Relliks' intentions were clear, but I was weak. All I saw was his blurred figure rushing towards me—until Raven intercepted.
But something happened that I didn't like.
Raven was flung away. Though he managed to balance himself in the air and land safely, Relliks once again picked up speed and charged at me.
"Vines of Thorns!"
Lucas tried to block him with a spell, but Relliks slashed through it, destroying it instantly.
These attacks should have atleast stopped him a little but no. He was like a unstoppable force.
Still, those two attacks had slowed him enough for me to teleport behind Raven. Together, we reappeared closer to the other members of Claw. By now, it was clear to everyone that Relliks was an S-Rank. Taking him on individually was suicide, so I used my teleportation to reposition us.
Relliks frowned. These events were unexpected for him and difficult to explain. Yet once again, he targeted me, and once again Raven intercepted. This time, instead of being flung away, Raven clashed head-on and held his ground. I noticed Raven's body was glowing faintly yellow. Lucas was aiming a spell at him—it seemed to be a strengthening spell.
Even so, Raven was slowly being overpowered.
I teleported Brock behind Relliks, and Brock attacked his legs. If I had to guess, it was for two reasons: first, to slow him down so the A-Rank members of Claw could keep up; second, to disrupt his footing. Strength can only be fully utilized with proper balance, so weakening his stance would naturally reduce his power.
But Relliks was skilled. He bent his knee and used his shoe to slide Brock's spear shaft away. However, this weakened the strength in his arms, and Raven pushed him back.
Relliks used that push to flip backward and create distance. Suddenly, huge wind blades rained down from the sky, forcing him to dodge repeatedly. Even with all those attacks, he only suffered a few scratches. The attackers were the five Sky Dogs, while the sixth was dueling Relliks' own Sky Dog.
Raven quickly switched into bow mode and unleashed a storm of arrows, while Lucas fired multiple spells. Relliks was forced to dodge frantically. Then another barrage of wind blades dropped, cutting through the ground.
I went to Emilia and prepared something. Raven and Lucas both noticed. They stopped their attacks just as the wind blades ended, and I teleported Emilia above Relliks.
I had already sensed his intention—he was about to unleash a 360-degree slash. Because he also saw me and thought I will teleport behind him. But with Emilia's sudden appearance above him, he had to cancel the move. His reaction was delayed, and she struck him, slicing a vertical gash across his chest.
It was his first real injury. He looked at the wound, frowning. His glare locked onto me. Now he was on guard—confused as to why his attacks kept failing and how his defenses were pierced so easily.
I had no power myself, only Sixth Sense and teleportation, which I used to support the others. But I noticed Emma hadn't attacked yet—though I could feel she was preparing something.
Raven, strengthened again, engaged Relliks and was no longer being pushed back. Meanwhile, I whispered something to Lucas. He looked shocked but nodded.
While Raven and Relliks fought, Lucas prepared a massive spell. Relliks noticed but pressed on. So did Raven. For the others who didn't know, I should explain: Lucas would aim his strongest spell at both of them—I would teleport Raven out at the last second.
Relliks realized what was happening and tried to disengage, but Raven pinned him down. I sensed his intention to dive sideways to the right, even if it meant taking an injury. So I teleported Lucas into the exact spot Relliks was escaping to.
Relliks' eyes widened—and so did Lucas'—but Lucas released his spell. A massive electric cyclone roared toward Relliks. He tried to change direction again, but it was too late. He collided with the spell head-on.
Before he could recover, he felt another wave of danger. Forcing his eyes open, he saw Emma—moving faster than even Raven—charging straight for his heart. He judged he couldn't avoid it. So he raised his left palm. Her blade pierced through his hand. Before she could pull it out, he clenched tightly around the blade.
He swung his sword at her, but Raven—whom I teleported instantly—blocked it. Emma quickly abandoned her trapped blade, drew another, and aimed again. But Relliks kicked her squarely in the chest, sending her flying.
Now unbalanced, he was struck by Raven's assault and thrown off. He rolled along the ground, trying to regain distance, then unleashed his power to forcefully create space.
"Vines of Thorns!"
Relliks' eyes widened. He used his injured left arm as a shield, sacrificing it to stop the thorns from piercing his body. The vines tore through his arm, leaving it mangled. Gritting his teeth, he slashed them apart and looked around wildly for the caster.
But none of us moved. Then he looked up—just in time to see another barrage of wind blades descending. He blocked many with his sword, but several cut into his body.
Still, he wasn't finished. Raven charged him again, now clearly having the upper hand. But even so, Raven's blows couldn't deal a finishing injury—only push Relliks back, controlling his movements. With Lucas strengthening him again, Raven finally began drawing blood. Emilia joined the fight, and together they pushed Relliks further and further.
Relliks abandoned his defense, going full offense. Raven and Emilia switched to a purely defensive style, refusing to take unnecessary risks.
His injuries piled up, and his stamina drained. Finally, Raven slashed a deep wound into him, sending him tumbling back. His aura flickered out. He lay on the ground, too hurt to move.
Without hesitation, I teleported above him, blade already swinging—and decapitated him.
His Sky Dog rushed to his corpse and lay down, awaiting the end. Flash pounced on it at full strength, killing it.
We all—Claw, the Sky Dogs, and Flash—rested. The fight had been brutal. Relliks was too strong. Whoever he truly was, the Duke would not be happy losing him. I needed to speed up my journey.
After some time, I approached Relliks' body and searched it. I found a treasure pointing to my location—marked with the signature of the Nameless Dwarf.
So that's how he found me.
Aside from a few gold and silver coins, he carried nothing else of value.
Still, I was close to acquiring my next Nature Force.
Before leaving, I decided to bury the body. Enemy or not, he had been a living being. From the way he spoke, it was obvious he didn't know much—he had simply been completing his mission. We also buried his Sky Dog. It had died with its master and deserved the same respect.
The graves were nameless. We didn't know who he was, and marking them would only help the enemy confirm his death. For now, with no proof, the Duke would wait. Relliks had been too strong—it wasn't easy to believe he could fall.
We stood silently for a few minutes in front of the graves, lost in thought.
Lucas finally broke the silence.
"It wasn't Claw's toughest fight. We were on the verge of death when Brock got his scar."
Brock continued,
"Yeah. Three of us were immobile for a month, and the rest for a week."
Emilia added,
"But this was the strongest opponent we've faced. I think we defeated him far more easily than we should have."
I thought so too. My two Nature Forces had made the battle easier, yet it still felt so difficult.
I sighed. Then, once again, we mounted our Sky Dogs and continued the journey.
The journey was finally nearing its end. Though it had taken more than half a month due to interruptions—my training, the matter of Emily—we finally arrived at night in the Adele Kingdom.
It wasn't my final destination, but we rented rooms at an inn in the first city we came across.
Then we went to the dining area and ate to our heart's content.
We could have gone to sleep right after, but I had developed the habit of visiting the market whenever I was in a city.
During my exploration of the market, I found nothing of real value. However, I did come across a sign of the Information Guild—disguised here as a shoe store. I considered asking about something, but nothing important came to mind, so I simply continued exploring.
Soon after, I returned without buying anything and went to bed.
The next day, we quickly resumed our journey and reached our destination: The Great Forest of Unity.
What I wanted was located in the outer part of the forest. The Nature Force I sought was in an area with no trees or monsters. This area bordered the deeper forest—where trees and monsters resided—while the opposite side, where there were no trees, served as the forest's exit.
To put it simply: imagine a square. This square is part of the forest, but it contains no trees or monsters. Three of its sides are surrounded by forest filled with both trees and monsters, while the fourth side connects directly to the exit of the forest.