"What should we do?"
The question hung heavily in the air, unanswered, as the seven remaining Grandmasters gathered in a tense circle. Each of them was drenched in cold sweat, their breaths shallow and hearts pounding as they stared into the growing twilight.
The looming dread of failure, and what it would mean to fail the King's direct order, weighed on their minds.
One of the more composed Grandmasters, a tall man with scarred hands and sharp eyes, spoke up, his voice low but steady. "We all know what happens if we fail the King. If anyone has a plan, speak now. This is our last chance."
The others nodded grimly, but none dared speak immediately, all too aware of the precariousness of their situation.
Finally, a quick-witted warrior with a lean build and nervous energy stepped forward. His voice was barely more than a whisper, but in the stillness, it cut through like a blade. "We can't defeat him in a direct fight. He's too fast. But what if... we wear him down?"
The others exchanged glances, uncertain.
"How do we do that?" one of them asked, a gruff older man with a heavy axe slung over his shoulder. His skepticism was clear, but his eyes reflected a faint glimmer of hope.
"We keep our distance. Follow him, but not too closely. If he turns to fight, we retreat. If he runs, we chase." The quick-witted warrior's plan was simple but made sense.
"And what if he catches up to us?" the older man retorted, frowning.
"He's fast, but only in short bursts. If we keep him moving, he'll lose that edge. When he does come at us, we regroup and attack together. He won't be able to handle us all at once." The man's confidence grew as he spoke, the logic of his plan solidifying in his mind.
"Yes, if he tries to attack, we can regroup and take him down."
A slow murmur of approval spread through the group. It wasn't a perfect plan, but it was better than charging blindly into death.
"How long do we keep this up?" one of the younger warriors asked, his voice tinged with desperation.
"The King didn't set a deadline. We can take as long as necessary. This is a battle of attrition," the quick-witted warrior replied.
"Better than rushing in and losing our lives."
"Good idea!"
"Let's go with that!"
The others nodded in agreement. Rushing in would only lead to their doom. Better to survive and play the long game.
....
Meanwhile, Su Hao stood still on a hilltop, his silver armor reflecting the setting sun. His expression was calm, but inside, he was growing irritated. His eyes narrowed as he saw the group of warriors ahead. Seven of them, all staring at him from a safe distance, watching his every move.
When Su Hao made a sudden move toward them, they bolted like startled deers, scattering into the nearby forest.
"They're running?" Su Hao muttered to himself, puzzled. He gave chase, closing the gap effortlessly. However, when he reached them, they scattered again, maintaining their distance like ghosts haunting his every step.
If he pursued them, they fled. If he stopped, they regrouped and began following him once more.
Su Hao's jaw tightened in frustration. "What game are they playing?"
He stopped dead in his tracks and watched as, predictably, the group halted too, still keeping their distance. "Cowards." He spat the word under his breath.
His blood Qi pulsed through his veins as he considered unleashing his full power, but he hesitated. These weren't ordinary warriors—they were Grandmasters, veterans of countless battles.
Though their strategy seemed cowardly, it was effective. Su Hao knew his strengths—speed, short-range combat, and overwhelming force in close quarters—but he lacked long-range capabilities.
This game of cat-and-mouse was wearing thin, and it was becoming clear he wasn't going to win by brute force alone.
After hours of running, dodging, and retreating, Su Hao had had enough. "If they want to chase me, fine. I'll lose them in the forest." He sprinted through the trees, quickly gaining a sizable lead.
Frustrated, Su Hao kept running. The warriors kept following at a distance. The further he ran, the more the distance between them increased, eventually exceeding 2,500 meters (1.55 Miles), causing Su Hao to lose precise tracking of their movements. After running a little farther, Su Hao changed direction and sprinted hard.
After running for what seemed like forever, Su Hao finally slowed down, panting heavily. "I've run so far... based on the difference in speed, I should be at least 5,000 meters (3 Miles) away from them by now. I must have lost them, right?"
Even though Su Hao wasn't completely certain he had shaken them, he decided to stop running at full speed. Instead, he chose a random direction and jogged at a more moderate pace.
After a while, the blood Qi signatures of the seven Grandmasters reappeared on his [Radar].
"Damn it!" Su Hao cursed out loud this time, unable to hold back his frustration.
He decided to stop and wait where he was. He wanted to see what these fools were planning.
The seven warriors cautiously approached when they saw that Su Hao had stopped. After some murmuring among themselves, they slowly advanced but halted once they were a few hundred meters away.
Su Hao shouted across the distance, "Why are you following me?"
One of the warriors replied, "The King has ordered you to present yourself before him!"
"I don't need to see him. You can tell him I declined. Now go back."
The seven exchanged confused glances but remained silent.
"I'm leaving now. I'm not interested in meeting him!" Su Hao said, turning to leave.
However, as soon as he started walking, the seven warriors followed right behind him.
Su Hao couldn't take it anymore. He took a deep breath, letting his blood Qi surge, fully activating all his runes, and charged at them with full force.
The seven warriors immediately huddled together and ran as fast as they could.
Su Hao closed in, targeting the last person in their group, ready to strike. But as he neared, the seven warriors began to spread out, forming a defensive formation, seemingly waiting for him to make a mistake so they could counterattack.
Su Hao narrowed his eyes, realizing that if he attacked one of them, the other six would swarm him, making escape nearly impossible.
These seven Grandmasters were all battle-hardened veterans, far more experienced than Su Hao. If he lost his speed advantage and got entangled with them, his survival would be uncertain.
He couldn't fight them!
Making a quick decision, Su Hao activated ‹Earth Spike› and ‹Fireball›, disrupting their formation. Taking advantage of the chaos, he broke away and put some distance between them. The seven warriors stopped a few hundred meters away, once again staring at him from afar.
As Su Hao stood there, he began to realize his own shortcomings: one, he lacked high mobility; two, he didn't have any long-range attack capabilities; and three, he didn't possess any powerful explosive abilities.
Looking at the seven warriors in the distance, Su Hao felt stuck. What could he do now? How were they tracking him so relentlessly?
The knowledge passed down through the human race for countless years was truly formidable.
Su Hao stood there, quietly pondering his options. Meanwhile, the seven warriors weren't in a rush either. They understood that none of them could defeat the "Traveler" on their own. It was all about patience now. A good hunter knew how to wait for the right moment because one wrong move could cost them their lives. It simply wasn't worth the risk.
"Mobility, long-range, explosive power!"
Su Hao furrowed his brow as he considered how to improve these three areas in a short amount of time.
No! He didn't need to improve all three. If he could make a breakthrough in just one of these areas, he could solve his current problem.
"What can I do using the runes I already have?"
The first thing that came to Su Hao's mind was a sniper. If he had one, he could just blast these guys from afar and take them out one by one.
But that wasn't realistic. The industrial conditions weren't there. Runes might be able to make it work, but it would take time to design and build, time he didn't have.
He also considered a bomb. Tossing one into their midst would likely solve all his problems. But while he had the knowledge to create one, he didn't have the materials. Handcrafting a nuke was still a pipe dream.
Using runes to make a bomb? Possible, but he would need time to design the Formation, test it, and it still might not work.
If only he had thought of this a year earlier. He'd been so focused on studying the fundamental rules of runes that he hadn't bothered preparing a bomb for emergencies like this. If he had one now, he wouldn't be in this mess.
As for improving his mobility, that seemed feasible given the current situation.
'Iron Man?'
Su Hao quickly shook his head. He didn't have the data or tech to pull that off. But what about something simpler, like a plane?
Maybe he could craft a pair of wooden wings and try flying?
With ‹Triple Burst› and ‹Impact› runes providing propulsion, ‹Hardening› strengthening the wings, and ‹Wind Resistance Reduction› decreasing drag...
"If I can fly, my speed will greatly increase, and I'll be the one calling the shots. I'll decide whether to stay or go."
Immediately, Su Hao divided his focus and entered his mental space, using [Cosmic Light] to retrieve data on various flight devices. He began designing wings that would integrate with his armor, creating a 3D model to simulate airflow and flying conditions.
After countless adjustments, Su Hao finally settled on a workable design.
Meanwhile, the seven warriors continued watching from a distance, murmuring to each other, likely brainstorming their own strategies for dealing with him.
Su Hao glanced at them from afar, confirming that they wouldn't dare charge in, and turned his attention elsewhere, scanning for nearby trees that could provide the wood he needed.
Before long, Su Hao spotted a a towering oak with thick, sturdy branches standing in the distance and rushed over.
The seven warriors, thinking Su Hao was trying to run away, immediately followed.
Reaching the tree, Su Hao noted that its trunk was about a meter thick, more than sufficient for his needs.
He jumped up and sliced off a large branch, examining the cut carefully. After poking the wood a few times with his blade to ensure its density and strength, he decided it would work and didn't hesitate any further.
Raising his blade, with ‹Hardening›, ‹Sharpness›, and ‹Penetration› activated, Su Hao channeled his blood energy and swung.
"Crack∼!"
With a crisp sound, the tree slowly toppled.
"Boom∼! Crackle—"
As the tree fell, the homes of many small animals were destroyed. Those that survived squealed and fled from the unexpected disaster.
Following [Cosmic Light]'s guidance, Su Hao chopped off a section of the trunk and began carving and shaping it.
At first, he hacked away at the wood with large, sweeping strokes, sending chunks flying. Then, he switched to using his short blade for more precise work, as wood shavings scattered around him...
The seven warriors watched Su Hao's odd behavior, utterly confused. Why was he suddenly playing the role of a carpenter?
"What is the "Traveler" doing?"
"Building something," another replied. "But what?"
The quick-witted warrior narrowed his eyes, suspicion creeping in. "He's a Rune Master. Whatever he's making, it won't be good for us."
"True. Should we stop him?"
The other six looked at him and said in unison, "Why don't you go stop him?"
The man fell silent.
They all exchanged glances, hoping that someone would volunteer to stop the "Traveler" from whatever he was doing.
After all, whatever their enemy was doing, stopping him was probably the right move.
Letting him continue unchecked was too risky—who knew what he was up to?
They all knew their opponent was a genius who had mastered rune crafting to an incredible degree. At first, when they were assigned to this mission, they had thought that with ten Grandmasters, success was guaranteed.
After all, what did ten Grandmasters represent? The human race's most powerful forces were the nine Mystical-level warriors, who each ruled one of the nine main cities. The next tier below them was the Grandmaster level, the very pinnacle of human power.
But after their brief encounter with the "Traveler," any sense of arrogance they had felt was shattered. They suddenly realized that a mission requiring the deployment of ten Grandmasters wasn't a sure bet at all—it was incredibly dangerous.
There was a growing sense of unease among them.
"Maybe we should all charge in together and stop him?"
After a moment of silence, someone asked, "Sure, but who's going to lead the charge?"
That suggestion quickly fizzled out.
The two Grandmasters who had been eager to take the lead were already dead.
Those two had been top-tier warriors, the best of the best among Grandmasters, and everyone here had known them well.
Yet, even those two hadn't lasted more than a single round against the "Traveler." No one here wanted to meet the same fate.
What they didn't know was that night was quietly falling, and with it, a silent slaughter was about to begin.