The predator behind the prey

Ten minutes before that scornful warning rang out, a small squad somewhere in the dead woods was steadily closing in on its target.

These men were tall and heavily armored, looking as impregnable as an iron shield.

The Viking squad numbered only six, but these were no ordinary Viking warriors. Each had an axe emblem in the center of his helmet: three silver, two white, and purple for the man leading them.

Without a doubt, this man was the Viking leader in the vanguard battle, and he was also a formidable Elementalist.

Perhaps because of his abundant elemental energy, his build was even more imposing. The bulging muscles exposed between his breastplate and bracers rivaled those of a tiger in the forest.

Walking at the front, Idiveer calmly scanned the ground like a hunter searching for faint traces of his quarry. His men peered left and right behind him, carefully checking their surroundings while guarding against ambush.

Becoming an Elementalist meant completely mastering a natural element. Upon reaching that level, a person was baptized in elemental energy, gaining comprehensive improvements to both strength and speed. Even the elusive sixth sense became far sharper, giving rise to the saying that ordinary people could never get close to an Elementalist.

Idiveer stopped and stared at a blade of grass in the soil before him. A trace of brown flashed through his pupils, and his lips curled involuntarily as he said excitedly, "Yetos, running out of strength, are you?"

As soon as he spoke, the blade of grass suddenly collapsed as though an invisible stone had pressed down on it. Then the five leaders behind him watched the tender grass burst apart and turn into a drop of red blood.

Idiveer bent down and sniffed the drop of blood.

"Its temperature has only just fallen. It hasn't cooled completely yet. He must have passed through less than ten minutes ago, and it looks like he can't hold on much longer," he said, excitement in his eyes.

One of the men behind him said, "You predicted everything, Leader. That fellow has to use elemental power to suppress his wound, and he's finally reached his limit."

"Yes. That means he'll leave more and more traces from now on. We'll find them soon."

"He's so good at hiding, he really is a crafty chameleon. Still, we can finally say the tracking is over. At least we haven't wasted all this time for nothing."

"Leader, let me take the front when we get there. The greataxe on my back has been thirsting for blood."

Their words carried both relief and complaint. Most Vikings had little patience, after all. In their eyes, the miserable business of trailing prey was better suited to the crafty fellows of the Holy Temple and the Seven Kingdoms.

"Don't be impatient. Remember, even wounded, he can still use elemental power. Your axes may be thick, but they'll have trouble blocking it, and we could suffer needless bloodshed. Besides, his subordinates are still with him, and they're no pushovers either. When we get there, all of you stay behind me. Don't act rashly," Idiveer said, his voice solid as rock.

"Yes," they answered in unison, their expressions respectful. None dared defy his wishes.

Idiveer raised his head toward the dense woods in the distance. Just as satisfaction began to appear on his face, he suddenly sensed something wrong, and his brow furrowed slightly.

One sharp-eyed man immediately asked, "What's wrong, Leader?"

He turned to look back the way they had come, his frown deepening. "Something's happening at camp. It sounds like fighting."

"What? How is that possible? Didn't the knight corps take the long way around to retreat? We're tracking their knight commander right now. Where would they find the men to attack our camp?"

"No, it can't be them. It must be those fellows from the Seven Kingdoms Coalition," another man guessed.

"Quick, get back!" Cursing inwardly, Idiveer charged off first.

The others were reluctant, since they had almost caught their prey, but their blood would not allow them to ignore what felt like a betrayal. They immediately followed, racing back the way they had come.

One minute after the squad left, four figures appeared like ghosts beneath a dead tree less than a kilometer away, as though they had been leaning against it all along.

The four men in differing suits of armor were naturally the knight squad the Vikings had been pursuing. Three bore silver markings, while the one with purple markings on his helmet was the commander of ten thousand knights-Yetos.

His face was pale, with a faint sheen of cold sweat. Only when he stood did the bloody hole beneath his left shoulder become visible. It had passed almost directly beside his heart, leaving white bone and red flesh plainly exposed. Strangely, however, no blood flowed from the horrific wound.

"Their camp is under attack?"

"The Seven Kingdoms Coalition really is a nasty bunch. They actually dared follow them here. They've got some nerve."

"They came at just the right time, but we don't know how many there are. If all Seven Kingdoms came together, our main force will still suffer casualties." The three looked toward the dense woods where the sounds were coming from.

An emerald gleam flashed through Yetos's pupils as he reasoned, "No. The Seven Kingdoms are united on the surface, but in truth they're too busy scheming against one another to stand together. Their alliance in this vanguard war was only a coincidence. There's no way they'd all set out together now to hunt down the Viking Tribes."

"What do we do now? Leave the woods and join the main force, or stay and keep buying time?" one man asked.

He chuckled. "The latter, of course. As long as Idiveer lives, the danger won't truly be gone. Besides, don't you want to take a look at such a lively scene?"

"But your wound?" the man asked worriedly.

"It's fine. With Idiveer no longer pursuing us, I don't need to use elemental power to conceal us, so the wound can heal normally." Yetos swept his hand over the bloody hole, covering it with elemental power that gave off a faint green glow.

"Come on. Let's see who's fighting."

The three followed closely behind him, and the four headed toward the bloody battlefield.

Clang!

The fighting in the camp had reached a fever pitch. More than half the Qi Kingdom soldiers, who had initially held the numerical advantage, were dead. Those still able to fight were naturally elite troops, which was why they could continue trading blows with the remaining Viking warriors.

The ground had become a pool of blood, and everyone moved across the bleeding earth. On this cruel, merciless battlefield, two important figures held the gazes of the two men hiding in the distance.

From the moment they had removed their armor, the mesh armor beneath had seemed little more than decoration. A greataxe packed with explosive strength and a vicious bronze sword kept cutting wounds into it. Blood gushed freely, staining their skin until they looked as though they wore garments of blood.

"Is that all you've got? What a pity. You're not as strong as I expected." After a heavy sword strike, the silver-marked general spoke between gasping breaths.

He was wounded too, but compared with the bloody holes in his opponent's arm and calf, his advantage was obvious at a glance.

The Viking leader's grievous injuries had impaired both his strength and speed. Under the Qi Kingdom general's fierce assault, he finally began struggling to defend himself, retreating step after step instead of pressing forward as before.

"You despicable ambusher! What have you got to be proud of?" The Viking leader's face was full of contempt, his voice seething with anger.

His opponent's skill far exceeded his expectations. If not for his poor innate talent, the man would undoubtedly have become an immensely powerful Elementalist by now, perhaps even one capable of battling their leader.

Watching the battlefield's most important duel, Kanni said without much emotion, "It's about to be decided."

Zeng Mu nodded in agreement, understanding that the balance of the battle was beginning to tip.

It happened in an instant. The bronze sword struck sideways against the greataxe, and as the Viking leader staggered backward, the general pushed off on his toes and leaped into the air. His ten fingers clenched tight. Amid his hot, sweat-soaked blood, all the elemental power accumulated over many years erupted, gathering along the bronze blade as he swung downward and raising his strength and speed to their peak.

Whoosh! The sword swept down, leaving his opponent no chance to block.

The thick, sturdy greataxe was sliced in two. Then a dull thud sounded against the ground as the headless body fell, still carrying a trace of defiance.

Without sparing his opponent a glance, the general raised his sword high and shouted, "Your leader has been slain! Surrender now!"

His words immediately drew the attention of the surrounding Viking warriors. When they saw the head on the ground, its eyes still wide in death, no fear appeared on their faces. Instead, their expressions turned utterly savage, their eyes looking ready to devour someone.

"Brothers! Avenge our leader with the axes in our hands!"

"Kill!"

The Viking warriors' bloodlust ignited completely, darkening the Qi Kingdom general's expression when he had been hoping the battle would end.

"If you're so determined to die, I'll oblige you!"

His eyes reddened, and he tore into them like a tiger freed from its cage. No matter how furious the Viking warriors became, none could stop the sweep of his sword.

The Qi Kingdom general's victory had not been nearly as effortless as it looked. His earlier duel with the Viking leader had consumed most of his strength. Although no one here could face him alone, he could no longer fight with his former ease as more and more Viking warriors surrounded him.

He had thought killing their leader would frighten the survivors into surrendering, but reality was the complete opposite. The Viking warriors' furious counterattack reversed the tilting scales, and every sweep of their axes brought another Qi Kingdom soldier down.

Damn Vikings. Every last one of them is a beast that hasn't finished evolving, he cursed inwardly.

Though the Viking warriors' counterattack was fierce, the Qi Kingdom soldiers were no weaklings either. Moreover, their general's continued presence gave them even greater confidence. They knew that without a leader, the enemy's resolve would soon begin to waver, and that would be the moment they declared victory.

As expected, five minutes later, the Viking warriors' resolve finally began to change. Without their commander, they not only suffered a blow to their morale, but their formation also began to scatter.

"Kill! Break through on this side!" The Qi Kingdom general immediately directed the soldiers around him to attack the enemy's weak point. After several rounds of fighting, the Viking warriors' final defensive line collapsed.

Using their superior numbers and long spears, along with the morale advantage of having their general present, the Qi Kingdom soldiers finally completed their encirclement. The fifty or sixty remaining Viking warriors struggled desperately like great fish caught in a net, but even fighting until their heads split and blood streamed down could not break the completed ring.

Watching from afar, the two men understood that the battle was over.

"Someone's coming." Kanni noticed a faint swaying in the distant treetops.

Whoosh! A sword pierced the heart beneath a breastplate. As the general pulled his blade free, his face became even bloodier, making him look more terrifying still.

He pointed his sword at the Viking warriors and shouted, "Surrender, and you'll be spared!"

"There are no cowards in our Viking Tribes!"

"Cowards never reach Valhalla! They can only go to Helheim!"

Every Viking warrior shouted fervently, their axes whistling as they resisted the soldiers' closing net with even greater ferocity.

"Well said! Our Viking Tribes are full of brave warriors! None of us fear battle or surrender!" A loud voice came from afar, though no one knew who had spoken.

The Qi Kingdom general's eyelid twitched. He knew that the dangerous figure had finally shown himself.