Hidden Predator (2)

He disappeared once again. My breathing was heavy, difficult to control. It was a horrible feeling knowing I could be killed at any moment. My senses screamed at me to run. Then, I felt a cut on my right thigh. Without wasting time, I reacted with a high kick using my left leg, but he reappeared and dodged downward.

I placed my hand over the wound. It was superficial; he wasn't aiming at vital points, he just wanted to hurt and exhaust me. His face always carried that manic grin.

"Impressive, even after all this, you still have that expression."

"Shut up, you piece of trash."

"Let's see how long that confidence lasts. Haha!"

He charged at me invisibly. Even as I tried to listen for something, I heard nothing, only the sensation of fresh cuts on my skin. I tried to strike him, but he always dodged. If I didn't find a way to stop him, I would bleed out.

When he cut my left leg, I found a small opening and, with my right arm, finally managed to land a punch on him. However, he blocked it with his arm, reducing almost all of the impact.

"Even your left leg is made of steel! You're just a toy full of surprises."

"Can you stop with that toy crap? It's getting on my nerves."

"But all of you are my little playthings."

"Are you a child or something?"

"Haha. Before I got this power, I was already bored, every time I played, people would always make the same expressions. But after the Master chose me, everything changed."

Master? Was there someone beyond the Five Corrupted? Someone above them, or was it one of them?

"Master? Who is that?"

"He's an incredible person. He's going to change this world. When he chose me, I found meaning in everything I did. Everything was fate leading me to him."

"What a joke. You're just a disposable pawn."

He stared at me with that sadistic smile and, without warning, charged at me invisibly. I clenched my fists tightly, struggling to maintain focus. The moment I felt a fresh cut open on my right shoulder, I reacted instinctively, launching a punch with my left arm in that direction. He dodged again, but this time, it was by a hair's breadth.

"You know what I love most about this? When I find a toy, I play with it a lot, then I disappear, giving it the hope that I left and let it live. But in reality, I stay beside it the whole time. Do you know what I do next?"

"Shut up."

"I let it go home, recover a little, and believe it's truly safe. Then, at that moment, I appear right in front of it. The expression they make is priceless. Sex, drinks… nothing is more pleasurable than that. Kuhahahaha!" He spread his arms wide with an insane grin, his tongue hanging out.

Scum. How could people like him even exist? Humanity was undoubtedly falling deeper into decay. A wave of fury coursed through my body. Finally, I controlled my breathing; the fear faded. I had trained nearly my whole life for this, to put an end to these bastards and make the one who hurt Yuri and killed Uncle Jack pay for everything.

Run? Fuck that. If I were going to run, I never would have started this fight.

"I'm going to wipe you out, you piece of shit." I pointed at him, my eyes burning like flames.

"Haha! We'll see… I'm going to make you beg like all the others." He lunged, vanishing into the shadows.

At that moment, my senses expanded. I ignored everything and let my hearing take over. When he was about to drive his sword into my right leg, I quickly stepped back and, with my left arm, struck him in the face. I only grazed him, but I still hit him. He reappeared and retreated, blood beginning to trickle down his face, and his maniacal laughter disappeared.

I was finally starting to sense his presence through the sound of the wind he created while moving. He wiped his face, saw the blood dripping between his fingers, and glared at me with fury.

"No need to look so pissed. I'll make you my little toy," I said with a smirk.

He vanished. I quickly pulled two wires diagonally in his direction. He reappeared and nimbly jumped between them, becoming invisible again. Apparently, to move more agilely, he needed to become visible. Now he was coming at me with everything. I could feel his bloodlust.

When he was about to strike my neck, I caught his blade with my left hand. He reappeared and aimed a kick at my face, but I grabbed his leg with my right hand. Squeezing it tightly, I let go of the blade and threw a punch. He blocked it with his arm to reduce the impact, but he was still hit and thrown back.

He tried to regain his footing, but I didn't give him a chance. I rushed in with a punch from my right arm; he dodged to the side, but with my left arm, I pulled a wire nearby. I ducked as the wire swung from behind me, forcing him to do the same. In that instant, I landed an uppercut to his face with my left arm, sending him flying.

He got up, wiped his mouth, and spat blood. It was impressive, a punch like that would have killed a normal person. These bastards were much tougher.

I took advantage of the moment and spread out more wires. He came at me invisible, but now I could dodge all his attacks. He started abandoning his invisibility, focusing only on his incredible speed. I kept dodging skillfully, weaving through my wires, and he did the same. However, this was bad, the fight was turning into a battle of endurance, and he had the advantage there. But I already had a plan. I kept spreading my wires.

When he attempted a lower thrust, I used my left hand and right foot to loop a wire around his blade, trapping it. He tried to pull it back, but the blade was stuck, sliding and sparking. His head lowered slightly, and I seized the chance to land a knee strike with my left leg. He staggered back, clutching his face. In that brief instant, I ran behind a tree trunk.

"You son of a bitch! Think you can run?"

Without hesitation, he slashed at the trunk where I had hidden, cutting it clean through, but obviously, I was no longer there. He stood still, wide-eyed, unable to find me, and started looking around.

"What's wrong? Thought I turned invisible?"

When he turned toward my voice, he saw me above him, standing on a stretched wire. I hadn't just been dodging randomly. I had been leading him to the perfect spot. I pulled several wires with my left arm, wrapping him up completely. He quickly raised his blade to his face, but multiple wires had already bound him. He struggled to break free, only to cause even deeper cuts.

"If you move, you'll only die faster."

"You little shit, this whole time you weren't attacking, you were just dodging to lead me here."

I crouched on the wire, looking down at him with a cold expression. I clenched my left fist, tightening the wires and deepening the cuts into his flesh. Anyone else would have been torn apart by this, but his endurance was unnatural.

"Hmph. Tell me, for someone who sees people as mere toys, how does it feel now to be the prey instead of the hunter?"

"I'm going to tear you apart," he snarled.

"Haven't you realized? The one getting torn apart here is you! Just a fragile butterfly trapped in a spider's web. The game is over. After all, trash should be discarded."

"I didn't expect to have to use this on a child…"

Then, the air grew heavy, and a faint black mist began to rise from his body. When he looked at me, his eyes were identical to those of the creatures—his teeth turned into fangs, and his nails grew longer. A chill ran down my spine, a feeling worse than facing those monsters.

Without wasting time, I pulled the wires with all my strength, but they were all cut. A strong gust of wind blew, and instinctively, I raised my hand to shield my face. The wire I was standing on was severed, and I fell directly to the ground, feeling the pain of the impact on my back.

I tried to recover quickly, but when I looked ahead, I saw him crouched, staring directly at me. I turned to run, but he was already there; his speed had increased to unbelievable levels. I tried to punch him, but it was as if my arm simply passed through his body.

Panting, I ran again behind a tree, but suddenly, I felt a sharp pain in my right arm. The trunk I was using as cover was completely sliced through, but when I looked at him, I realized he was still too far away for a close-range attack.

In the next instant, from a distance, he made a slashing motion with his sword, and immediately, I felt a cut on my right leg. A bit behind me, I noticed that some plants had also been sliced. There was no doubt — he had another ability. I tried to pull some wires, but he cut them without even needing to get close.

My breathing was heavy, and exhaustion was consuming me. He kept repeating the same slashing movements without even moving from his spot. I jumped to the side, and everything behind me was cut down.

Not knowing what to do, I retreated slightly, trying to come up with another plan. I hid behind a tree trunk, pressing my back against it, and lifted my head, panting. I tried to think of something, but my wounds were bothering me too much.

"What are you doing? Didn't you see the warning?" A voice echoed near the Corrupted.

I slowly turned my head, trying to identify who it was, but the figure remained hidden behind a tree. The darkness and distance made it impossible to distinguish their face, and my anxiety grew. If it was another one of them, I was doomed.

"I'm just finishing off this little shit, then I'll be on my way."

"You must be joking. Do you remember how pissed he was after what Arald did? And you still want to waste time?"

He took a deep breath and returned to his normal form.

"Kid, fate saved you this time. But remember well — next time, I'll make you suffer slowly."

"Wait!" I ran toward them, but they had already disappeared.

I collapsed onto the ground, panting. They escaped. I didn't know if that was good or bad. That… It felt like his strength and speed had tripled. If the others could also use that power, I didn't know if I could defeat them. A sense of powerlessness took hold of me.

Now, there wasn't much else to do. With difficulty, I got up and started walking back to the others, to check if they were okay.

A short while later, I spotted Talia, Diana, and Elias. A momentary relief washed over me as I realized that the only monsters were the ones I had taken down, but the uncertainty remained, where were the others? As soon as they saw me, they ran toward me.

"Saito, are you okay?" Talia asked with a worried expression.

"It's just a few scratches, I'm fine."

"Saito, it's about Clarice."

"What about her?"

"She was taken."

"What?" I felt a jolt in my chest upon hearing that.

"Darian and Richard took her. They even tried to bribe us, saying they heard that if they sold her in the North, they'd get rich."

"Where did they go?"

"They took the cart with the mule and headed north. Otto, Edrian, and Marco went out looking for the horse."

A short time later, Otto appeared riding a horse. As soon as he dismounted, I grabbed the reins and got on without hesitation. Without wasting a second, I galloped northward. My eyes narrowed, and with determination burning in my chest, mixed with rage, I was determined to save Clarice.