Chapter 198: Black Stalker Again

The members of the group flew in separate directions the instant the blades came whistling through the air...

WHOOSH! WHOOSH!! WHOOSH!!!

The projectiles were so fast that they seemed to materialize out of the darkness rather than fly through it, their razor-thin bodies slicing through the night with a shrill metallic hum. Those with faster reflexes managed to twist their bodies aside or redirect the trajectory of the incoming blades.

Aureleah was among them.

The silver-haired Assassin moved almost instinctively. One of her Daggers flashed out, intercepting one of the blades that had been aimed directly at Sylveris’s temple. The projectile struck the edge of the blade with enough force to make her wrist dip before she redirected it sharply into the ground.

Regaleon, however, simply stood where he was and he did not even bother moving.

A metallic cacophony filled the air as several blades struck his Armour in rapid succession, erupting into a shower of brilliant sparks. The impacts rang through the forest like tiny explosions, each collision sending a sharp vibration through his body.

Yet despite the ferocity of the assault, not a single dent or scratch marred the Armour’s surface.

Though his Soul Essence had done its part in protecting him from the blades, it did not completely negate the force behind their impacts. This is because the Armour prevented penetration but it didn’t disperse the destructive energy neither did it make him completely impervious to physics.

Therefore, Regaleon felt every jarring collision. Each impact slammed through his Armour and into his bones, leaving behind a dull, lingering ache that accumulated with every successive strike.

His jaw tightened.

For someone whose body had already undergone an Aetheric metamorphosis, Regaleon was still surprised that there were attacks in this world capable of leaving him sore despite the protection granted by his Armour.

More importantly, the sheer force behind those blades told him something. Whoever had thrown them was not merely trying to frighten them; instead, they had intended to kill.

Fortunately, none of the blades found flesh and the group’s heightened senses and enhanced perception deserved the credit.

Had this happened before their cultivation, there was little to no doubt that several of them would probably have been lying dead on the forest floor already.

The surviving blades buried themselves into the earth Dirt and loose soil burst upward as the projectiles struck the forest floor, their shafts trembling violently before finally coming to rest.

Only then did the group have enough breathing room to look at them. And the moment they did, four people recognized their design.

Aelric’s brows drew sharply together.

His gaze lingered on the blades for barely a heartbeat before his head snapped upward. His green eyes swept across the surrounding trees, moving from branch to branch, from shadow to shadow.

But despite meticulously searching, he didn’t find anything. And that was precisely what made his expression harden.

Beside him, Vaelorin’s fiery eyes widened while his entire body stiffened.

For an instant, the failed Pyromancer was no longer standing in the Crimson Forest; he was somewhere else... Somewhere darker.

His fingers tightened around his Staff until his knuckles turned white, and an involuntary step carried him backward.

Memories came crashing into his mind with brutal clarity; shurikens, blood, the sensation of death breathing down his neck and the psychopathic assassin who had stalked them through the forest.

His lungs suddenly seemed too small. Vaelorin sucked in a breath, but it caught halfway down his throat.

In the meantime, he wasn’t the only one affected.

Of all of them, Veyrath had arguably come closest to death during that lethal and fateful encounter.

As a master of fact, closest did not even adequately describe it because for a brief moment, the failed Alchemist had genuinely felt the cold embrace of death.

He remembered the pain, the helplessness, and the certainty that he was about to die.

Memories like those did not simply disappear because someone survived. They lingered, waited, and returned when something reminded the mind of what it had once endured.

After experiencing such a profound psychological trauma, it could be said that Veyrath was the only one among them whose nightmares still occasionally dragged him back to that day.

Caelestra noticed Vaelorin’s condition first. So she turned toward him, concern immediately flashing across her face.

"Vaelorin, are you okay?"

There was no immediate answer as the failed Pyromancer seemed to have fallen completely into his own recollections.

His eyes were unfocused, staring at something that wasn’t there. His chest began heaving violently, rising and falling like the frantic line of a heart-monitoring chart while his grip around his Staff became so tight that his knuckles had gone pale.

A bead of sweat rolled down his temple... Then another followed. It was a cool night, yet his forehead was damp.

His lips moved as he started mumbling these words. "I can’t believe it found us..."

"What?" Caelestra asked confusingly.

"I can’t believe it found us..." Vaelorin seem to reiterate, his voice barely more than a whisper.

Vaelorin looked nothing like the sarcastic and wicked man who had been trading barbs with the others earlier. Now, he looked like a cornered animal; or more like a soldier who had suddenly heard the sound of gunfire after believing the war was already over.

Caelestra’s expression changed as she observed Vaelorin’s reaction. Whatever had happened to him, this was no ordinary fright.

Meanwhile, Aelric abruptly turned away from the trees.

"Stay sharp. Stay alert." His eyes hardened. "And do not let your guards down."

Those are tgree short phrases, yet the seriousness in his voice was enough to make the atmosphere around them turn suffocating.

Sylveris looked upward at her sister, who had instinctively positioned herself between the girl and the surrounding forest. "Sister..."

Aureleah glanced down.

"What’s happening?"

There was confusion in Sylveris’s voice, along with a faint tremor of apprehension.

The gravity of the situation was still lost on her. She understood only the simplest part of it; someone had just tried to kill them but she did not know who or why.

And judging by the confused expressions of several others, neither did they. That ignorance made the atmosphere even more unsettling.

Aelric, Regaleon, Veyrath, and Vaelorin were reacting as though they had recognized something far more sinister than a mere ambush.

Their expressions did not belong to people encountering an unknown enemy. Rather, they belonged to people recognizing an old nightmare.

The peculiar unease Sylveris felt wasn’t therefore hers alone. The others might not have understood the danger yet, but they could recognize the reactions of those who did.

And those reactions were frightening.

Judging purely by Aelric’s, Regaleon’s, Veyrath’s, and Vaelorin’s responses, this was clearly not a matter of instinct alone, it was recognition.

A deep-seated recollection tied to something they had already experienced; something terrible and insidious.

Caelestra tried once more to speak to Vaelorin. "Vaelorin. Vaelorin, look at me."

But there was nothing as his lips continued moving. "I can’t believe it found us... How could it be here..."

Realizing that she was getting nowhere, Caelestra finally turned toward Regaleon.

Of the four, aside from Aelric, Regaleon was perhaps the only one who had managed to remain composed.

"Regaleon..." She said carefully. "...can you please explain exactly what is happening?"

She gestured toward Vaelorin and Veyrath.

"Why are they behaving like that?"

Regaleon turned toward her, then his golden eyes swept across the group. He took a slow breath and when he finally spoke, his voice was solemn.

"The Black Stalker is back."

The moment those words left his mouth, it was as though someone had muted the entire forest.

The swaying of the trees ceased to matter and so did the distant cacophony of monstrous roars coming from beyond the forest. Even the wind seemed to disappear leaving only those five words.

Valmyr’s eyes widened until his brows seemed ready to leap from his face. His mouth opened slightly while he stared at Regaleon as though the man had just announced that they had been sharing a camp with a ghost.

"You... you’re certain it’s the Black Stalker?"

Surprisingly, it was Aureleah who asked.

The failed Assassin had deliberately maintained a certain distance from Regaleon for reasons known only to herself. But now, even she could not remain where she was and took several steps toward him.

"You mean the one that ambushed the three of you yesterday?"

Her voice remained detached and cold, as always. But beneath that familiar composure was a faint mixture of surprise and apprehension.

"That Black Stalker?"

Yesterday, Regaleon had told them about the encounter.

During their hunt for a Scarlet Streak Antelope, he, Veyrath, and Vaelorin had nearly lost their lives to the hands of a nefarious assassin Aelric called the Black Stalker.

Had Aelric not intervened at the critical moment, there was little doubt that the three of them would have been corpses by now.

Furthermore, Regaleon had also made sure to mention one particularly disturbing detail about the assassin; the Black Stalker was affiliated with the Sauryeans.

And considering their previous dealings with that mysterious race, it was almost inconceivable that anyone they deliberately sent after them would be harmless.

Regaleon took a deep breath. Then slowly exhaled while replying. "Yes. It is the same one."

Silence descended once more. For several seconds, nobody spoke... Then Valmyr finally broke it.

"But how do you know?" He asked with furrowed brows.

"How can you be certain it’s the same individual? Couldn’t this attack be an orchestrated assault by another group?"

Before Regaleon could answer, Kaeloris adjusted his spectacles and beat him to it.

"I don’t think your assumption is sound, Valmyr."

Valmyr turned toward him but Kaeloris continued calmly.

"For Regaleon to be certain about our assailant, he must have already analyzed the evidence before reaching that conclusion. So there is therefore little reason to doubt him. Besides, even if we entertain your theory, what evidence do you have that another individual or group attacked us?"

Valmyr wanted to argue instinctively but even he couldn’t deny how flimsy the words he said we’re.

Kaeloris pushed his spectacles higher before adding. "Have you forgotten that there is literally no one else besides us in this damn forest?"

His analytical statement was the final nail in the coffin. And when that coffin was metaphorically sealed, the group finally understood the reality of their situation.

They were in trouble. A very huge, difficult one...