Chapter 131: Target
[Using the Target as Bait.]
Howell had already identified the hiding spot of Karl Bastain, yet he had retreated quietly because it was under Kamel Blazer's orders. Kamel had no interest in Karl Bastain’s head—what he wanted was Lochter Felice. Since killing Karl would yield little benefit, Kamel deemed him an important helper and planned to use him as bait to track down or hunt the missing Lochter.
But then,
“Things just got more annoying.”
Howell, while trailing after the shaman doll, recalled the orders given by his master. Shamans who specialized in extracting memories from their targets were on their way, along with his older brother, Jack.
Until Jack and his group arrived, Howell was tasked with monitoring the target and handing things over to them. That would have concluded his mission here. However, with the target slipping out of the surveillance range, new orders had arrived.
[You can find Lochter Felice, so keep your distance and track only the traces.]
The ground, freshly soaked by the rain, made it easier to follow the tracks. Howell had already sent a hunting dog unit ahead and was now following the shamans at a relaxed pace.
Not long after, the shaman doll came to a halt in the dense forest. When he heard movement nearby, Howell turned his head in that direction.
An assassin hiding behind a tree revealed himself.
It seemed to be a messenger left behind by the hunting dog unit.
Apparently, there was something urgent to report.
“The target is not alone.”
“There’s someone with Karl Bastain? How many?”
“Judging by the footprints, it’s estimated to be around nine people.”
“Nine? That’s quite a lot. Any distinguishing features of the target?”
“I’ve kept my distance as ordered, so I haven’t confirmed it yet… Shall I check immediately?”
“What about Lochter Felice’s tracks?”
“Nothing yet.”
“Then no, don’t engage. How many of them are tailing the target?”
“Twenty-five.”
“What? Only twenty-five? Why so few?”
“Well… everyone who swallowed the Boom ended up dying…”
“Damn it! Why didn’t that bug bastard mention such side effects!?”
Seeing Howell’s irritated outburst, the assassin swallowed down a curse.
It was those twin brothers themselves who had made others swallow the Boom, laughing as they claimed it was amusing to watch people explode.
“Only twenty-five, huh? That’s a bit tight.”
If they happened to encounter Lochter, they would need to stall for time, but they were seriously short on manpower. Howell contemplated for a moment before issuing new orders to the assassin.
“Go to the hunters and deliver my message.”
The hunters recruited by the two brothers were all seasoned veterans. They were currently in the process of gathering the scattered hunters.
Since it was under the master’s orders, they had left the hunters behind, but by now, the task should have been mostly complete.
“Pick out a hundred of the fastest and send them my way. As quickly as possible.”
“Understood.”
“And… wait, huh?”
Suddenly, Howell reached up toward the top of a tree.
Rustle—
Thick leaves trembled briefly before slowly rotting away and scattering like ash.
Seeing nothing left on the now-bare branch, Howell tilted his head in puzzlement.
“What’s wrong, sir?”
“Never mind. Must’ve been my imagination. Go on, quickly.”
At Howell’s dismissive wave, the assassin hesitated momentarily before disappearing in the opposite direction. The shaman lifted the shaman doll again.
Thud, thud!
The shaman doll began pushing through the dense forest at a rapid pace, and Howell leisurely followed after it.
Although they couldn’t pinpoint the target’s exact location, they could roughly determine the direction. There was no need to rush the pursuit.
Besides, the target was heading toward Etor, where the master was staying.
In the end, it was like a rat caught in a trap.
As Howell left the area and the presence of everyone disappeared, the forest returned to silence.
Moments later, a black figure dropped from a tree, scattering ash as it fell to the ground.
Groan…
The masked man, now seated on the ground, let out a pained sound. It was Elton.
Grimacing from the sharp pain in his injured shoulder, Elton pressed down on the wound while glaring in the direction the shaman doll had disappeared.
“Did the master leave me behind because of them?”
Among the ten people traveling together, the master had left Elton at the rear to scout for potential pursuers.
While trailing what appeared to be an assassin, Elton had ended up overhearing a critical conversation.
‘The target, Karl Bastain… and their distinguishing features.’
Every term mentioned was related to the master.
Karl Bastain, the master, was now the target?
Realizing how significant this information was, Elton had tried to sneak closer to gather more intel but was nearly caught by someone.
‘Was that the leader?’
Considering the power he wielded and the fact that he commanded shamans, he couldn’t have been an ordinary opponent.
Elton recalled the sharp, menacing expression of the man before cautiously removing his hand from his shoulder.
The burning pain was intense. Blood seeped from the wound, staining his clothes, which were scorched black and reeked of a foul stench.
‘Poison?’
It was fortunate he had dodged the attack upon seeing the leaves rot—otherwise, his entire presence might have been exposed.
The wound on his shoulder had been inflicted while trying to stay hidden. Carefully applying a potion over the injury, Elton examined the poison.
Fortunately, there were no significant symptoms of poisoning. The real danger lay in the immediate decay upon contact, but as long as he kept his distance, it seemed manageable.
“The spread of the poison is slow.”
After tending to his wound, Elton got to his feet and looked in the direction where the assassin had disappeared, a look of regret on his face.
‘If I could take him out, it would cause confusion among the hunters.’
The problem was that he didn’t have the time for that.
Overhearing the conversation, he realized the situation was much more serious than he’d anticipated.
The target had shifted from Lochter Felice to Karl Bastain.
He had to inform the master as soon as possible.
***
“…What? I’m the target? And they know my name too?”
“Yes. And quite a few of them are on your tail.”
“How many?”
“Twenty-five now, but if things drag on, it could increase to a hundred or more. That’s the minimum estimate.”
Hearing Elton’s report, Karl let out a hollow laugh.
He’d felt something foul trailing them the whole time they’d been moving. Now, he knew why.
Not only had he become Blyer’s target after Lochter, but his name had been leaked as well.
How?
‘Did it come from Crux?’
No, Crux hadn’t known of his existence until the very end. Unless his face had been exposed beforehand, there was no way Crux could’ve leaked the information.
So, who leaked it?
Karl looked around at his companions and shook his head firmly.
It wasn’t them.
And Lochter? Even less likely.
“Damn it, it’s been a while since I’ve felt this pissed off.”
Setting aside the unanswerable question, Karl focused on assessing the immediate situation.
Their movement route had been exposed, and they were being tailed.
Yet, given that Elton had arrived ahead of them, the pursuers seemed to be waiting at a certain distance.
What were they waiting for?
It meant there was something to be gained by Karl continuing to move.
If that was the case, continuing as they were would be dangerous.
“Change of plans. Everyone, split up.”
“A solo mission?”
“No, move in pairs. We need to prepare for the worst.”
Hearing Karl’s order, the group let out faint groans. In a worst-case scenario, one person would sacrifice themselves while the other escaped to relay information about the enemy. It wasn’t a position Karl gave out lightly.
But Karl was resolute.
“Hurry. We don’t have time.”
Having once experienced being chased alongside Lochter, Karl recalled a particularly disturbing scenario.
If that scenario turned out to be true, staying together would mean they would all die.
He sent the group scattering in every direction, avoiding the path toward Etor. Finally, Karl and Elton teamed up as the last pair.
In the quiet forest, the two exchanged bitter smiles.
“Been a while since we’ve been in this kind of shit, huh?”
“Reminds me of the first day at the experimental prison. No… this is worse.”
“We’ll survive. It’s what I do best.”
“I trust only you, Master. Where to now?”
“There’s something I need to confirm. First, we’ll go in circles.”
“…In this situation?”
Since their escape route had been exposed, heading directly to Lochter was no longer an option. They needed to use the information Elton had gathered to assess the situation and find an opening.
‘That foul presence is still there.’
They needed a hiding spot, and in the current situation, there was only one viable option—the hunter group.
Karl began moving toward a large hunting party.
***
While on the move, Karl considered leaving Elton behind to check on their pursuers.
However, as soon as they turned toward the Korun River, which was in the opposite direction of Etor, the enemy’s movements became visibly sharper.
“They’re not just tailing us anymore!”
“I know!”
The pursuit had suddenly turned serious.
Feeling the intensity rise to a critical level, Karl clutched his chest, letting out a pained groan.
That disturbing scenario was turning into a reality.
Despite having split the group in five different directions, the enemy was closing in precisely on Karl’s location.
‘Just like what happened with Lochter!’
They must have a way of pinpointing his exact location.
He had a bad feeling they’d be caught no matter how far they ran.
“Master!”
At that moment, a commotion arose beyond the forest. Elton pointed, and Karl sprinted madly toward the noise.
Reaching a dense patch of grass, he lowered himself and crawled forward. Peeking through the gaps in the underbrush, he saw a massive group of hunters gathered in one place.
“What’s going on?”
The heavily armed hunters were shouting and gathering scattered hunters together. Judging by the numbers, there seemed to be over a thousand of them.
But before Karl could fully process the sight, he turned to Elton and asked,
“They don’t know my face yet, right?”
“They shouldn’t.”
“Then we’re going in.”
“What? But…”
“No time to waste.”
Without hesitation, Karl adjusted his clothing to blend in and started walking toward the hunters. Elton quickly removed his mask and followed, blending into the crowd.
Moments later,
“Those bastards…!”
Howell burst through the forest, leading the hunting dog unit into the clearing.
Cursing under his breath, he scanned the gathered hunters before glaring at the shaman.
The shaman merely pointed in a direction while frantically shaking his head.
That indicated the target was hiding among the large crowd.
Grinding his teeth in frustration, Howell glanced back toward the part of the forest where he’d been chasing his prey.
“Damn it, I ran in circles just to end up back here? Did they seriously turn me into a goddamn lapdog?”
“What should we do?”
“Report the situation through the communication orb.”
Stopping the hunters from leaving had been an order from his master, but Howell wasn’t exactly sure why.
He only knew it had something to do with “insurance.”
And since it involved the shamans, it was definitely not for any good reason.
“Sir Howell, you may want to take this yourself.”
“Why should I—?”
“It’s the master.”
“…!”
At the mention of the master, Howell’s expression stiffened. Swallowing hard, he carefully took the communication orb.
“Th-this is Howell.”
Despite not speaking face-to-face with Kamel, tension was evident on his face.
Gone was the aggressive hunting dog—now he looked like a beaten one, nodding repeatedly as he listened to the message.
After the communication ended, Howell let out a long sigh and handed the orb to the shaman.
Just then, another voice echoed from the orb.
[I’ve arrived, Howell.]
It was as the master had predicted.
His older brother, Jack, had arrived.