Chapter 35: A Painful Chase

Chris continued flying as fast as possible, but the cloaked figure remained right behind them, keeping the same distance no matter how much Azreon accelerated. The figure couldn’t seem to catch up to them, but escaping was proving just as difficult.

Beams of dark energy kept shooting toward them, forcing Azreon to change directions repeatedly to avoid being hit. Chris held tightly onto the saddle, trying to think of a way out of their situation while activating his Dragon Vision and scanning everything around them for anything that could help.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t find anything useful.

He had hoped to find another dungeon portal, but the chances of that happening were incredibly low. Dungeon portals were rare, and he had already been unbelievably lucky to find one the last time he was in the Wilds.

Besides, even if he managed to find another portal, there was no guarantee that the cloaked figure wouldn’t follow them inside. Considering how determined he seemed to kill him, Chris wasn’t willing to take that risk unless he had absolutely no other choice.

Another beam of dark energy shot toward them from behind. Azreon immediately shifted their direction, but this time, he wasn’t fast enough to avoid the attack completely.

"AAGGH!"

The beam grazed Chris’s shoulder, sending an unbearable wave of pain through his body.

He had experienced plenty of injuries throughout his time in the Wilds, from deep cuts to severe burns, but this pain was unlike anything he had ever felt before. It wasn’t simply the sensation of being cut or burned. It felt as though something was eating away at his flesh, destroying it from the inside.

Looking down at his shoulder, he expected to see burned skin, but what he saw was far worse.

The flesh where the beam had grazed him had completely rotted away, leaving behind a disgusting wound that smelled like decaying flesh. It looked as though his skin had been dissolved by some kind of highly corrosive substance.

His face turned pale as he imagined what would have happened if the attack had struck him directly. If the beam had penetrated just a little deeper, he might have lost his entire arm, and a direct hit to his body would probably have killed him on the spot.

Before he could even recover from the shock, another beam struck Azreon’s wing.

*ROOOAARRR!*

"Azreon!"

Chris immediately looked toward Azreib, his heart tightening when he saw some of the dragon’s black scales beginning to melt where the attack had grazed him. However, his expression soon relaxed slightly when he realized that the damage wasn’t as severe as he had feared.

Although the dark energy had managed to damage the outer layer of Azreon’s scales, it hadn’t penetrated them completely.

A moment later, their regeneration activated, and the damaged flesh on Chris’s shoulder began to recover while Azreon’s melted scales gradually returned to their original condition.

’Fuck... We need to escape quickly. We can’t keep letting those things hit us.’

Even though their regeneration was keeping them alive, Chris knew they couldn’t continue like this. If they received too many direct hits, their regeneration might not be enough to save them.

He desperately searched their surroundings with his Dragon Vision, hoping to find somewhere they could hide, but the unfamiliar landscape offered him no useful options. They had been forced to change their course so many times during the chase that he had completely lost his bearings, and even the forest below looked different from the areas he had explored before.

The chase continued for another two hours.

By then, Chris was almost ready to cry, though he didn’t have any tears left to shed. He and Azreon had been grazed by the beams so many times that he had lost count, and every hit brought another wave of unbearable pain before their regeneration could repair the damage.

Despite everything, the cloaked figure showed no signs of slowing down. He continued firing his dark energy beams with the same intensity as before, as though the chase had barely inconvenienced him.

’Who the hell is that monster? How can he keep attacking like this without getting tired?’

Chris had no answers, and his situation was becoming more desperate by the minute.

Just when he was beginning to think they might not escape at all, something below caught his attention.

’Another dungeon portal!’

It was floating above the center of a small lake, its surface shimmering faintly against the surrounding landscape.

Chris stared at it for barely a second before making his decision. He didn’t have any other options.

"Azreon, portal!"

*ROOOAR!*

Azreon immediately folded his wings and dived toward the lake, aiming directly for the portal. Chris turned his head one last time, and his expression darkened when he saw the cloaked figure still pursuing them at an incredible speed.

"Fuck!"

They plunged through the portal just as another beam of dark energy shot toward them.

For a brief moment, Chris experienced the familiar sensation of being pulled through space. Then, as suddenly as it had begun, everything returned to normal.

Opening his eyes, he found himself beneath a crimson sky, surrounded by twisted black trees that stretched toward the heavens.

’Seriously? Do all dungeons look the same?’

He barely had time to wonder about it before something caught his attention ahead of them.

A group of enormous beasts resembling rhinos was charging toward them from the ground, kicking up clouds of dirt as they rushed forward. There were dozens of them, and their roars echoed throughout the forest.

Chris quickly scanned the approaching beasts, hoping they might be strong enough to help him deal with their pursuer.

Unfortunately, his expression fell as soon as he saw their levels. Every single one was below Level 30.

’They’re not going to be of any help.’

Even if the beasts managed to distract the cloaked figure for a while, they wouldn’t be able to stop it. He needed somewhere to hide, and he needed it quickly.

Looking around, he spotted several mountain peaks in the distance.

"Azreon, over there!"

Azreon immediately changed direction and flew toward the mountains. Fortunately, they weren’t far away, and it took only a short time for them to reach the nearest peak.

Chris quickly spotted an opening in the mountainside. It looked like a cave, although it was relatively shallow and didn’t extend very far into the rock.

It wasn’t ideal, but it was the only option he had.

Azreon dived into the cave, and just as they entered, Chris heard the distant roars of beasts coming from behind them. It seemed the cloaked figure had entered the dungeon and was already attacking the creatures charging toward the entrance.

Those beasts wouldn’t be able to do much against an enemy like that, but at least they had bought him a few precious seconds.

Without wasting any time, Chris turned around and fired a fireball toward the rocks above the cave entrance.

*BOOM!*

The explosion shook the mountainside, and the weakened rocks crumbled almost instantly, tumbling down until they completely blocked the entrance.

Now, he and Azreon were trapped inside.

’What now?’

Chris turned around and tried to examine the cave, but the darkness made it impossible to see much of anything.

’Let’s just hope he doesn’t find us.’

He sat down on the rocky ground, trying to remain as quiet as possible. There was nothing else he could do for the moment, so he decided to wait and hope that the cloaked figure hadn’t noticed them entering the cave.

Azreon nudged him gently with his head, seemingly wondering what they were supposed to do next.

"Be quiet, buddy. We need to hide for now." Chris whispered, gently patting his head.

Time passed slowly as they remained in the darkness. For several minutes, Chris heard nothing outside, and he gradually began to relax, thinking that perhaps their pursuer had continued searching elsewhere.

However, just as he was about to breathe a sigh of relief, the sound of flapping wings reached his ears.

’Fuck, already?’

He froze, listening carefully as the sound grew louder for a moment before gradually fading into the distance.

It seemed the cloaked figure was still searching for them, but fortunately, it hadn’t discovered their hiding place yet.

Chris slowly stood up and approached the blocked entrance. Carefully climbing over the fallen rocks, he made his way toward the top and began removing them one by one, doing his best to avoid making unnecessary noise.

Several minutes later, he finally managed to create a small opening between the rocks. It was barely large enough for him to look through, but that was all he needed.

He leaned forward and squinted through the narrow gap, hoping to see that their pursuer had already left the area.

Unfortunately, his hopes were immediately crushed.

In the distance, he could see the corpse-like crow flying between the mountain peaks. It wasn’t particularly close, but it was far from being out of sight.

Activating his Dragon Vision, Chris examined the creature more carefully and noticed the cloaked figure still standing on its back. This time, the figure was holding some kind of device in one hand, though Chris couldn’t recognize what it was.

He continued watching as the creature circled the surrounding peaks, and after observing it for a while, he noticed something troubling.

With every passing minute, the figure was getting closer.

It wasn’t flying randomly. Instead, it carefully examined one mountain peak after another, occasionally looking down at the device in its hand before changing direction.

Chris’s expression darkened as he remembered the words the figure had spoken earlier.

*"You have a demon mark. Death sentence."*

’Does that mean it can track me?’

The realization made his stomach sink.

It seemed the cloaked figure had some way of locating him, possibly through the mark it had mentioned. Fortunately, he didn’t appear to know his exact position, or he would have headed straight toward the cave instead of searching the surrounding mountains.

However, that was hardly reassuring.

If the figure could track him wherever he went, hiding here would only delay the inevitable. Sooner or later, Chris would be discovered, and once he was, he would have nowhere to run.

’Shit. I really made a wrong decision.’

Chris pulled away from the opening and leaned against the rocks, trying to think of another way out of this mess.

There was another problem he couldn’t ignore. He couldn’t simply leave the dungeon through the portal he had entered, because he needed to defeat its boss before he could escape.

For a moment, he regretted entering the cave in the first place, but there was no point dwelling on it now. He had made his decision, and he needed to find a way to survive the consequences.

Thinking it over, Chris returned to the narrow opening and looked outside again. Below the mountain, he could see a lake surrounded by thick forest, its surface clearly visible from the height at which the cave was located.

He stared at the water for a while, and eventually, a single idea came to mind.

It was a terrible idea, but it was the only one he could think of.

Turning toward Azreon, he gave the dragon a serious look.

"Buddy, wait here until I call for you."

Azreon tilted his head slightly, but Chris was certain he understood.

Turning back toward the opening, Chris watched the cloaked figure continue circling the mountain peaks. He waited patiently until the corpse crow disappeared behind one of them, making sure the figure couldn’t see the cave entrance from its current position.

Then, without hesitation, he began removing more rocks.

He cleared just enough space for his body to pass through before carefully squeezing outside. Once he was out, he pulled a few smaller rocks back into place, partially covering the opening to make it less noticeable.

He didn’t waste another second.

Turning around, he stepped toward the edge and jumped.

*Wooooosh!*

The wind rushed past his ears as he plummeted toward the lake below.

’Please! Please be deep enough!’

He had jumped from a considerable height, and if the water wasn’t deep enough, the impact could easily kill him. Still, he had no other choice. Staying in the cave would only give the cloaked figure more time to find him.

The lake grew closer with every passing second, and Chris gritted his teeth as he prepared for the impact.

*Splash!*