Hunting

Outside the passage, Woodman had grown somewhat impatient as he waited. Several times, he had wanted to rush into the passage to check on the situation inside, but Wattster held him back each time. Just as his patience was about to run out, an unusual sound came from within the passage, and a figure staggered out toward the exit.

Holop stumbled down the passage toward the outside world. He no longer possessed the imposing air he had when he left Koreita. His left arm had been severed at the root, blood streaming continuously from the wound. His wings had also been damaged, leaving them tattered and incomplete. Wounds of every size covered his body, and blood soaked him from head to toe—his misery was beyond words. Yet none of that mattered to him anymore. As long as he passed through the exit ahead, he would be free. There would be plenty of time afterward to settle accounts with those bastards from Fostadu. With that thought, he quickened his pace. After all, he was not safe yet. Still, he had to thank whoever had commanded the battle. If not for that person's oversight, he might truly have died here. Once he found that person in the future, he would definitely give him a proper "welcome" in repayment for today's favor.

Hidden in the grass outside the passage, Woodman stared at the target drawing ever closer and dearly wished he could rush out and finish him off. But remembering Sordil's arrangements, Woodsman ultimately held himself back. He gestured behind him, and a human quickly came to his side. Woodman whispered several words into his ear, after which the human hurried away, his destination unknown, though his pace had clearly quickened.

Lindel watched Sordil constantly darting through the forest, his mind unable to make sense of it all. Yet he did not dare disturb Sordil, and could only circle anxiously in the air. Murellia saw her friend's confusion and anxiety, so she asked in his stead, "Young Master Sordil, what exactly are we doing now?"

"What you said earlier was right. If we sealed off their escape route, the dragons inside would fight us to the death and cause us considerable casualties. That is why I left them an escape passage in the Space Magic barrier. But if we let them escape, it would affect our later operations. So I set up a new Space Array outside the passage, while still leaving another route open. Every passage connects to another space. Once countless structures like these link together, they form a ring. The enemy will keep fleeing along that ring, while we can keep hunting them down. By the time they realize it is one enormous trap, they will no longer have any strength left to resist. Then won't they be ours to butcher as we please?" Sordil patiently explained his new plan to the two of them, leaving Murellia and Lindel utterly astonished.

Just as Sordil finished explaining, the human who had received Woodman's instructions arrived at his side and relayed Woodman's message. After hearing the report, Sordil told him his decision and instructed him to pass it on to Woodman. He then accelerated his work to ensure the smooth progress of this encirclement operation.

Before long, the messenger returned with Sordil's orders. Upon hearing that he could finally make his move, Woodman nearly burst into delighted laughter. Without the slightest hesitation, he followed the markers Wattster had left behind and set off in pursuit. Before leaving, however, Woodman ordered the messenger to notify the other dragons to come and keep watch. He himself would join forces with Wattster to deal with the fellow who had just escaped.

By the time Woodman arrived, Wattster had already made her move. Trees all around had been snapped apart, and the ground was littered with craters of every size. Wattster was pressing the previous dragon's head against the ground with her left hand and grinding it back and forth, while her free right hand viciously hammered down on his spine. The unlucky creature was continuously coughing up blood, his chest rising and falling weakly. He looked as if he had more breath leaving him than entering him, as though he might die at any moment. Seeing his prey stolen, Woodman was furious! But he did not dare complain to Wattster, so he could only run over and thoughtfully ask whether she was tired. If she was, she could take a rest and let him handle things for her.

When Holop heard that being beaten for so long was not the end of it, and that someone else had come to take over and continue beating him, his eyes rolled back and he fainted on the spot. He only hoped that, when he woke up, he would be far away from these two demons. Seeing the fellow on the ground lose consciousness, Woodman felt that even his last bit of enjoyment was gone. Then something suddenly occurred to him. Without Sordil's orders, how had Wattster started attacking? When he voiced his doubt, Wattster burst into laughter, only telling him the reason after a full quarter of an hour.

It turned out that before they had even set out, Wattster had used the friendship they had built over two months as study companions to learn that she could attack as soon as the Space Magic barrier was raised. That was why she had volunteered to track that fellow. Moreover, Wattster told Woodman that Gilkunis likely had access to even more private information, since he had spent more time with Sordil. This made Woodman bitterly regret giving up the chance to be a study companion, while his impression of Gilkunis as cunning deepened further. The two then bound Holop, locked him in a prepared giant cage, and instructed the humans to transport it back to Fostadu before continuing their hunting journey.

Having suffered a loss once, Woodman became more cautious and stuck closely to Wattster. The two had not traveled far along the designated route before discovering new prey.

Mevajena supported her brother as they moved forward slowly. Originally, she had planned to fly away with him directly. But just as she was about to take off, a companion walking not far ahead of them had barely risen into the air before being attacked and killed by a hidden enemy. Frightened, she immediately abandoned the idea. Although those attacks could not kill her, her elder brother, who had been seriously wounded while shielding her from earlier attacks, might suffer the same fate as that companion ahead. So she intended to leave by air once they reached a safer place. She had to take her brother out alive; only then would his sacrifice for her not have been in vain.

Who would have thought that just as Mevajena rounded the forest, a blue breath attack came at her from the front, while another dark green breath attack came from her right. Mevajena had no choice but to take her brother into the air to evade them. Yet the moment she dodged the attacks, a blue dragon charged in with its fist raised. Bang!

Mevajena could not evade in time and was struck in the face by the punch, sent flying backward. Her heavily injured brother was also thrown from her shoulder. Just as she tried to rise, the blue dragon attacked again. She could only raise her right hand to block its attack while preparing to use her breath to force it back. But the blue dragon noticed her intention and swiftly retreated, sending a blue magical whip lashing toward her at the same time. Mevajena twisted aside to avoid the whip and unleashed her breath at the enemy.

Boom!

An explosion rang out, and endless smoke engulfed the area, completely hiding the enemy's figure. Mevajena vigilantly scanned her surroundings, guarding against a sudden attack.