"What the hell was that!?" Harian shouted.
"An arrow," Vex replied calmly in his head.
Muliad skidded to a stop, eyes narrowing as he scanned the treeline. "It seems… someone's found us."
Harian's heart hammered. He replayed that chilling sensation the eerie tug in his mind, the sudden instinctive tilt of his head, the suffocating feeling of imminent death. He hissed internally, directing his thoughts at Vex. What was that? That… premonition? That wasn't normal. My body just moved on its own.
[THAT WAS FORESIGHT BEARER. THE SKILL PREDICTS APPROXIMATELY TEN SECONDS INTO THE USER'S FUTURE BUT ONLY IN COMBAT-RELEVANT EVENTS. HOWEVER, IT EATS ESSENCE LIKE A MALNOURISHED WYVERN.]
Harian's vision swayed for a moment. "No shit… I feel like my brain melted."
[YOU DIDN'T DIE, SO CONSIDER IT A WIN.]
Harian ignored that. What bothered him wasn't the exhaustion. It was the implication. A skill that predicted future combat trajectories? A skill he never had in his past life? Something that didn't exist even after he reached the peak?
Where did it come from?
Before he could demand an explanation, Vex cut him off.
[LONG STORY. EXPLANATION LATER. PRIORITY: THE ENEMY. THE ATTACKER IS UNKNOWN, BUT THEIR PRESENCE WAS COMPLETELY HIDDEN. AND THE SPEED OF THAT ARROW… THAT ACCURACY… ONLY A FEW PEOPLE IN REZIA COULD PULL THAT OFF.]
Muliad stiffened.
Harian stiffened.
At the same time, the same name escaped their lips barely a whisper, but enough to send a chill down both their spines.
"Sparrow…"
They blinked at each other. Muliad's jaw tightened. "Boy… if it really is Sparrow… then we are in deeper trouble than I expected."
Harian swallowed hard. Sparrow, The silent blade of the royal family. The kingdom's deadliest marksman and a predator who could kill beasts from half a kilometer away without being seen.
And in Harian's past life… Sparrow had only appeared once. Right before Harian slit his throat. Harian exhaled slowly. "Well… this is going to be annoying."
Another arrow fired. And this time it was aimed at Muliad's neck.
Muliad reacted instantly, raising his sword and blocking the arrow just inches before it pierced him. The metallic impact rang across the forest and the vibration shot down his arms. Muliad's hands trembled, the arrow hadn't just been fast, it had been infused with essence, and a tremendous amount at that. Harian narrowed his eyes. Only one divine knight used arrows like that.
"Sparrow," both Harian and Muliad whispered at the same time.
Muliad steadied his arms and said the fact that Sparrow was sent meant something serious was happening in the capital. Harian agreed silently. Sparrow was terrifying for three reasons. First, he was a real assassin his victims never saw his face before they died. His arrows came from nowhere, always accurate, always lethal. Second, he was a divine knight with pristine world essence control, Wyre's disciple, making him even more dangerous. Third and worst of all, Sparrow didn't rely only on arrows.
And right on cue, a shadow fell over them. Harian looked up, eyes widening. A long black spear was descending straight toward them like a falling star. "Move!" he shouted, and Muliad grabbed him and leapt with all his strength. The spear hit the ground with a violent explosion that tore apart dirt and trees, sending both of them flying in opposite directions.
A cold voice drifted through the trees, carried by the rolling wind. It was thin, sharp, and mocking like a blade pressed against the throat. "For a bunch of runaway criminals, you dodge well," the voice said. "But you can only run for so long."
Muliad froze. Harian's expression tightened for a moment before twisting into a faint smile. He knew that voice. Sparrow. The divine knight assassin. The ghost of the royal family. In his previous life, Sparrow only became active during the civil war, slaughtering enemy commanders like it was child's play. Anyone who underestimated him died before they even saw him.
But Harian wasn't intimidated. He smiled because he remembered something else too he killed Sparrow long before he became Hanzo. And he knew exactly what made this man tick.
The wind rustled again, carrying Sparrow's presence, but not his body. He was nowhere and everywhere at once. Muliad clenched his jaw, scanning the treetops, the rocks, the shadows. Harian simply tilted his head and answered with a calm, sharp voice.
"Using the wind to carry your voice," Harian said. "Are you afraid to show your ugly face?"
The wind stilled for half a second. Then the mocking voice returned, colder than before.
"…You talk too much."
And another arrow screamed through the forest.
"Swing your sword upward. Now."
Harian's voice cut through the air, sharp and certain. Muliad didn't question it not when an essence-laced killing intent pressed against his back. He swung his sword in a clean upward arc, steel humming.
A split second later the arrow collided with the blade. Essence burst on impact. The arrow ricocheted off, veering into the trees where it detonated, shredding bark and earth into flying debris.
Muliad's eyes widened. The boy was right. Again.
Before he could speak, Harian cupped a hand to his mouth and shouted into the wind, "Did you get sloppy, you ugly toad fused with an epileptic pig looking bastard?"
The forest wind roared violently, whipping branches and leaves as if responding to an insult. Sparrow's voice slipped through the gusts cold, irritated, and clipped. "Keep talking. I'll enjoy cutting your guts out myself."
"Oh, is that so?" Harian replied with a grin. "The legendary disciple of Wyre is threatening a seventeen-year-old?"
That earned two reactions at once.
"What?" Muliad blurted, eyes snapping to Harian.
"…What did you just say?" Sparrow's voice sharpened, the calm veneer cracking.
Wind essence thickened in the air. The trees leaned, bending unnaturally as though bowing toward an unseen predator. Sparrow wasn't angry often but when he was, even the forest reacted.
"You shouldn't know that, so tell me, boy… who exactly are you?"
Harian only smiled wider. "Someone you failed to kill. That should narrow it down."
The wind stilled. Even Sparrow went silent for a moment. Then the killing intent surged.