Chapter 41 – Cruel Retreat

The Mage Armor brimming with swirling magical energy slowly revolved around Punk, while the night was illuminated by Kane’s radiant Battle Aura, carving out a small, shimmering area of light. Just as the eternal silence seemed poised to stretch into infinity…

“Clang!!”

From the depths of the darkness, a slender, sharp dagger shot forth. Its tip, stained pitch-black by shadow energy, struck Punk’s Mage Armor with a vicious thrust, producing a clear, resonant ring! The arcane runes flowing across the Mage Armor flickered faintly, and the attack was effortlessly deflected by the energy shield, leaving no damage behind.

Punk’s focus sharpened. As a low, indistinct chant vanished in an instant, his spell—Lesser Oscillating Slash—was successfully cast in barely a second. Outside the Mage Armor, dozens of high-frequency vibrating, shrill-whistling, pale-white ether energy blades materialized out of thin air. At Punk’s command, all the blades shot toward a specific direction in the profound darkness, shredding the ground within a 45-degree fan-shaped arc into fragments. The energy blades embedded in the earth continued to vibrate intensely, instantly reducing the surrounding hard rock into dust and debris floating mid-air.

But… it was utterly ineffective. The spell had struck empty air, merely a waste of mana. Although the enemy had briefly revealed their position during the attack, neither Punk nor Kane dared to pursue, for an even more terrifying Stalker lurked in the shadowy night, waiting to strike!

Feeling his dwindling mana reserves, Punk realized the powerful defensive barrier of the Mage Armor wouldn’t hold much longer…

At that moment, Kane, glowing like a lightbulb, suddenly turned his head. He grinned at Punk with a seemingly casual yet undeniably sinister smile.

“I say~ Punk! I’ve heard… that those usually cowardly and timid folks can unleash unbelievable power in life-or-death situations~ What do you~ think~~”!

“At least that’s how it’s written in knight novels”!

Punk didn’t even glance at him. Kane’s idea clearly aligned with his own, but that was only natural—given the current predicament, there were no other options. Coming up with such a “brilliant plan” was hardly worth boasting about. Gently stroking his broken staff, his eyes now held only an endless depth and a bone-chilling coldness!

“Then today~ we can test the authenticity of those knight novels”!

Kane’s eyes instantly filled with excitement and hysteria. He sneered coldly, swiftly turned around, and without hesitation or mercy… plunged his blindingly radiant Lance deep into Pute’s abdomen. The Lance tore a horrific wound in Pute’s belly, and a torrent of blood quickly dyed the grass beneath Kane and Punk’s feet crimson.

Ignoring Pute’s disbelieving stare, Kane wore a near-perfect “big brother next door” gentle smile as he channeled a surge of violent yet temporarily strength-enhancing radiant Battle Aura into Pute’s body through the Lance!Pute lay dazed on the blood-soaked ground, his own lifeblood pooling around him. There were no screams, no curses—only disbelief etched plainly across his face. He couldn’t believe that he had been suddenly ambushed by the “companions” he had trusted.

Kane yanked the lance out of Pute’s abdomen, the spray of blood staining half of Kane’s plate armor. Droplets of blood dripped from the lance’s tip into the dust, and under their refraction, Kane’s radiant, brilliant Battle Aura was outlined in a stark, crimson silhouette.

Punk cast a cold glance at Pute, who was trembling as he clutched his wound. He had to admit—Kane’s strike was perfectly measured. The lance’s wound was just severe enough to incapacitate Pute, who only knew a few acceleration spells. The infused Battle Aura would keep Pute conscious despite massive blood loss until it was fully expended, and the precisely severed artery ensured he would lose most of his blood in a short time. Once Kane’s Battle Aura ran out, Pute would die instantly. Their enemies, being two Stalkers, lacked healing abilities like those of a cleric. All they would get was a corpse, not a useful captive.

Kane slung the lance over his shoulder and tilted his head slightly toward Punk, as if to say, “I’ve done my part—now it’s your turn to show some sincerity.”

Punk still paid Kane no mind. He observed Pute’s stunned expression but felt nothing—no guilt or sorrow over a companion dying by his scheme, nor any of Kane’s triumphant excitement. It was simply a matter of, “Ah, a living thing has died.”

With a faint shrug—a token gesture of mock sympathy and scorn—Punk cast Mage Armor and several protective spells on Pute. This was no act of kindness. Punk merely needed Pute to withstand a few more strikes from the enemy, buying as much time as possible to delay their pursuit.

Though Punk and Kane’s actions were intricate and deliberate, they were completed in mere seconds. Once their preparations were done, they immediately withdrew their costly defensive measures, explosively unleashed their pre-prepared spells and Combat Skills, and sprinted at full speed toward distant Konola City—leaving Pute writhing on the ground, curled up in agony and beginning to moan, completely disregarded.

With Pute lying wounded on the ground, the enemies wouldn’t dare pursue them recklessly. Doing so would expose their backs and weaknesses to Pute. No one could be sure his apparent cowardice wasn’t an act, and no one could guarantee that Punk and Kane’s “ruthlessness” wasn’t a staged “self-injury ruse.” If the Stalkers didn’t want to turn their backs only to be hit by a Lesser Fireball, they had to deal with the “seemingly” incapacitated Pute first.

“This world is just that cruel. Unless one transcends it… everyone is helpless.”Punk was enveloped in a transparent force field that eliminated air resistance. The moonlit scenery around him blurred into indistinguishable smears of paint due to his extreme speed. The violent winds generated by his velocity mercilessly snapped tender grasses and crushed blooming flowers beneath him, leaving behind only fragmented remains of vegetation in what was once a serene meadow.

Pute was clearly no protagonist from some novel. Though strengthened by Battle Aura enhancements and magical protections provided by Punk and Kane, he completely lost the will to resist after collapsing to the ground. His mind flooded with terror and shock, the Stalkers finished him off with four or five swift strikes. Until his final moment, he couldn’t comprehend why the chivalrous knight who had once promised to protect him like an elder brother would suddenly turn against him, or why the seemingly aloof yet kind-hearted senior Punk not only failed to intervene but stood by indifferently. Unfortunately, he would never have the chance to understand.

As a sharp, terrifying “crack” abruptly pierced the night, the moonlit Wilderness once again returned to its vast, empty silence.

(End of Chapter)