An hour later, more battles like the one at Snow Claw broke out around Long Bay Correctional Facility.
Soldiers and fugitives would fall in these battles this morning, marking an incident that would soon become news in the province and throughout the kingdom.
The consequences of this day would be felt far and wide, reverberating for weeks or months in the lives of those who were involved and those who were not.
Amid the fighting, some of the people left behind would be found and taken to prison, where they would soon be interrogated and punished.
While this was going on, Vicente was practically the only fugitive who did not run into more complicated problems.
With Torne's help, he finally reached the area where the Tempest Hawks were supposed to live, in the Wolfrior Forest.
As he flew around, Torne told Vicente to change his strategy and walk on his own feet since winged beasts were usually more cautious with other creatures capable of flight.
Following the old ghost's advice, Vicente now moved through the branches of trees, gradually sensing stronger auras in the more central area of this immense forest region.
'Have you noticed any Sovereigns in this area?' Vicente asked.
'Not yet, but we're probably close. The 3rd-stage beasts are becoming more and more numerous in the area. So we should encounter a Sovereign very soon.' Torne said as he kept an eye out.
'Okay, keep an eye on everything.'
...
While Vicente was moving towards his destination, Eric had already succeeded in absorbing his third pentagram, having managed to absorb such essence in just under two hours.
That was very little time, but for someone who had killed his target himself, who had a talent higher than the level of the pentagram he was absorbing and a well-trained body, it had not been difficult for him.
Many factors influence one's ability to absorb pentagrams and resources. Also, as one became stronger and added more pentagrams to their existence, the minimum time needed to absorb new essences would normally decrease.
After finishing his quick absorption, Eric no longer hesitated and followed Nova's tracks, having no difficulty finding his target after only a few minutes.
Having already placed a tracker on her without Nova's knowledge, Eric found her just as noon was approaching in this area of the Wolfrior Forest.
Nova was sitting in a lotus position, meditating as a yellow pentagram circled her body.
She had managed to defeat the beast she was hunting earlier and had begun to absorb this pentagram minutes ago.
Eric couldn't help but be impressed, sensing the quality of that magical essence.
'As much as this bitch is a sea of dishonesty and a terrible person, she's really talented. I'll give her that.' He hid behind a tree and watched her.
'But my dear Nova, that's not enough for you to escape me!' He clenched his fists as his expression turned very ugly. 'As much as I personally can't act against you in this situation, that doesn't mean I can't do anything!'
He looked at a peak near the area where the waterfall was, just beyond the area where Nova was sitting on the rocks.
There was a mighty and sharp aura coming from that peak, something so powerful that the sky above that peak was always cloudy with stormy weather.
Since Eric knew this area better than his competitors in this promotion test, he knew exactly what kind of being lived at that peak.
'I can't deal with you directly, but the Sovereign of Storm Peak can!' Eric wickedly laughed, wishing the worst for Nova.
Since she didn't want to be with him and had even humiliated him, she deserved the worst!
With his plans in mind, Eric didn't hesitate to move towards Storm Peak, scattering items he had prepared before coming to this place.
As someone prepared and eager to get his revenge, he had organized in many ways to deal with Nova in this trial. Given his circumstances, he followed his 'Plan C,' scattering things along the way to make his target hunt down the blue-haired woman.
He knew that Nova would finish absorbing her third pentagram in an hour at the most, so he moved quickly, reaching Storm Peak in less than 13 minutes.
When he reached this place, he climbed part of the mountain until he saw the Sovereign who lived there.
At the top of that peak was a winged beast, three meters tall, with completely gray feathers, yellow eyes the size of tennis balls, and a curved white beak as sharp as a needle.
Its legs were long, over 70 centimeters long, and the claws on its two feet were long and sharp as scalpels. Its wings were closed, but when opened, they could easily be more than 7 meters long from one end to the other.
But the most striking thing about this beast was not its exquisite and unique appearance but its powerful 4th-stage aura, which was a rarity in the area.
In terms of mana, it was even stronger than some of the Sovereigns chasing fugitives from Long Bay Correctional Facility!
Eric naturally swallowed his saliva, hesitating a bit since he was so close to this beast.
This bird was so strong that even he could end up very badly for just trying to lure it to Nova!
'To the hell! That bitch humiliated me in front of everyone! I hope she dies!' He plucked up the courage to provoke the creature.
He threw an old Nova item he had with him in the direction of the beast, something that would leave a trail of the cause of what was about to happen.
As soon as he had done so, he turned and began his hasty escape.
Then...
Ka-booooooom!
A loud bang sounded from the top of Storm Peak as Eric dropped the detonating device with a Nova scarf around it.
Flames spread across the peak, while lightning and stronger winds formed around the area.
Eric didn't need to look back to know that he had provoked a terrible creature that was not in a good mood after such a gratuitous attack.
He ran towards the path he had taken with Nova's things, going to that place to make sure this beast dealt with the woman and not him.
As he fled, he heard Hawk's scream. The creature flapped its wings and appeared above Storm Peak, its body enveloped in lightning.
Sensing the trail of its enemy, the Sovereign beast glanced at Eric and Nova before flying toward them!
Nova felt a chill run through her being, but she didn't stop what she was doing, as this was a crucial moment to come out of her meditative state.
