After a few unexpected twists and turns, the plan was back on track—and I had the geezer right where I wanted him. As Beld leaped forward, I stepped back and uncapped the red-lidded vial in one smooth motion before wafting the contents directed toward the pair of them. I’d told Beld to hold his breath during their inevitable skirmish, but his role was still a dangerous one.
I had intended to stay behind to wait for Godolphen alone, but Beld had insisted on joining me as a bodyguard to ensure my continued survival. The others had agreed. No one had wanted to risk losing my Scouting abilities, given how beneficial they’d be during the upcoming fight.
Godolphen shifted his focus to Beld in an instant. With a masterful twirl of his wrist, he twisted his sword around Beld’s quarterstaff and sent it flying into a nearby wall. In the same fluid motion, he twirled his wrist again, aiming another strike directly at Beld’s exposed neck—but his movement lacked their usual sharpness. Beld lunged forward to avoid the blow, crashing into Godolphen. Our teacher staggered, but somehow, he managed to wriggle out of Beld’s attempted grapple and darted away.
Covering his mouth with the sleeve of his robe, Godolphen fixed me with a steely look. “I see... So that’s how you want to do this, then?” The next moment he was gone, sprinting out of the ruins and disappearing into the nearby forest before either of us could do anything to stop him.
“Dammit!” Seriously, how is someone his age that fast, mentally and physically? “Come on, Beld! He’s definitely already Strengthening his mana core to process the sedative—once he manages that, we’ll lose our biggest advantage! We can’t let him get away!”
Despite the heavy dose of sedative he’d just inhaled, however, the unreasonably speedy geezer had vanished beyond the range of my Scouting Magic in a flash. “Temper your Strengthening Magic, and it shall serve you in all endeavors.” It was one of Godolphen’s favorite sayings, and clearly, he’d put his money where his mouth was.
He’s gotta be heading south or east.
Beld and I set off in hot pursuit, but when we came to the crossroads, we still hadn’t found any indication as to which of the two directions he’d chosen. Thankfully, salvation appeared in the form of Dan.
“He’s gone east, Allen. All we’ve gotta do is drive him toward Al’s team.”
“Well, what are we waiting for?” I replied, grinning.
We’d barely taken a few steps when the explosions started, shaking the ground beneath our feet even from a distance. As part of our preparations, the path to the eastern stronghold had been turned into a minefield courtesy of Dolph. We’d all memorized the position of each and every Earthbomb, but Godolphen would have no way of knowing where to step.
The blasts kept coming, to my dismay. I’d hoped the minefield would force Godolphen to stop or take a detour, but the stubborn old goat clearly had his mind set on plowing straight through. Given that we wanted to avoid turning our teacher into confetti, the Earthbombs weren’t particularly powerful, which Godolphen must have immediately realized. If we couldn’t bring him down before he cleared the minefield, we’d be in real trouble. There were too many places for him to hide around the eastern stronghold, and finding him again would be a real pain in the ass. Luckily, it seemed he’d hurt his leg or something, because his sprint was slowing into more of a jog as we spotted our prey.
From farther ahead, I heard Al cry out, “Now! Surround him! Bring him down!” Seconds later, a barrage of Ice Bullets began to rain down upon Godolphen, forcing him to alter his course. Unfortunately for him, his new trajectory took him directly into another patch of Earthbombs. Even more unfortunately for him, we’d switched up our planting strategy for this one—meaning there were more Earthbombs than actual earth under his feet.
After approximately the fifth blast, the ground gave way, sending him plummeting into the pitfall trap we’d also prepared. Annoyingly, he managed to save himself by driving his sword into the dirt wall. The bottom of the pitfall trap had been generously coated in a sticky fiber extracted from the local menospiders, and if he’d come in contact with it even slightly, our victory would have been decided.
“Don’t underestimate me, you brats!” Godolphen shouted, springing out of the pit with the help of a quick earth spell.
Up and down like a damn yo-yo... Did the sedative do anything?!
Dolph’s Earthbombs and Al’s Ice Bullets had given us just enough time though, and as Godolphen resurfaced, it was to find himself surrounded. Everyone charged. Sophie, who was the first to reach him, was the first to fall. Beld followed soon after, having pushed himself too hard at the ruins. Though their sacrifices were regrettable, they weren’t in vain; we managed to drive Godolphen into the river, forcing him toward the edge of the seventy-meter waterfall to his rear.
I drew my bow. “It’s over, Godolphen! Throw down your weapons and surrender!”
Godolphen flashed a fierce grin in response—and threw himself over the edge. Seconds later, I heard a faint splash.
You’re kidding me... Does he have a death wish or something?!
We peered over the edge nervously only to see Godolphen resurface slightly farther downstream, leap onto the bank, and sprint into the trees without so much as a backward glance.
He’s harder to kill than a freaking cockroach! Still, no snappy one-liners or even an irritating smirk... He’s taking this seriously now. Finally, things are getting interesting!