161 Ever made sense to me?!

Cyril agreed with what Mark had said. It was already fortunate that this person had let them off even after what they had done, so it was in their best interest to comply with whatever he had asked and get it over with as soon as possible.

The duo secured the area around to pass the time. Mark lit up his cigarette while Cyril took out the wine jar. With their backs resting against a tree, they stood silently contemplating while occasionally switching the cigarette and the wine.

Meanwhile, Ozul slept peacefully on the branch. He did not worry about the duo trying to escape. Even if they did try, he would immediately notice since he kept his attention on them even in his sleep.

On the other hand, Clara grumpily climbed up another tree. It had been a few days since she took a proper shower, so she could not help but complain. However, there was no one to listen to her griefs.

All her life, she had been pampered. There was nothing that she wasn't provided that she had asked for. There would be servants looking over her day and night. 

Though she had worked hard to cultivate as well, her life was undoubtedly a hundred times better than the rest.

It was bound to cause her trouble once there was no one to watch over her every need.

But in this situation, she did not dare disturb Ozul from his sleep just to tell him that she was itchy all over. Aggrieved, she could only try to sleep it off.

——————

At this moment, a group of people ran through the forest in the midst of darkness. They all seemed to be in a hurry as frowns were present on all their faces.

Some of them looked as if they were sleep deprived. However, it was a wonder how people as powerful as they could be lacking sleep.

This was the group led by Rufus searching for Clara everywhere. All the survivors from the battle with the assailants were in it. Raven and Blaze also ran along with the group.

Most of the mercenaries were dead since the majority of the people fighting were Rank-7. A couple of surviving mercenaries all lasted till the end because of pure luck except Raven, Blaze, and Barry.

Barry was a Rank-7 Mage himself, so he just needed to play it safe not to die. Meanwhile, Raven and Blaze had managed to stay alive by working together. Hanry and Venessa were also among the survivors.

Rufus had won his fight against the man in white robes. Since that old man was the leader of the assailants, their group started to waver after noticing that their leader was forced to flee from the scene.

When choosing between the fleeing old man in white robes and his subordinates, Rufus did not hesitate to choose the latter. He just cursed the old man under his breath before moving to the cliff to help his men.

Since he was a Rank-9 and the assassins' morale had already dropped to zero, it took them a few minutes before taking care of all the assailants.

After they took care of the assailants' matter, everyone started to search for Clara. Only Raven and Blaze were more focused on finding Ozul, but they did not point out their purpose since they also knew that the other one would be found out too if even one of them was found.

Rufus led the team to the Fer City, thinking that Clara and Ozul might have been there. But they were bound to be disappointed when there was no one there.

Rufus ordered the group to wait in the City before sending his men searching around the area. After the whole day, they concluded that Ozul and Clara had probably left directly to the next city.

The group was led by Rufus, and he did not even once think that Ozul might be trying to avoid them. He saw no reason for him to do so.

He believed that if they were to continue traveling, they might actually catch up to Clara and Ozul.

Rufus had strict orders for him to protect Clara at all costs. He could not afford to mess it up. That is why all his men were worked to death by him.

Even with them being Rank-7, fatigue had caught up to them. First, they had to fight against the assassins, and now they had yet to heal from their earlier injuries before they were running all well and fine on the ground.

Even now, they were running from Fer city to the next one.

When they arrived in the city, Rufus was not surprised to find himself in a lawless city. There were many such cities around this area.

Unfortunately, he was bound to be aggrieved after realizing that there were almost no traces of Clara and Ozul either. He had sent his men to ask as many guards as possible.

However, they all returned empty-handed. In such a lawless city, it was impossible to find about almost anyone. Luckily, a man selling fruits had recognized the description of Clara and Ozul and told them that he had seen them here two days ago.

Everyone in the group finally sighed in relief. Even after coming all the way over to this place, they only confirmed it now that Clara and Ozul had actually come this way.

Now Rufus just needed to find them in this big city. Again, he ordered people to spread out and collect information on their location.

It again made him sigh in frustration when he couldn't find them in the city either. Moreover, a woman said that she had seen a pair just like Clara and Ozul walk out of the city as well.

Rufus was about to order the group to start traveling again when he noticed the exhausted expressions on everyone's face. He had almost forgotten that he did not need as much rest as others did after a life-threatening battle.

"Let's just rest for today..." He ordered as the whole group suddenly felt their bodies lighten.

Most people in the group wanted to sleep, so they hurried off to a hotel. Raven and Blaze were exhausted as well, though they were ready to set out after Ozul right away.

When Rufus saw their stubbornness, he approached the duo and said, "I understand you want to set out after him as soon as possible, but look at yourselves. That brat definitely would not want to look at your current appearances."

Instantly, the duo looked around them and noticed their haggard clothes. Blaze sighed before dragging Raven into a hotel as well.

Although he wanted to set out after Ozul as soon as possible too, he knew better than to just set out by themselves in their current state.

Watching Blaze drag Raven away, Rufus smiled a little before looking towards the direction of the city's existing.

'What are you scheming at now?' Rufus thought inside. He did not understand why Ozul had instantly left the cities just as they had gotten at that point.

He thought that there must have been some reason for him to do as such since it was obviously better that they stayed in a single house and they could come to visit them.

"When have you ever done something that made sense to me!?" Rufus muttered to himself in annoyance. 

Even with his decades of experience, Ozul's actions and behavior sometimes did not make any sense to him. And not understanding anything about the target that his Majesty had asked him to keep an eye on frustrated him to no end.

He planned to let the group rest for the day. After that, he would force everyone to sprint to all the cities that came before their current location to the Neutral Lands.

Since Ozul did not seem to stop, the only way to catch up to them was to run fast than them. 

At the very least, it reassured him that the duo really had been on this route.

Once the group had rested, they would immediately leave to search for them. As much as he wanted, Rufus could not force the group to keep on going even when most of them suffered from internal injuries.

Getting inside their room, Raven and Blaze immediately plopped down on their respective beds. They were one of the most exhausted in the group. In the intense battle of Rank-7 Mages, they were only Rank-6. 

They only survived the battle by working together. They had gone all out since the others were miles ahead of them in terms of strength.

If there were anyone else other than Raven and Blaze, they would have instantly died under the constant barrage of a Rank-7 Mage. Both of them had extreme talent in their respective Elements.

The only downside of their battle was that everyone now knew that Raven was a Darkness Element Mage. So, excluding Rufus, everyone in the group stayed away from her.

Rufus knew better than to judge people based on their Elements. As the man only under Emperor Luthien, he was also aware that Darkness Element did not necessarily mean that the Mage was evil.

Although he did not discriminate against her in the same way as others, Rufus occasionally looked at her the same way others did. Eyes filled with contempt.

Rufus had also seen Raven using the Night's Shade to release the dark smoke during the battle. It made him realize who was actually the reason behind that smoke during the previous events.