"Is there anyone here willing to surrender and say something nice? Come out and kneel within the count of three, and I'll spare just that one person."

Suddenly, the atmosphere around them shifted ominously. A chilling winter wind swept between the enemies and Yuder, leaving a void in its wake.

"…What did he just say?"

"Spare who…?"

"Is he serious? What's wrong with his eyes?"

The enemies finally lost their laughter. Among them, Yuder noticed one individual glaring intently at him. The gaze was filled with hateful vengeance, and it felt strangely familiar.

'Seeker. So he's part of this group, too.'

In his previous life, Seeker was a scoundrel, but he never moved in groups like this. Some things had changed, but the essence of some remained the same, Yuder realized.

'Actually, this is better. I wasn't satisfied merely warning him last time.'

Silently, Yuder lifted three fingers. All eyes converged on his hand.

'One. Two.'

As he folded down the first and second fingers, not surprisingly, no one stepped forward to kneel. Only the sound of restrained breathing and escalating tension filled the air.

Folding down his last finger, Yuder quickly scanned the enemies' formation.

'Three.'

"Kill him!"

At someone's loud shout, energy surged through Yuder as well.

"Ugh!"

"What the—?"

Those who attempted to charge at Yuder found themselves tripping and falling, as if they'd been yanked back by invisible threads. While they writhed and screamed on the ground, a cold, deliberate voice echoed from the hill above.

"You all look quite fitting, kneeling."

Only then did the mercenaries realize that Yuder had manipulated the earth to grasp their feet. So engrossed were they in his words and counting fingers, that even those confident in their speed and agility had no chance but to tumble. Seeker, gripping the ground in fury, shouted obscenities.

"Damn you! I will definitely be the one to take your head— What?"

"Where did he go?"

Yuder, who had clearly been in front of them just moments ago, had disappeared. Two other men who were with him had vanished as well.

"Damn it! He's escaped. Chase him!"

"Hold on. My feet are still stuck!"

"Idiot! Just take off your shoes!"

Amidst the chaos, those who managed to free themselves sprinted towards where Yuder had been. Though they didn’t see him, footprints remained trampled in the bushes.

A rustling sound of someone fleeing came from a not-so-distant location—opposite to where the footprints led.

"There!"

Those with keen ears chased after the sound.

"That noise is definitely a trap. The real trail is the footprints!"

Others followed the footprints in the opposite direction.

In a situation where their prey had escaped, the only thought crossing their minds was one:

'I must be the one to catch him first!'

So engrossed were they in this single-minded pursuit that they momentarily forgot about the most important person of all: the mercenary who had used tracking skills to successfully lead them to Yuder.

"Ch—Ch—Choke! Yu—Yuder, ah—"

"Be quiet."

Yuder descended from the tallest tree after everyone had been lured away by Kishiar and Nathan Zuckerman. The moment he waved his hand, the ground below, marred by the fallen mercenaries, split open. A face emerged from the earth, half-buried in the soil. The man, who looked small and frail and seemed far from suited for combat, had been the one using his tracking abilities to follow Yuder.

When everyone else had fallen, he'd been entirely buried underground, unable to even scream as he was entombed alive. However, thanks to the ensuing chase, the other mercenaries hadn’t noticed he was buried and had all left, an astounding oversight.

The tracker trembled, spitting out a mouthful of dirt.

He never thought he'd be captured so easily just after finding Yuder Aile. He had no fighting skills to speak of, but he believed the other mercenaries would protect him. What a fantasy that was.

'No. Once they realize I'm missing, they'll all come back. If I can just pretend to cooperate until then...!'

Before he could complete his thought, a foot stomped down on his shoulder, pushing him back into the ground. He felt the slow but excruciating sensation of his shoulder bone breaking.

"Aaargh!"

A cold voice murmured above his writhing form, as if reading his thoughts.

"Don’t bother scheming. The ones you’re waiting for won't be coming back."

"What, what are you...”

Then, from somewhere, a dreadful scream echoed, only to abruptly cut off. Similar screams followed from different directions but quickly ceased.

The tracker tensed up.

They had only focused on Yuder Aile’s presence, not caring much about the two men accompanying him. Even their employer hadn’t informed them of this detail.

But this situation...

"Wait, just wait. I surrender. No, I mean, I truly surrender. I’ll even disable my tracking, just please spare me!"

"Who said anything about needing that?"

A foot swiftly landed on his head again. Although it wasn't weighted, he was certain that if any force was applied, he would be buried once more.

"If you wanted to live, you had three seconds to surrender. That opportunity is long gone."

As Yuder's foot pressed down, the tracker felt his body sinking into the ground like a quagmire. The pressure seemed to crush his skull and neck, giving the illusion that they were shattering.

"Ah… Uh… Cough!"

As he tried to scream, dirt and gravel invaded his open mouth, stifling the sound.

"There's only one reason I've come to deal with you first."

The tracker barely managed to lift his tear-soaked eyes.

Yuder, who showed neither anger nor any other emotion one would expect in such a situation, looked utterly alien. The cold, metallic glint in one of his golden eyes, gleaming in the darkness, was terrifying beyond belief.

His well-honed instincts screamed. This man had done things like this more than once or twice. He didn't even blink at the sound of human screams, and clearly knew how to inflict pain precisely as he desired.

Only those who had taken lives recklessly could wear such an expression.

'Impossible. How could someone barely twenty years old…!'

In a cold that could make even a seasoned mercenary shiver, a voice akin to the god of death finally spoke its last words.

"Tell me everything you know about your abilities and your client."

'I've dealt with the most annoying one first, at least.'

Yuder ran through the trees, leaving behind the Awakener who had fainted and broken his neck after Yuder buried his head in the ground. As Yuder leaped off branches, leaves brushed against his cheeks.

It was an obvious choice to take care of the tracker first. Even if he had gotten lucky, anyone with the power to track him was someone worth understanding.

'That way, if another one shows up later, I won't fall for it so easily, and if someone like that joins my team, I'll know how to train them.'

In his previous life, he had defeated those who came to kill him and effectively utilized the unique abilities of those with interesting powers for the advancement of his Cavalry.

Though it was regrettable that he hadn't learned anything valuable about the client from the pathetic tracker he had just taken down, it was something he could look into later.

'Kishiar and Nathan Zuckerman must still be in the process of taking care of everyone.'

The decision to divide the enemies was Kishiar's idea. It was the best way to keep the identities and abilities of Kishiar and Nathan Zuckerman a secret while ensuring that no one outside would ever find out what had happened.

Even if Kanna Wand were to show up, it would be hard to decipher what had actually happened. And so, this was a battle that reflected the fact that they were fighting 'Awakeners.’

Yuder, recalling Kishiar's orders that had perfectly showcased 'his own health,' felt a deep satisfaction both as a former cavalry commander accustomed to such battles, and as someone who cares for and loves Kishiar.

At that moment, signs of someone's presence were felt from not too far away.

'Finally, they're here. Let's see...two of them?'

Yuder jumped down from the tree and unsheathed his sword. He walked gracefully towards the source of the noise, eventually disappearing into the darkness of the forest.

"..."

Again, a presence vanished nearby. Seeker huddled in a bush, shivering, and then emerged, grinding his teeth.

His hands kept shaking, even though he didn't want them to. The hilt of his dagger was sweaty, and he had to wipe it on his clothes.

His body was overwhelmed with unbearable anger and fear.

'What the hell... What is happening?'

He thought everything was going well when he had first located Yuder Aile. Even after Yuder disappeared, he believed things were fine.

But as they chased Yuder's footsteps, he realized one by one, their numbers were dwindling. Someone was picking them off.

They had searched as a group, but their enemy was elusive as a ghost. Some, doubting their companions, had sprinted off alone only to vanish moments later, leaving behind only their screams.

It felt like they were ensnared by something. In the dark forest, they couldn't even tell where they were.

Staggering, he tripped over a tree root.

"Ugh...!"

Unable to make a sound, he tumbled and rolled on the ground until he abruptly came to a halt. When he lifted his head, the sight that met his eyes was the body of another mercenary—a man he'd thought had vanished earlier.

"…!"

A closer look would have revealed that the man was still breathing, but to Seeker, his fear-distorted vision saw only a corpse riddled with wounds. As he tried to retreat, he realized that the dagger he had been holding had also disappeared.

"Damn it! Where did it go? My sword. My dagger…!"

"Here it is."

At that moment, someone placed a sword in his hand. Seeker instinctively grasped it, experiencing a fleeting moment of relief before a cold dread raced down his spine. He turned to look.

A stranger, wearing an unfamiliar face, gazed down at him and offered a silent, gentle smile.

"Who… Who are you?"

"When the environment changes, some people change and some don't. Seeing as you're back here, despite having had a chance to escape, I reckon you belong to the latter group."

The man's voice was so calm and melodious that it felt as if they had been conversing for a long time. But Seeker quickly snapped back to reality and aimed his dagger.

"What the hell are you talking about? You're from the Cavalry, aren’t you?"

"Why do you think such differences occur?"

"Goddamn it! I asked if you're from the Cavalry!"

"The answer remains unknown, but one thing is certain."

Ignoring Seeker's protests, the man calmly raised his hand.

"I don't want to become like that."

The last thing Seeker remembered was seeing a small orb of light condensing at the man's fingertips. Accompanied by excruciating pain that coursed through his entire body, Seeker dropped the dagger and collapsed right then and there.