Chapter 245

Chapter 246. You Can’t Pass (1)

At the moment when the pursuit squad sent by Bolos surrounded Sephira’s party.

Keter, of course, and even Haribo, the weakest in the party, realized they were surrounded. The pursuers openly closed the distance, making loud noises and movements.

Lenin, the knight commander of the Blitz family, suggested an idea.

“There’s a mine entrance about five minutes away by running. It’s hidden by magic, so it’s hard to find, and if things go wrong, we can escape by train. Let’s head there.”

Hide and run. But the only one who agreed with that was Bruce, the lord of the same family.

Hisop expected that, given Keter’s personality, he would say, “Let’s just kill them all here and go comfortably.”

“We’ve eaten well and rested… Shall we run now?”

“Huh? Rested? We only rested for 30 minutes.”

Lenin agreed that they had eaten well, but he couldn’t agree with the idea of having rested properly and showed his confusion.

Regardless, Keter spoke to the party.

“Maknun, guide us from my right, Six Hundred, follow from the left. The rest, just follow my back. Oh, and that old man, carry him on your back. He clearly won’t be able to keep up.”

“Are you seriously planning to run all the way to the royal palace? We’re surrounded, you know?”

Lenin, of course, knew Keter was strong. But this was a completely different situation, wasn’t it?

He didn’t know how many or how strong the pursuers were, but they wouldn’t have surrounded them carelessly. Even if they ran as fast as they could, it would still just be a sprint.

And since each member of the party had different running speeds, what would they do if some fell behind?

“I can’t understand running all the way to the royal palace or breaking through the encirclement at all!”

Lenin’s opinion was the opinion of the entire Blitz family. Bruce and his knights couldn’t understand Keter at all.

Hisop thought the rest of Sephira’s party would agree, but they didn’t. Sephira’s party was busy stretching and preparing to run.

“Sir Lenin. Don’t try to understand with your head. It’s impossible.”

Catherine approached the unconvinced Lenin and advised him.

Hisop also didn’t understand Keter’s words, but he trusted him and advised Lenin.

“If you can’t trust our Sephira, you can move separately. I promise we won’t hold it against you.”

“…!”

Seeing Hisop trust Keter 100%, Lenin had no choice but to look at Bruce.

The final decision rested with the lord. Knowing they couldn’t deliberate long in this surrounded situation, Bruce sighed briefly and said,

“Ho, Sir Lenin. Carry me.”

“My lord?!”

“An old man like me can’t keep up with you all. Even if it looks disgraceful, I can’t be a burden to you.”

“…Understood.”

Lenin dared not try to persuade the lord. The lord’s command was absolute. His loyalty was also absolute. As Bruce climbed onto Lenin’s back, he felt a myriad of emotions pass through him.

‘Sephira is growing at a terrifying pace. Once or twice might be a coincidence, but three times is skill. There must be a reason. I’ll confirm it here.’

It was a gamble with his life, but he wasn’t afraid. He had already firmly decided on his eldest son as his successor, and Lenin, the knight commander, had also firmly trained his successor.

Creating a solid connection with the prestigious Sephira family. The Blitz family would be the first! If this gamble succeeded, the stagnant fortunes of the Blitz family would rise accordingly.

And in fact, luck was on Lord Bruce’s side in this gamble. The opportunity to encounter Sephira’s party on Glory Road was now the first and last.

Keter, leading the way, clasped his hands and spread his arms wide.

Whoooosh!

Mana stretched like rubber from his palms. Catherine’s eyes widened as she recognized what it was.

‘Can the Acceleration Gateway be made that big?’

The first of the three fundamental techniques of Demon Archery, the Acceleration Gateway.

Catherine could only create an Acceleration Gateway with a diameter of 30 centimeters, but Keter created one long enough to envelop the entire party.

The Acceleration Gateway, true to its name, had the property of ‘accelerating’ anything that passed through it. Applied to arrows, even an arrow shot by a mere soldier could become as fast as one shot by a knight.

Before starting, Keter informed the party.

“From now on, we are arrows.”

Sephira’s party understood the meaning and tensed up, but the Blitz family’s party didn’t understand at all. Catherine explained to Lenin.

“It means we’ll run non-stop to the capital, Griesa. Be prepared.”

“That’s impossible…”

Boom!

With a loud noise, Keter disappeared before their eyes. He just ran normally, but passing through the Acceleration Gateway amplified his speed, creating a shockwave.

The party quickly followed, not wanting to lose Keter, and Lenin’s body reacted first, throwing itself into the Acceleration Gateway.

* * *

“That bastard!”

Bolos threw a glass bottle with all his might at the spot where Nether had just been standing. But the bottle just hit the wall.

“Keter broke through the encirclement. I’ll go handle it myself.”

Nether said his piece and left.

Suddenly left alone, Bolos smashed various items and shouted.

“That guy and this guy! They all ignore and belittle me! I’ve been so good to them! Compromising! Forgiving!”

He wasn’t drunk or crazy from medicine. The medicine just revealed his true nature.

“Why is this happening again!”

No matter how close Bolos brought his eyes to the glass orb, all he saw was a blurry mist.

Originally, the glass orb showed where Keter’s party was, but with Decameron emitting mana waves, it became useless.

Crash!

The glass orb, worth more than a mansion, shattered on the floor. Still not satisfied, he did the same thing his father had done.

“Jordic! Call him. Now!”

At his command, a butler waiting outside rushed in and cautiously said,

“Master Jordic is currently on a mission. It might be difficult.”

“Is that mission more important than my summons? I’m the lord! The master of this family!”

“I apologize, but the Silver Leopard Knight Order, where Master Jordic is, is directly under the elder. The elder’s orders take precedence over the lord’s…”

“That elder! I’ve never even seen him, does he even exist? Huh? That mysterious beastman who revived our family, does he really exist?”

“My lord. Mentioning beastmen is dangerous. Please refrain.”

“Shut up! How dare an old butler lecture me?!”

Slap!

The butler, slapped on the cheek, quickly knelt and said,

“I will speak my mind for Lord Bolos. You are currently agitated. Please calm down.”

Thud!

Instead of an answer, a kick came. His kick was filled with the intent to kill.

“Don’t! Call me! Acting Lord! I said!”

Crack!

The old butler had been a loyal servant to the Baydant family for decades. For the family, he didn’t hesitate to speak harshly even to the lord, and the previous lord, Patra, acknowledged and praised him.

That loyal servant was now dead. Simply for upsetting Bolos, his neck was broken.

There was no one to witness this.

The knights guarding outside all heard and saw. They remained silent for now, but a common thought passed through their minds.

‘We can’t leave Bolos like this.’

They instinctively felt that Bolos posed a threat to the Baydant family.

* * *

Nether, receiving reports from his subordinates, pressed his temples and fell into anguish.

“So, in short, they moved at super high speed?”

“That’s right.”

Nether’s adjutant, brought from the empire, said nonchalantly.

“Not just one person, but nearly thirty people?”

“That’s what they said. It was truly a spectacle.”

“Are you impressed? Our employer has gone mad.”

“There was nothing else to do but be impressed.”

“We hired mercenaries from all over, so there must have been some fast ones among them.”

“There were.”

“Did they pursue?”

“They did.”

“Why is everything in the past tense?”

“Because they’re dead. Probably from Keter’s arrows.”

“…”

Nether now pressed his temples with both hands and muttered.

“So, Keter moved the entire party at super high speed and shot arrows to kill the pursuers?”

“Impressive, isn’t it?”

“That impressive guy is our target.”

“Sigh, Captain. I’ve watched Keter quite a bit. I’ve looked into his past actions. So here’s what I say. Let’s run?”

“You have no pride as a solver.”

“You need to be alive to have pride.”

“Do you think Keter is that strong?”

“Captain, no, Brother. Frankly, even if he’s a 7-Star Prime, I’m confident I can kill him. But Keter? No way. That guy’s just insane.”

“That much?”

Nether, of course, knew well about Keter’s strength. Not just his strength, but his competence.

But no matter how strong and competent, he’s still human. Humans always have weaknesses. Find and exploit them, and anyone can be killed. That was Nether’s belief.

Of course, he acknowledged that Keter was much more troublesome than he thought, but he couldn’t accept that he was someone to run away from.

“I’d bet my entire fortune. No matter what we, the Baydant family, do, it won’t work on Keter. We’ll only suffer losses, and in the end, we’ll all die.”

“But running away without even trying is unacceptable. I’ll see it through to the end.”

“Strange. Usually, you’d agree and back off by now. Why are you so stubborn today?”

The adjutant frowned and glared at Nether. Nether vehemently denied.

“I really think it’s doable.”

“Could it be… jealousy?”

“Get out before I gouge your eyes out. And gather all the pursuers. I don’t know how Keter is moving at super high speed, but we can’t follow. We’ll use teleportation to get ahead and block him.”

“Teleportation magic is banned during Glory Road, right?”

“That only applies to Lilian Kingdom citizens. Not us.”

“Who will cast the teleportation magic?”

“We have teleportation scrolls, don’t we?”

“Use our own money? You’re really crazy.”

“To stop Keter, we can’t hold back. Spend it all.”

“Sigh… Alright. I’m your subordinate, so I’ll do as you say, yes.”

After sending the adjutant away, Nether muttered cautiously, as if someone might hear.

“Being a scion of a prestigious family and living freely… does that make sense?”

Nether was a member of a highly esteemed family in the empire, and he also wanted to live freely like Keter.

But living freely while being part of a family like Keter was impossible. So, in the end, Nether left his family and became a free solver.

Talented and capable, Nether rose quickly. He turned countless crises into opportunities and grew. He achieved the ultimate freedom he longed for. He had plenty of money, and no one to answer to. He could go wherever he wanted and do whatever he wanted. But all that freedom came at the cost of abandoning his family and relatives.

But what about Keter?

He enjoys freedom without losing his family or relatives. He freely uses violence, and his family tolerates and protects everything he does.

Nether couldn’t accept that.

‘I can’t let someone else achieve what I couldn’t.’

Nether vowed to show Keter that fact clearly. As his adjutant said, it was purely out of jealousy.

* * *

As Keter laid down Acceleration Gateways and moved at super high speed, no one blocked their path.

First, the sound was incredibly loud. Even if they were beyond the mountains, the sound of thunder would be heard, and anyone who heard it would naturally turn their head in that direction.

Then they would definitely see it. The faint afterimage of Sephira’s party running as if flying.

Seeing that, even a hunched old man would throw himself out of the way. Just like no one would stand still seeing a carriage coming.

Moreover, unlike a carriage, Keter was emitting shockwaves as he ran. He was clearing the path at the forefront.

A destructive tank that pushed aside trees, rocks, and any obstacles. Thanks to that, the party following behind only had to focus on running.

Of course, just running itself was incredibly exhausting. They weren’t just running; they were running at speeds beyond their maximum.

Their senses, their eyes couldn’t keep up with the speed. One misstep meant instant death, and if Keter slightly changed direction or the terrain’s elevation changed, they had to decelerate or change direction with all their might.

Sephira’s party, having trained to run through the sky, had their senses opened and managed somehow, but the Blitz family’s knights didn’t.

“Gahhh!”

A knight who couldn’t handle the speed and veered off.

“Wahhh!”

A knight who stepped on a small ledge and unknowingly leaped far away.

In the Blitz family, dropouts started appearing one after another.

But Keter didn’t care. He didn’t stop. He just kept running.

He didn’t care what was ahead. Whether it was a mountain, a plain, a lake, or a river, he just ran through it.

“Huh?”

Then Keter saw something blocking their path.

Nether’s subordinates. And the mercenaries hired by Bolos had set up a wall to stop Keter.

They tore up teleportation scrolls worth thousands of gold each without hesitation and set up obstacles in the path Keter had to take.

Logs cut down from here and there. Large shields covering their entire bodies. And even a sandworm summoned by a Beast Summoner, rooted in the ground.

Showing that stopping their movement wasn’t enough, mages prepared binding and barrier magic, and assassins lay in ambush.

It was a scene filled with the determination to force a battle by stopping them.

But Keter had no intention of stopping.

Keter, having become the arrow itself with Divine Archery, cast a technique on himself.

Milky Way.

If something blocks the way, it’s only right to destroy it.