While Vicente was escaping to the area of the Wolfrior Forest, Sarah was heading in the opposite direction, going to Millfall.
It would take her days to reach the Mazzainti family headquarters, but her path would not be easy!
As she fled with Nico, a High-level Mage followed in her footsteps, at a disadvantage but still getting directions to where she was going.
Sarah knew that a powerful Mage was after her and was worried and doing her best to escape.
Nico noticed that his ally was getting more and more worried, realizing they were probably not in a good situation.
He asked her. "Miss, will we be able to escape?"
She remained focused on the path she was following but answered him. "Hardly. We may escape, but it will be tough. One of the five survivors of the tunnel battle is following us."
"So we're being followed by a High-level Mage..." He muttered, wondering what they could do. "If that's the case, following the path ahead as we are doing won't work. We'll have to change our strategy."
"What do you have in mind?"
Nico was only an Acolyte, but unlike Sarah, he had spent years in prison. He had thought practically every day about what he would do if he had to escape from that place and the possible consequences of an escape.
A prisoner had a lot of time to think. They often exercised their imagination in a very analytical and creative way because in order to escape their problems, they would have to come up with very out-of-the-box plans.
Nico then said. "The person following us is just following us and keeping track of our location. The moment he gets reinforcements, we'll be taken down. We can't afford to think that we can run out of the area. We have to hide somewhere.
Do you have any way to cover our tracks? If we can create a false trail, we can hide and wait for the right moment to continue our escape.
It doesn't have to be something that lasts a long time. If we can get him away from us for at least a few miles, that should be enough to improve our chances."
"Oh?"
...
More than an hour after the fugitives had separated at the exit of the previous tunnel, Evan was currently in hiding, following a plan more or less similar to Nico's.
There had been 5 soldiers following them when they left the previous tunnel. But counting them all, there were 8 people fleeing in 7 different ways.
It was only possible to follow 5 paths, so the two weakest, he and Vicente, were temporarily left aside while those 5 soldiers pursued the stronger fugitives.
Still, Evan was aware that reinforcements were moving through the area. After over half an hour since he had been separated from his fellow escapees, he found a good hiding place where he had stayed for the last few minutes.
From where he was, he could hide his aura and observe the area he was in with relative safety.
After more than 30 minutes of standing still, he had avoided fights with magical beings in the area and encounters with soldiers.
Now, he watched the third group of soldiers pass by where he was and saw the first Sovereign of the night.
'Things are really complicated.' He thought as he watched two Sovereigns go in the opposite direction of the Long Bay Correctional Facility. 'It looks like reinforcements have already arrived at the prison. They've probably already split up into groups and started searching the area for us.'
He thought right. As the group of reinforcements approached the prison, they received new information, and the Sovereigns coming into the area split up and went in different directions using their own powers instead of the bird from earlier.
There were now Sovereigns on the trail of fugitives, while others were tracking down opponents in the area of this prison.
'Sigh... All I can do now is wait. When these soldiers meet up with some of the fugitives, the focus will shift to the found ones and less to the missing ones. I'll try to move as soon as there are signs of fighting.' Evan made up his mind.
As he continued to stand still, he would eventually think about his two friends, wondering if they had already been found or if Cesar had gone to them to eliminate them.
Either way, Oscar and Sophia were in terrible situations, too!
...
In another area near Long Bay Correctional Facility, Snow Claw was heading north to return to Saltstar City, where much of his journey had taken place.
'I will take my items from that place and begin my revenge.' He remembered a secret place he had near Saltstar City, where he had always left resources to help him in the past.
But as he fled at high speed, he suddenly noticed someone powerful approaching from behind.
Looking back, he narrowed his eyes and saw two Earth Sovereigns chasing him.
"Tsk! I thought I deserved more than this." He remarked when he recognized them, provocatively smiling.
Neither Sovereigns liked that, as they were proud 4th-stage magicians.
But they knew what Snow Claw was like, and one said. "Jonah, surrender! I know you had to try to escape. Anyone would have done it in your place. But if you don't want any more trouble with the kingdom, surrender now!"
"If I don't want any more trouble with the kingdom?" Jonah turned and stopped running. "You've got to be kidding me! Of course, I want trouble! King's dogs, after I escape and deal with my problems, it'll be time for that bastard on the throne to suffer for punishing me."
"Wipe your mouth to talk about His Majesty!" The older of the two Colonels said in an irritated tone, not liking the man's threats against the king.
Jonah laughed. "I went easy on that coward when we met decades ago. Next time, it will be different."
"Son of a bitch!" One of the two Sovereigns could stand it no longer and stepped forward.
Jonah finally unleashed his full power after several decades of being unable to do so, forming a mana giant over eleven meters tall with a body proportional to its size, as if it were a giant mana human.
The giant's formation was quick but gradual, with what represented the creature's bones appearing, then muscles, skin, and finally armor.
Jonah disappeared into the giant, while at the eye level of this magical form, glowing purple eyes opened.
As one of the mana giant's hands closed, the two Sovereigns felt the terror of the enemy as the space around them seemed to be crushed in their direction.
"Shit! That bastard is everything the rumors said!" One of them shouted at the start of a battle whose outcome few would ever know.
