Chapter 1240: Fadu Rulman

Chapter 1240: Fadu Rulman

"Run now, Fadu!! I’ll hold them back!!" the older man shouted.

"What about you, Uncle Wiptar?" Fadu asked, his voice shaking as his body trembled in fear.

"Don’t worry about me. I’ll catch up with you later. I won’t be able to fight freely if you’re with me, so run!! Fadu, run!!" The older man raised his voice even louder, the urgency in it revealing just how desperate their situation was.

"I..." Fadu hesitated, his vision blurring with tears. After a brief pause, he forced himself to nod. He turned around and ran, tears streaming down his face.

The older man didn’t look at Fadu’s retreating figure. If he did, he might hesitate. Instead, he fixed his gaze forward, his expression turning cold and resolute. His mana surged violently through his body like a raging tide, swelling and crashing, ready to explode at any moment.

"Fadu... return to your family. Tell your mother that we have a traitor in our group," he muttered under his breath.

Swoosh!!

Several figures appeared and immediately stopped upon seeing him. Their killing intent locked onto his body, thick and suffocating, as their mana spread outward and blanketed the entire area.

"Come!! Show me what you’ve got!!" the man roared as he charged forward without hesitation.

His mana erupted. Droplets of water condensed in the air around him, swirling violently. He activated his elemental drive, knowing full well that holding back against this many opponents would only hasten his death.

"ARGHHH!!" he bellowed as he threw a devastating punch.

BOOM!!!

...

In the distance, Fadu felt the ground tremble beneath his feet. The air quivered with violent energy fluctuations. He knew his uncle had begun fighting the enemies.

Fadu continued running despite his sobs. His legs felt heavy, but he didn’t slow down. He could only pray again and again that his uncle would survive... that he would somehow defeat the enemies who sought to kill them.

Fadu ran with all his might.

He wanted to scream, but he forced himself to stay silent, afraid that those people would hear him.

Suddenly, a figure appeared in front of him.

Fadu crashed into the figure and fell hard onto the ground. He gritted his teeth and quickly looked up. However, the moment he saw the figure clearly, his eyes widened in shock. A cold wave of fear crept into his heart.

The person standing before him was nearly three meters tall. He had razor-sharp teeth, gray skin, gills on his neck, and a lower body that resembled that of a whale.

Fadu immediately knew that it was one of the people chasing him.

"Here you are, Young Master?" the man said with a low laugh as he looked down at Fadu. He slowly raised his hand, and his nails lengthened, transforming into sharp claws.

"Young Master, please die for me!"

In an instant, a terrifying force erupted from his body. His claws shot forward, slicing through the air as they aimed straight for Fadu’s neck.

Whoosh!!

Fadu was already overwhelmed with fear, and his body refused to respond. He knew he couldn’t escape this time, so he could only shut his eyes tightly.

’I’m going to die.’

He wondered what had happened to his uncle. In his heart, he could only pray that his uncle had managed to defeat his enemies.

Fadu noticed something. The attack hadn’t reached him at all.

Slowly, he opened his eyes. The man was lying unconscious on the ground.

"Huh...? W-What happened?"

Only then did he notice a small figure standing on the side.

The small figure was none other than Souta’s clone.

Souta glanced at the man on the ground and said calmly, "He’s too complacent. He was confident he wouldn’t be attacked. By the time he realized it, I had already knocked him down."

"W-What are you saying? Are you here to kill me too?" Fadu asked, his voice trembling.

Souta shifted his gaze to Fadu. He pointed at the unconscious man and said, "Kill you? If I wanted to kill you, I wouldn’t have taken this guy down. After all, he was about to kill you. That would’ve saved me the trouble."

Fadu understood the logic, but fear still gripped his heart. He couldn’t help but ask, "T-Then... who are you?"

"I’m Atos. I was just passing by and decided to help when I saw your situation," Souta replied before turning around.

Fadu’s heart skipped a beat when he saw Souta about to leave.

"Wait!" he blurted out.

Souta turned his head and looked at him.

Fadu swallowed hard, his throat bobbing. "D-Do you... have time? If you do, could you escort me home? My mother will reward you."

Souta didn’t answer. He simply stared at Fadu, his expression unreadable.

This was exactly what he had been waiting for.

He had been wandering through the area, searching for an opportunity. The moment he spotted one, he moved into position. But he hadn’t revealed himself right away. Instead, he remained concealed in the shadows, patiently waiting for the perfect moment to step in.

He paused for a few seconds, anticipation flickering in his eyes.

After a while, a faint trace of disappointment surfaced. He had expected to trigger a quest but it seemed that wasn’t going to happen. Still, he gave a small nod.

"Really?!" Fadu’s eyes widened in disbelief. He clearly hadn’t expected Souta to agree.

"Yes. But not now." Before Fadu could respond, Souta casually waved his hand.

Gravity twisted.

Fadu’s body lifted helplessly into the air.

Whooosh!

Souta stepped forward into the sky as if walking on solid ground, then shot off in a blur, dragging Fadu along with him. Their speed tore through the air, leaving a booming shockwave echoing across the path they passed.

Soon, they arrived at a land that had been reduced to a battlefield.

Smoke choked the air. Violent sparks of residual energy crackled and flashed like dying lightning across the sky. The ground was devastated, craters overlapped one another, debris scattered in every direction, and enormous weeds and trees had been violently torn from their roots.

"This is...?" Fadu’s eyes widened. A chill crept up his spine.

He knew this place. He had been here before.

"The energy in the air is still dense," Souta said calmly as he descended, landing lightly on the ruined ground while Fadu hovered beside him. "The battle likely ended only a minute or two ago."

His gaze shifted forward. "There’s a body ahead."

"B-Body...?" Fadu’s voice trembled.

A suffocating sense of dread wrapped around his chest.

He forced his legs to move.

One step.

Then another.

And then,

His breath caught.

His vision blurred.

"N-No... This can’t be..."

His knees hit the ground.

The corpse lying before him was none other than his uncle, the man who had chosen to stay behind and block their pursuers.

"Uncle!!" Fadu’s voice broke as he crawled forward. "You said you’d catch up with me... You promised! Why? Why?!"

Tears streamed down his face as he pulled the lifeless body into his arms, clutching it desperately as if warmth could still be returned to it. But the body was cold.

Souta stood a short distance away, saying nothing.

For a brief moment, he remembered the two children who used to cling to Eilish, Anzu and Aina.

Souta had sensed the battle but he had made his choice. Saving the boy came first.

After a few minutes of silence, he finally spoke. "Stop crying. We have to leave now."

"W-What about my uncle?" Fadu sobbed, clutching at nothing.

Souta’s eyes remained cold. "We leave him here. We can’t carry him. We have to move. There’s a chance they’ll come back."

With a simple wave of his hand, gravity twisted, pulling Fadu away from the corpse as if the boy were nothing more than a toy.

Fadu cried harder, but Souta didn’t flinch.

He was only a clone. His abilities were limited. Facing powerful enemies now, without preparation, would be suicide.

"Where are we going?" Fadu asked, voice trembling.

"Nowhere," Souta replied. "We’ll just run through the forest."

"I want to go back to my mother..." Fadu whimpered.

"Your mother?" Souta’s lips twisted into a sneer. "Do you think it would be that simple? If they catch you, they’ll use you against her."

Fear tightened around Fadu like a vice. He imagined being captured, used as a weapon against his family.

"Then... what should we do?" he asked, voice cracking.

"We stay here. Until they leave. Follow my instructions, and you won’t get caught."

Through the Twisted Forest, Souta and Fadu ran, weaving between the giant, uprooted weeds, always staying one step ahead of their pursuers. Souta could fight, or simply disappear but not this time. He had other plan so he didn’t start fighting.

Once the forest fell silent, Souta scanned the area. Fadu had finally fallen asleep, exhausted from fear.

Souta burrowed into the earth, his body merging with the soil. Carefully, he camouflaged the tunnel, hiding their presence. No one would notice they had taken refuge here.

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