"Were we that obvious? How'd you even know we were here… Also, what was with the cheesy line…"
As those words entered her ear, Tatiana's gaze instantly darkened even more. With her hand still on his collar, she tightened her grip and raised her other hand higher.
"You know… It seems like I haven't cleared all of my frustrations, too…"
"W-WAIT! I WAS JOKING!"
In a panic, Leo hurriedly used his hands to defend himself from the incoming attack. Unknowingly, as he prepared for the attack, something was rising through his throat, making its way up to his mouth.
His face started to turn slightly red before a single drop of blood leaked from the edge of his lips. Making its way down onto his chin and dripping down to the white snow, splattering like spilled ink on a blank canvas.
Tatiana's face dropped with the blood, her expression changing almost immediately.
Unable to contain the blood in his mouth, Leo puked a large amount of blood onto the ground—the snow slowly becoming more crimson as it absorbed the crimson liquid.
Leo shivered all over, looking at the two members near him. Their eyes filled with nothing but shock.
Viewing the blood on the snow, Tatiana quickly fixed how she held Leo, crouching down as she placed her fingers on his neck, listening for his pulse. Yet, despite that, his heartbeat remained completely fine, so she changed her focus to another organ, then another, but all was the same. All the organs she was inspecting were still in good condition.
And there, when she tried to figure out what was happening to Leo, she saw his eyes flickering between onyx and purple.
Her lips shook slightly, cold sweat pouring down her neck as she rushed to investigate his neck. No tattoo… However, she didn't want to accept it that easily.
Steadily, she looked everywhere on his body for the tattoo, yet it wasn't there.
Turning to Isaac, she muttered:
"Did he… Did a snake come out of his body?"
Witnessing her tense expression, Isaac nodded while he looked away, feeling somewhat guilty despite not knowing what was happening.
Leo's smile faltered slightly, no longer as confident as it was before.
"Are you insane? Who told you to use that?"
"What's with all the worry? I'm fine, it's so cute seeing you like this, you know."
"CAN YOU JUST STOP THAT RIGHT NOW!?"
For the second time during this expedition, Leo's smile disappeared, no longer able to keep it up. Although he didn't let it stay down forever, he forced himself to continue smiling.
"It's all for the mission, don't be so sad about it, it's not like I'd let myself die like this."
Many trees hummed peacefully as the smooth air swung by to push not only the leaves, but the tiny snow that clung to them. It was nothing but pure silence, no destruction, no noise, and no constant footsteps.
Only the quiet sounds of nature lingered.
Atop a large smooth rock was Theodor, embracing the peacefulness. Yet, despite having the perfect environment to sleep, he awoke from rest and gazed upward at the grey sky.
No one was there; everyone except for him had disappeared.
It was strange, just moments ago, he had heard Ena rampaging in the south and Leo playing with his flames on one of the branches atop Isaac's tent.
But now, he had lost track of everyone.
However, he has no reason to worry about them; after all, they were people who could handle themselves. So why bother?
Gritting his teeth, he forced himself to get up, making his way into the dark forest.
Frustration stirred within him, remembering the incident that led to Haruo's demise. And because of that reason, he found himself monitoring everyone in the forest, not allowing himself to sleep.
He couldn't allow himself to think that anymore. After what happened with Haruo, anything could happen, especially since they were still in the forest.
Cause, if not, then what will happen to the division? What will happen to Leo? What will happen to his sister?
There was not a moment when he hadn't monitored each of them; he could tell he wasn't the only one doing so, too. The fear of unpredictability had caught up to him and the other members.
He didn't want it. But more importantly, he couldn't bear it.
Minutes passed, yet no one was to be found. So he stopped.
He hadn't found anyone yet, yet he still stopped. Because, although the division wasn't there, there was certainly someone who was.
Clenching his spear tightly, he raised it to his side. His gaze followed the tip of his spear as he glared at nothing but air. Gradually, though, a silhouette of a tall man became apparent, tracing the air around him until finally, he was completely visible to Theodor's eyes.
It was the masked man.
Unfortunately for Theodor, he wasn't the only one pointing a blade.
"Who are you?"
Their voices clashed together as they both spoke in unison.
Twisting his entire body, Theodor created a single movement that not only pushed away the man's blade, but also sent a clean attack forward.
Reacting to his movement, the man took one step back, then leaned backwards to dodge the spear with minimal movement
Not wasting a single breath, Theodor changed his center of gravity to change the spear's trajectory downwards toward him. The man, seeing this sudden change, was caught off guard and pushed himself at a generous distance.
Seeing him escape, Theodor didn't discontinue his attack; instead, he continued it until it drove itself to the ground—hooking it completely.
Now with it lodged in the ground, he bent the handle close to his chest. In a swift movement, he jumped and used the handle as a sprint to launch his foot at the man.
Another move that the man wasn't prepared for, with nearly no time to dodge, he decided to block it with his sword, laying the blade flat on his sleeve and planting his foot on the ground to distribute the kick's force as much as possible.
His blade rang out with the kid's feet making contact, a whole shockwave of force that shivered his center of balance. It felt heavy. A bit too heavy for someone his size.
With his foot still on the blade, Theodor used it as a springboard to retreat to a safe distance, taking his spear with him before taking a stance.
Because of his action, the man was slightly pushed more outward, creating even more space between them.
"Hold on… You're a semi-pure. What's a person like you doing here? People like you don't live here. Now that I think about it, that other one was also a Semi-pure…"
Having heard his last sentence, Theodor's eyes sharpened indefinitely.
The words 'other one' meant that he had met one of the division members, but which one? He had no idea. The other three vanished almost simultaneously; it was hard to tell who he had met with that one sentence alone.
"Other one?"
"Oh, do you know them? Well, it wouldn't be a surprise if you two traveled here. But that aside, what exactly are you two doing in the forest?"
For a cold minute, the man hasn't gotten a single word. At this point, he couldn't tell if he was being ignored or if he was just the quiet type. And seeing how he wasn't responding, he only sighed through his mask before saying.
"Sorry to tell you this, but that guy you were with? He's going to have to die for trespassing."
Theodor's face fell with those words.
"Don't worry, I won't kill you, you didn't break any rules, and I know you just attacked me out of self-defense, so I'll let you go…"
Gripping his handle tighter, he thrusted his spear toward the man with all his might. Mid-sentence, the man felt a blade closing in on him.
Instinctively, he kicked the spear by its handle, changing its trajectory.
The man slowly shifted his gaze toward Theodor, but he was already just inches away from him. An attack was inevitable; he couldn't block or dodge, there wasn't enough time or space for him to do so.
And so a punch was sent to the masked man's chin, but that didn't stop there.
Theodor bent his weight to the side and threw a hook at his liver. The man, regaining his senses, drove his palm to block his fist. However, Theodor had already shifted his weight again.
This time, he prepared a kick to his cranium, but he had dodged just barely. Whereas another kick was sent, this time he blocked it.
Then, another attack, he caught it. And so another—he blocked it. And so, another, he dodged it. And another.
Another… Another… Another…
Both went back and forth, not daring to take a single breath, because they knew that if even one of them lost tempo, it would give the other an advantage. And so Theodor kept pushing, while the man played defense.
Until finally, there it was, an opening the man could exploit.
Not letting the chance go to waste, he immediately went for a counterattack, sending his arm forward.
Putting a lot of force into his attack, he made contact with… Air
The attack had missed, no… It hadn't missed, but instead, he was baited into attacking.
His eyes flared as he saw the entire world around him inverting till he was completely slammed to the ground by Theodor.
A pang of pain flooded his whole body.
Theodor, letting go of his arm, the man escaped and stood up instantly. Clutching his head, he felt a tiny bit dizzy, and as he regained his senses, he saw Theodor holding the sword he had dropped and thrusting it toward him.
Biting his lip tightly, the man twisted his body, dodged the sword while sending an elbow strike to Theodor's face.
Seeing the new opportunity, he pulled his elbow back and launched it at his opponent's wrist, disarming him completely.
Blood trickled down Theodor's nose as he took the blow to the face, yet for some reason, he felt no pain from it. Speedily, he kicked the man in the abdomen, sending him backward.
Wiping the blood from his nose, he kicked the ground, the force making the sword rise to his waist before he grabbed it by the handle and threw it directly at him.
With the sword closing in, the man swayed to his left and caught it by the handle mid-air. The very moment he caught the sword, Theodor had also retrieved his weapon back.
Both glared at each other as they took deep breaths, resting while still being wary of each other.
"You know… We could've parted ways without all this drama…"
"Shut up."
In singular motion, Theodor struck the one below him, the entire ground cracking to his will. Both earth and white snow were scattered everywhere, blinding the man entirely.
As if that wasn't bad enough, his eyes were blinded by snow, which was no different from getting hit by sand in the eye.
He rubbed his eye aggressively, hoping that it might disappear right away. Then he sensed it, in the back of his head, a blade was lunged toward him.
To his luck, the man had successfully dodged it. Glancing backwards, he saw the blood-lustful eyes of the semi-pure. With no time to waste, he sent a backward kick to drive him away.
The kick connected, making him fly backwards, but in that exact moment, the man saw it: an unfazed expression on his face.
There, a slight warmth trickled into his ear, blood… Theodor purposely let himself get attacked to be sent backwards, and using that momentum, he positioned his spear to slice the man.
But unfortunately, he missed it by a hair's breadth and only damaged his ear.
The cloth that wrapped his upper head had been split by the side, loosening it to reveal the man's ginger hair.
It was only at this moment that the man realized the "kid" he was facing wasn't bothered by injuring himself if it meant injuring the other opponent as well.
If he wanted really to win, he didn't just need to stake his life; he had to throw it away…
'He's a complete lunatic…'
Clenching his fist, he shot himself forward to Theodor, charging his blade to slice him in half.
Theodor, seeing him charge, didn't bother to dodge; instead, he let him hit him. The blade passed through Theodor. Yet, Theodor was completely unharmed, no bruises, no cuts, just himself.
The one that had sliced him was merely an illusion created by the man, a fake. Then, as the fake vanished to dust, he redirected his gaze to his side, and there, he saw the real one.
His silhouette is completely unmistakable.
Theodor ducked, avoiding the slash, cutting a tree right behind him. With focused eyes, Theodor went to the back of the tree as fast as he could and kicked the tree toward the man.
Trailing it, he plunged his spear through the tree, but his opponent had already side-stepped the moment before he pierced the tree.
But what the man hadn't expected was the crushing blow of the tree, dragged and connected by the spear.
Letting go of his weapon one last time, Theodor charged a punch to the man and sent it to his face as hard as he could.
The man crashed through many trees as he flew from the punch. Only slowing down on the 30th three, before he regained his footing.
Blood streamed from his head, soaking his mask as it descended his face.
The man didn't care anymore. He was done playing carefully; he had thought the kids were nothing more than a hassle, but he couldn't be more wrong.
Now seeing Theodor, he made a decision.
Even if it means throwing his life away, he will do anything to KILL Theodor.