But he knew better.
'But I shouldn't go alone' Ezra held his chin.
'I know those to call'
__________
"Do you guys know what he's called us for?"
The others shake their heads.
They were the seven masters of Black Jaws that were acting as mercenaries.
Right now, they were heading to meet Ezra.
With the siblings immersed in cultivation, Ezra chose a new tent for himself.
"Welcome gentlemen" said Ezra. Seated at a round table with John beside him. "Please take a sit"
They were surprised to see John- one of their own, but didn't show it.
"I'll get straight to the point" Ezra looked in the eyes. "We believe an enemy has infiltrated the city, and is poisoning its citizens" he paused.
"While that may not interest you in itself, we believe the culprits have some relations to the beast tide or have relations with those that do. Therefore, we need them alive, and I want you to help me with that"
"This is all good and all, but what's in it for us?"
"Good question. As you should know, I'm a prince" he paused. "If the capture is successful, each of you will get fifty gold. You have my word"
One pointed at John?, "How much is he getting?"
"That's concern you not" Ezra smoothly cut him short. "Are you in or are you out?"
Inwardly, he was praising their performance.
If he didn't know they were masters, he'd have been fooled.
Most of them weren't inclined to accept it.
Fifty gold was a paltry sum compared to their usual earnings.
But a blink from John had them all changed stances.
"We'll do it"
Ezra nodded in appreciation. "We move in ten minutes"
On cue…
"Commander!"
Benjamin drove in with an urgency unbridled.
"What is it?"
"Sire, you need to see this yourself"
Everyone rushed out to get a good look at the situation.
"What in Raikan's name?"
Even masters were shaken.
Infected humans ran towards them like a swarm of ants.
'Oh no'
An alarm went off in Ezra's mind.
Surely, he'd seen infected humans before, but they were never this many.
'Damn' Ezra bit his lips. "Get into formation" he shouted. "Attack! Attack! Attack!"
The tides of infected rushed forth like a tsunami, slamming hard against the iron door.
The first volley of rocks landed, squashing everything in its path.
Those that could not see from afar, could now make out the sight of their species acting like wild beasts.
Arrows were fired in volleys.
Ezra tried to take out his sword, but the feeling of danger amplified so he took out the bow instead and used his blood arrows to deal massive damage as well.
Well, he tried to, but the feeling grew strong yet again.
He would have the blood arrow splatter all over, killing many.
Thanks to training with Valencia, he'd fixed the problem with low amounts of blood.
The beast carcasses in his space ring had their blood sucked out, of which Ezra absorbed.
But since the premonition was strong, Ezra shelved that strategy for another time and simply shot arrows with his arm amplified with mana.
Thankfully, the swarm of infected weren't too many, and most importantly, most of them were ordinary people, so they were quickly easy to deal with.
With the situation under control, the soldiers gained momentum, gradually thinning down the numbers.
Afar, they could see Fredrick Iris and Raven dishing out attacks, well, they could see the attacks not them.
Ezra moved around, making sure to maintain the morale.
Suddenly, everything seemed to slow down as Ezra felt the cold feeling magnify, and instinctively, he jumped away from his position.
On point…
SHIN!
An energy wave of red flashed past, exuding a pressure so mighty everyone froze.
It lasted a second, many didn't even see it pass by.
The next moment, like a cake, a large part of the palisade slid and fell.
Boom!
Squashing many of the infected below while killing numerous soldiers as well.
Ezra propped to his feet and took to his heels, striding past the soldiers at an overwhelming speed.
His legs had barely survived being cut off.
He had no time to be scared or shocked.
The enemy was here!
As he ran, four auras erupted, this time from within the city.
'Damn!'
His heart was pounding, but he knew the worst thing to do right now was overthink.
Rather think, he'd just act.
Reaching the tent, he found the siblings standing, surely the commotion had broken their concentration.
He sucked all of them into the ancient space ring without question.
Immediately after…
SHIN!
Another slash descended upon his position, killing multiple soldiers.
A leery voice erupted. "You can run, but you can't hide!"
Ezra took a glance, and his eyes widened in disbelief.
The man was garbed in red clothes staring at him with his crimson eyes while his long black hair flowed with the wind.
They locked eyes, and like psychics, they instinctively understood each other.
'Of all people' Ezra grit his teeth. 'It had to be him'
With haste he leaped off the palisade and it was struck once more, this time the rocks were splattered, scattering them all over.
With his runes active, Ezra calmly used the rubble as stepping stones, reaching the ground in no time.
John was nearby when it happened, and having acknowledged Ezra's strength, he followed him and one other master followed John lead.
Ezra took off immediately, bursting out with seams of white lightning while not sparing a glance for either John or the other master; he didn't need to look behind him to see the fast-approaching grandmaster-he knew he was coming.
More importantly, he could feel the presence of four people approaching his position.
With how much his body turned even colder, they couldn't be allies.
Ezra's mind whirred, still calm. 'I can't make it easy for them'
Instantly, he took a curved turn in the opposite direction with two masters-John and the other-following behind him.
They ran across buildings, all the while Ezra locked onto the location of the four masters.
Memorizing the layout of the city was his first task since the day he'd arrived.
So, while he wasn't like a fish in water, he was certainly better off than others.
Zigzagging through roads and jumping off buildings, Ezra made sure to circumvent the approaching four.
The feeling didn't get any worse, so he presumed the grandmaster was held up, or was just simply enjoying the show.
A minute elapsed, Ezra could see that he'd let everyone-including John-in the dust.
'Let's do this'
He took another turn and kept at it.
John and the other master followed him, though they were obviously straining themselves.
Then, inhaling heavily, Ezra shouted.
"Ergasres!"
The surroundings trembled, a sigil lit up on the ground within a small, almost invisible wooden house, and a warp hole opened up.
One consisting of swirling colours of black and green.
Instantly, the danger levels he felt increased sharply.
The grandmaster had moved.
'It's too late'
He never intended to fight a grandmaster head on, that would be sure suicide.
Instead, he simply wasted time knowing who they were, and still was able to escape.
While this arrival was sudden, his preparations saved his skin.
A leap had him falling into the warp hole, of which he turned last minute to drag John along.
A split second later…
Boom!
An explosion was heard.
Entering the warp hole, darkness covered his senses-for a few seconds as he felt his mana sucked out.
Right after…
Bam!
He landed on concrete with his back, his eyes blurry.
"Oh, my head"
Wiping his forehead, Ezra plopped to his feet.
He sees John laying beside him, while only the aftermath of the last attack hit them, it surely did some damage.
With Ezra's fire resistance and physique level, his wounds healed rapidly.
But he couldn't be bothered to check.
With lightning on his legs, Ezra destroyed the ground they were standing on, destroying the sigil imprinted in it.
The warp hole shook, growing unstable-a sign it would soon forcibly close.
Ezra tossed John away-his beating heart confirmed his survival-before running away as well.
________
"AHHH!"
The leader's cry shook the earth, reaching the warp hole in a flash.
"Step Back!" he growls as the four others.
With the warp hole acting wriggly, he confirms its instability.
"Entering an unstable warp hole only guarantees death" he paused.
The four retreated even further.
"I have to admit, this was good plan"
"But it's not enough" His aura peaked. 'You won't be getting away from me so easily'
Bracing himself, the leader plunges his hand into the warp hole.
His eyes close shut and his claws outstretched, feeling the mana within, all the while making sure not to get sucked in.
'No, no, no'
With every passing second the warp hole becomes more volatile.
"Not yet"
The leader forcefully suppresses its volatility. His fingers absorb the mana within and transfer information from it to his mind.
'Something, not this…Yes!'
The leader's eyes shone.
Immediately, he pulls out his hand before stopping the suppression.
He'd achieved his aim.
__________
Now far away from the warp hole's location, he heard a loud droning sound and then a massive pop that decimated the surroundings.
But Ezra's wasn't comfortable enough to rest just yet.
Quickly, he ran up the city's palisades and then jumped.
"Huh?"
"What is that?!"
He could hear the perplexity of the soldiers, but he didn't have time to care.
Turns out, this city was also being besieged by the infected.
Ezra simply used their heads as stepping stones, running faster than they could move,
He reached the head of the swarm within a minute, running into the nearest beast region.
The feeling hadn't subsided.
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