Chapter 82 - The Weak “Rabbit”

Richard said to Pandora, “I know you must be very sad right now. In fact, if possible, I wouldn’t want to see this happen either. But more important than being sad is facing reality. The situation is bad now, so you must stay calm; you must listen to me.Do you remember what you promised me before we went back and forth across the hill? Now, I need you to fulfill it. You can’t get agitated or be sad. You have to act like a true adult.

The misleading tracks I made in the forest won’t fool our enemies for long. Once they suspect something, a simple check or a spell for detecting our magic will reveal our return to the hill, and then they’ll come after us. I’m not sure how much time this will buy us, but we need to act fast and make some preparations. If you want to avenge Gregory, and if you want to survive, then listen to me and get ready according to my plan.”

Pandora stared at Richard with widened eyes, her eyes flickering once, twice, thrice, before she remained silent for a long time and finally said, “Okay!”

“Good,” Richard responded, then began to issue instructions.

After a while.

In the forest.

A mysterious wizard, dressed in a black hooded robe with only his eyes visible, was moving quickly. He had already traveled more than twenty li, becoming more and more puzzled as he went.

He had paid a significant price to eliminate his target and complete his mission, and the “rabbit” he had seen had clearly run in this direction. The tracks along the way confirmed it, but after chasing this far, why hadn’t he seen the “rabbit”?

Could it be that the “rabbit” was faster than him and had truly escaped? That seemed impossible.

Or perhaps…

Suddenly thinking of a possibility, the mysterious wizard sharply turned his head, his eyes flashing red as he surveyed his surroundings, then his hand clenched beneath his robe.

Damn, he’d been tricked!

To think that he had actually been fooled by a “rabbit”… it was laughable.

With a stomp, the mysterious wizard, swift as the wind, retraced his steps, and finally stopped in front of a broken branch.

At that moment, in the wizard’s eyes, the whole world appeared grey except for a continuous trail of blood-red footprints on the ground—the traces of the “rabbit” he was tracking.

Following the footprints, the mysterious wizard saw them veer off not far from the escape route, loop around in a large arc, and surprisingly head back toward the hill—a place he had never anticipated.

“Quite interesting,” the mysterious wizard stood straight, voiced softly, his eyes flickering, “Really interesting. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen such a bold ‘rabbit,’ even its escape is so unexpected. Heh, I actually want to know what else it is capable of, what other surprises it can provide me, and maybe spice up this boring task a bit.”

The next moment, with a sweep of his robe, the mysterious wizard hastened toward the hill.

Then he arrived.

“Tap, tap,” the mysterious wizard stepped up the hill, looking around. He noticed some subtle changes to the ground, which seemed different from before he had left, but he couldn’t quite pinpoint what had changed.

As he was pondering, suddenly he heard a sharp “beep” like the sound of a whistle.

The mysterious wizard abruptly looked up, following the sound, and saw, a few hundred meters away, on the ruins of the Black Castle, a fifteen or sixteen-year-old noble boy standing, looking at him calmly.

A warning? A mockery?

The mysterious wizard looked puzzled at the boy, unsure why he was so calm, but he was certain that the boy was the “rabbit” he was seeking. Without hesitation, he dashed towards the boy, ready to close in and strike him dead with his best Lightning Skill, intending to end it.

But he had not anticipated that just as he stepped forward, something exploded beneath his foot with a “bang,” causing him to stagger almost to the point of falling.

The mysterious wizard frowned slightly, stabilizing himself and turning to look at a charred pit beside him, where he found a broken piece of White Jade engraved with strange patterns, which looked somewhat like…

“Magic Rune?”

A somewhat incredulous thought popped into the mysterious wizard’s mind.

Could it be that on this barren Smans Island, someone knew “Magic Rune Spells”? Interesting.

The next moment, the mysterious wizard snorted lightly and continued toward his target. In his view, whether it was a “Magic Rune” or not, it posed no threat to him. In the face of absolute power, it was all just a plaything.

After all, the disparity in strength was simply too great.

But just as he thought this, the ground under his feet exploded again with a “bang”, a force more powerful than before erupting, and the unprepared wizard nearly toppled over.

“Damn!”

The mysterious wizard steadied himself, turning to look at the second crater that appeared, finding again a piece of White Jade engraved with patterns.

This time the mysterious wizard had to take it seriously. It seemed the “rabbit” had made preparations and he needed to be cautious.

Since this was the case, the mysterious wizard veered to the side, sweeping in an arc towards the “rabbit” he was eyeing.

In his view, since the “rabbit” had deliberately prepared and stood in a specific straight line with him, that line must be laden with numerous “Magic Rune Traps,” ready to be triggered by his step.

If he charged straight through, he might not be seriously hurt, but he would definitely end up a mess.

So, he chose another route to attack.

After all, he wasn’t stubborn.

Thinking this, the mysterious wizard changed his direction toward his observed “rabbit.” Just a few meters into his dash, there was another “bang,” and the ground exploded again.

This!

The mysterious wizard was stunned, the next moment, without hesitation, he changed direction again, but before he could attack, the ground exploded once more, precisely as if he had intentionally stepped on it.

But the problem was, he had no idea where the “Magic Rune Traps” were placed.

Damn it, this damned “rabbit,” could it be that he had filled the entire hill with various “Magic Rune Traps”?

The mysterious wizard couldn’t help but think.

Even though he could resolve this, like using a Floating Technique to simply fly up, or employing an area-wide Attack Magic to bomb the ground, triggering all the existing “Magic Rune Traps” to eliminate the risk.

But really, was it worth it?

After all, the opponent was just an extremely weak “rabbit,” not the target of his mission. Was it worth expending a great deal of Mana just to kill a single “rabbit”?

It might be a bit embarrassing to admit.

In light of this…