."
Before he finished speaking, he vanished again.
This time, he wasn't dodging.
He was attacking.
Slash!
A pitch-black cut appeared without warning across the "neck" of the Twisted Treant nearest the altar.
The tree went