Just when Kali and Cassy were starting their fight, Aster was keeping himself hidden behind arge tree, trying to keep his breathing in control while listening to the sounds around him.


    "Fucking hell! Where did that bastard go?!"


    "Split up! He couldn''t have gone far!"


    "No, don''t go alone. You,e with me; the rest, go over there and search!"


    Aster could hear their loud voices echoing in the forest, anger evident in their words and tone. Although this was still going ording to n, his breathing was already ragged from running just a few hundred meters.


    ''Shit, I reallyck stamina!'' Hemented while trying to calm down.


    Footsteps and crunched leaves reached his ears, telling him how the two teams split up. The one with three members went toward his left side, while the other two went right. In about thirty seconds, they should be able to locate him andunch a pincer attack!


    "Phew..."


    Aster took a deep breath, calming down his nerves while concentrating. Right, he wasn''t out of options just yet. He focused his attention on his right hand once more, trying to activate his Legacy Level Magic Carved Seal!


    ''Fire is too destructive, so I''ll go with ice this time!''


    To activate his carved seal, he needed about 10 seconds of concentration. He should be able to hide that long at least, so he continued without any worries.


    *BANG!*


    "...!"


    But for some reason, someone fired right where he was, with the bullet grazing the tree he was hiding behind. ''They found me?!''


    Aster half-panicked but continued the activation process. He can''t cancel it right now, or he''ll definitely not make it in time!


    "Boss, there''s a weird convergence of mana over there! The bastard is hiding behind that tree!"


    "Good job! Fire! Cut down that tree!"


    Aster heard their voices, so he quickly dove down, lying prone on the ground. A secondter, bullets came raining down from four directions, gradually carving the trunk of the tree behind him.


    "Kuh...!"


    As bullets rained down on him from behind, Aster did his best to concentrate. But he was not exactly a Zen master, so naturally, it had a major impact on his ability to concentrate. He had to maintain his focus for an additional seven seconds as the necessary ten seconds increased by half!


    ''If I could only activate it instantly...!''


    Aster recalled how he froze the giant snake before andmented hisck of ability to do the same. He closed his eyes, covering his head with his hand, and prayed that no bullet bounced around and hit him.


    "FOUND YOU, YOU BASTARD!"


    "Shi...!"


    When a voice echoed close by, Aster realized that they were using the guns as cover to keep him pinned while someone approached and delivered the finishing blow. He turned around, seeing the face of the macr beastman, and smiled.


    "Just in time!" He eximed before shouting out loud with his arm extending forward. "FREEZE!"


    A sh of blue waves swept over the entire forest, covering an area of over 100 meters in radius—more than twice his range before. That was more than enough distance to include all five enemies within the area!


    Aster watched the beastman freeze in ce, whose expression was rapidly turning to one of pure terror. In just a single second, five ice statues were created!


    "Haaa... Haaa... Haa, urp!"


    Aster felt like the contents of his stomach wereing up due to abination of nausea from exhaustion, mental fatigue, and the burden of taking someone is life. He was unable to control his gag reflex and threw up. His breath came out in short gasps as he rubbed his arm roughly over his lips, feeling the sourness of stomach acid.


    "I gotta go..." He whispered in a trance, standing up and facing the camp once more. "I need to return to Cassy..."


    With shaky steps, he began walking his way back. However, it would''ve been better if he simply stayed in ce. In doing so, he could have prevented himself from facing despair once again.


    ---


    "Bitch... you killed my buddies!!!"


    Kali flinched as an angry voice thundered behind her. Before she could turn, a sharp kicknded on her back,unching her forward. She hit the ground hard, tumbling and rolling.


    Blood and other matters dripped out of therge wound over her stomach as she tried to stand right back up. However, she doubled over, hacking violently, each cough sttering the ground with blood.


    Her injury was so severe that it could be deadly if not attended to quickly!


    *THUD!* *CRACK!*


    Cassy, on the other hand, barely had time to raise her arm and leg in defense before the big guy''s heavy hammer mmed into her. The force reverberated through her body; she felt pain spread all over as her bones cracked and gave way under the brutal impact before getting mmed to the ground like a ping-pong ball.


    She bounced several times before rolling to a stop right where Kali was. Of course, this wasn''t a coincidence. Cassy adjusted her trajectory before shended, making sure that she fell toward Kali.


    "~... Minor... Area Heal!"


    She continued to chant, enveloping them in a brilliant white healing light, even though she was bleeding profusely internally, with her ribs poking through her lungs.


    "Hah! You think I''d let you recover?!" The man who stabbed Kali rushed to chase them before hacking his sword down. "JUST DROP DEAD YOU BITCH!"


    *TING!* *SLASH!*


    "Tsk...!"


    But to his surprise, Kali mustered herst bit of strength and deflected his sword. She then countered with a swift sh, forcing him to take half a step back. Though he sessfully dodged the de, the sudden movement left him off-bnce and almost stumbling.


    With the few seconds that her attack bought them, her injuries closed up enough that they wouldn''t hinder her movements. Pain still throbbed through her body, but she gritted her teeth, lunged forward with her daggers shing red, and shed down at her enemy.


    "Dagger Skill! TWIN FANGGG!!!"


    "Sword Skill! Cleave!!!"


    The enemy didn''t simply watch andunch a skill of his own. His sword, glowing yellow, mmed against the red daggers and exploded with power, sending dust rolling and limiting visibility.


    "HAAAAP!"


    Meanwhile, under the cover of dust clouds, Cassy sprang into action. Although her bones were realigned, her internal bleeding wasn''t addressed properly yet, causing pain to assault her senses.


    Still, she jumped around, circling her opponent, before leaping forward with a powerful lunge!


    "NAIVE!"


    But her opponent wasn''t one to fall for such a simple trick. Using the wide body of his hammer, he blocked Cassy''s dagger, merely causing a few sparks to fly as their weapons struck each other.


    *SCHIIIING!*


    But Cassy didn''t stop. Instead, she followed through with her momentum and continued forward before leaping in another lunge.


    "Where are you aiming...?!"


    Just as the big man was about to mock her forpletely missing her second lunge, he noticed who was in the direction she was going.


    "Marco!!!" He shouted, but it was toote.


    The man facing Kali, locking des with her, had his back facing Cassy. As such, her dagger went right through his left chest from the back, going straight through his heart.


    "Haa... agh." He gasped as blood bubbled in his throat before falling forward helplessly.


    Another kill was confirmed!