Raven picked up the button before looking around with careful eyes.

“Hmm.”

Soon, he spotted a thin thread of torn fabric just a few meters away. After moving towards the foreign object, he carefully picked it up with his fingers, then slowly walked a straight line created by the two alien objects.

“There’s more.”

He muttered after finding three thin threads on the ground about 20 meters away. There was a trail of thread. He initially found one, but now held several in his hand. 

A calm collected expression appeared on his face. 

It was clear that someone had purposefully left behind a trail of threads. Moreover, the threads belonged to the owner of the button he found at the beginning.

“It is a signal.”

Raven was a veteran honed by decades of battles. He carefully examined his surroundings.

“Footprints. Two adults.”

It wasn’t too difficult to find traces and footprints in the grass.

“Was one heavier than the other? No, judging from the fact that it left deeper imprints, one was carrying something. Either heavy luggage, or…”

He muttered while closely examining the footprints, then slowly raised his head.

“Human…”

Raven’s eyes glistened coldly under the moonlight as he followed the trail of footprints with his eyes.

***

“What should we do?”

“What else? We need to leave this place right now.”

Number 3 struggled to prop himself up. His injuries had yet to recover.

“But it is difficult to travel via griffon during the night. In addition, there are many tall mountains around this area, and I am ignorant of the wind routes…”

“We have no other choice. We need to be prepared for all tangencies.”

“Even so, why would anyone be around in such a remote forest? Even if there were, who would find it?”

“Hmm.”

Number 3 sank into deep contemplation. The young man was definitely right. No one would be wandering around such deep depths of a dark forest. Even if there were, there was little possibility of them discovering the thread or the hem left by the child. Nevertheless…

“We have continuously faced unexpected situations until now, including the Knight King’s skills, and the kid’s actions. On days like this, you must exercise caution to the maximum.”

“Well…”

The young man had to agree. In life, there were days when nothing proceeded according to your plans, whether in pleasant ways or unfavorable ways. The young man and Number 3 had lived through a few of such days in their lives.

But today was really quite an unlucky day, enough to be counted on their fingers. Of course, successfully kidnapping the little successor of the Pendragon Kingdom could be counted as their luckiest break yet, but the aftermath had been terrible.

“Phew! I guess there’s no helping it. First, let’s get out of the forest.”

“Yes. And…”

Number 3 turned his frosty gaze towards Raymond. 

Raymond flinched, but still received the gaze with a proud expression.

“How brave. But you should know. If you were not the blood of the Pendragon family, I would have already killed you.”

“…..!”

Perhaps it was inevitable for a child. 

Raymond trembled with a pale expression. Even if he was born with the dragon’s energy, and no matter how brave he was, the cold, sharp spirit emitted by Number 3 wasn’t something that a child could handle.

“Ahk! Upf!”

As if venting his anger, the young man ruthlessly gagged before being pushed out of the woody shelter. The two men crawled out carefully, then picked up Raymond before walking towards the griffon.

“Hmm!?”

Number 3 limped forward with his hand on his chest. However, he suddenly became alert and turned his head.

“Why?”

“Someone is coming.”

“Huh!?”

The young man’s eyes filled with shock. However, he soon regained his calm before muttering. 

Although he could not utilize the spirit like Number 3, the young man had developed his five senses to be several times greater than normal humans with a special ability. He also sensed someone’s approaching presence.

“It’s a person.”

“Yes. It’s a person.”

“C, could it be the Knight King?”

“I do not think so. However, the aura definitely does not belong to an ordinary human.”

“Dammit…”

Muttering quietly, the young man placed Raymond on the griffon’s back before covering him with a thick blanket. He was disguising Raymond as luggage.

“Can you fight?”                                                                                                

“Perhaps. But this is a little strange.”

“What? What do you mean?”

The young man asked while taking out two daggers from either side of his waist, and Number 3 responded after unsheathing a longsword.

“They are not running. Considering their consistent stride and speed, it’s obvious that they are a warrior, but it’s not the Knight King. Who could it be?”

“Perhaps it’s a mercenary who was camping in the vicinity.”

“I can only hope, but…”

It was dangerous to travel by griffon during the night. Griffons mainly hunted during the day, and they did not possess good night vision. Therefore, the three would have no choice but to move on foot, and to do so, they would have to deal with the approaching figure.

Tap. Tap.

Soon, they heard the figure wading through the grass towards them.

The young man and Number 3 stared, waiting to confirm the identity of the opponent.

“Hmm.”

Soon, a person appeared from behind the tree. His hair was tied in a messy way behind his back, and it was as dark as the surrounding twilight. The newcomer was a young man with a mysterious charm. A scar ran past his nose, and he possessed sharp eyes and a square jaw.

However, the eyes of Number 3 and the young man rested on the weapons that hung from the uninvited guest’s belt rather than his looks.

‘A scimitar?’

‘And a regular sword… Does he wield two weapons?’

The two quickly grasped the characteristics of the newcomer, which was possibly because of their abundant experience and the peculiarity of their organization.

The two groups stood about 20 meters apart. The young man spoke with a grin.

“Mister, why did you come here? Just go on your way.”

“…..”

The uninvited guest did not answer. He simply observed the two men with calm eyes.

“You must be a mercenary. If you have no business, be on your way.”

At the following words of the young man, the gaze of the uninvited guest headed to the griffon and the shifting sack on its back. 

The end of his mouth curled up. 

It was an obvious sneer.

“Unlike your words, I do not think you are planning to let me go. Am I wrong?”

“Correct.”

The young man’s hands moved like lightning as he responded with a bright smile.

Shishing!

Two daggers instantly shot forward and cut through the darkness towards the uninvited guest.

Chae-chaeng!

“Huh!?”

The sharp clash of metal broke the silence of the night, and the young man became wide-eyed with shock. 

The uninvited guest did not even pull out his two swords. Instead, he had simply deflected the daggers with metallic gauntlets.

“A person like you appearing out of the blue here, in the middle of the night in this dark forest. I’m telling you…”

A small smile appeared on the young man’s lips as he muttered quietly.

“This is a dirty day for luck.”

The young man and Number 3 lowered their postures, then rushed towards the uninvited guest like the wind.

Papapapat!

The two people narrowed the distance in an instant, then turned directions right before arriving in front of the figure. The two separated to the left and right, then swung their dagger and longsword, respectively.

Papat!

A blue trail was left behind under the moonlight as the tip of the weapons headed toward the figure’s neck and chest.

Clang! Chaeng!

The figure responded by pulling out his weapons, then swinging them like lightning.

“Keugh!”

Number 3 was forced back several steps with a grunt. His fingertips felt numb. The opponent’s strength was fully conveyed in a single clash.

“Be careful! He’s not a normal foe!”

Number 3 took out an object while shouting. It was a pouch containing the same poison powder he utilized to distract the Knight King earlier in the day.

“I know!”

The young man answered vigorously while continuing to swing and stab with a sharp dagger the size of his forearm.

Clang! Clang!

However, the uninvited guest blocked or deflected all of the attacks with ease. Moreover, he stood fixated in place without moving an even single step.

“Motherfucker…”

The young man exchanged multiple blows with him in an instant, then retreated while muttering under his breath.

“What are you, mister?”

The young man was genuinely surprised and shaken. Although he wasn’t as strong as Number 3 or those above him, he possessed skills far above ordinary mercenaries. Even if he were facing experienced, talented mercenaries, he could take them with ease, even if there were five or six of them. In fact, he had done so many times in the past.

However, the newcomer was different.

“This is quite frustrating…”

The young man was angry. 

It wasn’t just because the opponent was stronger than he expected. 

He could tell – the black-haired mercenary was going easy on him. No, rather than going easy on him, he appeared to be experimenting with something.

And his guess was correct.

The uninvited guest, Raven, was holding the two weapons in his hands for the first in a long time. He was becoming accustomed to the sensation of battle.

“How could we be so damn unlucky…”

“Is that so? Though I think I’ve gotten quite lucky.”

“What?”

The young man responded with shock, and Raven continued in a cold voice.

“I’m lucky to meet people like you, suddenly appearing out of the blue in the middle of a dark forest.”

“Motherfucker!”

The young man exploded and charged like a beast. Number 3 had been looking for an opportunity. As soon as the young man attacked, he quickly pivoted to Raven’s rear and threw the pocket of poison powder.

Fwoosh!

The young man’s dagger threatened him from the front, and the dark purple powder rushed in from the back. A fierce light erupted from Raven’s eyes.

Fwooosh!

Dazzling blue spirit erupted from his body, and his scimitar curved strangely while flying back. Likewise, the longsword shot forward through the dagger’s path like a beam of light.

The spirit immediately disintegrated the poisonous powder.

“Heugh!”

The eyes of Number 3 bulged with shock. Even the Knight King of Valvas, who was the strongest foe he ever fought, could not emit such a strong burst of energy.

The scimitar pierced through the dissipating powder and struck the chest of Number 3.

Simultaneously, Raven’s longsword bent strangely like a venomous snake and sliced apart the two daggers of the young man.

“Keugh!”

Although he was adorning a metal-plated armor, an attack containing spirit could not be stopped easily. Number 3 spewed blood from his mouth while being flung back several meters.

Shishing!

Following immediately after, the scimitar aimed for the young man’s limbs.

“Agh!”

The young man became greatly surprised and evaded the blows.

“Hooh?”

Raven’s eyes glimmered with light. Humans could not move in such ways. Even if they were trained for a long time, to move like that was…

“Keugh!”

Even so, the young man was unable to avoid all of Raven’s blows. He jumped back, his body littered with all sorts of injuries.

“You…”

A strange light began to shine in the young man’s eyes. Raven slung his blades over his shoulders, then spoke coldly.

“You are not a human being.”

“…..!”

An ominous energy swirled in the surprised eyes of the young man.