'What will I do with the Lazarus Project?'
Eren repeated Ivor's question as if he was asking himself.
'Hmmm… that's a very thoughtful question, Ivor. My short answer would be that I'll do what is necessary for my well-being.
This project was mostly created by Layla and Sage Eliza. So I have very little say in this project. But I can assure you that Sage Eliza's plans won't derail me from what I want to do in the land of Anfang.
I know it is a simple way of putting things. But I say that with absolute honesty. As for the long answer, you'll have to gain my trust. Now I'll ask YOU— what can you do to make me trust you?'
Eren asked Ivor while narrowing his eyes in a particular direction. He could feel with his soul sense that there were a bunch of rankers heading in that direction. After pondering for a bit, he said to Ivor.
'No need to answer me right away. You can take your time. Come see me when you make up your mind. You must be aware of that by now but I'll just say it as it is. There's no safety in following me because I can't guarantee that on my own.
So think wisely before you decide.'
Eren said before changing the tone of his voice to that of caution. He addressed both Ivor and Layla to give them a heads-up.
'Buckle up. Target has arrived.'
***
A ranger was traversing a dense forest at the crack of dawn. Two rankers followed this lady ranger from either side. The team of these three rankers served as the vanguard for the remaining 27 rankers.
A man in black followed the vanguard closely. In addition to wearing black attire, even his face was covered with black cloth, save his eyes. He was of average build. But he had striking blue eyes. One could tell that this man was the leader of the 30-member party.
This black-clothed man was often called by titles like Arthur's Hound by those who knew him well. And the reason for that was obvious. He was a loyal follower of the Duke of Edinburgh. The man would follow the orders given to him by Arthur to a T, ensuring the smooth running of Arthur's projects.
The task he was given this time was to capture Layla. It looked like a simple grab-and-present job at first. But the black-clothed man soon found out that he had underestimated his target all along.
It had been many months since he had started this task. But apart from many casualties from his side, the hound had nothing to show for his master. And Arthur's patience was running thin.
Layla had managed to slip Arthur's hound many times by now. She would always sense him and his forces coming for her through some unknown means. She would just vanish from the place before he could arrive to get her, driving the black-clothed man to a point of utter frustration no matter how calm he wanted to be.
The black-clothed man then approached Cybil and Garvin on his own. The couple was experts in arrays, and their current field of expertise included seer arrays. Instead of asking how to track Layla again, the black-clothed man instead asked them to find out how she managed to escape him even before he could arrive at the place.
One could say that in terms of chasing their target, the hound was smarter than his master. He quickly came to know that Layla was using a unique set of potions to know about his whereabouts from miles away.
Despite Layla's countermeasures with potions, the hound managed to intercept her a few more times. However, she was able to use Hexen Bee to get away from them.
The hound didn't give up. He started integrating anti-flight measures. But by the time he did that, the black-clothed man found out that even that wasn't enough. That's because Layla now had another person joining her.
This person was as fierce as fierce could get. He managed to kill many rankers from his side with Layla's help before escaping the hound's pursuit. Each time he got nearer to Layla and this newly acquired member of hers, killings would occur and the rankers on his side would be culled.
This put the hound on edge. He also started doubting many things about the new member of Team Layla ever since he saw him using his weapons. He felt like he had seen the man's work somewhere but couldn't remember where.
The hound was therefore more prepared this time. His goal was to determine whether the new member conflicted with his actual appearance. Various countermeasures were also taken against Layla to ensure that the mission Arthur had given him would be completed.
This black-clothed Arthur's Hound was none other than Oliver. He had served as Jason's bodyguard for some time when the former was in LA. On the expedition to Purgatory, he was tasked with dealing with the Illuminati.
Oliver was then sent to the kingdom of Layos to kill Isen. Unfortunately, he could only track him and keep an eye on him for a few days before he was called back by Arthur.
Oliver had done many difficult missions given to him by Arthur at this point. He had come close to dying many times on a variety of covert and overt missions. But he would admit that pursuing Layla was the most difficult mission he had undertaken in his career.
Oliver knew how to remain patient under all circumstances. But he couldn't help saying something to the ranger who was sprinting ahead of him after getting deep into the Dark Daniera forest.
"How long further, Joanna?"
Oliver asked after he sensed something odd about the place. He and his unit of 30 rankers were following Joanna, their ranger.
'I want to see how you manage to run this time, bitch.'
Oliver narrowed his eyes ahead of him. Up until now, he had cared about Layla's well-being because Arthur had told him to capture her alive. But he was about to set that order aside this time to ensure the success of the mission.
