"Evelyn… your mount." Logan said grimly, recalling that Evelyn was supposed to possess a mount she had tamed previously.
Evelyn's eyes flickered, lighting up faintly as she clutched her necklace while running.
Muttering a few quiet words under her breath, her origin energy drained at an alarming rate, her face paling with each passing second.
The next moment, a creature akin to a large horse appeared.
Dark green horns curved from its head. Purple stripes traced along its body, gleaming under the sunlight.
Logan didn't have the luxury to admire it.
Naturally, while there was the origin path of summoning, one could also tame beasts. It was far more difficult than summoning a companion that would grow alongside you while maintaining its loyalty.
Evelyn leapt onto the horse and pulled Logan up with her.
He settled behind her, wrapping an arm around her slender waist for balance.
"Momo, go as fast as you can." Her voice was light as she stroked the neck of the origin beast.
Possessing a measure of intelligence, the beast surged forward, hooves tearing across the ground as it accelerated.
It was far faster than either of them had been before.
Wind bit against Logan's face as the horse tore through the city.
A ripple of confusion passed through the eyes of bystanders who only felt a blur brush past them.
Logan glanced back from time to time. Seeing no one, he felt a flicker of relief. At the same time, his chest refused to settle.
Evelyn's face remained composed.
The anger from earlier had vanished, replaced by something quieter.
Calmer.
But beneath her gaze, a storm coiled, waiting.
They rode in silence.
Then a sharp sound cut through the air.
Whoosh!
Logan snapped his head back. Just as he expected, a black dot streaked toward them.
It expanded at a terrifying speed.
His heart tightened.
The dot grew larger, tearing through the sky as it closed the distance.
Those who reached a certain origin level, at least Origin King, could cast off gravity and take to the skies.
Which meant the leader had to be at that realm.
"Faster, Momo." Evelyn urged, her hand pressing against the beast's neck.
Momo let out a low snort, a faint protest, but still pushed itself harder.
"You can't possibly hide from me."
The voice drifted from afar, echoing directly within their minds.
Logan's grip tightened instinctively around Evelyn's waist. She stiffened for a brief moment, then didn't resist, her body remaining steady in his hold.
Before long, the clouds above began to churn.
They darkened, rolling in thick layers.
Bang!
Black miasma spread outward, bleeding from the clouds.
"Don't inhale it!" Logan said sharply.
From the potion path, the leader's abilities revolved around potent poisons. Logan knew they had to be cautious from the very beginning.
The miasma was just one of his origin techniques. Cloud Dust Rain.
The horse wasn't spared.
Fortunately, its effect on origin beasts was weaker than on humans.
Logan's gaze swept the surroundings.
They couldn't keep running like this.
They needed a way to throw him off.
He scanned the horizon, thoughts moving rapidly.
They had long since left the forest. Now there was only open grassland stretching endlessly ahead.
Nothing for kilometers.
Nowhere to hide.
Logan's eyes narrowed, then sharpened.
'After the city… after the forest… there should be Elzee…'
A faint light flashed in his eyes.
Elzee. An old hermit in the Chilly Nether Mountains. A man who had lived for an unknown span of time.
If they could reach him, survival wasn't impossible.
"Order your mount to head to the nearest mountain range as soon as she sees it," Logan said.
Evelyn nodded without hesitation.
Then—
Ding!
A bell rang within their minds, clean and jarring.
For a split second, everything blurred.
'An origin artifact…' Logan thought, his expression hardening as he forced himself back to clarity.
That moment was enough.
A trace of black dust slipped into his nostrils.
A wave of dizziness pressed into his mind, heavy and invasive, but he forced it down, stabilizing himself.
When he looked ahead, a silhouette had already formed.
It resembled the leader.
Logan's pupils shrank.
'Impossible.'
The distance didn't allow it.
Then the realization settled.
A clone.
His tension eased slightly, but only slightly.
Even a fragment of an Origin King wasn't something to ignore.
"I'll deal with it."
Evelyn jumped down without waiting.
Her origin energy hadn't recovered. Not even close. But she moved anyway.
Her sword flashed.
Ding!
A clean, sharp sound rang as steel cut through air.
She struck like lightning, her blade carving a precise arc toward the shadow.
The clash erupted instantly.
The clone was formed from miasma. It could barely display one percent of the leader's strength.
Still, one percent of an Origin King was deadly.
Evelyn stepped in, her SSS-rank sword glinting faintly as she drove an upward slash.
The blade pierced through the silhouette.
It dissolved into mist.
A faint sting crept along her arm. She ignored it.
"Grab hold."
Logan's voice cut through.
She caught his hand and pulled herself back onto the horse.
Momo surged forward again, driving deeper into the grassland, pushing its speed to the limit.
Moments later, another silhouette twisted into existence.
Evelyn didn't hesitate.
She dropped down and cut it apart.
The sting in her arm sharpened.
She ignored it.
It was small. Manageable. In a situation like this, it didn't matter.
They pressed on.
More shadows appeared.
At first, one at a time.
Then two.
Then three.
Then more.
A group.
Logan understood immediately.
The leader was stalling them.
And it was working.
'This is bad…'
He had seen it coming. He just couldn't stop it.
Ding!
Another bell rang.
This time the dizziness hit harder, crashing into them without warning.
Logan clamped his hands over his ears, teeth clenched as the ringing dragged on, longer than it should have.
When it finally faded, Evelyn was already returning.
Seven shadows had been cut down.
He reached out—
Then stopped.
Her face had gone pale.
Drained.
Something was wrong.
"Evelyn… you…"