Chapter 48: Sorry, I’m Late
The two attackers glared grimly at Akar, who stood above them.
They might have previously thought that the name “Blazing Bow” was somewhat exaggerated, claims like killing a First-Tier Bloodline User in just nine arrows sounded like baseless boasting by someone who didn’t understand a thing.
On the contrary, they were more wary of his older brother, “Red Eagle Knight” Yam Soderbell.
After all, they were fairly familiar with the strength of Andre Billy, and Yam, who had forced Andre Billy to flee back to Gem Territory without a word, was certainly not weak.
But now, after witnessing Akar silently kill one of their companions outright, they finally realized that the name “Blazing Bow” might not have been an exaggeration after all.
The two exchanged glances, instinctively hesitating.
It wasn’t that they feared fighting Akar, but that their plan had already begun to fall apart.
The two of them couldn’t help but curse their now-deceased companion.
If he hadn’t acted on impulse and had just left immediately after killing Anna, they wouldn’t be in this troublesome situation.
According to their original plan, after attacking and abducting Joshua and Anna, they would pretend to be outmatched and split into two groups to escape, luring their enemies to divide their forces in pursuit.
Since Joshua was clearly more important than Anna, more people would be assigned to escort him, naturally attracting more reinforcements in that direction. It seemed like there were only two people on this side, but in truth, a third was hiding in ambush.
If more than three rescuers came for Anna, they would kill her on the spot and then flee in separate directions.
But if fewer than three rescuers came, or if they judged the rescuers' strength to be manageable, they would kill the rescuers first and then kill Anna. After all, once Anna was dead, the rescuers would lose their objective and wouldn’t waste time chasing them further.
To fish, the bait must remain fresh.
After killing all three rescuers, they believed their plan had succeeded, Anna, appearing powerless, had no chance of escaping.
So they had already moved on to the second phase of the plan: using a boat and the canal to quickly reach the ambush site outside the city, to assist their companions who had abducted Joshua and kill the remaining Bloodline Knights coming to rescue him.
That way, they would not only strike a blow to the Kasein Family’s prestige but also achieve a strategic objective of weakening the Kasein Family by killing its Household Knights.
Yet unexpectedly, because one companion suddenly acted out of lust, their plan only half-succeeded: they managed to kill three Household Knights of the Kasein Family, barely weakening its foundation.
But since Anna wasn’t dead, their goal of undermining the Kasein Family’s rule and reputation had completely failed.
“Time’s up,” the shorter Bloodline User muttered.
To fight or to flee?
By now, the answer was already clear.
“Go!”
“Vmm—”
The two had just decided to retreat, unwilling to continue tangling with Akar here. But Akar clearly had no intention of letting them go.
He had already discerned that among the two, the shorter Bloodline User had a weaker presence and would be easier to deal with; the one wearing the hood, likely hiding something disgraceful, had a much stronger aura and had clearly been the one who ambushed the Kasein reinforcements from the rooftop earlier.
So, as he loosened his bowstring, a flaming arrow shot through the air toward the shorter Bloodline User.
“Damn it!” The shorter Bloodline User, realizing he had been singled out as the easier target, was instantly furious.
He wasn’t like that idiot whose brain had been filled with milky-white liquid, who had actually thrown his weapon aside.
So as the arrow came flying toward him, he immediately raised his sword. A faint crimson mist began to emanate from the blade.
As soon as the flaming arrow touched the crimson mist, a sizzling sound echoed. The entire mist ignited into a blazing flame, thick white steam rapidly evaporating from it. The surrounding visibility quickly worsened as the white fog spread.
The hooded Bloodline User had worked with this shorter companion for a long time.
So the moment the mist was released, he had already begun to act, holding his breath, waiting for the white fog to rise and reduce visibility. Then, like a swift leopard, he scaled the wall and darted across the rooftop.
Strangely, his rapid movements made no sound at all.
The fog spread at an alarming speed. In just a few breaths, the entire area was shrouded, visibility dropping to less than a meter.
Naturally, the shorter Bloodline User didn’t stay put. As soon as the fog was in place, he swiftly left his original position.
Just as he had predicted, mere moments after he moved, four flaming arrows came flying from different directions, all aimed at where he had just been.
Had he not moved, he could have blocked only the first two arrows, at least two would have hit him.
But now, all four arrows missed.
The short man stared viciously at the direction from which the flaming arrow had come, a silent, ferocious grin spreading across his face.
“Fog Worm,” a Second-Tier Bloodline, with the Bloodline Ability “Scaled Mist,” allowed him to produce a crimson-scaled mist capable of neutralizing most non-physical attacks, while consuming energy to generate large amounts of fog.
This ability was particularly effective against the battle arts of the Void Manipulation Faction.
Especially when used strategically, it could serve as a powerful tactical advantage.
Just like now, creating a fog with low visibility to obscure vision and provide his companion a window for a sneak attack.
The Bloodline User wearing a black hood suddenly launched an attack from within the dense fog!
His posture was lithe like a leopard, wielding in each hand a short spear less than a meter long.
Bursting through the mist, the hooded Bloodline User thrust his right-hand short spear viciously and precisely toward Akar’s throat.
They were no strangers to dealing with Bloodline Users who relied on ranged attacks like Akar. The hooded Bloodline User and his short-statured companion had countermeasures ready.
Earlier, they simply didn’t want to waste time here.
Because they didn’t know how long a fight with Akar would drag on.
But now...
The hooded Bloodline User’s eyes turned ferocious. He knew that having closed the distance this much, the outcome was already decided!
No archer could draw and shoot a bow at this range.
Then, he saw Akar raise his left hand, bringing up the upper limb of his longbow to block the tip of his right-hand short spear.
At that moment, the hooded Bloodline User knew, he had won.
Akar Soderbell was already a dead man.
The short spear in the hooded Bloodline User’s left hand darted out like a venomous snake, aiming straight for Akar’s heart!
Faced with this venomous strike, Akar didn’t show the slightest trace of fear, instead, he grinned, a wild glint flashing in his eyes.
In an instant, a fireball gathered in his right hand.
A flicker of terror flashed across the hooded man's face. His expression twisted with shock. “You’re insane...”
Clang—
The sound of the war bow deflecting the short spear rang out sharply.
And in the next second, an explosion erupted immediately, at a distance of less than a meter. Akar, after deflecting the enemy’s short spear, didn’t hesitate for a second before hurling the fireball in his right hand.
The powerful blast not only blew both men away but also unleashed a fierce shockwave that dispersed all the surrounding fog.
In an instant, the area around them was revealed once more.
Akar quickly scanned his surroundings and saw that the spot he was being flung toward was precisely where the short-statured Bloodline User was.
The distance between them closed rapidly.
The short-statured man’s face changed, a look of fear flashing in his eyes. But soon, excitement replaced it. He gripped his sword and charged forward.
Though unsure of what exactly caused the explosion just now, he knew Akar must have been injured. He intended to take advantage of that and finish him off with a single strike.
As he rushed toward Akar, the latter also broke into a smile.
It was the joyful smile of a hunter sighting prey.
Akar raised his right hand, palm aimed at the short-statured man.
The distance between them rapidly narrowed.
Twenty meters.
Fifteen meters.
Ten meters.
Akar’s eyes sharpened in an instant, and several pebble-sized fireballs formed in the palm of his hand.
In that very moment, the short-statured Bloodline User finally felt a scalp-numbing fear of death.
Almost reflexively, he swung his sword and released another wave of crimson mist.
“Scaled Mist!”
But this time, the mist he had placed so much confidence in failed to block Akar’s fireballs as expected.
Soft popping sounds followed.
The crimson mist was immediately pierced with several small holes, the pebble-like flaming projectiles penetrated the mist without resistance. Their collision didn’t even ignite the “Scaled Mist,” and the short-statured Bloodline User’s body was instantly riddled with several bloody holes.
The most severe ones were at the throat and the center of the forehead.
It was precisely because the flames directly pierced these fatal points that he was so easily killed.
In the next second, a heavy thud sounded.
Akar and the short-statured Bloodline User crashed to the ground at the same time.
The short-statured Bloodline User had already become a corpse upon impact, naturally feeling no pain.
But Akar, having been blasted into the air and landing flat on his back, felt a sharp impact that made him cough up a mouthful of blood.
Even so, no matter how much pain wracked his body, he still struggled to get up from the ground, this was the first time Akar felt as if his body was about to fall apart, stung all over by intense pain.
But he also knew how precious time was, so even as the pain nearly made him lose consciousness, he forced himself to press on, heading quickly to the other side of the dock warehouse area, toward the direction where the hooded Bloodline User had been blown away.
Soon, he spotted the hooded Bloodline User, who was in far worse shape than himself.
The man seemed to have crashed through a wall and fallen into a warehouse.
Now, with half of his body scorched black, he was clearly on the brink of death, barely hanging on.
He looked at Akar, whose body also bore burn marks, and cursed, “You’re a... lunatic!”
“Maybe,” Akar replied casually.
“That’s not the Flame Sparrow bloodline!” The hooded Bloodline User’s eyes were bloodshot with rage.
But Akar no longer responded. He simply pulled back his bowstring and, at close range, shot several flaming arrows into the corpse until it was completely mangled.
Only then did he turn and return, doing the same to the short-statured one’s corpse, destroying the blood-wound marks pierced by the flaming projectiles, before quickly heading over to Anna.
...
When the fog had spread, Anna could no longer see anything.
The only things she could hear were the intense noises of battle.
She suddenly felt hatred, hatred for her own weakness.
But soon, that feeling turned into fear.
Strangely, at that moment, her fear wasn’t about what might happen to her.
What she feared was hearing that Akar had died.
Soon, she heard light footsteps.
Anna shivered.
She tried hard to turn her head to look at whoever was approaching, but she couldn’t twist her neck that far.
The footsteps covered a distance of less than ten steps, but for Anna, it felt like a lifetime.
Finally, a scarred hand pulled out the cloth stuffed in her mouth. Then she felt the tight bindings around her numbed hands suddenly go slack. She immediately realized, she had been rescued.
So she quickly turned around.
“Akar... Akar!” Anna cried out, then suddenly threw herself at him and held him tightly. “I was so scared! I... I was really scared...”
Startled by the sudden embrace, Akar’s body stiffened.
But as he listened to Anna sobbing and choking back tears, a subtle sting surged in his heart.
He didn’t know what exactly Anna was afraid of.
He assumed it was the trauma of being kidnapped.
Akar raised his hand and gently patted Anna’s back, soothing her, “Sorry, I’m late. But now, you don’t have to be afraid.”
“Mm.” Anna gave a small nasal response.
Yet the arms with which she held Akar tightened even more, as if she were afraid he might vanish the moment she let go.
“It’s over now. Everything’s okay.”
Akar softly comforted Anna.
He was a little relieved, thankfully, he hadn’t gone to rescue Joshua.