Chapter 287: Uncatchable

"Oh? I’m flattered," Uhtred said, his tone dripping with sarcasm. "You actually took the time to compile information about me?"

The Prime Sapien chuckled at the remark, then sped forward without bothering to answer. He moved even faster now, more than doubling his initial attack speed.

Uhtred activated Slipstream Stride once more. This time, he intentionally held back just enough to stay barely out of reach, keeping the Prime Sapien convinced he still had a chance.

They sped across the fortress walls, tearing past the ongoing battle between Stormcaller and the rest of the forces present.

Stormcaller had gone full-on berserk, releasing powerful lightning strikes wantonly and moving with blistering speed at the same time. Even his blows were heavy — enough that Uhtred himself would have had to take him seriously if he were up against him.

Uhtred’s curiosity was piqued. He wanted to understand exactly what had happened to make Stormcaller suddenly this strong.

Of course, he already had an idea...

Transmutation.

He knew that was definitely tied to Stormcaller’s sudden strength increase, but he was still very curious to know exactly what about him had been transmutated.

Just like Uhtred’s left eye, there had to be some physical body part that had been transmutated to a superior, non-human version.

Uhtred had no time to entertain his curiosity, though. The Prime Sapien was hot on his tail, and very clearly irked now. He had picked up on the fact that Uhtred was simply leading him on and could speed away much faster if he wanted.

But Uhtred wasn’t trying to hide that at all. In fact, he knew the Prime Sapien would figure it out — but he was still a bit surprised that it had happened so fast.

Heh! Uhtred scoffed internally. He’s definitely not as crazy or bloodthirsty as he’s trying to make himself seem.

From how quickly the Prime Sapien had deduced his move, Uhtred was able to tell that the Prime Sapien was simply putting up a front with his sudden attack and yelling from before.

It’s all an act to make me think he’s like the other rash Prime Sapiens...

Uhtred cracked a smile as he sped off the walls, a clear deduction forming in his mind.

...Which means he’s aware that we have footage of the Prime Sapien attacks in hand.

The Prime Sapien was banking on the fact that Uhtred already had knowledge of how rash and volatile early iterations of Prime Sapiens were, acting like he was one of those earlier versions...

But Uhtred had already seen his information with his Gnostic Eye. He already knew that this Prime Sapien’s code name was XXXI... or in other words, Thirty-one.

Of course, it was very possible that if the number of Prime Sapiens was well into the tens or hundreds, then this particular Prime Sapien would actually be part of the first versions. But based on what Uhtred had seen of him, he thought it unlikely.

As Uhtred leapt off the wall, he considered his next plan of action.

It was already clear that even with the Prime Sapien’s higher level and hidden abilities, Slipstream Stride was enough to render most of it useless — the Prime Sapien couldn’t attack what he couldn’t touch.

So long as Uhtred could keep his distance, then there was no issue. So instead, Uhtred changed his focus to what to do with the Prime Sapien. And the final conclusion he came to was to capture him alive.

He understood that he needed to get revenge for his allies and those whose families had been slaughtered by the Prime Sapiens, but at the same time, he wanted to understand exactly what the Ancient Variants were trying to create...

And who better to decipher a Prime Sapien’s biological makeup than the Queen of Death, Diya?

Mid-air, Uhtred changed his direction with a sudden burst of air magic that slowed him down slightly. Instead of leaping off the wall and into the small city within the fortress, he redirected his momentum and sped out of it entirely.

Behind him, in that brief second, the Prime Sapien saw an opening and capitalized immediately, but by the time he reached the spot Uhtred had briefly paused in, Uhtred was already out of reach.

He cut across the air like a bullet, bypassing the entirety of the trap array that was still inlaid within the ground outside the fortress, and skidded to a stop right at the bottom of the cliff.

He looked back up at the stunned Prime Sapien on the wall, his eyes smug and goading.

Come on, you fucker! Take the bait... take the bait...

Uhtred watched for several tense seconds as the expression on the Prime Sapien’s face morphed from shock to contemplation, then realization. He had deciphered Uhtred’s motive... to an extent.

It was already established that Uhtred was much faster than he was, and just now, with that sudden burst of speed, the difference was not even close whatsoever. Therefore, the only reason Uhtred could be waiting for him at the bottom of the cliff was to drag him away from the fortress.

Now, where to exactly remained a mystery, and that was what made the Prime Sapien pause in suspicion atop the wall.

Was Uhtred leading him into a trap? Or was he simply trying to head to a clearing where he could go all out? What exactly was his motive?

Uhtred was sure those were the thoughts running through the Prime Sapien’s mind right now. But he was banking on the Prime Sapien’s confidence in his strength to win over his wariness.

Looking at it from the Prime Sapien’s perspective, Uhtred was likely just drawing him out to a clear battleground rather than setting an ambush.

After all, Uhtred had only discovered the Prime Sapien’s presence after breaching the fortress, having no prior knowledge that Stormcaller had even switched sides.

There was simply no time to set a trap in the brief span between Uhtred’s arrival and now.

The Prime Sapien contemplated for several seconds as the battle between Stormcaller and the other ascenders continued to rage violently, shattering whole sections of the wall and wreaking havoc on the entire fortress.

Uhtred held the Prime Sapien’s gaze, his eyes teasing and smug, but at the same time, starting to have a trace of disappointment in them.

It was almost as if those eyes were saying: Really? Is this all a so-called "Prime Sapien" amounts to?

That seemed to have been the clincher that tipped the Prime Sapien over the edge.

Suddenly, he chuckled, and his expression totally changed. Gone was the wild, untamed facade from before. Instead, his eyes turned cold and clinical. He looked at Uhtred like a hunter amused by the mind games of its prey.

Without a single word more, his body suddenly flickered out of existence.

In an instant, Uhtred felt alarm bells blare wildly in his mind.

Without hesitation, he activated Slipstream Stride, this time pushing it to the maximum he could. He flashed away from his spot, blurring through the rest of Stormcaller’s city below and exiting the way he had come in.

.

.

The Prime Sapien chased after him, his body also a blur. He had clearly activated his [Blitz Bombardment] skill, giving him a major burst of speed. Yet, even that wasn’t enough to catch Uhtred.

"What the hell is this?!" The Prime Sapien roared, his voice a trail of warped, distorted sound at his current speed.

This was no longer just about fighting Uhtred. For a Prime Sapien whose main thing was his crazy agility, this was equivalent to rubbing his face in the ground.