As if the restriction in vision due to rain and darkness doesn't have any effect, a level 8 shadow guard blocked the sneak attack of level 7 death squad member using the armour plate worn in his arm while sending a sharp swipe at the level 8 death squad member using his sharp sword, forcing the death squad member to retreat and parry the strike.
With his eye cold, the shadow guard chased after the level 8 death squad member like a leopard while using his sword skill which made the sword strike unpredictable and vicious like a viper and slashed the death squad members chest bypassing his defence.
Though the strike tore through the leather defence plate worn by the death squad member it didn't injure him, however the shadow guard had his back wide open for the other death squad member to strike.
Just as the other death squad member was about to pierce through the defence of the shadow guard, blood splattered as he felt a piercing pain from his chest. His vision darkened and his knees buckled and before he could know what had hit him he succumbed to the injuries.
A small smoke could be detected from the muzzle within the cover as Sean adjusted his aim towards the next prey. Sean had planned on killing all the supporting death squad members mainly targeting the Level 7 warriors to give more breathing room to the Shadow guards who were struggling from being double teamed.
Quickly turning to the next target who was also a level 7 warrior who was supporting a level 8 death squad member and aimed at his chest and pulled the trigger. With the suppressor equipped, the rifle barely made the sound of zap and Sean watched the target go down.
Knowing that someone was targeting them from within the dark, the death squad members became vigilant as one level 8 warrior who was supporting a level 9 warrior removed a parchment made of goat skin. The parchment contained mysterious symbols along with equally mysterious language.
Injecting his Qi the death squad member activated the scroll which flashed twice before a weird and contorted eye formed in the black sky, white in colour sticking out like a sore thumb formed a pupil like white core in the centre.
The white pupil moved left and right as if to identify the hidden assassin however with almost 600 meters distance between the group and Sean the user of the scroll could not identify any hidden assassin making him confused. Just as he was about to take out another scroll, Sean who had already taken his aim at the next target pulled the trigger.
The scroll dropped on the ground while the level 8 death squad member took his last breath. With no real room to slowly identify the person who was targeting them from the dark, the death squad members had to concentrate on the target before them while keeping a watch on possible attacks.
However no matter how much they stayed alert, with every few breath's of time a death squad member fell silently sending chills and terror to the death squad members who were supposed to have no emotions.
The unknown mysterious phantom killer had made them feel pressured and the supposed 'brainwashed super soldier's became flustered in their attacks which gave enough opportunities to the shadow guards to take advantage of. What had started on an equal note ended in an overwhelming victory for the shadow guards barring the two level 10 warriors who were tearing apart a small part of the jungle.
Adjusting his aim towards the level 10 warrior, Sean found that he could barely keep up with their moves much less aim at a distance of 800 meters in heavy rain and wind.
'So this is the qualitative improvement which a warrior possess going from level 9 to level 10' thought Sean as continued to watch the two fight using the scope trying to identify which party was winning while also readying himself in case the death squad warrior gets injured or pauses to take the shot.
Despite his gun being calibrated to kill upto level 10 warriors, Sean could only kill upto level 7 warriors but could not keep up with the movements of even level 8 warriors making Sean realise his own limit.
'Only with enough strength can I fight against other warriors. No matter how good my equipment is, in the end only my own strength matters the most and the me right now without my equipment cannot even defeat a well prepared level 7 warrior'.
Bit by bit the shadow guard took advantage over the death squad captain and in an exchange gave him a sharp strike in the death squad captain's rib making him grimace in pain while at the same time parrying the slash from his sword.
With injuries being stacked on the death squad captain his movements became sluggish and Sean who was waiting for this did not hesitate and pulled the trigger aiming at his chest. Despite his injuries, the death squad captain was able to react quickly but couldn't fully evade due to his injuries but still managed to convert the lethal injury to a non-lethal one.
Blood bloomed from his shoulder making him unable to move his arm and the shadow guard took this opening and quickly finished him before leaving the scene quickly and regrouped with the other guards.
With his objective already complete Sean retracted his gaze and prepared to get down from the carriage when one of his drones had picked up heat signature from the east side of the forest. Looking down at the signal given by the system Sean saw that the heat signature was of a human and not a beast and the human was moving at high speed.
Shocked by the speed which was clearly faster than a regular level 10 warrior, Sean quickly sent his other drone which he had sent up north of the jungle towards east.
Computing the distance between the group and the human, Sean saw that the distance was of 20 Kms and found that his drone could barely keep up with the person despite having been enhanced by the system to possess a speed comparable to a Warrior of level 10.
Knowing that the figure was heading towards them and the possible dangers it could present Sean did not waste a single moment as he jumped down the carriage carrying Cornelia and entered the carriage after permission.
With a calm attitude Sean showed the footage of the man via thermal scan to Cornelia and without any need to explain both Cornelia and the level 9 Shadow guard recognised the other party to be a mage.
Seeing that every once in a while, the figure would fly to some extent before landing making Cornelia's face pale while she uttered the word "Rank 3".
Knowing the danger and the aura everyone felt an hour back along with the fact that the forces of the Crown prince not responding made everyone know instantly that it was the man in the footage who had probably killed their allies.
"We must escape at all costs. So as to protect Ms. Cornelia I suggest we all move separately with two in a group inorder to buy some time for Ms. Cornelia. Though the probability is very less if the mage by any chance finds Ms. Cornelia first all we can do is think that we are unlucky. At this stage all we can do is try our best" said the Shadow guard with a bitter tone as if lamenting their bad luck.
With a chuckle to his tone Sean said in a confident tone "I don't know about you guys but I have the means to bring Ms. Cornelia to safety. As you have seen all my gadgets were prepared by me, though it could only be used by myself, I can really stretch the amount of stuff I can make my gadgets do. One such gadget is called motor cross which I created to travel fast in dirt roads".
Sean spewed nonsense and had even secretly prepared a space ring to justify the sudden appearances of laptops, drones and now the motor cross. Even though Sean had the option to bring everyone through helicopter be done with, having the ability to fly is an entirely different concept and knew that without strength wielded by himself showing such ability would be tantamount to early death.
Knowing that Sean had many weird machines which seemed to work at par with objects having magic circuits without any actual circuit present the group decided to place hopes on him as they did not have any better idea nor did they have time to think of a better idea as only 45 seconds had passed since Sean's sighting of the person to their decision yet the guy had already passed 8 Kms and would reach them within 2 more minutes.
Getting their approval Sean gave a passing look at Lucy who had a pale look knowing that she would be left alone to fend herself against Rank 3 mage. Knowing that she had very little probability to survive this, Lucy felt heartbroken, especially after escaping the scheme of Carmella only to fall against an unknown mage. The only thing that gave her a relief was that she had gotten her revenge against Carmella and by now the entire mansion where Carmella resided should have descended into chaos.
Taking a deep breath Lucy loosened the dark emotions rising in her heart and gave Cornelia her best wishes before running in the opposite direction of the mage.
Sean did not wait for the shadow guard to inform others as he seemed to be busy with something rolling under each carriage and placing something in the dark. Within 30 seconds Sean reached Cornelia yet again later and pulled out a red with a white mixed motor cross with KTM symbol against it.
Pulling Cornelia and having her sit at the back Sean raced the bike knowing that the mage would be here within the next minute and rode in the rain at full speed towards the South using the headlight as the source of light to illuminate the darkness.