Chapter 34: Being Hunted Down

Luke studied his surroundings carefully, trying to determine where exactly he was in the forest.

He had crossed the river east of his hometown, so he at least had an idea which direction he had been heading. Outside of that, however, he really couldn’t figure out anything else like how far he had traveled or how far he was from another road.

After thinking it over, he ultimately continued in the same direction he had been walking, though he made sure to pay extra attention to his surroundings.

It was highly unlikely that he had traveled far enough to be close to a town or road.

Assuming he was really going in a straight line to the east, the closest road or town was about one hundred miles from Harken. There was no way he had managed to travel that far within a day. He should still have a bit of distance to go before he had to worry about people.

However, that didn’t mean he should lower his guard.

Since he was still relatively close to his hometown, there was a chance that his ex-comrades and whoever was after him could catch up. He had to quickly put more distance between them before that happened.

Without a moment to waste, he trudged through the forest. As he traversed the forest, he considered his options again.

Since it was no longer safe to stay in the country, his only option might be to cross into another country, though it was up to debate whether it would work or not. It depended on whether or not the country was willing to accept him despite his situation.

While he didn’t think any country would dare to accept someone connected to the evil god, the neighboring countries weren’t exactly friends with the theocracy.

One country was an enemy, another one was a rival, and the last was wary of them.

Technically there was one more country bordering them, but it was a vassal country of the Walandic Theocracy, so he didn’t count it.

The point was that the neighboring countries didn’t have a good relationship with the theocracy, meaning there was a chance they might let him in. It was a small one, but it was still better than staying in the country and waiting for his death.

Even so, the thought of leaving his country left a bitter taste in his mouth.

Luke had lived his entire life in the country and had dedicated many years to protecting it. Now he was being forced to flee for his life because of what his ex-comrades had done. He had really hit rock bottom.

After traveling for quite a bit, his ears picked up sounds in the distance, and he came to a stop. Luke quickly hid behind some trees and listened with baited breath.

That had sounded like horses.

He waited for some time to see if his initial suspicion was correct, but nothing happened. Even so, he remained exactly where he was and kept an eye out for anyone or anything.

Had he been mistaken?

No, he had to be absolutely sure.

Luke scanned his surroundings before picking up a nearby rock. He tested its weight before tossing it a good distance away. The moment it struck the ground dozens of feet away, a bolt of lightning struck where he landed. Luke shielded his face and cursed.

It seemed that his pursuers had already caught up to him. He hadn’t expected them to be so fast. The country really didn’t waste any time chasing after him.

If this were any other situation, he would have been proud of his country’s quick reaction to a threat. As it stood, he was the one suffering for it. He had to find a way out of his predicament and fast.

His eyes darted around.

Since he wasn’t sure where the magical strike had come from, he couldn’t recklessly run in any direction or else he might be the next one to be hit. On the other hand, he couldn’t just stay there and hope they didn’t discover him.

“What will you do now? You’re probably surrounded on all sides. Are you just going to let them kill you?” the evil god said.

Unable to help himself, Luke scowled.

He seriously didn’t need the evil god to be pouring dark thoughts into his ear at the moment. It was already hard enough, as it was thinking of a way to escape with his life without the evil god added to the mix.

Luke tried to ignore him, but the evil god refused to back down and asked, “Have you considered what I said before?”

“Not now,” Luke hissed.

“If not now, then when? Your life is in danger. If you just hunted down the weak members of your pursuers, you'd become stronger,” the evil god said.

“I won’t do that,” Luke said as he tried to catch a glimpse of his pursuers.

“If you say so,” the evil god said, putting Luke on high alert.

There was no way the evil god would let things slide so easily, especially when they were the ones who started it. They had to be up to no good.

“If you really don’t want to kill anyone, how about I give you a hand?” the evil god asked.

“What do you mean?” Luke whispered.

Instead of receiving an answer, Luke felt dark energy surge from his body to wrap around his sword. He discretely drew his sword, only to see nothing amiss besides the dark energy enveloping the blade.

“What did you do?” Luke demanded in a small voice.

“I gave you a little boost. It should help you escape your pursuers,” the evil god said in a weak voice.

He didn’t believe for a second that the evil god did it from the goodness of his heart.

The evil god had to be up to something, but before he could confront the evil god, he could hear several things closing in on his position.