Chương 69

"Stop calling me that," Rudra groaned. He pushed aside a heavy pine branch as they walked through the deep inland forests of the Ultina Kingdom.

"I apologize if my tone offends you, My Liege," Elysia said, walking a respectful two paces behind him.

"We literally just went over this," Rudra turned around, leaning on his new Staff of the Fire Lord.

"You are my friend, before you are my Knight. You don't have to be so formal all the time." Elysia placed a hand over her heart and bowed her head slightly.

"I may have cast away my ties to that wretched Empire but I'm still a Knight who honors the Chivalric Code. You gave me a new life and helped me find a new purpose. I will serve you with absolute loyalty... My Liege." Rudra rubbed his face.

"I am going to lose my mind."

"Understood, My Liege." Rudra stared at her. Her face was completely serious, but he could swear he saw the faintest twitch of amusement in her silver eyes. He turned back around and kept walking, shaking his head. Kratos poked his head out of Rudra's black coat and let out a happy little squeak, totally oblivious to the tension. They had been walking for a few hours since leaving the volcano. Rudra wanted to find a good spot to test his new fire-attribute gear.

Suddenly, a loud crash echoed through the trees ahead. Crack!

"Don't let her get away! Box her in!" a rough voice shouted. Rudra stopped. Elysia immediately stepped forward, her hand dropping to the hilt of her silver longsword.

"Imperial accents," Elysia whispered, her eyes turning completely cold.

"Trackers. They are called the Hounds." They crept quietly through the bushes and looked into a large clearing. Ten men in sleek, dark leather armor were fanning out, completely surrounding a woman backed up against a massive boulder. [Imperial Hound - Lv. 212] [Imperial Hound - Lv. 215] The woman they were hunting was panting heavily, clutching a bleeding cut on her arm. Her travel cloak was torn to shreds, revealing her true appearance. She had patches of shimmering, ocean-blue scales along her forearms and neck.

Her ears were pointed and fin-like, and there was a faint webbing between her fingers.

"Wow," Rudra whispered, his eyes widening in genuine curiosity.

"A Siren. I thought they never left the deep ocean." Down in the clearing, the lead tracker laughed, pointing a jagged dagger at the exhausted Siren.

"You're a long way from home, Princess Nerissa," the Hound sneered.

"We've been chasing you for three days. You really thought you could lose Empress Marie's elite trackers? You ran inland. The ocean is east toward the Murray Kingdom." Princess Nerissa glared at him. Despite her injuries, her eyes burned with absolute defiance.

"I know exactly which way the ocean is. I ran into the dirt and rocks on purpose. I would rather die in this dusty forest than lead you Imperial dogs anywhere near my people's hidden passage." This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it"Noble. But stupid," the Hound chuckled.

"Grab her. The Empress wants those scales peeled off alive." The ten trackers stepped forward. Before they could close the gap, Rudra channeled mana into his boots. [Abyssal Step] He kicked off an invisible platform in the trees, dropping like a meteor right into the center of the Imperial formation. Thanks to his new [Blazing Salamander Boots], his boots were wreathed in roaring flames. CRUNCH! Rudra landed feet-first, driving his burning boot directly into the face of the closest Level 214 Hound.

Between his falling momentum, his upgraded gear, and his base Strength sitting comfortably over 800 points, the sheer blunt force instantly crushed the man into the dirt. The tracker's health bar vanished in a single hit, turning into grey ash.

"Hey," Rudra said, casually stepping off the ash pile and resting his burning hot staff on his shoulder.

"Ten against one is terrible manners." The Imperial Hounds jumped back, startled by the sudden wall of heat and the instant death of their squadmate.

"Who the hell are you?!" the leader snapped, glaring at Rudra's dark mask and black coat.

"My Liege," Elysia's voice echoed coldly as she stepped out from the shadows of the trees.

"Allow me to execute these dogs." The leader of the Hounds looked at the silver-haired woman. His eyes went completely wide with pure terror.

"That silver hair... that sword aura! It's Elysia! The Second Red Knight! How are you still alive?!"

"I am no longer a dog of that wretched Empire," Elysia said flatly, drawing her sword.

"I need to test out this new gear anyway," Rudra grinned beneath his mask, gripping his staff with both hands.

"You take four. I get the rest."

"Understood." A silver blur shot across the clearing. Elysia didn't shout an attack name. She simply stepped past two of the elite Hounds. Shing. The sharp sound of her sword returning to its scabbard clicked. A second later, their armor split perfectly down the middle, and they collapsed into ash. The remaining Hounds panicked. Two of them lunged at Rudra with heavy spears. Even though they were over Level 210, Rudra's absurd stats easily bridged the gap.

He ducked smoothly under the first spear thrust, stepped right into the Hound's personal space, and simply reached out with his left hand. SMACK! Rudra slapped the elite tracker directly across the cheek. The sharp crack echoed loudly. The sheer force spun the Hound around and triggered a temporary [Stun]. Rudra didn't miss a beat.

He effortlessly parried the second spear with the shaft of his staff, stepped forward, and delivered another brutal, open-handed slap to the second Hound's jaw, sending him stumbling backward into the dirt.

"You guys are way too slow," Rudra laughed. He didn't pull his staff back to reset his stance. He rode his own momentum, spinning on his heel and bringing the staff crashing directly into the chest of the stunned tracker. [The passive effect 'Fire Blast' has been triggered!] BOOM! A massive explosion of bright orange fire erupted from the tip of the staff right on impact. The blast was incredibly loud. It dealt heavy fire damage, violently launching the Hound backward through a thick pine tree.

He seamlessly rolled his momentum into a low, horizontal sweep, cracking the next two trackers in the shins and knocking them into the dirt. With his endless momentum building, the staff became a dark, burning blur. He completely manhandled the high-level elites like they were training dummies. Within seconds, the clearing was completely quiet. Piles of grey ash and burning grass were all that remained of the Imperial Hounds.

"Wow," Rudra whistled, looking at the smoking crater he just made.

"This staff is amazing. That explosion was loud." He turned around and walked over to the Siren Princess. Nerissa was slumped against the boulder. Her blue scales were dry and flaking slightly from being away from the water. As Rudra approached, she didn't look relieved. She looked terrified. She flinched violently, grabbing a sharp, jagged rock from the dirt and pointing it at him.

"Stay back!" Nerissa yelled, her voice trembling but fierce. She glared past Rudra, her eyes locked onto Elysia.

"I know who she is! The Red Knights are the Emperor's hunting dogs! I won't be a slave to your Empress! I'll die before I let you take me back to the capital!" Rudra stopped. He looked at the sharp rock, then looked back at Elysia, who just sighed and sheathed her sword. He knelt down carefully, keeping his hands completely empty. He pulled a canteen of fresh, cool water out of his inventory and gently tossed it into the dirt near her feet.

"Hey, it's okay," Rudra said, his voice light and friendly. He pulled his leather mask down to his chin, offering her a warm, disarming smile.

"We aren't with the Empire. In fact, we kind of hate them too. You look really parched. Please, drink up. We can talk after you catch your breath."